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132-576: The PCM lost its registration in 1946 because it did not meet new requirements for at least 30,000 registered members in at least 21 of Mexico's 31 states and the Federal District . It is not clear whether the party was unable to recruit enough members or whether, fearing repression, it refused to turn membership rolls over to the Secretary of the Interior, then in charge of elections. Over the next 30 years,

264-421: A subtropical highland climate ( Köppen climate classification Cwb ), due to its tropical location but high elevation. The lower region of the valley receives less rainfall than the upper regions of the south; the lower boroughs of Iztapalapa , Iztacalco , Venustiano Carranza and the east portion of Gustavo A. Madero are usually drier and warmer than the upper southern boroughs of Tlalpan and Milpa Alta ,

396-404: A flawed and ideologically based reinterpretation of the colonial period. When Mexico gained independence in 1821, the casta designations were eliminated as a legal structure, but racial divides remained. White Mexicans argued about what the solution was to the "Indian Problem", that is indigenous who continued to live in communities and were not integrated politically or socially as citizens of

528-606: A group of islands in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica around 1325, under the name Tenochtitlan . It was almost completely destroyed in the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards . In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán , and as of 1585, it was officially known as Ciudad de México (Mexico City). Mexico City played

660-445: A major role in the Spanish colonial empire as a political, administrative, and financial center. Following independence from Spain , the federal district was established in 1824. After years of demanding greater political autonomy , residents were finally given the right to elect both a head of government and the representatives of the unicameral Legislative Assembly by election in 1997. Ever since, left-wing parties (first

792-691: A major success that ended the war. The American invasion into the Federal District was first resisted during the Battle of Churubusco on 8 August, where the Saint Patrick's Battalion , which was composed primarily of Catholic Irish and German immigrants but also Canadians, English, French, Italians, Poles, Scots, Spaniards, Swiss, and Mexicans, fought for the Mexican cause, repelling the American attacks. After defeating

924-592: A member of the Party of the Democratic Revolution . Discontent over the election eventually led Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas to become the first elected mayor of Mexico City in 1997. Cárdenas promised a more democratic government , and his party claimed some victories against crime, pollution, and other major problems. He resigned in 1999 to run for the presidency. Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, sometimes called

1056-464: A mountainous region of pine and oak trees known as the range of Ajusco . The average annual temperature varies from 12 to 16 °C (54 to 61 °F), depending on the altitude of the borough. The temperature is rarely below 3 °C (37 °F) or above 30 °C (86 °F). At the Tacubaya observatory, the lowest temperature ever registered was −4.4 °C (24 °F) on 13 February 1960, and

1188-614: A new king, Cuitláhuac , but he soon died; the next king was Cuauhtémoc . Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521. For three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island and slowly fought their way through the city. Cuauhtémoc surrendered in August 1521. The Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during

1320-467: A nopal cactus. Mexico declared the abolition of slavery in 1829 and the equality of all citizens before the law in 1857. Indigenous communities continued to have rights as corporations to maintain land holdings until the liberal Reforma . Some indigenous individuals integrated into Mexican society, like Benito Juárez of Zapotec ethnicity, the first indigenous president in the Americas. Juárez supported

1452-451: A preferential way all the natural resources located at the places which the communities live in, except those defined as strategic areas according to the constitution. The communities shall be authorized to associate with each other in order to achieve such goals. Through the land reforms of the early 20th century, some indigenous people had land rights under the ejido system. Under ejidos, indigenous communities have usufruct rights of

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1584-446: A social change to elevate the status of indigenous languages in order for the law to be withheld so that indigenous languages are protected. Indigenous women are often taken advantage of because they are women, indigenous, and often poor. Indigenous traditions have been used as a pretext by the Mexican government to deny rights to indigenous women, such as the right to own land. Additionally, violence against women has been regarded by

1716-537: A third of those in 1992. The levels of signature pollutants in Mexico City are similar to those of Los Angeles . Despite the cleanup, the metropolitan area is still the most ozone -polluted part of the country, with ozone levels 2.5 times beyond WHO -defined safe limits. To clean up pollution, the federal and local governments implemented numerous plans including the constant monitoring and reporting of environmental conditions, such as ozone and nitrogen oxides . When

