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| Early history | |
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The Spanish arrived in the area after crossing the Sonora Desert's "Camino del Diablo" or Devils Road. This led to the evangelization of the area and also the population reduction of the native peoples. Today, indigenous Cocopah people still inhabit a small government-protected corner of the delta near the junction of the Hardy and Colorado rivers. These people mostly work on agricultural ejidos or fish the rivers, although many have migrated to Mexicali.[3]
The early European presence in this area was limited to the Jesuits, who left in the 1780s. After this, the Spanish and later the Mexicans had little to do with the northeastern corner of the Baja California peninsula, perceiving it as an untamable, flood-prone desert delta.[3]
[edit] Tags:Baja California,California,Sonora Desert,Camino Del Diablo,Cocopah,Hardy,Jesuits,Baja California Peninsula,Colorado River, | |
| 19th century | |
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In the mid-19th century, a geologist working for the Southern Pacific Railroad came to the delta area, discovering what the native Yumans had known for centuries: that the thick river sediment deposits made the area prime farming land. These sediments extended far to the west of the river itself, accumulating in a shallow basin below the Sierra de Cucapá.[3] However, from this time period until the 1880s, the area was almost completely unpopulated, mostly due to its climate. In 1888, the federal government granted a large part of northern Baja state, including Mexicali, to Guillermo Andrade, with the purpose of colonizing the area on the recently-created border with the United States. However, around 1900, the only area with any real population, aside from the Cocopah, were concentrated in Los Algodones, to the east of Mexicali.[4]
[edit] Tags:State,Southern Pacific Railroad, | |
| 20th century | |
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In 1900, the U.S.-based California Development Company received permission from the Díaz government to cut a canal through the delta's Arroyo Alamo, to link the dry basin with the Colorado River. To attract farmers to the area, the developers named it "The Imperial Valley". In 1903, the first 500 farmers arrived; by late 1904, 405 km² (100,000 acres) of valley were irrigated, with 10,000 people settled on the land harvesting cotton, fruits, and vegetables. The concentration of small housing units that straddled the border was called Calexico on the U.S. side, Mexicali on the Mexican side.[3]
The Mexican side was named Mexicali (a portmanteau composed of "Mexico" and "California") by Coronel Agustín Sanginéz. Initially the area belonged to the municipality of Ensenada.[4] The town of Mexicali was officially created on 14 March 1903 when Manuel Vizcarra was named as the town's first authority and assistant judge (juez auxiliar).[3] Mayor Baltazar Aviléz declared the municipality of Mexicali on November 4, 1914 and called for elections to create the first ayuntamiento or district council, which was then headed by Francisco L. Montejano.[4]
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Cathedral in the city center
Another U.S. land development company set out to do the same with the nearby Valley of Mexicali. Led by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, the company controlled 800,000 hectares of land in northern Baja California by 1905 and began to construct the irrigation system for this valley. However, instead of using Mexican labor to dig the ditches, Chandler brought in thousands of Chinese laborers.[3] Mexicali became culturally more Chinese than Mexican.
In the 20th century, the Colorado Riverland Company was dedicated to renting land here to farmers; however, these farmers were almost always foreigners, such as Chinese, East Indians and Japanese. The Mexicans were employed only as seasonal labor. This situation led to the agrarian conflict known as the "Asalto a las Tierras" (Assault on the Lands) in 1937.[4]
Agricultural production continued to increase during the 20th century. Cotton became the most important crop and with it developed the textile industry. In the early 1950s, the Mexicali Valley became the biggest cotton-producing zone in the whole country and in the 1960s, production reached more than half a million parcels a year. Currently, the valley still is one of Mexico's most productive agricultural regions, mostly producing wheat, cotton and vegetables. The city of Mexicali is one of Mexico's most important exporter of asparagus, broccoli, carrots, green onions, lettuce, peas, peppers, radishes and tomatoes to the world.[3]
The government of the municipality was reorganized when the Baja California territory became the 29th state in 1953.[4]
[edit] Tags:Country,Mexico,Municipality,California Development Company,Díaz,Canal,Portmanteau,Ensenada,Manuel Vizcarra,Ayuntamiento,Los Angeles Times,Harry Chandler,Los Angeles, | |
| 21st century | |
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Today Mexicali is an important center for industrial production in the automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, metallurgical, and health services as well as manufacturing and exporting products to various countries.[5]
The 2010 Baja California earthquake was an earthquake occurred at 15:40:40 local time (UTC-8), Sunday, April 4, 2010, which reached a magnitude of 7.2. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake struck 60 km south-southeast of Mexicali.[6] The quake was felt strongly in the northern regions of Baja California and the United States-Mexico border, and was also felt in western cities such as Tijuana, San Diego, Los Angeles and parts of Arizona.
