Ciudad Juárez, or simply Juárez, is a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua with a population of 1,142,354. It stands on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The two cities form a binational metropolitan area of approximately two and a half million people making it the largest binational metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexico border. It is the major port of entry and transportation center of north central Mexico and the fifth largest city in Mexico. It is a growing industrial center with numerous maquiladoras (assembly plants).

Ciudad Juarez was founded as El Paso del Norte ("the Northern Pass") in 1659 by Spanish explorers, seeking a route through the southern Rocky Mountains.

The wood for the bridge across the Rio Grande first came from Santa Fe in the 1700s.

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the Rio Grande as the border between Mexico and the United States, separating the settlements on the north bank of the river from the rest of the town. The portion of the city allotted to the United States would later become El Paso, Texas. Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas are one of the 14 pairs of sister cities along the US-Mexico border. During the French intervention in Mexico (1862–1867), El Paso del Norte served as a temporary capital of Benito Juárez's republican forces. In 1888, El Paso del Norte was renamed in honor of Juárez.

Ciudad Juarez again served as a provisional Mexican capital during the initial phase of the Mexican Revolution, when forces loyal to opposition candidate Francisco I. Madero, led by Pancho Villa, seized the city on 20 November 1910. The scene of intense fighting for a decade, Juárez recovered during the US Prohibition era (1919–1933) as an entertainment center. Juárez continued to attract tourists from the southwest USA during the 1940s and 1950s, with its bars, nightclubs, brothels, bullfighting, shopping and donkey shows.

Juárez has grown substantially in recent decades due to a large influx of people rapidly moving into the city in search of jobs with the maquiladoras. Large slum housing communities called colonias have become extensive. Juárez has gained further notoriety as a major center of narcotics trafficking linked to the powerful Juárez Cartel, and for several hundred unsolved murders of young women since 1993.

See also

• Female homicides in Ciudad Juárez

External links

• Secretariat of Industrial Development of Chihuahua State Government (in spanish)
• Official webpage of Juárez in Spanish
• Juárez Tour Guide: A look at the positive side of Juárez from an American who has lived there among the people.
• CdJuarez.net
• International Family Missions: Ministry and Outreach programs in Juárez

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