San Pedro Garza García
Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAN : San Pedro Garza García
 Coat of arms of the Municipality of San Pedro
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| Motto: Libertad con Orden y Justicia ("Liberty with Order and Justice") | |
| Foundation date | November 20, 1596 |
| Population | 225 005 (2005) |
| Population Metro Area | 3 837 910 (2005) |
| Population density | 1,743/km² (1990) |
| Altitude | 540 meters |
| Coordinates | UTC
| - 6 hours(Central)
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| Telephone code number
| 81
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|colspan=2 align=center bgcolor=#C5C4BA| Sources: [INEGI], [Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México],) [CONAPO] |- |} San Pedro Garza García, commonly referred to as either San Pedro or Garza García, is primarily a residential (Joe lives there) and commercial suburb of the larger metropolitan city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. With a population of over 120,000 people (93.7% of them Catholic), it sits in a valley surrounded by mountains; most notably La Loma Larga and Sierra Madre Oriental. The city is highly developed with many parks, private schools, gardens, and corporations. It hosts the administrative offices of important companies like Cemex, Gamesa, Vitro and Cydsa. It is often regarded as Latin America's most affluent suburb, but its vast territory covers some not as extremely wealthy areas that lower the income per capita. However, San Pedro is one of Mexico's cleanest and safest cities thanks in part to its wealthy citizens taking such an active part in their community. In 2005 San Pedro signed a treaty with South Padre Island, Texas, United States to become Sister Cities (see [Sister-Cities Intl]). It is also twinned with El Porvenir, Chiapas, Mexico a municipality at the country's other extreme, in geographical terms.
HistoryTwo months after the foundation of its neighbor, Monterrey, in 1596 the land on which San Pedro Garza García lies was turned into a large plantation called "Los Nogales", where crops like corn, wheat, beans, and many other foods were produced. During the 18th century, the plantation often went by the name of "San Pedro", in honor of Saint Peter. The city was not elevated to the status of "Villa" (Village) until December 14, 1882, when it was given the name Garza García, in honor of the governor of Nuevo León, Genaro Garza García. It was not until 1988 that the city was given its current name, adding the reference to what it was called centuries before.GovernmentThe current municipal president (mayor) of San Pedro is Fernando Margaín Berlanga representing the National Action Party (PAN).EducationThe Legion of Christ, a strong and growing Catholic order among Mexico’s elite, holds three different private Catholic schools in this suburb. The first two offer a bilingual same-sex educational program. Instituto Irlandes de Monterrey is an all boys prep school and C.E.C.V.A.C. is the all girls version of the same. Both schools offer pre-school (Irish Valley), primary, secondary and preparatory (Bachillerato Anahuac) schools. Instituto Himalaya is the Legion’s new pre-school and primary school which offers a bilingual co-educational program. All three of these schools require daily formal uniforms and are part of Oak International Academies.The American School Foundation of Monterrey offers a non-religious co-educational alternative for similarly wealthy families. ASFM, as it is called, provides a U.S.-type education to international and Mexican students. While the school offers a curriculum similar to U.S. schools in many respects and is fully accredited in the U.S., it is incorporated and licensed in Mexico. It operates two campuses: the original campus which serves students from Nursery through Grade Five and a new Middle School/High School (grades 6-12) campus. Instituto San Roberto offers trilingual education that ensures that students communicate with clarity, purpose and understanding of audience in Spanish, English, and French. This school was founded by the same family that made Monterrey a very important city; Eugenio Garza Sada and family. Other schools like the American Institute of Monterrey (AIM) and Colegio Ingles offer other excellent bilingual programs. Prepa Tec Campus Santa Catarina is one of the more popular Private High School choices among San Pedro's teenagers, although it is actually located in the neighboring municipality of Santa Catarina. Prepa Tec offers three different multicultural and multilingual programs (including the IB Diploma Programme) and is part of the ITESM: Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, one of the most important school system in Mexico. The Catholic Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) ranks among the top universities in the country. Although much smaller in size and endowment than ITESM, it offers similar bachelor and master degree programs. The university's main campus is located within the suburb of San Pedro and it also offers several high school programs in separate campuses. Natural AreasThe Chipinque natural park is located in San Pedro. See [Chipinque website].External links
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