Mexico City

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Lore & Background

Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of only two founded by Indigenous peoples. It began as Tenochtitlan, a Mexica city built around 1325 on islands in Lake Texcoco. After the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan, it was nearly destroyed and then rebuilt according to Spanish urban standards. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, and from 1585 onward it was officially known as Mexico City. During the Spanish colonial period, the city was a major political, administrative, and financial center. After Mexico became independent, the territory surrounding the city was organized in 1824 as the country's new and only federal district. After years of demands for greater political autonomy, residents won the right to elect both the head of government and the members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly in 1997. Since then, left-wing parties, first the Party of the Democratic Revolution and later Morena, have controlled both offices. The city has also adopted several progressive policies, including legal abortion, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, same-sex marriage, and legal gender change. On 29 January 2016, the Federal District was officially renamed Ciudad de México, or CDMX. These reforms granted the city greater autonomy and changed aspects of its government and political structure, though a constitutional clause still prevents it from becoming a state while it remains Mexico's capital.

In Their Own Story

The morning mist clings to the Zócalo, the main square that was the old Aztec ceremonial center and remains the central plaza of the nation. Across from the Metropolitan Cathedral stands the building housing the city council or ayuntamiento. During the colonial period, the viceregal palace on the Zócalo housed the viceroy of New Spain. In 1524, Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinia described the city's reconstruction as one of the early afflictions, noting that the construction used more people than the building of Jerusalem. The area was later organized into 16 boroughs, or alcaldías, which are subdivided into neighborhoods, or colonias.

Reader's Guide

Mexico City is divided into 16 boroughs, or alcaldías, which are further subdivided into neighborhoods. The city is located in the Valley of Mexico on the high Mexican Central Plateau at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,350 feet). It is the most populous city in North America and the second-largest Spanish-speaking city proper in the world after Lima. Greater Mexico City is the second-largest urban agglomeration in the Western Hemisphere after São Paulo. The city is a major cultural and financial center, classified as an Alpha world city in 2024. Nicknames include 'La Ciudad de los Palacios' ('the City of Palaces'), attributed to Baron Alexander von Humboldt. The informal demonym for residents is chilango, while the formal term is capitalinos. The city is also colloquially referred to as just 'México' in local geographic context. Since 2013, the abbreviation 'CDMX' has become common.

Did You Know?

• Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of only two founded by Indigenous peoples.
• The city began as Tenochtitlan, a Mexica city built around 1325 on islands in Lake Texcoco.
• According to the 2020 census, Mexico City proper had a population of 9,209,944.
• Greater Mexico City had a population of 21,804,515, making it the world's 15th-largest metropolitan area.
• In 2011, Greater Mexico City had a GDP of $411 billion.