Introduction

Known as Tenochtitlan within a rather distant frame of history, Mexico City, which was then the capital Aztec city, rested on a one-square mile piece of land set within the expansive but shallow lake Texcoco; an island, so to say. Mexico City was the capital of a military empire that stretched from Texas to Honduras by the early 1500s. It flourished with exceptional rapidity and was soon resplendent with beautiful palaces and temples accompanied by thriving marketplaces. Being a fundamentally flourishing city, Mexico was showing signs of assuming significant development phases when the Spanish Conquistador, Hernán Cortés arrived in the city in 1519. In spite of his animated fervor in concern to defeating and occupying the city however, Cortés was unsuccessful in enforcing his plans until approximately three violently battle filled years later on the 13 th of August 1521 .

The historical & geographical features & characteristics of Mexico City

The extensive and fierce battle (s) that had raged over the three ensuing years had left most of the beautiful Aztec city of Tenochtitlan prevalently ravaged and destroyed and Cortés adhered to directing the new construction atop the ruins of the old (de Madariaga, 1975). Often using materials from the Aztec ruins of the city upon which the new construction was being directed, the Spanish soon brought about the evolution of the city as the center of political, religious, economical and cultural power of the Spanish colony, New Spain. The subterranean terrain between the island and the closest lakeshore was then drained and filled in, subsequently making for an increase in size of the area as well as a transformation of the area from an island into something of a peninsula (Kandell, 1988). Gradually, as the Spanish domination stretched on under the governance of different leaders, the lake was drained further and further in bids to increase the ground coverage of the city.

It is barely surprising, thus speaking and considering the significance of such operations, that Mexico eventually grew into the most expansive city within the Americas . While it is widely renowned for being the longest continuously inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere , it would be noteworthy to acknowledge that Mexico City also happens to rank as the largest. The city claimed independence from Spain in 1821 and has been occupied by foreign invaders twice since. While the first occupation was by the US in 1847, during the Mexican-American War’ seventeen years into the future saw the French occupying the city. The latter installed a puppet ruler, Maximilian of Habsburg, for a time before granting the city it's independence once again. In 1873 the first railroad line linking the capital to the coast at Veracruz opened (Kandell, 1988).

Analysis in concern to the population, geology & ecology within Mexico City

It would be instrumentally relevant to acknowledge here that, in addition to being one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City also happens to be one of the most densely populated. This, moreover, is something that is particularly due to the exceptionally significant population boost (s) that occurred during the latter portion of the 20 th century. Take into consideration, for instance, the fact that while the city had close to 3 million inhabitants in 1950, the estimated population for Mexico City proper was 18,131,000 barely half a decade later, in 2000. ‘Estimates for the [greater] Mexico City metropolitan area range, furthermore, are as high as 28 million people in an urban area covering some 5,000 km square ’ (Wikipedia, 2004).

Moreover, as a result of the fact that the region rests on a comparatively lower plateau of land as a result of it being a lakebed, Mexico City tends to be exceptionally gullible to earthquake related detriments. ‘The city's construction on a former lake bed means that the effects of earthquakes tend to be magnified by the geology ’ (Wikipedia, 2004). This is something that is accentuated quite strongly when considering it in light of the fact that an 8.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the region in 1985 left approximately 5000 to 20,000 people dead while rendering around 50,000 to 90,000 people homeless (De Mente, 1988). Moreover, the high-rising mountains surrounding Mexico City on three sides make for an ecological setting that contributes to considerably hindering issues of air pollution. The pollution turns especially noticeable and consequently ‘bothersome during the hot and dry spring that stretches from February to March ’ (Wikitravel, 2004).