Chimalhuacán () (

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

for "place of those who have shields") is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the eastern part of

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It lies just outside the northeast border of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and is part of the

Greater Mexico City Greater Mexico City is the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (). It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of Mexico, municipalities of the State of Mexico and Hi ...

urban area.

The city

The city is practically coextensive with the municipality. The census of 2005 reported a population of 524,223 for the city and 525,389 for the municipality as a whole. Chimalhuacán was founded 1259 by three chiefs or

tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

named Huauxomatl, Chalchiutlatonac and Tlatzcantecuhtli. These chiefs and their people originated from Tula and Culhuacán. They spoke

Chichimeca Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajío region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" tha ...

and

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...

languages but with time their customs merged and

Náhuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller pop ...

became the dominant language. It became subject to Texcoco, and through that belonged to the

Aztec Triple Alliance The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Vall ...

in 1431. The Spanish town of Chimalhuacán was founded in 1529 and the

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

built a church and monastery here in 1563.

The municipality

Although the city takes up almost all of the municipality, Chimalhuacán, as the municipal seat, has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Colonia Nueva de Guadalupe la Palma, La Pista de los Corredores, Pista Aérea, Tlatel San Juan Xochiaca Parte Alta, and Zapotla. Chimalhuacan has a new park in the center of the municipality, Plaza Estado de Mexico Chimalhuacan, with a library, theater and other places for entertainment. The entry of the municipality has a monument to Chimalhucán, called Guerrero Chimalli, a 60-meter tall steel statue. The municipality has an area of 46.61 km² (17.996 sq mi). The adjacent municipalities are Nezahualcóyotl, Atenco, Texcoco, Chicoloapan, and

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

. The city is the sixth largest in the state in population (after

Ecatepec de Morelos Ecatepec (), officially Ecatepec de Morelos, is a municipality in the State of Mexico situated in the north of the Greater Mexico City urban area. The municipal seat is San Cristóbal Ecatepec. The city of Ecatepec is co-extensive with the mun ...

, Nezahualcóyotl, Naucalpan de Juárez,

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

, and Tlalnepantla de Baz).

"La Degolladora"

During September 2015, a series of attacks on the citizens of Chimalhuacan began. The attacker was nicknamed "La Degolladora" ("The Throat-Slitter", "The Slasher") by local and international press due to the use of knives to injure and kill people randomly.

″Loca Tristeza Mexicana″

Six members of the ″Loca Tristeza Mexicana″ band were arrested in March 2021 for two murders in 2020. Band members were heavily armed and in possession of drugs. They were also implicated in a kidnapping and murder of a local firefighter in 2018.

References

External links

Chimalhuacan, MexicoMunicipio de Chimalhuacán
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimalhuacan Populated places in the State of Mexico Municipalities of the State of Mexico