Mexico City: Capital and largest city of Mexico

It is the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere and the second most populous city in the world (after Tokyo). It is also one of the polluted cities in the world. The Aztec people were here before the Spanish came and founded Mexico City. It was refounded in 1521 by Hernán Cortés. Today, about 8.5 million people live in the city, and about 18 million live in the Greater Mexico City urban area. The city of Mexico City ceased to exist in 1928. Since then, there is only the Federal District.

Mexico City Ciudad de México
City
México, D. F. Mexico, D. F.
Clockwise from top: skyline of Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, skyline of Polanco, Palacio de Bellas Artes, National Palace, Angel of Independence, and Torre Latinoamericana
Flag Seal
Motto:  La Ciudad de los Palacios (The City of Palaces)
México City within Mexico
Coordinates: 19°26′N 99°8′W / 19.433°N 99.133°W / 19.433; -99.133
Country	Mexico
Entity	Federal District
Subdivisions	Boroughs •Álvaro Obregón •Azcapotzalco •Benito Juárez •Coyoacán •Cuajimalpa •Cuauhtémoc •Gustavo A. Madero •Iztacalco •Iztapalapa •Magdalena Contreras •Miguel Hidalgo •Milpa Alta •Tláhuac •Tlalpan •Venustiano Carranza •Xochimilco
Founded	March 13, 1325: Tenochtitlan August 13, 1521: Ciudad de México November 18, 1824: Distrito Federal
Government
• Head of Government	Martí Batres (MORENA)
• Senators	Pablo Gómez René Arce Federico Döring
• Deputies	Federal Deputies •Armando Báez Pinal •Marco Antonio García •Cuauhtémoc Gutiérrez •Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada •Roberto Rebollo •Leticia Robles •Claudia Ruiz Massieu •Agustín Castilla •Gabriela Cuevas •César González •Paz Gutiérrez •Valdemar Gutiérrez •Kenia López •César Nava •Rosi Orozco •Silvia Pérez Ceballos •Ezequiel Rétiz •Esthela Damián •Luis Felipe Eguía •Alejandro Encinas •Agustín Guerrero •Francisco Hernández •Héctor Hernández •Teresa Incháustegui •Ramón Jiménez •Vidal Llerenas •Avelino Méndez •Eduardo Mendoza •Nazario Norberto •Leticia Quezada •Rigoberto Salgado •Arturo Santana •Emilio Serrano •Mauricio Toledo •Enoé Uranga •Balfre Vargas •Araceli Vázquez •Jesús Zambrano •Rosario Brindis •Pablo Escudero •Clara Salinas Sada •Jaime Cárdenas •Itzel Castillo •Mario di Costanzo •Gerardo Fernández •Ifigenia Martínez •Porfirio Muñoz Ledo •Víctor Hugo Círigo •Laura Piña Olmedo •Gerardo Del Mazo •María Quiñones
Area [b]
• Total	1,485 km2 (573 sq mi)
	Ranked 32nd
Elevation	2,420 m (7,940 ft)
Highest elevation	3,930 m (12,890 ft)
Population  (2010)
• Total	9,209,944
• Rank	2nd
• Density	6,200/km2 (16,000/sq mi)
• Rank	1st
Demonym(s)	Capitalino (a) Defeño (a) Mexiqueño (a) Chilango (a)
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Postal code	00–16
Area code	Area codes • 55
ISO 3166 code	MX-DFE
HDI	0.8307 Very High Ranked 1st
GDP	$411.4 billion dollars
Website	Official Web Site
^ b. Area of the Federal District that includes non-urban areas at the south

Mexico City has 18.1 million people. It is the city with the second highest number of people in the world after Tokyo in Japan and just slightly more populated than Mumbai in India.

Mexico City was first built in the 1520s after Hernán Cortés destroyed the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards then emptied the basin of Lake Texcoco to keep it from flooding. By the late 1700s, Mexico City had over 100,000 people. However, there were many slums, which caused epidemics. There were political problems in the mid-1800s after Mexico became independent. More than 40 people ruled in the 40 years after the country became independent. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, electric light and gas were brought to the city. But there was a big difference between the rich western part of the city and the poor eastern part of the city. By 1930, Mexico City had 1,000,000 people. The city kept growing quickly. In 1968, the Olympic Games were in Mexico City. In 1985, an earthquake hit the capital. In the past few decades, there have been problems with crime and corruption.

Mexico City has a high population density. It is also surrounded by mountains. This causes problems with air pollution.

Sometimes Mexico City gets earthquakes.

Geography

Mexico City is in the Valley of Mexico at around 2,300 meters (7,800 feet) above sea level.

Mexico City its divided by 16 boroughs: Álvaro Obregón, Azcapotzalco, Benito Juarez, Coyoacán, Cuajimalpa, Cuauhtémoc, Gustavo A. Madero, Iztacalco, Iztapalapa, Magdalena Contreras, Miguel Hidalgo, Milpa Alta, Tláhuac, Tlalpan, Venustiano Carranza and Xochimilco.

Mexico City was originally built on a lake, Lake Texcoco, which is now mostly drained. The ecology of the area has been much changed by the draining. Many of its native species, such as the Axolotl, are extinct, or endangered.

The mountains Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl are nearby.

Climate

Mexico City is in the tropics. But because its elevation is so high, it has a subtropical highland climate (Cwb in the Köppen climate classification). This means temperatures are warm or mild year-round. It is a lot wetter in the summer than in the winter. Some parts of the city get frost in the winter.