1848-733: A vast cultural region in southeast Mexico and northern Central America, while the Zapotec and Mixtec cultures dominated the valley of Oaxaca and the Purépecha in western Mexico. Scholars agree that significant systems of trading existed between the cultures of Mesoamerica , Aridoamerica and the American Southwest , and the architectural remains and artifacts share a commonality of knowledge attributed to this trade network. The routes stretched far into Mesoamerica and reached as far north as ancient communities that included such population centers in

1980-481: A way not seen in other parts of the Americas. Spaniards encountered a society in which the concept of nobility mirrored that of their own. Spaniards respected the indigenous order of nobility and added to it. In the ensuing centuries, possession of a noble title in Mexico did not mean one exercised great political power, for one's power was limited even if the accumulation of wealth was not. The concept of nobility in Mexico

2112-472: A year by American troops in the framework of the Mexican–American War (1847–1848). The Battle for Mexico City was the series of engagements from 8 to 15 September 1847, in the general vicinity of Mexico City during the U.S. Mexican War . Included are major actions at the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec , culminating with the fall of Mexico City. The U.S. Army under Winfield Scott scored

2244-651: Is distributed throughout the territory of Mexico but is especially concentrated in the Sierra Madre del Sur , the Yucatán Peninsula , the Sierra Madre Oriental , the Sierra Madre Occidental , and neighboring areas. The states with the largest indigenous population are Oaxaca and Yucatán , both having indigenous majorities, with the former having the highest percentage of indigenous population. Since

2376-466: Is less access to maternal care. Conditional cash transfer programs such as Oportunidades have been used to encourage indigenous women to seek formal health care. Generally, indigenous Mexicans are poorer than non-indigenous Mexicans, though social development varies between states, different indigenous ethnicities, and between rural and urban areas. In all states, indigenous people have higher infant mortality , and in some states, almost double that of

2508-690: Is now Mexico before the arrival of Europeans. The number of indigenous Mexicans is defined through the second article of the Mexican Constitution . The Mexican census does not classify individuals by race, using the cultural - ethnicity of indigenous communities that preserve their indigenous languages , traditions, beliefs, and cultures. As a result, the count of indigenous peoples in Mexico does not include those of mixed indigenous and European heritage who have not preserved their indigenous cultural practices. Genetic studies have found that most Mexicans are of partial indigenous heritage. According to

2640-586: Is now officially known as Ciudad de México (or CDMX ), with a greater degree of autonomy. A clause in the Constitution of Mexico , however, prevents it from becoming a state within the Mexican federation, as long it remains the capital of the country. Mexico City was traditionally known as La Ciudad de los Palacios ("the City of the Palaces"), a nickname attributed to Baron Alexander von Humboldt when visiting

2772-480: Is often called the "spiritual conquest". On the northern frontiers, the Spanish created missions and settled Indigenous populations in these complexes, which prompted raids from those who resisted settlement (given the name Indios Bárbaros ). The Jesuits were prominent in this enterprise until their expulsion from Spanish America in 1767. Catholicism, often with local characteristics, was the only permissible religion in

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2904-654: The Alameda Central , it is recognized as the oldest public park in the Americas . Parque México and Parque España in the hip Condesa district; Parque Hundido and Parque de los Venados in Colonia del Valle , and Parque Lincoln in Polanco . There are many smaller parks throughout the city. Most are small "squares" occupying two or three square blocks amid residential or commercial districts. Several other larger parks such as

3036-527: The Bosque de Tlalpan  [ es ; no ] and Viveros de Coyoacán , and in the east Alameda Oriente  [ es ] , offer many recreational activities. Northwest of the city is a large ecological reserve, the Bosque de Aragón  [ ceb ; es ; no ] . In the southeast is the Xochimilco Ecological Park and Plant Market , a World Heritage Site . West of Santa Fe district are

