Mexico City

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The oldest signs of human occupation in the area are those of the 'Peñón woman' found in San Bartolo Atepehuacan, with a 2003 study placing her age at 12,700 years old. The Mexica people founded Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco around 1325 or 1327, guided by their god Huitzilopochtli's sign of an eagle perched on a prickly pear devouring a rattlesnake. Between 1325 and 1521, the city grew to dominate other city-states in the Valley of Mexico. On 8 November 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived with aid from native allies. After tensions rose, the Aztecs drove out the Europeans on the night of 30 June 1520 in a struggle known as 'La Noche Triste.' Cortés regrouped and began a siege in May 1521; for three months, the city suffered from lack of food, water, and smallpox. Cuauhtémoc surrendered in August 1521. The Spaniards razed Tenochtitlan and rebuilt it, preserving its basic layout but constructing Catholic churches over Aztec temples. In 1824, the surrounding territory became the country's only federal district (Distrito Federal). Residents won the right to elect their head of government in 1997.

In Their Own Story

The morning mist clings to the Zócalo, the main square that was the old Aztec ceremonial center and remains the central plaza of the nation. Across from the Metropolitan Cathedral stands the building housing the city council or ayuntamiento. During the colonial period, the viceregal palace on the Zócalo housed the viceroy of New Spain. In 1524, Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinia described the city's reconstruction as one of the early afflictions, noting that the construction used more people than the building of Jerusalem. The area was later organized into 16 boroughs, or alcaldías, which are subdivided into neighborhoods, or colonias.

Reader's Guide

Mexico City is divided into 16 boroughs (alcaldías) and neighborhoods (colonias). It sits at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) in the Valley of Mexico. The city proper covers 1,495 square kilometers (577 square miles), while the metropolitan area spans a much larger region with over 21 million people. In 2011, Greater Mexico City had a GDP of $411 billion, accounting for about 22% of Mexico's total economy. The city is colloquially referred to as just 'México' on road signs and highway names. Residents are formally called capitalinos but are often informally known as chilango. Traditional nicknames include La Ciudad de los Palacios (attributed to Alexander von Humboldt) and the political slogans la Ciudad de la Esperanza and Capital en Movimiento.

Did You Know?

• Mexico City is one of only two capital cities in the Americas founded by Indigenous peoples.
• The 'Peñón woman,' discovered near Mexico City, was dated to 12,700 years old, making her one of the oldest human remains found in the Americas.
• In 2013, if it were an independent country, Mexico City would have had the fifth-largest economy in Latin America.
• The informal term 'chilango' was historically used as a pejorative by outsiders but is now proudly embraced by many residents.
• Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinia compared the massive labor force needed to rebuild the city after the Spanish conquest to that of building Jerusalem.