9781422286791

Beautiful Diversity: The Geography of Mexico

Timeline 10,000 B . C . Valley of Mexico becomes home to first inhabitants. 1200–400 B . C . Rise and fall of Olmec Civilization; the Maya begin their rise. A . D . 300–900 Mayan culture is at its peak. 900–1000 Toltecs settle in Valley of Mexico. 1325 Aztecs found the city of Tenochtitlán. 1517–1521 Spanish invasion and conquest of Mexico. 1521–1821 Spanish Colonial era of Mexico. 1910–1921 Mexican Revolution. 1929 The first formal Mexican political party is born; it is now the Party Revolutionary Institutional, or the PRI. 1985 Earthquake hits Mexico City, killing thousands of people. 1997 Hurricane Pauline strikes the Pacific coastal states of Guerrero and Oaxaca; tsunamis caused by Hurricane Guillermo flood the Cabos San Lucas area of Mexico. 2003 A 7.6-magnitude earthquake kills 29 people and leaves thousands homeless along the central Mexican Pacific coast. 2006 Felipe Calderón elected president. 2007 Archaeologists discover an underground chamber that they believe contains the remains of the Aztec emperor Ahuizotl. Category 5 Hurricane Dean strikes the Yucatán Peninsula, forcing over 30,000 people to evacuate; widespread floods temporarily submerge up to 80 percent of the state of Tabasco and kill several people in landslides. 2008 The Mexican government pledges $42 million to improve sanitation and curb pollution in Acapulco, a Pacific coastal city popular with tourists.

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