Ciudad del Carmen

Ciudad del Carmen
Ciudad del Carmen
—  City  —
View of the city from the Terminos Lagoon
Ciudad del Carmen is located in Mexico
Ciudad del Carmen
Coordinates: 18°38′N 91°50′W / 18.633°N 91.833°W / 18.633; -91.833Coordinates: 18°38′N 91°50′W / 18.633°N 91.833°W / 18.633; -91.833
Country Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico
State Flag of Campeche.svg Campeche
Municipality Carmen
City Founded July 16, 1717
Government
 – Mayor Aracely Escalante Jasso (PRI)
Elevation 2 m (66 ft)
Population (INEGI2010)
 – Total 221,094
 – Demonym Carmelita
Time zone Central Standard Time
 – Summer (DST) Central Daylight Time (UTC)
Area code(s) 938
Major Airport Ciudad del Carmen International Airport
IATA Code CME
ICAO Code MMCE
Website http://www.carmen.gob.mx/

Ciudad del Carmen is a city in the southwest of the Mexican state of Campeche. Ciudad del Carmen is located at 18°38′N 91°50′W / 18.63°N 91.83°W / 18.63; -91.83 on the southwest of Carmen Island, which stands in the Laguna de Términos on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The 2005 census population was 154,197 people. In July 2006 Ciudad del Carmen celebrated its 150th anniversary as a city.

The city is nicknamed "The Pearl of the Gulf". Ciudad del Carmen was a small city mostly devoted to fishing until the 1970s when oil was discovered in the region; since then it has grown and developed substantially. To this day Carmen is known as one of the best locations to find seafood in Mexico. As late as the early 1980s the city could long be reached only by ferry boats called "pangas"; this changed with the construction of a causeway bridge to the mainland in the 1980s and another one in 1994 before the term of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari ended. The construction of the first bridge was motivated by the sinking of one of the island's pangas which resulted in the death of nearly everyone on board. The bridge Puente El Zacatal, constructed in 1994, is one of the longest in Latin America.

Zacatal Bridge

This border area at the western edge of the Yucatán Peninsula was previously part of the state of Yucatán, then of Tabasco; since 1863 it has been part of the state of Campeche. In 1840 the city had a population of about 7,000.

The city is also the seat of the state of Campeche's Carmen municipality, which includes the city and the surrounding area. The 2005 census population of the municipality of Carmen was 199,988 people, second only to the capital municipality of Campeche.

The main university in Ciudad del Carmen is the Universidad Autónoma del Carmen (UNACAR).

Oil platform near Ciudad del Carmen

Contents

History

Founded in the pre-Hispanic era, Ciudad del Carmen was an important location which served to connect the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. Between the 16th and 18th centuries when the city of Campeche was a trade hub between Spain and New Spain (Mexico), Ciudad del Carmen was inhabited by pirates and served as a port for repairing ships and planning attacks against the Spanish.

The city got its current name on July 16, 1717, in honor of the Virgin of Carmen, believed to be the protector of the island, when the Spanish forces, commanded by Alonso Felipe de Andrade evicted the pirates from the island and took control the city after a long period of occupation. Since then, every year at the end of July, Ciudad del Carmen turns into the very center of the regional social, cultural and religious festivities, on the fair that celebrates the island's protector virgin [1].

Petroleum

In the mid 1970s Ciudad del Carmen was transformed from a fishing and shrimping city into a hub for oil when Pemex discovered large amounts of petroleum off the coast. Ever since Carmen has become a home for Mexican and foreign oil workers alike, including many Texans, and now houses many foreign companies.

Tourism

References

External links


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