CDMX is at high altitude (7,350 ft / 2,240 meters above sea level), in a valley surrounded by mountains. The highway pass southwest to Cuernavaca, Taxco and Acapulco is at ~10,000 feet, and the nearest large (and recently active) volcano is Popocatépetl (17,802 ft / 5,426 m, snow capped though its glaciers melted in 2001).


The city occupies and overflows the ancient Aztec empire, Tenochtitlán. The historic center sits squarely on the center of Tenochtitlán; you can visit the remains of the Aztec Templo Mayór today. In the precolumbian times , Tenochtitlán, founded by the Mexica or Tenochca, was build on chinampas, man made islands, linked by bridges and a network of canals, in the center of Lake Texcoco, amongst several connected lakes. Wide causeways and acqueducts connected Tenochtitlán to the mainland.

When the Spanish finally conquered Tenochtitlán, they razed the structures and used the rubble to fill the lakebed. Much of Mexico City is situated on fill which continues to settle and worsens the effects of earthquakes.


March 13, 1325: founded by the Méxica as Mexico-Tenochtitlan
August 13, 1521: established by Hernán Cortez as Ciudad de México
November 18, 1824: established after Independence as the Federal District / Distrito Federal
January 29, 2016: formally established as Ciudad de México (“CDMX”)

The center of the city is the hub, and the city is divided into 16 boroughs, though the area’s most visitors will see are named by their commonly used namesbelow. The geographic center is not the population center.