Mexico City

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City

Mexico City, Nahuatl México, Spanish Ciudad de México or in full Ciudad de México, D.F., city and capital of Mexico, synonymous with the Federal District (Distrito Federal; D.F.). The term Mexico City can also apply to the capital’s metropolitan area, which includes the Federal District but extends beyond it to the west, north, and east, where the state (estado) of México surrounds it on three sides. In contrast, the southern part of the Federal District sustains a limited population on its mountain slopes.

Spanish conquistadors founded Mexico City in 1521 atop the razed island-capital of Tenochtitlán, the cultural and political centre of the Aztec (Mexica) empire. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban settlements in the Western Hemisphere, and it is ranked as one of the world’s most populous metropolitan areas. One of the few major cities not located along the banks of a river, it lies in an inland basin called the Valley of Mexico, or Mesa Central. The valley is an extension of the southern Mexican Plateau and is also known as Anáhuac (Nahuatl: “Close to the Water”) because the area once contained several large lakes. The name México is derived from Nahuatl, the language of its precolonial inhabitants.

Mexico City: Zócalo, Metropolitan Cathedral, National Palace

Mexico City’s leading position with regard to other urban centres of the developing world can be attributed to its origins in a rich and diverse environment, its long history as a densely populated area, and the central role that its rulers have defined for it throughout the ages. Centralism has perhaps influenced Mexico City’s character the most, for the city has been a hub of politics, religion, and trade since the late Post-Classic Period (13th–16th century ce). Its highland location makes it a natural crossroads for trade between the arid north, the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico (east) and the Pacific Ocean (west), and southern Mexico. The simple footpaths and trails of the pre-Hispanic trade routes became the roads for carts and mule trains of the colonial period and eventually the core of the country’s transportation system, all converging on Mexico City. Throughout the centuries, the city has attracted people from the surrounding provinces seeking jobs and opportunities or the possibilities of comparative safety and shelter, as well as a myriad of amenities from schools and hospitals to neighbourhood organizations and government agencies. Area Federal District, 571 square miles (1,479 square km). Pop. (2010) city, 8,555,272; Federal District, 8,851,080; metro. area, 20,116,842.