32°32N 117°02W, pop (2000e) 894 000. Border town in NW Baja California Norte, NW Mexico; on the Pacific Ocean at the frontier with California, USA; airfield; tourist town with casinos and nightclubs; horse racing, dog racing, bullfights.
Ciudad de Tijuana|
Coat of Arms of the municipality of Tijuana |
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| Motto: Aquí empieza la patria, "The Homeland Starts Here". | |
| Date Founded | July 11, 1889 |
| Demonym | Tijuanense in Spanish |
| Population | 1,410,700 (2005) |
| Density of population | 2 212 hab/km² (2000) |
| Altitude | 20 metres |
| Latitude | 32° 31' 30" N |
| Longitude | 117° 02' W |
| Time Zones (UTC) | Pacific Standard Time – 8 hours (GMT) |
| Telephone area code | 664 |
| Website | www.tijuana.gob.mx |
| Sources: INEGI, Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México | |
Tijuana (Spanish [ti'xwana], English usually [ˌtiːəˈwɑnə]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana; Hilly Tijuana is the westernmost city in Latin America as well as one of the northernmost cities (Mexicali a few hours to the east by car, is slightly farther north). The city of Playas de Rosarito seceded from Tijuana between 1990 and 2000 to become its own city.
It is sometimes considered a mix of Mexico's good and bad: known for its economic prosperity, popular night clubs, and shopping areas, Tijuana is also considered to be Mexico's biggest illicit drug and prostitution center, with high kidnapping rates.
History
The city of Tijuana is situated in a region once inhabited by the Kumeyaay Indians, a tribe of Yuman-speaking hunter-gatherers. In 1769, Father Juan Crespí documented more detailed information about the area that would one day be called the Valley of Tijuana and Father Junípero Serra founded the first mission of Alta California in San Diego.
More settlement of the area took place near the end of the mission era when José María Echendía, governor of the Baja California and Alta California, awarded a large land grant to Santiago Argüello in 1829.
The year 1889 marked the beginning of the urban settlement, when descendants of Santiago Argüello and Agustín Olvera entered an agreement to begin development of the city of Tijuana.
Tijuana saw its future in tourism from its inception.
During the Mexican Revolution, Tijuana was also a small stage for revolutionaries loyal to Ricardo Flores Magón, who took over the city in 1911.
In 1916, the Feria San Diego, California Panamá brought a great number of visitors to the neighboring American city to the north.
The 1920s changed Tijuana forever when the enactment of prohibition in the US sent droves of Americans across the border to partake in legal drinking and gambling.
In 1994, PRI presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated in Tijuana while making an appearance in the plaza of Colonia Lomas Taurinas, a neighborhood nestled in a valley near Centro.
Today, the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing is the most crossed international land border in the world.
Origin of name
Historians have investigated the origins of the name of the city of Tijuana.
Nonetheless, most English-speaking Americans pronounce the name of the city Tia wanna, though it is commonly called "TJ" in Southern California. The adjacent city and formerly part of Tijuana is Playas de Rosarito.
Culture and entertainment
Culture
The city has various schools of superior studies, conservatory music, dance schools, plastic arts, science and culinary arts.
The Tijuana Cultural Center (CECUT) is comprised of a theater, lecture rooms, video rooms, a library, exhibition hall, Museum of the Californias, a futuristic planetary movie theater, and a restaurant. The city also has Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura (Municipal Institute of Art and Culture), the Tijuana Wax Museum, and the Museo El Trompo (The Trompo Museum).
Tijuana also has a very active and independent artist community whose internationally recognized work has earned Tijuana the title of "one of the most important new cultural meccas", according to Newsweek. An anthology of Tijuana's art scene, as part of the Strange New World exhibition, is being curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and will travel extensively across the USA in 2006.
Education
Universities of the region include the College of the Northern Border (COLEF), the most important social research institution in Tijuana; Universidad Iberoamericana - Tijuana, the most prestigious private school in Baja California and in Mexico is the leading education institution for innovative programs; For that reason, other technically-oriented universities such as Colegio Nacional de Educacion Professional Tecnica (CONALEP), Centro de Ensenanza Tecnica e Industrial (CECATI), Universidad de Tijuana (CUT) and Univer have been founded.