3168-641: The Ecobici bike-sharing were among efforts to encourage alternate, greener forms of transportation. Chapultepec , the city's most iconic public park, has history back to the Aztec emperors who used the area as a retreat. It is south of Polanco district, and houses the Chapultepec Zoo the main city's zoo, several ponds and seven museums, including the National Museum of Anthropology . Other iconic city parks include

3300-527: The General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples explicitly stated the protection of individual and collective linguistic rights of indigenous peoples. The final section also sanctioned the creation of a National Institute for Indigenous Languages (INALI) whose purpose is to promote the growth of indigenous languages in Mexico. There has been a lack of enforcement of the law. For example,

3432-594: The Mexican Socialist Party (PMS) in 1987. The PMS never competed in national elections alone, having joined the National Democratic Front (FDN)—a split from the ruling Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI)—to support the presidential bid of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas in 1988. What was the PMS was then absorbed into the newly formed Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) in 1989. In 1994, former members of

3564-479: The Party of the Democratic Revolution and later the National Regeneration Movement ) have controlled both of them. The city has several progressive policies, such as elective abortions , a limited form of euthanasia , no-fault divorce , same-sex marriage , and legal gender change . On 29 January 2016, it ceased to be the Federal District (Spanish: Distrito Federal or D.F. ) and

3696-498: The República de Indios . The degree to which racial category labels had legal and social consequences has been subject to academic debate since the idea of a "caste system" was developed by Ángel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán in the 1940s. Both historians popularized the notion that racial status was a key organizing principle of Spanish colonial rule. However, recent academic studies have challenged this notion, considering it

3828-554: The Saint Patrick's Battalion , the Mexican–American War came to a close after the United States deployed combat units deep into Mexico resulting in the capture of Mexico City and Veracruz by the U.S. Army's 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Divisions . The invasion culminated with the storming of Chapultepec Castle in the city itself. During this battle, on 13 September, the 4th Division, under John A. Quitman , spearheaded

3960-552: The San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andrés accords were the first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The government has made certain legislative changes to promote the development of rural and indigenous communities and the promotion of indigenous languages. The second article of

4092-482: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire eliminating the superstructure of rule, and replacing it with Spanish. The crown had several concerns about the encomienda. First was that the holders of encomiendas, called encomenderos, were becoming too powerful, essentially a seigneurial group that might challenge crown power (as shown in the conspiracy by conqueror Hernán Cortés 's legitimate son and heir). The second

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4224-553: The Toltec , and Mexica (Aztecs) cultures. The latter arrived around the 14th century to settle first on the shores of the lake. The city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325 or 1327. The old Mexica city that is now referred to as Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the center of the inland lake system of the Valley of Mexico , which is shared with a smaller city-state called Tlatelolco . According to legend,

4356-694: The Twelve Apostles of Mexico who arrived in New Spain in 1524, described the rebuilding of the city as one of the afflictions or plagues of the early period: The seventh plague was the construction of the great City of Mexico, which, during the early years used more people than in the construction of Jerusalem. The crowds of laborers were so numerous that one could hardly move in the streets and causeways, although they are very wide. Many died from being crushed by beams, or falling from high places, or in tearing down old buildings for new ones. Preconquest Tenochtitlan

4488-520: The Yaqui Wars . The Mayo joined their Yaqui neighbors in rebellion after 1867. In Yucatán, Mayas waged a protracted war against local Mexican control in the Caste War of Yucatán , which was most intensely fought in 1847 and lasted until 1915. The Mexican Revolution , a violent social and cultural movement that defined 20th-century Mexico, produced a nationalist sentiment that the indigenous peoples were

4620-552: The massacre of an unknown number of protesting students in Tlatelolco . Three years later, a demonstration in the Maestros avenue, organized by former members of the 1968 student movement, was violently repressed by a paramilitary group called " Los Halcones ", composed of gang members and teenagers from many sports clubs who received training in the US. On 19 September 1985, at 7:19am CST ,

4752-523: The Basin of Mexico. This valley is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in the high plateaus of south-central Mexico. It has a minimum altitude of 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reach elevations of over 5,000 meters (16,000 feet). This valley has no natural drainage outlet for the waters that flow from the mountainsides, making

