JUAREZ

formerly Ciudad Jurez, city, northern Chihuahua state, Mexico, on the Rio Grande (Ro Bravo del Norte), opposite El Paso, Texas, with which it is connected by two bridges. It contains the Guadalupe mission, built in 1659, and many modern buildings. Formerly known as El Paso del Norte, it was renamed in 1888 for the Mexican president Benito Jurez, who headquartered there in 1865 during his struggle against the French. The city's importance is due to its border position and its function as the marketing centre for a cotton-growing area. It is a northern terminus of the National Railways of Mexico and has a large transit trade with the United States. The meanders of the river between Jurez and El Paso resulted in the century-long El Chamizal border dispute between the United States and Mexico, finally settled in 1963 with the exchange of small portions of territory and formalized in 1967. The Autonomous University of Ciudad Jurez was established in 1973. Pop. (1979 est.) 620,000.