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Mexico City

From Cuicuilco and the island of Tenochtitlan to the capital of New Spain, the Federal District of 1824 and the vast metropolis renamed Mexico City in 2016.

Capital: the national capital · Checked 3 Nov 2026

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The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo
The Metropolitan Cathedral on the Zócalo Photo: ProtoplasmaKid, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Then and now

Mexico City in figures from its history

People, 1900 census541,516Federal District; 9,209,944 in the 2020 census 5
People, 2020 census9,209,944Up from 3,050,442 in 1950 6
StatusFederal District 1824, Mexico City 2016Created 18 Nov 1824; renamed 29 Jan 2016. The capital, not a state 1
Tenochtitlan founded1325Traditional date, recorded in the codices 3
Indigenous-language speakers125,1531.4% of people aged 3+, 2020 census 6
Share of national industryHalfOf Mexico's industrial jobs were in the city in 1980 1
Cuicuilco at its peakc. 20,000People in one of the valley's first cities, before the Xitle eruption 9
The first peoples

An island city on the lake

Long before the Mexica, people farmed the southern shore of the lake. Cuicuilco, settled about 1200 BCE, built a round stepped pyramid and may have held some 20,000 people. Lava from the Xitle volcano buried much of it in the early centuries CE; sources put the eruption anywhere from the 1st century BCE to about 400 CE. In the south, the Xochimilca settled around 900 CE and built chinampas, the floating fields of mud and reeds that still line the canals of Xochimilco.

Indigenous languages spoken today

Speakers aged 3 and over, census of 2020 7

Nahuatl39,475
Mazatec14,944
Mixtec13,919
Otomí11,759
Zapotec9,392

125,153 people aged 3 and over spoke an Indigenous language in 2020 (1.4%). Most are migrants or children of migrants from other states; Milpa Alta and Xochimilco have the highest shares.

The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan
The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan Photo: Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Mexica founded Mexico-Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco, traditionally in 1325, though some historians propose 1345. Their twin city, Tlatelolco, held the great market where Cortés counted some 60,000 buyers and sellers a day. With Texcoco and Tlacopan they formed the Triple Alliance in 1428 and built an empire from the island. The Templo Mayor was rebuilt 6 times over 2 centuries. When the Spanish arrived in 1519, estimates for the city run from 100,000 to 300,000 people. Nahuatl is still the most spoken Indigenous language in the capital, alongside Mazatec, Mixtec, Otomí and Zapotec brought by migrants from other states.

Sources: 911321087

The colonial centuries

Capital of New Spain, fighting the water

Tenochtitlan fell on 13 Aug 1521 after a siege of nearly 3 months. Cortés chose to build the Spanish capital on the ruins, and surveyors laid out a grid of about 100 blocks over the old ceremonial centre. The viceroyalty of New Spain was created in 1535. The city became the seat of the viceroy, the archbishop, a university (1553) and, from 1594, the merchants' guild, the consulado, which ran the trade of silver out and goods in. Indigenous labour built it: in 1607 alone, 4,500 men were drafted to dig the drainage works, the desagüe.

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AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico CityMorelosPueblaState of MexicoBasilica of Guadalupe, Tepeyac6Chapultepec5Xochimilco canals4Tlatelolco3Cuicuilco2Zócalo and Templo Mayor1
Archaeological siteCityMissionBattlefieldnumbers match the cards
Click a neighbour to open its history.Tap a neighbour to open its history.

Water was the city's long enemy, because the capital stood on a lakebed in a basin with no natural outlet. Floods struck in 1555, 1580, 1604 and 1607. The worst began on 21 Sep 1629 and the water stayed until 1634; one estimate counts some 30,000 dead. There was a serious proposal to move the capital to dry land, but property owners blocked it. The city grew slowly, to about 57,000 people in 1689, and a 1790 census counted 112,926. On the hill of Tepeyac, the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, tied by tradition to 1531, became the centre of Mexican devotion; its basilica opened in 1709.

Sources: 3213

Places in its history

1

Zócalo and Templo Mayor

City · 1325-1521; capital since 1521

Heart of Tenochtitlan and of the Spanish capital built on top of it. 8

2

Cuicuilco

Archaeological site · c. 1200 BCE-150 CE

One of the valley's first cities, its round pyramid half buried by the Xitle lava. 9

3

Tlatelolco

Archaeological site · 1337; 1536; 1968

Twin city of Tenochtitlan with its great market; later a Franciscan college and the square of 1968. 10

4

Xochimilco canals

Archaeological site · c. 900 to today

Chinampa farming that fed the lake cities, a World Heritage Site since 1987. 11

5

Chapultepec

Battlefield · 13 Sep 1847

The castle stormed in the war with the USA, later Maximilian's residence. 12

6

Basilica of Guadalupe, Tepeyac

Mission · 1531; 1709; 1976

Mexico's great shrine, on the hill tied by tradition to the 1531 apparition. 13

Independence to the Revolution

Capital of a new republic

The Army of the Three Guarantees, Agustín de Iturbide's army of independence, entered the city on 27 Sep 1821, and the act of independence was signed the next day. On 18 Nov 1824 Congress set aside a circle of 2 leagues around the main square as the Federal District, seat of the federal powers. War came twice. In the war with the USA, the invading army won at Padierna in Aug 1847, stormed Chapultepec Castle on 13 Sep 1847, where the young cadets known as the Niños Héroes died, and entered the Zócalo the next day.

