Mexico City, also known as the Distrito Federal (D.F.) from 1824 to 2016, is the capital and largest city of Mexico. It was founded in 1325 as the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, but the Fall of Tenochtitlan to the Spanish in 1521 saw the conquistadores raze the Native American city and rebuild it along Tenochtitlan's basic layout. The Spanish built Catholic churches over the old Aztec temples and renamed "Tenochtitlan" to "Mexico", which became the capital of New Spain. Strict segregation of Indians and Spaniards was not enforced, and, starting in the 16th century, Mexico City became a prosperous trading city with easy contact to both the Atlantic and Pacific worlds. In 1821, during the Mexican War of Independence, Mexico City became the capital of an independent Mexico, and it became its own federal district separate from the State of Mexico. Mexico City was attacked by the United States from 8 to 15 September 1847 during the Mexican-American War, resulting in the Battle of Molino del Rey, the Battle of Chapultepec, and the Battle of Churubusco. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in the north of the city, ceding all Mexican lands north of the Rio Grande to the USA. The city's growth was relatively untouched during the Reform War and French Intervention, and it developed a modern infrastructure during the Porfiriato era. It escaped the worst of the violence of the Mexican Revolution, although it was the site of the "Ten Tragic Days" of February 1913, when Francisco I. Madero was overthrown and assassinated in a violent military coup by Venustiano Huerta. In 1914, Venustiano Carranza peacefully captured Mexico City and made it his residence, ending the fight for control of the city. Mexico City rapidly developed after World War II, and it was the site of the 1968 Olympic Games; a year later, the Metro system was inaugurated. From 1960 to 1980, the city's population doubled to 9 million, and, by 1980, half of all industrial jobs were in the capital. While the authoritarian PRI government massacred an unknown number of protesting students in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, and also failed to handle increasing economic and environmental issues (especially the devastating 1985 earthquake, which killed up to 35,000 people) in the capital, the PRI's rule was tolerated for decades. In 1997, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas became the first elected Mayor of Mexico City from the PRD, promising a more democratic government and claiming some victories against crime, pollution, and other major problems. In 2016, Mexico City ceased to be a federal district, being formally renamed to "Ciudad de Mexico". In 2015, Mexico City had a population of 8,918,653 people, while its urban area had a population of 21 million.
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