Census: Juárez grew 11% in decade

by Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 03/05/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

The population of Juárez grew by 10.6 percent between 2000 and 2010 to 1.3 million people, according to Mexico's recently released census figures.

A little more than 10 years ago, Juárez had 1.1 million residents. It has added 126,063 people.

U.S. Census figures for 2010 show that El Paso County had 800,647 people. El Paso County and Juárez together have a population of more than 2.1 million, a little more than the state of New Mexico.

Eduardo Sojo, president of the Instituto Nacional de EstadÃ*stica y GeografÃ*a, or INEGI, announced the nation's final census results at a news conference in Mexico City. INEGI is Mexico's counterpart of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sojo said Mexico's national population reached 112.3 million

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people last year, making it the 11th-most populous country in the world.
Demographics expert Jesse Acosta of El Paso said an increase in the Juárez population affects El Paso in various ways.

"It affects us because we have international activities on both sides of the border," Acosta said. "Retail sales, private schools, hospitals are some of the other places that may experience growth from the population changes which is positive.

"On the other hand, we will have more cars on the road and more pollution. Our border bridges, for example, are already heavily impacted."

Zulema Ortega, a professional translator in Juárez, said that growth generally is good for communities. "It's usually a positive sign," she said. "We have people who leave, but others arrive soon to take their place. I would like to believe that the people who stayed here did so in part because they were made to feel at home."

According to historians, Juárez was founded in 1659 and was known as El Paso del Norte. The name changed in 1888 in honor of ex-President Benito Juárez. The city had 10,621 people at the beginning of the Mexico Revolution in 1910.

Richard Baquera, a professor who teaches Texas and El Paso history at El Paso Community College, said the biggest growth spurt for Juárez began with the beginnings of the maquiladora industry in the 1960s.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.

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