1810 to 1920 in Mexico City

From the timeline below, coloured by era

  1. 1821The Army of the Three Guarantees enters the city on 27 Sep. 3
  2. 1824Congress creates the Federal District on 18 Nov. 3
  3. 1847Invading troops in the war with the USA storm Chapultepec Castle on 13 Sep. 12
  4. 1867Juárez enters the capital on 15 Jul, ending the French Intervention. 3
  5. 1900The Gran Canal del Desagüe opens on 17 Mar to drain the valley. 3
  6. 1913The Decena Trágica, 10 days of fighting in the capital in Feb. 2

The people, then and now

Census counts, from the figures above

People, 1900 census541,516
People, 2020 census9,209,944

Sources: 56

French troops took the city on 10 Jun 1863, and Maximilian made Chapultepec his residence. The republic returned when Juárez entered on 15 Jul 1867. During the Porfiriato, Porfirio Díaz's rule of 1876-1911, the old imperial avenue became the Paseo de la Reforma, lined with monuments, and on 17 Mar 1900 the Gran Canal del Desagüe opened to drain the valley at last. The Revolution reached the capital in Feb 1913, in the 10 days of fighting known as the Decena Trágica, which ended with the overthrow of President Francisco I. Madero. In 1928 the Federal District was reorganized into boroughs, and the old municipal councils were abolished.

Sources: 3121211

How its economy turned

Factories, the Metro and the great metropolis

In the 20th century the capital became the engine of national industry. The population went from 906,063 in 1921 to 3,050,442 in 1950 and 8,831,079 in 1980. A refinery opened in Azcapotzalco in 1933; after the oil expropriation of 18 Mar 1938 it passed to the nation and took that date as its name. By 1980 half of Mexico's industrial jobs were in the city. Water still shaped everything: from the late 19th century the city drew on the springs of Xochimilco, and pumping drained most of its canals.

The region, c. 1600 and today

What each state turned on, by the era table below; Mexico City outlined in gold.

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c. 1600

AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico City

Mexico City: Towns, farms and workshops of the old heartland

  • Silver mining districts
  • Towns, farms and workshops of the old heartland
  • Ports, sugar and cacao

Today

AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico City

Mexico City: Services and government

  • Export manufacturing
  • Oil and gas
  • Tourism
  • Services and government
Indigenous-language speakers125,1531.4% of people aged 3+, 2020 census 6
Share of national industryHalfOf Mexico's industrial jobs were in the city in 1980 1

The 1968 Olympic Games brought new stadiums, and the same year troops fired on students at Tlatelolco. The Metro opened in 1969. On 19 Sep 1985 an earthquake struck at 7:19 in the morning and brought down much of the centre. Recovery came with new rights: the historic centre and Xochimilco became World Heritage Sites in 1987, and in 1997 residents elected their own head of government for the first time. The refinery closed on 18 Mar 1991 because of air pollution.

The Federal District became Ciudad de México on 29 Jan 2016, with its own constitution ratified in 2017. On 19 Sep 2017, 32 years to the day after the 1985 disaster, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake centred in Puebla brought down at least 44 buildings in the city. The metropolis spilled far beyond its limits. On 21 Mar 2022 the Felipe Ángeles airport opened 35 km to the north, in the State of Mexico, and on 2 Feb 2026 the interurban train from Toluca reached Observatorio station. The city the Mexica built on an island, and the Spanish rebuilt on the lakebed, still lives with the water and the shaking ground beneath it.

Sources: 14141110151617

Timeline

Mexico City, date by date

Before the Spanish before 1519

  1. c. 1200 BCE

    Farming villages take root at Cuicuilco on the southern shore of the lake. 9

  2. c. 900

    The Xochimilca settle the south of the valley and build chinampas. 11

  3. 1325

    The Mexica found Mexico-Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco (traditional date; 1345 is also proposed). 3

  4. 1428

    Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan form the Triple Alliance. 3

The colonial centuries 1519 to 1809

  1. 1521

    Tenochtitlan falls on 13 Aug after a siege of nearly 3 months. 3

  2. 1535

    The viceroyalty of New Spain is created, with its seat in Mexico City. 3

  3. 1629

    A flood begins on 21 Sep and leaves the city under water until 1634. 3

Independence and the Reform 1810 to 1875

  1. 1821

    The Army of the Three Guarantees enters the city on 27 Sep. 3

  2. 1824

    Congress creates the Federal District on 18 Nov. 3

  3. 1847

    Invading troops in the war with the USA storm Chapultepec Castle on 13 Sep. 12

  4. 1867

    Juárez enters the capital on 15 Jul, ending the French Intervention. 3

The Porfiriato 1876 to 1910

  1. 1900

    The Gran Canal del Desagüe opens on 17 Mar to drain the valley. 3

The Revolution 1910 to 1920

  1. 1913

    The Decena Trágica, 10 days of fighting in the capital in Feb. 2

Modern Mexico after 1920

  1. 1938

    The Azcapotzalco refinery passes to the nation with the oil expropriation of 18 Mar. 14