4884-572: The City of Lakes . If approved by the government the project will contribute to the supply of water from natural sources to the Valley of Mexico , the creation of new natural spaces, a great improvement in air quality, and greater population establishment planning. By the 1990s Mexico City had become infamous as one of the world's most polluted cities; however, the city has since become a model for drastically lowering pollution levels. By 2014 carbon monoxide pollution had dropped drastically, while sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide were at levels about

5016-558: The Constitution was modified to include the right of self-determination and requires state governments to promote and ensure the economic development of indigenous communities as well as the preservation of their languages and traditions. The Spanish crown had legal protections for indigenous individuals as well as their communities, including establishing a separate General Indian Court. The mid-nineteenth-century liberal reform removed them as part of its establishment of equality before

5148-556: The General Law on Linguistic Rights of Indigenous People guarantees the right to a trial in the language of indigenous peoples with someone who understands their culture. According to the Mexican National Human Rights Commission , Mexico has not abided by this law. Examples include Jacinta Francisca Marcial , an indigenous woman imprisoned for her alleged involvement in a 2006 kidnapping. After three years and

5280-612: The Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz , Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the other native peoples, arriving there on 8 November 1519. Cortés and his men marched along the causeway leading into the city from Iztapalapa (Ixtapalapa), and the city's ruler, Moctezuma II , greeted the Spaniards; they exchanged gifts, but

5412-494: The Hispanic sphere: Spaniards, Africans, and mixed-race castas. Although Indigenous peoples were marginalized in the colonial system, and often rebelled, the paternalistic structure of colonial rule supported the continued existence and structure of indigenous communities. The Spanish crown recognized the existing ruling group, gave protection to the land holdings of indigenous communities, and communities and individuals had access to

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5544-537: The Maya or Nahua retaining high levels of development, the general indigenous population lives at a lower level of development than the general population. Literacy rates are much lower for the indigenous, particularly in the southwestern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca due lack of access to education and a lack of educational literature available in indigenous languages. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to

5676-464: The Mexican government as a cultural practice. The EZLN accepted a Revolutionary Law for Women on March 8, 1993. The law is not fully enforced but shows solidarity between the indigenous movement and women. The Mexican government increased militarization of indigenous areas has made women more susceptible to harassment through military abuses. The government has remained largely inactive against denunciations of abuse of indigenous women by elements of

5808-571: The Mexican wolf. Other guests are the golden eagle, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, caracara, zebras, African elephant, macaw, hippo, among others. Zoo Los Coyotes is a 27.68-acre (11.2 ha) zoo located south of Mexico City in the Coyoacan. It was inaugurated on 2 February 1999. It has more than 301 specimens of 51 species of wild native or endemic fauna from the area, featuring eagles, ajolotes, coyotes, macaws, bobcats, Mexican wolves, raccoons, mountain lions, teporingos, foxes, white-tailed deer. Mexico City has

5940-548: The Mexicas' principal god, Huitzilopochtli , indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting a golden eagle perched on a prickly pear devouring a rattlesnake . Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco and in the Valley of Mexico. When the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica , touching both

6072-561: The Miguel Hidalgo. It was opened in 1924. Visitors can see about 243 specimens of different species including kangaroos, giant panda, gorillas, caracal, hyena, hippos, jaguar, giraffe, lemur, lion, among others. Zoo San Juan de Aragon is near the San Juan de Aragon Park in the Gustavo A. Madero. In this zoo, opened in 1964, there are species that are in danger of extinction such as the jaguar and

6204-590: The National Indigenous Institute (INI) and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (CDI), in 2012 the indigenous population was approximately 15 million people, divided into 68 ethnic groups. The 2020 Censo General de Población y Vivienda reported 11,132,562 people living in households where someone speaks an indigenous language, and 23,232,391 people who were identified as indigenous based on self-identification. The indigenous population

6336-675: The PCM, along with members of the PRD and the PPS , formed the Communist Party of Mexico . Mexican Federal District This is an accepted version of this page Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico , and the most populous city in North America . It is one of the most important cultural and financial centers in the world. Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico within

