Map of Monterrey- Mexico

Monterrey, is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, in Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the base of many significant international corporations.

It is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico and in the world with a GDP PPP of 130.7 billion dollars in 2012. Monterrey’s GDP PPP per capita is of approximately 32,000 dollars. It is considered a Beta World City, cosmopolitan and competitive. Rich in history and culture, Monterrey is considered one of the most developed cities in the entire country and often regarded as the most “americanized” in Mexico.

As an important industrial and business center, the city is also home to an array of Mexican companies, including Grupo Avante, Lanix Electronics, Ocresa, CEMEX, Vitro, Mercedes-Benz Mexico, OXXO, BMW de Mexico, Grupo Bimbo, DINA S.A., Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery and Heineken, which features Norteño capital and Grupo ALFA. Monterrey is also home to international companies such as Siemens, Accenture, Ternium, Sony, Toshiba, Carrier, Whirlpool, Samsung, Toyota, Babcock & Wilcox, Daewoo, Ericsson, Nokia, Dell, Boeing, HTC, General Electric, Gamesa, LG, SAS Institute, Grundfos, Danfoss, and Teleperformance, among others.

Monterrey is located in northeast Mexico, at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The uninterrupted settlement of Monterrey starts in 1596, with its founding by Diego de Montemayor. In the years after the Mexican War of Independence, Monterrey became an important business center. With the establishment of Fundidora Monterrey, the city experienced a great industrial growth.

Population: 1 203 002 (2017)

Language

Several different languages are spoken in Mexico, with a large majority of the population fluent in Spanish while some indigenous Mexicans are monolingual in indigenous languages. Most Mexicans are monolingual Spanish-speakers.

Currency

The currency in use at the Monterrey Airport in Mexico is the Mexican New Peso, abbreviated as MXN.

The Monterrey Airport ATM or Monterrey Airport cash machine locations may be found:

ATM’s are located at Lower Level Terminal A and Lower Level Terminal C.

Geography

The city of Monterrey is 540 metres (1,770 ft) above sea level and located in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. The Santa Catarina River—dry most of the year on the surface but with flowing underground water—bisects Monterrey from East to West, thus separating the city into north and south halves, and drains the city to the San Juan River and Rio Grande.

Monterrey is adjoined to San Nicolás de los Garza, García and General Escobedo to the north; Guadalupe, Juárez and Cadereyta Jiménez to the east; Santiago to the south; and San Pedro Garza García and Santa Catarina to the west. Together, their population reaches over 4,080,329 people.

Monterrey lies north of the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range. A small hill, the Cerro del Topo and the smaller Topo Chico are located in the suburbs of San Nicolás de los Garza and Escobedo. West of the city rises the Cerro de las Mitras (Mountain of the Mitres), which resemble the profile of several bishops with their mitres.

Cerro de la Silla (Saddle Mountain) dominates the view at the east of the city and is considered a major symbol of the city. Cerro de la Loma Larga—South of the Santa Catarina river—separates Monterrey from the suburb of San Pedro Garza García. At the summit of the Cerro del Obispado, north of the river, is the historic Bishopric Palace, site of one of the most important battles of the Mexican-American War.

Climate

Monterrey has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh). It is one of the warmest major cities in Mexico. Summers are generally hot, spring and fall temperate, and winters mild, with temperatures rarely below freezing. The average high in August is 35 °C (95 °F) and the average low is 23 °C (73 °F). The average January high is 21 °C (70 °F) and the average low in January is 8 °C (46 °F). Rainfall is scarce in winter, but more frequent during May through September.

Monterrey frequently experiences extreme weather changes; for example, sometimes reaching 30 °C (86 °F) in January and February, despite these being the coldest months. The most extreme weather changes in summer occur with rainfall, which changes extreme heat to cooler temperatures, and the temporary absence of the northern winds in winter, which can lead to abnormally high temperatures. Seasons are not well defined; the warm season may start in February and may last until September. In April and May 2011 temperatures reached 45 °C (113 °F) or more, causing fires and extreme heat in the city, despite the fact that these months are in spring. Snow is a very rare event, although an accumulation of 20 inches (51 cm) in 8 hours occurred in January 1967. The most recent snowfall was in December 2004, on Christmas Eve. Several sleet and ice events have occurred during January 2007, December 2009, January and February 2010 and February 2011, caused by temperatures around −5 °C (23 °F).

From June 30 to July 2 of 2010, Monterrey was hit by the worst natural disaster in the city’s history when Hurricane Alex delivered more than 584 millimetres (23 in) of rain around 72 hours, with areas reaching up to 1 metre (39 in) of rain during that same period, destroying homes, avenues, highways and infrastructure, and leaving up to 200,000 families without water for a week or more. The amount of water that fell is equivalent to the average precipitation for a year period. This was about 3–4 times as much rain as when Hurricane Gilbert arrived to the city on September 15, 1988. The death toll of Hurricane Alex was estimated to be around 20.

Health

Monterrey generally has a very high ranked medical infrastructure with some internationally acclaimed hospitals, including three with Joint Commission accreditation the Joint Commission is a private healthcare accreditation group. There are both public and private hospitals. The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) has two major regional hospitals in the city, the Specialties Regional Hospital # 33, the cardiac centre (Hospital #34), and the Gynecology and Obstetrics Regional Hospital, serving also the northeastern states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas. Several smaller IMSS hospitals can be found such as the Traumatology and Orthopedics Hospital and the General Hospital # 25. State government owns the Metropolitan Hospital, located in the suburb of San Nicolás de los Garza and the Hospital of the Children and Mother Care in Guadalupe suburb.

The Autonomous University of Nuevo León runs the public University Hospital, with a high-level shock-trauma unit and a specialized clinic for child cancer treatment. It is recognized as the best public hospital in the northeast of Mexico and the UANL School of Medicine as one of the best in the country. On the other hand, the Tecnológico de Monterrey runs the Hospital San José-Tec de Monterrey private hospital.

Monterrey has healthcare standards above the average for Mexico. It has several hospitals, including Hospital Cima (formerly Santa Engracia) of the International Hospital Corporation. Its convenient location, low prices and quality of medical care have made of Monterrey a very popular medical tourism destination for United States patients.

Culture

Cuisine

The most traditional dish from Monterrey is cabrito, kid goat cooked on embers based on the Jewish cuisine of the founders of the city. Other local dishes and customs that perhaps date back to the Crypto-Judaism of these founders are the “semita” (bread without leavening), the capirotada dessert (a mix of cooked bread, cheese, raisins, peanuts, and crystallized sugarcane juice), and the relative absence of pork dishes. Another famous local dish is machacado con huevo.

Carne asada on weekends remains a tradition among Monterrey families. It is usually served with grilled onions, baked potatoes and sausages or chopped as tacos. Locally brewed beer and cola are an almost mandatory part of the weekly ritual. The traditional desserts, “glorias” and “obleas,” made from goat milk are both traditional candies from Nuevo León.

Contemporary music

Starting in the 1960s, Monterrey has been known for “Norteño” music which is the trademark music of the city, bands like Ramon Ayala, Pesado, Duelo and other Mexican “Regional” music bands perform at the different clubs in the city. Monterrey has witnessed the birth of several bands that have become internationally acclaimed. Their genres vary considerably. Bands include Plastilina Mosh, Control Machete, Kinky, El Gran Silencio, Jumbo, Division Minuscula, Genitallica, 3Ball MTY, GAMA, Los Claxons. The song “Los Oxidados” by Plastilina Mosh opened the 2005 movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.