Monterrey

**Monterrey** is a city in northern Mexico.  It is the capital of the state Nuevo León.  It is the second largest city in Mexico. It has 2,056,538 people.

## History

In the 16th century, the valley in which Monterrey sits was known as the Extremadura Valley, an area largely unexplored by the Spanish colonizers. The first expeditions and colonization attempts were led by conquistador Alberto del Canto, who named the city Santa Lucia, but they were unsuccessful because the Spanish were attacked by the natives and fled. The Spanish expeditionary Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva negotiated with King Philip II of Spain to establish a territory in northern New Spain that would be called Nuevo León, the "New Kingdom of León". In 1580, he arrived in the newly granted lands but it was not until 1582 that he established a settlement called San Luis Rey de Francia (named for Saint Louis IX of France) within present-day Monterrey.

## Economy

Monterrey is a major industrial center in northern Mexico, with a GDP (PPP) of US$140 billion and a GDP (PPP) per capita of US$31,900 in 2015. The city was rated by _Fortune_ magazine in 1999 as the best city in Latin America for business and is currently ranked third best by the América Economía magazine.

The city has prominent positions in sectors such as steel, cement, glass, auto parts, and brewing. The city's economic wealth has been attributed in part to its proximity to the United States-Mexico border and economic links to the United States.

## Culture

The gastronomy of Monterrey and surrounding areas has a marked influence of traditional Sephardic Jewish cuisine - among the founders of the city it is known that the majority were crypto-Jews such as Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva and his family as well as Germanic and Slavic cuisines that are very notable in the city.

Typical Monterrey cuisine includes machacado con huevo, a dish prepared with dried beef, eggs, and sometimes hot sauce. One of the cuts is arrachera, a signature dish of the state. Typically, it is prepared by men.

The capirotada dessert brought by the Sinaloa community in Monterrey is made with bread, cheese, raisins, peanuts, and piloncillo.

Other typical dishes from the region include roasted goat, al pastor (al pastor) and in sauce, coffin-style Turkish-style lamb, violated chicken (also called chicken with beer), machitos (made from goat's entrails), cortadillo (atropellado), a wide variety of grilled meats, flour tortillas, various desserts such as orange preserves, burnt milk candies, guava roll, jamoncillos (small pieces of jam) and candied nuts, glorias (a traditional dish), as well as a large assortment of dried fruits and enchiladas, and a variety of beers.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Monterrey
- **image skyline**: MonterreyCollage.jpg
- **imagesize**: 275px
- **image flag**: Bandera de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.svg
- **image seal**: Escudo de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México.svg
- **pushpin map**: Mexico
- **pushpin mapsize**: 300px
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Mexico
- **subdivision type1**: States of Mexico, State
- **subdivision name1**: Nuevo León
- **subdivision type2**: Municipalities of Nuevo León, Municipality
- **subdivision name2**: Monterrey
- **leader title**: Municipal President
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 116
- **established date2**: May 19, 1552
- **population as of**: 2020
- **population total**: 25,697
- **population blank1 title**: Demonym
- **population blank1**: Regiomontano
- **timezone**: Central Standard Time, CST
- **utc offset**: −6
- **timezone dst**: Central Daylight Time, CDT
- **utc offset dst**: −5
- **elevation m**: 2019
- **postal code type**: Postal code