- Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Lázaro Cárdenas is a port city that with its surrounding municipality is located in the southern part of the
Mexican state ofMichoacán . It was formerly known as Los Llanitos, but changed its name as a tribute to Lázaro Cárdenas del Río, a Michoacán-born politician who waspresident of Mexico from1934 to1940 .The city is located at coord|17|57|00|N|102|12|00|W|, where the
Río Balsas drains into thePacific Ocean . In the2005 census, the city's population was 74,884. It is served byLázaro Cárdenas Airport . The municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, which has an area of 1,160.24 km² (447.97 sq mi), had a total population of 162,997 in2005 , and includes extensive territory outside the city, including the communities ofLas Guacamayas ,La Orilla , andLa Mira .History
When known as Los Llanitos, it formed part of the municipality of Arteaga. In
1932 it was given town status and named Melchor Ocampo. OnApril 12 ,1937 , during the governorship ofJosé María Mendoza Prado , the state congress decreed the creation of the municipality of Melchor Ocampo del Balsas. The name of the municipality changed again onNovember 17 ,1970 , to Lázaro Cárdenas, in honor of the popular former president who had died the previous month.In
2006 , steelworkers in a Lázaro Cárdenas steel plant went on strike, causing numerous injuries and deaths.Air travel
The city is served by the
Lázaro Cárdenas Airport .Port
Lázaro Cárdenas is home to a deep-water
seaport that handles container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo. The port handled 160,000 TEU in2005 but is expanding to a capacity of 2.2 million TEU annually. Cargo is moved to and from the port by road and rail equally, with rail service provided exclusively byKansas City Southern Railway . The port is expected to become a major container facility due to congestion at the U.S. ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its relative proximity to major cities such asChicago , Kansas City, andHouston . In preparation for the port's increased capacity, railway and highway infrastructure running north-south through the center of Mexico has been upgraded in recent years to handle the anticipated increase in volume of goods bound for the United States using this transportation corridor. However, if a proposed Pacific port with government backing is built atPunta Colonet, Baja California , goods coming to fast growing U.S. states likeArizona andNevada could bypass the congested Los Angeles region with closer access those markets, increasing competition with Lázaro Cárdenas.References
* [http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/conteo2005/localidad/iter/ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005] INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_michoacan Michoacán] Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
* "Trains" magazine,1 October 2006 .
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