Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

is a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

in North Central

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 ...

, divided into 18

municipalities 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' ...

. According to the 2020 Mexican census, it is the twenty-first most populated state out of thirty-two with inhabitants and the sixth smallest by land area spanning . The largest municipality by population is

, with 1,049,777 residents (44.32% of the state's total), while the smallest is San Joaquín with 8,359 residents. The largest municipality by land area is Cadereyta de Montes, with an area of , and the smallest is Corregidora with . The newest municipalities are Ezequiel Montes, Pedro Escobedo and San Joaquín, established in 1941. Municipalities in Querétaro are administratively autonomous of the state government according to the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico. Every three years, citizens elect a municipal president (Spanish: ''presidente municipal'') by a

plurality voting Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which the candidates in an electoral district who poll more than any other (that is, receive a plurality) are elected. Under single-winner plurality voting, and in systems based on single-member ...

system who heads a concurrently elected municipal council (''ayuntamiento'') responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. The municipal council consists of a variable number of trustees and councillors (''regidores y síndicos''). Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, and the maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1984, they have had the power to collect

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

es and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own income.

Municipalities

File:Juriquilla, Querétaro skyline torres Juriquilla Santa Fe 3.jpg, alt=Skyline of Santiago de Querétaro, Quéretaro, whose seat is the capital of the state, is the largest municipality by population in Querétaro. File:Hacienda_Galindo,_San_Juan_del_Rio,_Querétaro-_Galindo_Ranch,_Querétaro_(24173646779).jpg, alt=Hacienda Galindo, a building in San Juan del Río, San Juan del Río, the second largest municipality by population File:Hacienda_de_Chichimequillas,_Querétaro_(23914610553).jpg, alt=Hacienda de Chichimequillas a building in El Marqués, El Marqués, a suburb of the capital city, is the fastest growing and third largest municipality by population in Querétaro.

Notes

References

Queretaro {{DEFAULTSORT:Municipalities of Queretaro