03Cities and regions

Valley of Mexico

Mexico City

Mexico City is the oldest capital in the Americas, set 2,240 metres up in the Valley of Mexico. It began as Tenochtitlan, built by the Mexica around 1325 on islands in Lake Texcoco, and was rebuilt to Spanish plans in the sixteenth century. More than 9.2 million people live in the city itself and about 21.8 million in the wider metropolitan area. At its heart is the historic centre around the Zócalo, with some 1,550 buildings of historic value, most raised between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries; it became a World Heritage Site in 1987 together with the canals of Xochimilco. Give the centre a full day on foot, another to Chapultepec Park and the Museum of Anthropology, and half a day to the boats of Xochimilco. The museum is the most visited in the country, with 3.7 million visitors in 2024. Some 40 kilometres northeast of the city, the pyramids of Teotihuacan make an easy day trip.

0 m

Altitude

9.2 million

Population

around 1325

Tenochtitlan founded

1987

World Heritage