[edit] Tags:Arizona,Tijuana,San Diego, | |
| Geography | |
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The Mexicali Valley is one of the largest and most fertile valleys in Mexico.[1] The Valley has over fifty different crops and is similar to the Imperial Valley in its agricultural production. National and international industries have invested in Mexicali and surrounding cities to take advantage of its fiscal opportunities.[1] The Valley's resources puts the region above other similar areas as its abundance of natural resources are the largest in North America.[1] The Mexicali Valley is a primary source of water for the region, having the largest irrigation district in Mexico.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Ecology | |
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The New River, which runs north to the state of California from Mexicali, is considered the most polluted river in North America, containing toxic levels of lead and other heavy metals, fecal bacteria, pathogens, and industrial waste. Air pollution is also a problem during summer and winter months with dust and other particulate levels exceeding healthy levels.
In spite of its arid desert location, Mexicali is watered through a system of aquifers in the valley. Under a 1944 water treaty, the city is "...guaranteed [an] annual quantity of 1,500,000 acre feet (1.9 km3) [of water] to be delivered..." from the Colorado River.[7] However, a proposed concrete lining in the United States on the All-American Canal would cut off billions of leaked gallons of water, which is used to irrigate onions, alfalfa, asparagus, squash and other crops in Mexicali.[8]
The nearby Cerro Prieto volcano[9] is adjacent to the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station.[10] The Geography of this place is like magnificant.
[edit] Tags:Cerro Prieto,Volcano,Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station, | |
| Climate | |
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Mexicali
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
13
21
5
9.1
24
7
7.9
26
9
1.3
30
12
0.8
34
16
0.3
39
20
1.5
42
24
8.1
41
25
9.1
38
22
8.9
33
15
4.6
26
8
11
21
5
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: [11]
Imperial conversion
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
0.5
70
41
0.4
75
45
0.3
79
48
0.1
86
54
0
93
61
0
102
68
0.1
108
75
0.3
106
77
0.4
100
72
0.4
91
59
0.2
79
46
0.4
70
41
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
The climate of Mexicali, because of its low annual precipitation is an arid climate (BWh). Under the criteria for the Köppen climate classification, Mexicali maintains desert climate temperatures every year. In December 12, 1932, the city experienced snowfall. Rainfall usually occurs in the winter months of December, January and February. Although summer is extremely dry in Mexicali, one of every two days there is an end moisture content. In 1997, Mexicali experienced a heat wave, the temperature reached up to 54 °C (130 °F), it was so hot that day that most of the trees and vegetation in the area dried up. In 2008, during the months of July and August there were several heavy thunderstorms that let down large amounts of rain and hail. This is somewhat unusual in that the summer rainfall in the city is infrequent. During winter time, Mexicali is affected by the snows that occur in the town of Rumorosa located in the Sierra de Juarez, about 45 minutes west of the city, causing decreases in temperature in the urban area lasting from 2 days to 1 week.
Climate data for Mexicali
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average high °C (°F)
19
(67)
22
(72)
26
(79)
30
(86)
34
(93)
39
(102)
41
(106)
40
(104)
38
(100)
31
(88)
24
(76)
20
(68)
30.4
(86.8)
Average low °C (°F)
6
(42)
8
(46)
10
(50)
12
(54)
16
(60)
20
(68)
25
(77)
25
(77)
21
(70)
14
(58)
9
(49)
6
(43)
14.4
(57.8)
Precipitation mm (inches)
10
(0.4)
8
(0.3)
8
(0.3)
3
(0.1)
0
(0)
0
(0)
3
(0.1)
13
(0.5)
5
(0.2)
8
(0.3)
5
(0.2)
13
(0.5)
74
(2.9)
Source: Weatherbase [12]
[edit] Tags:Arid Climate, | |
| Economy | |
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In its beginnings Mexicali was an important center for cotton production for export until synthetic fabrics reduced the worldwide demand for the fiber.
Currently horticulture is the most successful agricultural activity with scallion (green onion), and asparagus being among the most important crops. Cotton and wheat are still cultivated but with government price guarantees and subsidies making wheat farmer protests an annual event. There is an annual agribusiness fair in March drawing interested people from all over Mexico and the United States called Agrobaja.
The current prospects for economic growth in Mexicali rely on in-bond and assembly plants, mainly for export, including companies like, Selther, Daewoo, Mitsubishi, Honeywell, Paccar, Vitro, Skyworks Solutions, CareFusion, Bosch, Price Pfister, Gulfstream, Goodrich, Kenworth and Kwikset. Mexicali is also home to many food processing plants such as Nestlé, Jumex, Bimbo, Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and Sabritas.
There are joint efforts on behalf of the Baja California government and the private sector to attract more companies to Mexicali based on a cluster strategy focusing on the regions' strengths of qualified labor, abundant energy and water supplies, a pro-business environment and its location on the California border.
Mexicali is considered among the most prosperous cities in Mexico, although US tourists can observe the level of poverty in rural villages surrounding the modern, upper-middle class enclave of Mexicali proper.There is recent research that indicate a high level of disease prevalence like respiratory illness,asthma,and other medical issues in the local inhabitants. The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994 that eliminated most trade restrictions between the two nations offers Mexicali an economic boom in the next decade.