6468-665: The Spanish colonization, the North and Bajio regions of Mexico have had lower percentages of indigenous peoples, but some notable groups include the Rarámuri , the Tepehuán , the Yaquis , and the Yoreme . In the second article of the Mexican Constitution , Mexico defines itself as a pluricultural nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it and where the indigenous peoples are

6600-474: The Spanish first made contact with Indigenous Languages during the colonial period. Beginning in the early sixteenth century, mestizaje , the mixing of races and cultures, led to the mixing of languages as well. The Spanish Crown proclaimed Spanish to be the language of the empire; indigenous languages were used during the conversion of individuals to Catholicism. Because of this, indigenous languages were more widespread than Spanish from 1523 to 1581. During

6732-518: The Spanish legal system. However, these codes were often ignored in practice, and racial discrimination was prevalent in New Spain. In the religious sphere, indigenous men were banned from Christian priesthood, following an early Franciscan attempt that included fray Bernardino de Sahagún to train an indigenous group. Mendicants of the Franciscan , Dominican , and Augustinian orders initially evangelized indigenous in their own communities in what

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6864-475: The Spanish preserved Tenochtitlan's basic layout, they built Catholic churches over the old Aztec temples and claimed the imperial palaces for themselves. Tenochtitlan was renamed "Mexico" because the Spanish found the word easier to pronounce. The city had been the capital of the Aztec Empire and in the colonial era, Mexico City became the capital of New Spain . The viceroy of Mexico or vice-king lived in

6996-618: The United States such as Snaketown , Chaco Canyon , and Ridge Ruin near Flagstaff (considered some of the finest artifacts ever located). By the time of the arrival of the Spanish in central Mexico, many peoples of Mesoamerica (with the notable exception of the Tlaxcaltecs and the Purépecha Kingdom of Michoacán ) were loosely joined under the Aztec Empire , the last Nahua civilization to flourish in Central Mexico. The capital of

7128-598: The United States. Mesoamerica was densely populated by diverse indigenous ethnic groups which, although sharing common cultural characteristics, spoke different languages and developed unique civilizations. One of the most influential civilizations in Mesoamerica was the Olmec civilization, sometimes referred to as the " Mother Culture of Mesoamerica". The later civilization in Teotihuacan reached its peak around 600 AD when

7260-874: The air is relatively drier, the driest month being December. This season is subdivided into a cold winter period and a warm spring period. The cold period spans from November to February, when polar air masses push down from the north and keep the air fairly dry. The warm period extends from March to May when subtropical winds again dominate but do not yet carry enough moisture for rain to form. Indigenous peoples of Mexico Based on language Indigenous peoples of Mexico ( Spanish : gente indígena de México, pueblos indígenas de México ), Native Mexicans ( Spanish : nativos mexicanos ) or Mexican Native Americans ( Spanish : pueblos originarios de México , lit.   'Original Peoples of Mexico'), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what

7392-426: The area closest to the main square in what was known as the traza , in orderly, well laid-out streets. Indigenous residences were outside that exclusive zone and houses were haphazardly located. Spaniards sought to keep indigenous people separate but since the Zócalo was a center of commerce for Amerindians, they were a constant presence in the central area, so strict segregation was never enforced. At intervals Zócalo

7524-446: The area was struck by the 1985 Mexico City earthquake . The earthquake proved to be a disaster politically for the one-party state government. The Mexican government was paralyzed by its own bureaucracy and corruption, forcing ordinary citizens to create and direct their own rescue efforts and to reconstruct much of the housing that was lost as well. However, the last straw may have been the controversial elections of 1988. That year,

7656-415: The armed forces. Indigenous women have formed many support organizations to improve their social position and gain financial independence. Indigenous women use national and international legislation to support their claims that go against cultural norms such as domestic violence. Reproductive justice is an important issue to indigenous communities because there is a lack of development in these areas and

7788-451: The armies of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata , but the city did not experience violence. Huerta had abandoned the capital and the conquering armies marched in. Venustiano Carranza 's Constitutionalist faction ultimately prevailed in the revolutionary civil war and Carranza took up residence in the presidential palace. In the 20th century the phenomenal growth of the city and its environmental and political consequences dominate. In 1900,

