Mexico City

Mexico City (Ciudad de México). The densely populated, high-altitude capital of Mexico.

According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the population of Greater Mexico City is 21,804,515, which makes it the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the world, the second-largest urban agglomeration in the Western Hemisphere (behind São Paulo, Brazil), and the largest Spanish-speaking city (city proper) in the world.

It’s known for its Templo Mayor (a 13th-century Aztec temple), the baroque Catedral Metropolitana de México of the Spanish conquistadors and the Palacio Nacional, which houses historic murals by Diego Rivera. All of these are situated in and around the Plaza de la Constitución, the massive main square also known as the Zócalo.

Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Indigenous people. The city was originally built on a group of islands in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica around 1325, under the name Tenochtitlan.