[edit] Tags:Mitsubishi,Honeywell, | |
| Silicon Border | |
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Main article: Silicon Border
Silicon Border is a 40-square-kilometre (9,900-acre) development tailored to the specific needs of high-technology manufacturing and is situated in Mexicali, along the western border of the U.S. and Mexico.[13] The aim of the manufacturing park, which began in 2004, is to transform Mexicali into the world's next semiconductor manufacturing center. The Mexican federal and Baja California state governments have committed more than $2 million to the design and manufacturing of the project. Former President Vicente Fox has also offered 10 years of tax-free status to any firms that locate in the park and invest $1 billion or more.[14] Silicon Border’s vision is to provide Mexico with an infrastructure that enables high-tech companies anywhere in the world to move manufacturing operations to the country and exploit its competitive advantages such as geographical location, human capital, research, legal and tax benefits, intellectual property, international treaties and logistics provided by the country for manufacturing high technology products while allowing research to develop processes, design, fabrication and testing able to compete with Asian operations and costs.[15]
Q-Cells, the world's largest manufacturer of photovoltaic cells,[16] has manifested its intention to develop a major thin film photovoltaic manufacturing facility at Silicon Border.[17] With the world economic depress of 2008, Q-Cells delayed its plans to settle in the park.[18] A variety of electrical and water facilities are already built at Silicon Border in addition to energy-saving lighting.[19] The infrastructure build-out, financed by ING Clarion, consists of potable water plant and distribution, fiber optic telephone and data cable, power substations, and waste treatment facilities. Silicon Border not only provides manufacturing space to companies creating "green" products, but does so in an environmentally conscious manner.[20]
The Autonomous University of Baja California and CETYS, a private not-for-profit university located in Mexicali, have started new programs such as Aerospace Engineering, Semiconductors and Microelectronics Engineering, Renewable Energy Engineering, Bioengineering, History and Sociology to prepare the required human capital for potential high-tech firms.[21]
California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has continued to promote cooperation with the project and has encouraged economic partnerships with Silicon Border in his radio addresses.[22][23] At the beginning of 2006, the California governor created the “California/Baja Silicon Border Work Group,” run by deputy secretary of the California Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency, Yolanda Benson. State officials promised to hasten the roadways needed to link up with those being built for Silicon Border in Mexico.[24]
Silicon Border is the only site in North America with abundant and inexpensive electrical power, natural gas and water, as well as a large labor pool of high skilled and motivated individuals. The area is supplied with water from the Colorado River and a major electrical sub-station supplied by three separate power plants.[15] Further infrastructure improvements associated with Silicon Border are to include a new highway (under construction) and an additional border crossing.[25] Silicon Border estimates that in the next ten years, the Silicon Border Science Park could generate 100,000 jobs, both within Mexico and the U.S.[26]
[edit] Tags:Silicon Border, | |
| Tourism | |
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Cars crossing the border station from Mexicali-Calexico
Mexicali also relies on tourism as a medium revenue, and visitors cross by foot or car from Calexico in the United States every day. Restaurants and taco stands, pharmacies, bars and dance clubs are part of the draw for the city's tourists. Many shops and stalls selling Mexican crafts and souvenirs are also located in walking distance from the border.
Many residents from California, Arizona and Nevada look for medical and dental services in Mexicali, because they tend to be less expensive than those in the United States. Mexicali is home to several pharmacies marketed toward visitors from the United States. These pharmacies sell some pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions and at much lower costs than pharmacies in the US. Many medications still require a doctor's prescription, although several accessible doctor offices are located near the border as well.
Mexico's drinking age of 18 (vs. 21 in the United States) makes it a common weekend destination for many high school and college aged Southern Californians who tend to stay within the Calzadas Justo Sierra, Benito Juarez and Francisco L. Montejano.
Mexicali hosts Baja Prog, one of the world's most important events in Progressive Rock. Since 1997, Baja Prog has been in the eyes of the world for being an event gathering the best acts of the progressive rock scene.[citation needed]
Mexicali possesses a diversity of shopping venues and malls, the most visited being Plaza La Cachanilla, located just a few minutes away from the US border. The mall hosts a variety of shops, which sell a wide array of things, ranging from cheap Mexican curiosities to expensive imports. The Plaza La Cachanilla also represents a common place for people to socialize, especially during summer days when the weather reaches high temperatures, many families come and spend the day inside the air conditioned mall.
Just about everything for recreation can be found in Mexicali, including pool halls, bowling alleys, traditional cantinas, car clubs, full contact strip clubs, movie theaters, museums, a zoo, a state university, a convention center, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants.
The Galerias del Valle, anchored by WalMart Supercenter, 12-screen movie theater Cinepolis and Ashley Furniture is located by Boulevard Lazaro Cardenas and Calle 11. The mall's food court contains such eateries including Carl's Jr., Applebees, Starbucks, and Burger King.
[edit] Tags:Cachanilla,Nevada, | |
| Proposed Iifrastructure | |
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Mexicali is located in a strategic location which puts it in line to benefit from two multi billion dollar infrastructure projects if they go forward. These are a hydro-engineering project and the Punta Colonet port project. The hydro-engineering project is the renovation of a Canal connecting the Gulf of California with Laguna Salada south west of Mexicali or construction of a new canal direct to Mexicali. The water project would then connect by pipe or canal further to the Salton Sea in California. The water project would supply the area with sea water for desalination and hydro electric Tags: | |
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