Mexico City

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The area was the destination of migrations during the 8th and 13th centuries. The city began as Tenochtitlan, a Mexica city built around 1325 on islands in Lake Texcoco. According to legend, the god Huitzilopochtli indicated the site with an eagle perched on a prickly pear devouring a rattlesnake. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew to dominate other city-states around Lake Texcoco. After landing in Veracruz, Hernán Cortés arrived there on 8 November 1519. On the night of 30 June 1520, during a struggle known as "La Noche Triste," the Aztecs drove out the Europeans. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521; for three months, the city suffered from lack of food and water and the spread of smallpox. Cuauhtémoc surrendered in August 1521. The Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege. Cortés rebuilt the Aztec site to erase traces of the old order, building Catholic churches over old temples. In 1824, the territory surrounding the city was organized as the country's only federal district (Distrito Federal). After years of demands for autonomy, residents won the right to elect the head of government and Legislative Assembly members in 1997. On 29 January 2016, the Federal District was officially renamed Ciudad de México.

In Their Own Story

The morning begins with the bells of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, constructed on one side of the Zócalo, the main square that served as the old Aztec ceremonial center. Across from it stands the building housing the city council or ayuntamiento. A late seventeenth-century painting by Cristóbal de Villalpando depicts this central plaza, which was permanently transformed into the seat of power during the colonial period. The rebuilding of the city after the 1521 siege was accomplished by abundant indigenous labor in the surrounding area. Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinia described this construction as one of the afflictions of the early period, noting that more people were used than in the construction of Jerusalem.

Reader's Guide

The city offers legal abortion, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, same-sex marriage, and legal gender change. Residents are formally called capitalinos but are informally known as chilango, a term historically used pejoratively by outsiders but now proudly embraced by many locals. While the traditional nickname was "La Ciudad de los Palacios," introduced by Baron Alexander von Humboldt in the 19th century, the administration headed by Marcelo Ebrard adopted the motto "Capital en Movimiento." The city accounts for 15.8% of Mexico's GDP.

Did You Know?

• Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of only two founded by Indigenous peoples.
• In 1524, the municipality was established as México Tenochtitlán before becoming Ciudad de México in 1585.
• The informal demonym for residents is chilango, which locals often embrace despite its historical use as an insult by those outside the city.
• According to the 2020 census, Mexico City proper had a population of 9,209,944, making it the second-largest Spanish-speaking city proper in the world after Lima.