Map of Ciudad Juarez- Mexico

Ciudad Juárez, is a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Commonly referred to by locals as simply Juárez, and known as Paso del Norte (Pass of the North) until 1888, Juárez is the seat of the municipality of Juárez with an estimated population of 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), south of El Paso, Texas. Together with the surrounding areas the cities form El Paso–Juárez, the second largest bi-national metropolitan area on the Mexico–United States border (after San Diego–Tijuana), with a combined population of over 2.7 million people.

Strategically placed on the Mexico–United States border, Ciudad Juárez has long been a center of illegal drug trafficking. The Juárez Cartel’s long-standing control over the city’s trafficking activities was challenged in 2007 by its former ally the Sinaloa Cartel, leading to an exceptionally bloody turf war. In the period from 2008 to 2012, violence between the two reached unprecedented heights as the city became known as “the most dangerous place on Earth”. At the very height of the conflict, in 2010, there were an average 8.5 to 20 homicides (for a total of 3,766) and eight kidnappings per day. By 2012, the Sinaloa cartel had decisively gained the upper hand and violence declined sharply as a result. As of 2015 and 2016, perceptions of the city are much more positive. While killings do still occur, they do so at a much lower rate that is comparable to or lower than that in many American cities.

There are four international ports of entry connecting Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, including the Bridge of the Americas, Ysleta International Bridge, Paso del Norte Bridge and Stanton Street Bridge. These combined allowed 22,958,472 crossings in 2008, making Ciudad Juárez a major point of entry and transportation into the U.S. for all of central northern Mexico. The city has a growing industrial center which is made up in large part by more than 300 maquiladoras (assembly plants) located in and around the city. According to a 2007 New York Times article, Ciudad Juárez “is now absorbing more new industrial real estate space than any other North American city.” In 2008, fDi Magazine designated Ciudad Juárez “The City of the Future.

Population: 1,512,354

Language: Spanish

Currency: Peso (MXN)

Climate

Due to its location in the Chihuahuan Desert and high altitude, Ciudad Juárez has a cold desert climate (Köppen climate BWk). Seasons are distinct, with hot summers, mild springs and autumns, and cold winters. Summer average high is 35 °C (95 °F) with lows of 21 °C (70 °F). Winter highs average 14 °C (57 °F) with lows of 0 °C (32 °F). Rainfall is scarce and greater in summer. Snowfalls occur occasionally (about 4 times a year), between November and March. On 26/27 December 2015, parts of the city received 40 cm (16 in) of snow within a 24-hour period beating the previous record of 28 cm (11 in) set in 1951.[27] The record high is 49 °C (120 °F) and the record low is −23 °C (−9 °F).

Economy

The El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation indicated that Ciudad Juárez is the metropolis absorbing “more new industrial real estate space than any other North American city.” The Financial Times Group through its publication The Foreign Direct Investment Magazine ranked Ciudad Juárez as the “City of the Future” for 2007–2008. The Ciudad Juárez-El Paso area is a major manufacturing center. CommScope, Electrolux, Bosch, Foxconn, Flextronics, Lexmark, Delphi, Visteon, Johnson Controls, Toro, Lear, Boeing, Cardinal Health, Yazaki, Sumitomo, and Siemens are some of the foreign companies that have chosen Ciudad Juárez for their business operation.

The Mexican state of Chihuahua is frequently among the top five states in Mexico with the most foreign investment. Many foreign retail, banking, and fast-food businesses have locations within Juárez.

In the 1990s, traditional brick kilns have made up a big part of the economic informal sector. These were typically located in the poorer regions of Juárez. The kilns used open air fires, where certain materials that were burned generated a lot of air pollution. Along with rapid industrialization, small brick kilns have been a big contributor to the high amount of air pollution in Ciudad Juárez.

Transportation

Public Bus System

The main public transportation system in the city is the Public Bus System. The public buses run the main streets of Cd. Juárez throughout the day, costing seven pesos (less than 40 cents) to ride one. Due the aging current bus fleet being considered potentially outdated, the Municipal Government is working on replacing the buses with new ones, along with improving the bus stops, such as by equipping them with shade.

The ViveBus Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system opened to the public in November 2013 with the first route of five planned. The project was made a reality with the collaboration of the local municipal government, the private enterprise of Integradora de Transporte de Juarez (INTRA) as well as other city government agencies. Studies have shown that the current bus system averages 8 mph (13 km/h) while the new system is projected to average 16 mph (26 km/h). The BRT system studies conducted by the Instituto Municipal de Investigacion Y Planeacion project a daily ridership of 40,000.

The first of the five routes opened to users in late 2013 and is officially named Presidencia-Tierra Nueva and has 34 stations distributed along the north to south corridor. The route starts at Avenida Francisco Villa, follows north to Eje Vial Norte-Sur then veers left at Zaragoza Blvd. and ends at Avenida Independencia and the elevated Carretera Federal 2.

 Airport

The city is served by Abraham González International Airport, with flights to several Mexican cities. It accommodates national and international air traffic for the city. Nearby El Paso International Airport handles flights to cities within the United States.

International border crossings

The first bridge to cross the Rio Grande at El Paso del Norte was built in the time of New Spain, over 250 years ago, from wood hauled in from Santa Fe. Today, this bridge is honored by the modern Santa Fe Street Bridge, and Santa Fe Street in downtown El Paso.

Several bridges serve the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez area in addition to the Paso Del Norte Bridge also known as the Santa Fe Street Bridge, including the Bridge of the Americas, Stanton Street Bridge, and the Ysleta Bridge also known as the Zaragoza Bridge.

There is also a land crossing at nearby Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and the Fabens–Caseta International Bridge in nearby Fabens, Texas.