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Mexico City (Spanish: Ciudad de México, [b] [10] locally [sjuˈða (ð) ðe ˈmexiko] ⓘ; abbr.: CDMX; Central Nahuatl: Mexihco Hueyaltepetl, [11] Nahuatl pronunciation: [meːˈʃiʔko wejaːlˈtepeːt͡ɬ]; [12] Otomi: 'Monda) is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America.
StateOfficial Name [a]Coat Of ArmsCapitalAguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampeche- 2,240 m (7,350 ft)
- Latin America and the Caribbean
Sonora. Tabasco. Tamaulipas. TL. Veracruz. Yucatán. Zacatecas. The states are the first-level administrative divisions of Mexico, which is officially named the United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate entity that is not formally a state).
StateOfficial Name [a]Coat Of ArmsCapitalAguascalientesBaja CaliforniaBaja California SurCampeche- Overview
- Character of the city
Mexico City is the capital of Mexico and is synonymous with the country’s Federal District. 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. It is called México in Nahuatl and Ciudad de México in Spanish.
Why was Mexico City chosen as the capital?
After Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs at their island-capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521, New Spain was created. The capital of New Spain, Mexico City, was built atop the razed island-capital and remained the capital after the country gained independence in 1821.
What is Mexico City’s significance?
Mexico City is one of the most important political, cultural, educational, and financial centres in North America. Mexico City’s leading position 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 throughout the ages.
Why is Mexico City sinking?
Mexico City is a metropolis of contrasts, a monument to a proud and industrious country also faced with many problems. Some observers have fixated on the city’s dangers, horrors, and tragedies—views that were reinforced by the Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes when he called the city “the capital of underdevelopment.” In the late 20th century the writer Jonathan Kandell retorted, “To its detractors (and even to a few admirers), Mexico City is a nightmare, a monster out of control.…And it just keeps growing.” Others have acknowledged the capital’s drawbacks while holding that it is a true home to millions—a bustling mosaic of avenues, economic interests, and colonias (neighbourhoods) that are buttressed by extended family networks, reciprocity, and respect.
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By itself the Federal District (the city proper) is comparable in many ways to New York City, Mumbai, and Shanghai. But the capital’s huge metropolitan population constitutes some one-fifth of Mexico’s total, representing one of the world’s most significant ratios of capital-to-national population. The country’s next largest city, Guadalajara, is only a fraction of its size. Moreover, its dense population has yielded an unparalleled concentration of power and wealth for its urban elite, though not for the denizens of its sprawling shantytowns and lower-working-class neighbourhoods.
The city’s rich heritage is palpable on the streets and in its parks, colonial-era churches, and museums. On the one hand it includes quiet neighbourhoods resembling slow-paced rural villages, while on the other it has bustling, overbuilt, cosmopolitan, heavy-traffic areas. Its inhabitants have sought to preserve the magnificence of the past, including the ruins of the main Aztec temple and the mixture of 19th-century French-style mansions and department stores that complement its graceful colonial palaces and churches.
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The map shows Mexico and neighboring countries with international borders, the national capital Mexico City, state capitals, major cities, main roads, and major airports.
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Mexico is the third-largest country in Latin America and the 11th largest in the world, covering an area of 761,606 sq mi. The country is divided into 31 states (including Chihuahua, Baja California, Durango, San Luis Potosí, and Tlaxcala) and one federal district, Mexico City.
1 day ago · Mexico can be divided into nine major physiographic regions: Baja California, the Pacific Coastal Lowlands, the Mexican Plateau, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Southern Highlands, and the Yucatán Peninsula.
May 14, 2024 · Geography - note. note 1: strategic location on southern border of the US; Mexico is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire note 2: some of the world's most important food crops were first domesticated ...
