Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico, the others being the 31
states. It was named (Federal District) up to February 5, 2016, when it was officially renamed the .
According to the 2020 Mexican
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
, it is the
second most populated entity with inhabitants and the
smallest by land area spanning .
[
]
Despite containing the word "City", it is not governed as a city but as a unit consisting of multiple subdivisions. As a result of the Political Reforms enacted in 2016, it is no longer designated as a federal district and became a city, a member entity of the Mexican federation, seat of the Powers of the Union and the capital of Mexico.
Mexico City is not organized into
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
. Instead, it is divided into 16
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
s, officially designated as in Spanish. Headed by a mayor, these boroughs kept the same territory and name as the former , while expanding their local government powers.
Boroughs are considered as third-level subdivisions for statistical data collection and cross-country comparisons. The traditional center of Mexico City comprises four boroughs: Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo and Venustiano Carranza.
The largest borough by population is
Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa ...
, with 1,835,486 residents, while the smallest is
Milpa Alta
Milpa Alta is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It lies in the southeast corner of the nation's capital, bordering the State of Mexico and Morelos. It is the least populated, second largest and most rural of all the boroughs ...
with 152,685 residents.
Iztacalco
Iztacalco () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is located in the central-eastern area and it is the smallest of the city's boroughs. The area's history began in 1309 when the island of Iztacalco, in what was Lake Texco ...
is the most densely populated subdivision in Mexico.
The largest borough by land area is
Tlalpan which spans , and the smallest is
Iztacalco
Iztacalco () is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It is located in the central-eastern area and it is the smallest of the city's boroughs. The area's history began in 1309 when the island of Iztacalco, in what was Lake Texco ...
with .
The most recent boroughs are
Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...
,
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle ...
,
Miguel Hidalgo
Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican ...
and
Venustiano Carranza
José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...
, all established in 1970 out of the former circumscription of Mexico City.
Boroughs
Notes
References
External links
*
* https://www.cdmx.gob.mx Government of Mexico City, official website (Spanish)
{{Portal bar, Cities, Mexico
Geography of Mexico City