San Nicolás | |
|---|---|
 Parque Niños Héroes, San Nicólas de los Garza | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Nickname: San Nicolás | |
| Motto: In Unum Progedientes | |
 Location of San Nicolás de la Garza in northern Mexico | |
| Coordinates:25°45′N100°17′W / 25.750°N 100.283°W /25.750; -100.283 | |
| Country | Mexico |
| State | Nuevo León |
| Founded | 5 February 1597 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Daniel Carrillo (PAN) |
| Area | |
• City | 60.14 km2 (23.22 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 512 m (1,680 ft) |
| Population | |
• City | 412,199 |
| • Density | 6,854/km2 (17,750/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 5,341,177 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central Standard Time) |
| Postal code | 66400 (Center) |
| Website | www |
San Nicolás de los Garza, sometimes known only asSan Nicolás, is acity and coextensivemunicipality in theMexican state ofNuevo León that is part of theMonterrey metropolitan area. It has become primarily a city for residences and family houses, although it still has several factories that tend to relocate to the periphery of the metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, behind Monterrey,Guadalupe,Ciudad Apodaca andGeneral Escobedo.
It houses theUniversidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Autonomous University of Nuevo León), one of the most prestigious public schools inMexico andLatin America.
San Nicolás, although less populated than Monterrey, has a higher population density.
San Nicolás de los Garza was founded on 5 February 1597 and given the name ofEstancia de Pedro de la Garza (Pedro de la Garza’s Estate), thenEstancia de San Nicolás (Saint Nicholas’ Estate), and finallyEstancia de San Nicolás de los Garza (Saint Nicholas of the Garzas’ Estate).The first people that inhabited the terrain wereAmerindian, mostly nomads. They were theAlazapas, theAyalas and theAlincheños.[citation needed]
San Nicolás was founded right afterMonterrey, whenDiego de Montemayor granted permission to inhabit the area to his secretary,Diego Díaz de Berlanga; Pedro de Iñigo; Domingo Manuel; andD. Pedro de la Garza. The members of these families are considered the first settlers of the city.
Diego Díaz de Berlanga was the person that redacted Monterrey's Foundation Act, and authorized the first land permissions to its first settlers.
In 1830 the area was declared to the category of village, with the name of San Nicolás de los Garza, in honor of the patron saint of the town. On 12 May 1970 it was declared a city.
San Nicolás de los Garza is a municipality governed by a democratically electedPresidente Municipal (Municipal President or Mayor) for three years with no right to reelection. The political environment is one of civility. Since the 1980s, thePAN has remained in office.
The City Council of San Nicolás de los Garza (Cabildo de San Nicolás de los Garza) is an organ integrated by the mayor, theRegidores and theSíndicos. The mayor is the executor of the determinations of the City Council and the person directly in charge of the public municipal administration. TheRegidores represent the community and their mission is to collectively define the city policies in all the subjects affecting it. TheSíndicos are in charge of watching and legally defend the city interests, as well as in charge of watching the City Treasury status and the municipal patrimony.
The current mayor of San Nicolás is Pedro Salgado Almaguer (PAN), who was elected in the past municipal election and will remain in office until 2016.
The political parties with representation in the city are theInstitutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, theNational Action Party or PAN, theParty of the Democratic Revolution or PRD, theLabor Party or PT, theGreen Party,Convergence,Socialdemocratic Party, andNueva Alianza.
In the first part of the 20th century, several important Mexican companies built factories in the municipality, making San Nicolás primarily an industrial center. Companies likeCemex (concrete),Vitro (glass),Peñoles, and Hylsa (steel) were known for their large facilities in the city.[citation needed]
In the 1970s, San Nicolás increased its reputation as a good place to live, and the municipality experienced a tide of house construction. This house construction boom was possible because there were a lot of lands available within the territory of the city. In the 1980s several industrial facilities moved to other municipalities, mainly to Apodaca, which is still within the Monterrey Metropolitan Area, but farther from downtown.
At the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s, huge commercial centers or malls were constructed to serve the large population. The first economic activity became commerce instead of industrial production. The most important malls are La Fe (east), Citadel (east), Las Plazas Outlet (northwest), Plaza Fiesta Anahuac (south), Sendero (North) and Universidad Avenue. The city count with several commercial centers in construction.[citation needed]
The main campus of the UANL,Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Autonomous University of Nuevo León) is located in this municipality. It is the third-largest Mexican university and among the most recognized schools in Mexico, ranked by the Reader's Digest-AC Nielsen Survey 2005 as the top university (both public and private) in the northeast region of Mexico.[3] Its main campus is calledCiudad Universitaria (University City) with an approximate area of 67,630,000 square meters.[4] The UANL system comprises 26 colleges (faculties), 22 post-graduate divisions, 24 high schools (throughout the metropolitan area of Monterrey), one center of bilingual education, and three technical high schools.
San Nicolás de los Garza also serves as the home ofTigres UANL, aLiga MX professionalfootball team associated withUANL, whose rivals areC.F. Monterrey. They hosted matches as far as thequarter-finals at the1986 FIFA World Cup.
San Nicolás de los Garza has fivesister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc (SCI):[7]
Denton,Texas,United StatesKansas City,Missouri,United StatesSeguin,Texas,United States
Taipei,Taiwan[8]
Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada
Media related toSan Nicolás de los Garza at Wikimedia Commons
San Nicolás de los Garza travel guide from Wikivoyage | ||
25°45′N100°17′W / 25.750°N 100.283°W /25.750; -100.283
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