San Nicolás de los Garza
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): San Nicolás
Motto: In Unum Progedientes
Location of San Nicolás de los Garza in northern Mexico
Coordinates: 25°45′N 100°17′W / 25.75°N 100.283°W / 25.75; -100.283
Country	Mexico
State	Nuevo León
Founded	5 February 1597
Government
• Mayor	Carlos de la Fuente (PAN)
Area
• City	86.8 km2 (33.5 sq mi)
Elevation	512 m (1,680 ft)
Population (2005)
• City	476,761
• Density	5,493/km2 (14,230/sq mi)
• Metro	3,664,331
Time zone	Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
Website	http://www.sanicolas.gob.mx

San Nicolás de los Garza, sometimes known only as San Nicolás, is a city and coextensive municipality in the Mexican state of Nuevo León that is part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. It has become primarily a city for residencies and family houses, although it still has several factories that tend to relocate to the periphery of the metropolitan area. It is the third-largest city in the state, behind Monterrey and Guadalupe.

It houses the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Autonomous University of Nuevo León), one of the most prestigious public schools in Mexico and Latin America.

According to Mexico's national development index, people that live in San Nicolás are among the happiest in the country, and have the greatest quality of life standard in the nation. San Nicolás, although less populated than Monterrey, has the higher population density.

History[link]

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 Establishment), then Estancia de San Nicolás (Saint Nicholas' Establishment), and finally Estancia de San Nicolás de los Garza. The first people that inhabited the terrain were natives, mostly nomads. They were the Alazapas, the Ayalas and the Alincheños.

San Nicolás was founded right after Monterrey, when Diego de Montemayor granted permission to inhabit the area to his secretary, Diego Díaz de Berlanga; Pedro de Iñigo; Domingo Manuel; and Don 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[link]

San Nicolás de los Garza is a municipality governed by a democratically elected Presidente Municipal (Municipal President or Mayor) for a period of 3 years with no right to reelection. The political environment is one of civility. Since the decade of the 80's, 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 Carlos de la Fuente (PAN), who was elected in the past municipal election and will remain in office until 2012.

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, Convergence, Socialdemocratic Party and Nueva Alianza.

Economy[link]

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

In the 70's, 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 80's 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 80's and beginning of the 90's, 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), Las Plazas Outlet (northwest), Plaza Fiesta Anahuac (south), Sendero (North) and Universidad Avenue.

Education[link]

The main campus of the UANL, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Autonomous University of Nuevo León) is located in this municipality. This university is the third largest Mexican university and is 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.^[1] Its main campus is called Ciudad Universitaria (University City) with an approximate area of 67,630,000 square meters.^[2] The UANL system comprises 26 colleges (faculties), 22 post-graduate divisions, 24 high schools (throughout the metropolitan area of Monterrey), 1 center of bilingual education and 3 technical high schools.

Famous people[link]

• Alicia Villarreal, singer
• César Faz Sr., coach of the 1957 Little League World Series champions, held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States.^[3]
• Édgar González pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks
• Grupo Pesado
• Manuel Uribe Garza the world's fattest man

Sports[link]

San Nicolás de los Garza is also the home of the University's First Division professional soccer team, the UANL Tigres. Their main rivals are the neighboring Club de Fútbol Monterrey.

Sister cities[link]

San Nicolás de los Garza has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc (SCI):^[4]

• Denton, Texas, United States
• Kansas City, Missouri, United States
• Seguin, Texas, United States
• Taipei, Republic of China
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Notes[link]

References[link]

• 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[link]

• Gobierno Municipal de San Nicolás de los Garza official website

v t e Monterrey Metropolitan Area Monterrey · Apodaca · Escobedo · García · Guadalupe · Juárez · Salinas Victoria · San Nicolás de los Garza · San Pedro Garza García · Santa Catarina · Santiago

Coordinates: 25°45′N 100°17′W / 25.75°N 100.283°W / 25.75; -100.283

v t e  State of Nuevo León Monterrey (capital) Topics Architecture Climate Cuisine Culture Demographics Economy Education Geography Government History Literature Politics Sports New Leonese Transportation Tourist Attractions Municipalities/ towns Abasolo Agualeguas Allende Anáhuac Apodaca Aramberri Bustamante Cadereyta Jiménez El Carmen Cerralvo China Ciénega de Flores Doctor Arroyo Doctor Coss Doctor González Galeana García General Bravo General Escobedo General Terán General Treviño General Zaragoza General Zuazua Guadalupe Hidalgo Higueras Hualahuises Iturbide Juárez Lampazos de Naranjo Linares Los Aldama Los Herrera Los Ramones Marín Melchor Ocampo Mier y Noriega Mina Montemorelos Monterrey Parás Pesquería Rayones Sabinas Hidalgo Salinas Victoria San Nicolás de los Garza San Pedro Garza García Santa Catarina Santiago Vallecillo Villaldama Regions of Nuevo León Monterrey metropolitan area Peripheral Region Northern Nuevo León Salinas Valley Citrícola Region Pilón Valley Southern Nuevo León Río Blanco Valley

San Nicolas or San Nicolás may refer to:

Person[link]

• San Nicolás de Myra or San Nicolás de Bari also called Nikolaos of Myra or St. Nicholas, see Saint Nicholas.

Places[link]

Aruba[link]

• San Nicolas, Aruba

Argentina[link]

• San Nicolás de los Arroyos, in the province of Buenos Aires
  • San Nicolás Agreement, signed there
• San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, in the city of Buenos Aires
• San Nicolás Partido (province of Buenos Aires)

Chile[link]

• San Nicolás, Chile, a village and comuna in Ñuble Province, Bío-Bío Region

Cuba[link]

• San Nicolás de Bari, Cuba, province of La Habana

Honduras[link]

• San Nicolás, Copán
• San Nicolás, Santa Bárbara

Mexico[link]

• San Nicolás de Carretas (Chihuahua))
• San Nicolás de los Garza (Nuevo León)
• San Nicolás Tolentino (San Luis Potosí)
• San Nicolás, Baja California
• San Nicolás, Jalisco
• San Nicolás, Oaxaca
• San Nicolás, Puebla
• San Nicolás, Tamaulipas

Nicaragua[link]

• San Nicolás, Estelí

Philippines[link]

• San Nicolas, Batangas
• San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte
• San Nicolas, Manila
• San Nicolas, Pangasinan

Peru[link]

• San Nicolás District, Rodríguez de Mendoza (Amazonas)
• San Nicolás District, Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald (Ancash)

Spain[link]

• San Nicolas (Pamplona burg)
• La Aldea de San Nicolás (Canaries)

United States[link]

• San Nicolas Island, one of California's Channel Islands

Ships[link]

• SS San Nicolas, Panamanian cargo ship in service 1949-64

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