San Nicolás de los Garza, sometimes known only as San Nicolás, is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and coextensive

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

that is part of the

Monterrey metropolitan area The Monterrey metropolitan area, also known as Greater Monterrey, refers to the surrounding urban agglomeration of Monterrey, Nuevo León. Officially called , the metropolitan area is the Metropolitan areas of Mexico, 2nd-largest in Mexico. Ove ...

. 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 and

General Escobedo General Escobedo, or simply Escobedo, is a city and municipality in Nuevo León, Mexico that is part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. As of the census of 2005, the population was 295,131 in the city and 299,364 in the municipality. The municipa ...

. It houses the

Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

(Autonomous University of Nuevo León), one of the most prestigious public schools in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. San Nicolás, although less populated than Monterrey, has the higher population density.

History

San Nicolás de los Garza was founded on 5 February 1597 and given the name of ''Estancia de Pedro de la Garza'' (Pedro de la Garza’s Estate), then ''Estancia de San Nicolás'' (''Saint Nicholas’ Estate''), and finally ''Estancia de San Nicolás de los Garza'' (''Saint Nicholas of the Garzas’ Estate''). San Nicolás was founded right after

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

, when

Diego de Montemayor Diego de Montemayor ( – 1611) was a Spanish conquistador, explorer, officer, and the governor of Nuevo Reino de León. Early life Historians dispute his date of birth, place of birth, and the identity of his parents. However, Antonio Mora ...

granted permission to inhabit the area to his secretary,

Diego Díaz de Berlanga Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

; Pedro de Iñigo; Domingo Manuel; and 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.

Government

San Nicolás de los Garza is a municipality governed by a democratically elected ''Presidente Municipal'' (Municipal President or Mayor) for three years with no right to reelection. The political environment is one of civility. Since the 1980s, the PAN 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, the ''Regidores'' and the ''Síndicos''. The mayor is the executor of the determinations of the City Council and the person directly in charge of the public municipal administration. The ''Regidores'' represent the community and their mission is to collectively define the city policies in all the subjects affecting it. The ''Síndicos'' 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 the Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI, the National Action Party or PAN, the Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD, the Labor Party or PT, the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

Convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

, Socialdemocratic Party, and Nueva Alianza.

Economy

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 like

Cemex CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V., known as Cemex, is a Mexican multinational building materials company headquartered in San Pedro, near Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It manufactures and distributes cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates in more than ...

(concrete),

Vitro Vitro is the largest glass producer in Mexico and one of the world's largest organizations in the glass industry. Founded in 1909 in Monterrey, Mexico, this corporation has 30 subsidiaries in Mexico, United States, Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Cost ...

(glass),

Peñoles Peñoles is a subsidiary company owned by Grupo BAL. Peñoles is the second largest Mexican mining company, the first Mexican producer of gold, zinc and lead and the world leader in silver production. Peñoles is a company with active mines wi ...

, and Hylsa (steel) were known for their large facilities in the city. 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.

Education

The main campus of the UANL, ''Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León'' (

Autonomous University of Nuevo León The Autonomous University of Nuevo León () is a public research university with seven campuses across the northern Mexican state of Nuevo León. Founded as University of Nuevo León on 25 September 1933, it is the third largest public university ...

) 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. Its main campus is called ''Ciudad Universitaria'' (University City) with an approximate area of 67,630,000 square meters. 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.

Notable people

Juan Celaya (diver) Juan Manuel Celaya Hernández (born 1 September 1998) is a Mexican diver. He participated at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, winning a medal. He also competed in the men's synchronized 3 meter diving event at the 2021 Olympic Games held ...

, 2024 Paris Olympic Silver Medalist Synchronized Diving *

Adán Zapata Adán Zapata Mireles, or simply Adán Zapata (October 20, 1990 – June 1, 2012), was a Mexican singer and rapper within the genre of hip-hop/rap. He was born and lived in the colony Mexico Lindo in San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León. From 2 ...

, rapper *

Alicia Villarreal Martha Alicia Villarreal Esparza (born August 31, 1971), known simply and professionally as Alicia Villarreal, is a Mexican singer. Villarreal participated in different bands in Monterrey, before becoming the lead singer for Grupo Límite in ...

, singer * César Paz Sr., coach of the 1957 Little League World Series champions, held in Williamsport,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. * Édgar González,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Manuel Uribe Garza Manuel Uribe Garza (11 June 1965 – 26 May 2014) was a Mexican man who was morbidly obese to one of the greatest extents known in recorded history. After reaching a peak weight of around and having been unable to leave his bed since 2002, h ...

, one of the world's fattest men in history

Sports

San Nicolás de los Garza also serves as the home of

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

, a

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team associated with UANL, whose rivals are

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

. They hosted matches as far as the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

Twin towns – sister cities

San Nicolás de los Garza has five

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc (SCI): * Denton,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

* Seguin,

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Notes

References

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Nuevo León
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

* *
Gobierno Municipal de San Nicolás de los Garza official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Nicolás de los Garza Populated places in Nuevo León Monterrey metropolitan area Municipalities of Nuevo León Populated places established in 1597