  2. 1969

    The Metro opens. 1

  3. 1985

    An earthquake on 19 Sep devastates the centre of the city. 1

  4. 1997

    Residents elect their own head of government for the first time. 1

  5. 2016

    The Federal District becomes Ciudad de México on 29 Jan 2016. 1

  6. 2017

    A magnitude 7.1 earthquake on 19 Sep 2017 brings down at least 44 buildings in the city. 15

The country in three moments

Where Mexico City stood: c. 1600, 1910 and today

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c. 1600

Silver, the heartland and the frontier

AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico City

Mexico City: Towns, farms and workshops of the old heartland

  • Silver mining districts
  • Towns, farms and workshops of the old heartland
  • Ports, sugar and cacao
  • Indigenous south: cochineal, maize, tribute
  • Maya lands under encomienda or beyond Spanish rule
  • Frontier: missions, presidios, independent peoples

1910

The Porfiriato at its height

AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico City

Mexico City: The national capital

  • Mining
  • Oil
  • Henequén
  • Sugar and textile mills
  • Haciendas: grain, pulque, cattle
  • Export crops: coffee, tobacco, cacao, chicle, timber
  • Steel, cotton and the railway north
  • Ranching frontier
  • The national capital

Today

What each state turns on now

AguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampecheChiapasChihuahuaCoahuilaColimaDurangoGuanajuatoGuerreroHidalgoJaliscoMichoacánMorelosNayaritNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroQuintana RooSan Luis PotosíSinaloaSonoraState of MexicoTabascoTamaulipasTlaxcalaVeracruzYucatánZacatecasMexico City

Mexico City: Services and government

  • Export manufacturing
  • Oil and gas
  • Tourism
  • Farming and agro-exports
  • Mining
  • Ports and logistics
  • Services and government

Why Mexico's own reading of what each state's economy turned on in that period, drawn from the sources listed in each state's room; a classification, not a measurement.

Keep going
Rutanamex

Today's numbers for Mexico City

Output, exports, jobs, wages and investment now, each with its source and date.

The book

Book 6, Where to Go in Mexico, chapter 16

Where to Go in Mexico: The Center, the corridor this state belongs to.

Why Mexico

The national timeline

The turning points of the whole country, each dated, each with its source.

Sources, each with its date

  1. Wikipedia (English), Mexico City, History section, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  2. Wikipedia (English), History of Mexico City, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  3. Wikipedia (Spanish), Ciudad de México, Historia section, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  4. Wikipedia (Spanish), Demografía de la Ciudad de México, census table (source INEGI), 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  5. INEGI / 1910 census, Table VI, population of the federal entities in 1895, 1900 and 1910 (Universidad Veracruzana transcription), 1910 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  6. INEGI, 2020 Census main results for Ciudad de México, press release 98/21, 29 Jan 2021 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  7. SEPI Ciudad de México, Diversidad lingüística en la Ciudad de México, Table 3 (2020 Census data), 2021 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  8. Wikipedia (English), Templo Mayor, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  9. Wikipedia (English), Cuicuilco, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  10. Wikipedia (English), Tlatelolco (altepetl) and Plaza de las Tres Culturas, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  11. Wikipedia (English), Xochimilco, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  12. Wikipedia (English), Battle of Chapultepec and Chapultepec Castle, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  13. Wikipedia (English), Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  14. Wikipedia (Spanish), Refinería 18 de Marzo, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  15. Wikipedia (English), 2017 Puebla earthquake, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  16. Wikipedia (English), Felipe Ángeles International Airport, 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link
  17. Wikipedia (English), El Insurgente (Mexico City-Toluca interurban train), 3 Nov 2026 · read 3 Nov 2026 · link

Pictures

Where the sources disagree

  • Founding of Tenochtitlan: the codices Azcatitlan, Mexicanus and Mendoza, and Wikipedia (Spanish, 13 Mar), give 1325; 1345 is also proposed; Sigüenza y Góngora gave 18 Jul 1327. This page uses 1325 and mentions 1345.
  • Population of Tenochtitlan in 1519: Wikipedia (English) gives at least 100,000, perhaps 200,000; Wikipedia (Spanish) gives about 300,000 and another estimate above 500,000. This page says 100,000 to 300,000.
  • Entry of the Army of the Three Guarantees: Wikipedia (English, History of Mexico City) gives 21 Sep 1821; Wikipedia (Spanish) gives 27 Sep 1821. This page uses 27 Sep, the day before the Act of Independence.
  • Abolition of municipalities: Wikipedia (English, Xochimilco) dates the reorganisation into boroughs to 1928; Wikipedia (Spanish, Ciudad de México) puts the suppression of municipal institutions in 1929. This page uses 1928.
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