Entertainment
Tijuana's most prestigious entertainment center is the Club Campestre de Tijuana, but the Hipodromo dog racing track would be the most notable that is open to the general public.
Avenida Revolución is also famous for its nearby red-light district La Coahuila (also known casually as Zona Norte) which boasts a large number of street prostitutes, being tolerated in this portion of the city, as well as a great selection of strip clubs.
Tijuana possesses a diversity of shopping malls, the most visited being Plaza Rio, located just a few minutes away from the US border.
Typically, just about everything that can be found in the US is also available in Tijuana - for example roller skating rinks, pool halls, bowling alleys, traditional cantinas and car clubs.
Economy
The US dollar is accepted in many Tijuana businesses, but local peso rates are lower. As prices go in Mexico, Tijuana is one of the most expensive places in Mexico for goods, and it rises as you approach the US border, with some Mexicans resorting to shopping in San Diego. Tijuana is particularly famous among US youths, who cross the border in order to drink alcohol prior to their 21st birthday (Mexico's legal drinking age is 18).
Due to Tijuana's proximity to large California cities and its large, inexpensive, skilled and diverse workforce, it is an attractive city for foreign companies to establish extensive industrial parks comprised of 'assembly plants' or maquiladoras, even more so than other cities in the US-Mexican border zone, taking advantage of NAFTA to export products. This makes Tijuana a popular city for poor migrant workers from other parts of Mexico, as well as other countries to the south, and very profitable trafficking of drugs, people, and other goods across the border.
Among the companies that have setup 'maquiladoras' in Tijuana we find: Sony, Toyota, Samsung, Kodak, Matsushita/Panasonic, Nabisco, Philips, Pioneer, Plantronics, Pall Medical, Sanyo, etc.
Binational economic development along the US-Mexico border is key to the development of Tijuana going forward.
Sports
| Club | Sport | Founded | League | Venue | Logo |
| Tijuana Galgos | Basketball | ? | Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional | Auditorio Municipal | |
| Tijuana Dragons | Basketball | 2003 | American Basketball Association | Auditorio Municipal | |
| Tijuana Potros | Baseball | ? | Mexican League | Calimax Stadium | |
| Club Tijuana Gallos de Caliente | Football (Soccer) | 2006 | Primera División A | CREAD Stadium |
There are also two professional basketball teams. The Galgos de Tijuana (Greyhounds) de Tijuana play in the LNBP (Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional) during the summer months.
Driving to Tijuana from the USA
Either Interstate 5 or Interstate 805 lead directly to the international crossing at San Ysidro, California.
Tijuana Makes Me Happy
Tijuana has always been thought of as a hub for tourists to purge their appetite for tequila. The feature film Tijuana Makes Me Happy directed by Dylan Verrechia, produced by James Lefkowitz and Pablo Tendilla, with music by Pepe Mogt from Nortec Collective, shows a brighter and more realistic picture of this city. The goal in their film is to break down the preconceived notion of Tijuana as a city of sin by showing the humanity of its people: their struggle, the strength of character, and the love of life that flourishes within. It also seeks to show that Tijuana is also in its own right a melting pot rich in culture, a place where people from all over Mexico come to work and live, people who are genuine and whose stories deserve to be heard.
The famous battle between the Tijuana Cartel and their rival, Chihuahua-based Juárez Cartel was portrayed in the 2000 Hollywood movie Traffic.
Tijuana's International Airport (General Abelardo L.
Caesar Salad was invented in Tijuana in 1924 by an Italian chef named Caesar Cardini.
About 300,000 people cross the border between San Diego and Tijuana every day.
Despite general perceptions about the economy, there are various products that are more expensive in Tijuana than in the United States.
In the animated TV series Futurama, Tijuana is the industrial heartland of the United States.
In the animated TV series The Simpsons Krusty the Klown takes a group of children to Tijuana in the episode Kamp Krusty.
The feature film Tijuana Makes Me Happy by Dylan Verrechia, James Lefkowitz and Pablo Tendilla, depicts a brand new positive and truer image of the city of Tijuana.
One episode of the show "The OC" took place here
Fictional References
2005 Don Winslow Novel, The Power of the Dog
1996 Edward Bunker novel, Dog Eat Dog.
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