7920-404: The army stronghold of the ciudadela or citadel, with significant civilian casualties and the undermining of confidence in the Madero government. Victoriano Huerta , chief general of the Federal Army , saw a chance to take power, forcing Madero and Pino Suarez to sign resignations. The two were murdered later while on their way to Lecumberri prison . Huerta's ouster in July 1914 saw the entry of

8052-616: The assistance of Amnesty International , she was released for lack of evidence. Additionally, the General Law on Linguistics also guarantees bilingual and intercultural education. These efforts have been criticized on grounds that teachers do not know the indigenous language or do not prioritize its teaching. In fact, some studies argue that formal education has decreased the prevalence of indigenous languages. Some parents do not teach their children their indigenous language, and some children refuse to learn their indigenous language for fear of discrimination. Scholars argue that there needs to be

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8184-433: The attack against Chapultepec and carried the castle. Future Confederate generals George E. Pickett and James Longstreet participated in the attack. Serving in the Mexican defense were the cadets later immortalized as Los Niños Héroes (the "Boy Heroes"). The Mexican forces fell back from Chapultepec and retreated within the city. Attacks on the Belén and San Cosme Gates came afterwards. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

8316-467: The barrier for parties to get on the ballot, the PCM regained temporary registration for the 1979 mid-term elections. After its poor showing and a two decade-long period of moderation during which it adopted a " Eurocommunist " position, the PCM merged with three other far-left political parties in November 1981 and became the Unified Socialist Party of Mexico (PSUM). Most members of the PSUM then merged with somewhat more moderate left-wing groups to form

8448-448: The camaraderie did not last long. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest , hoping to rule through him. Tensions increased until, on the night of 30 June 1520 – during a struggle known as " La Noche Triste " – the Aztecs rose up against the Spanish intrusion and managed to capture or drive out the Europeans and their Tlaxcalan allies. Cortés regrouped at Tlaxcala. The Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected

8580-445: The capital. The 16th century saw a proliferation of churches, many of which can still be seen today in the historic center . Economically, Mexico City prospered as a result of trade. Unlike Brazil or Peru , Mexico had easy contact with both the Atlantic and Pacific worlds. Although the Spanish crown tried to completely regulate all commerce in the city, it had only partial success. The concept of nobility flourished in New Spain in

8712-432: The city in the 19th century, who, sending a letter back to Germany, said Mexico City could rival any major city in Europe. But it was English politician Charles Latrobe who really penned the following: "... look at their works: the moles, aqueducts, churches, roads—and the luxurious City of Palaces which has risen from the clay-built ruins of Tenochtitlan...", on page 84 of the Letter V of The Rambler in Mexico . During

8844-410: The city possibly became the sixth largest city in the world, whose cultural and theological systems influenced the Toltec and Aztec civilizations in later centuries. Evidence has been found on the existence of polyethnic communities or neighborhoods in Teotihuacan (and other large urban areas like Tenochtitlan ). The Maya civilization , influenced by other Mesoamerican civilizations, developed

8976-413: The city vulnerable to flooding. Drainage was engineered through the use of canals and tunnels starting in the 17th century. Mexico City primarily rests on what was Lake Texcoco . Seismic activity is frequent there. Lake Texcoco was drained starting from the 17th century. Although none of the lake waters remain, the city rests on the lake bed's heavily saturated clay. This soft base is collapsing due to

9108-423: The colonial era. During the early colonial era in central Mexico, Spaniards were more interested in access to indigenous labor than land ownership. The institution of the encomienda , a crown grant of the labor of indigenous communities to conquerors was a key element of the imposition of Spanish rule. The Spanish crown initially maintained the indigenous sociopolitical system of local rulers and land tenure, with

9240-438: The colonial period to work on infrastructure to prevent flooding. Floods were not only an inconvenience but also a health hazard, since during flood periods human waste polluted the city's streets. By draining the area, the mosquito population dropped as did the frequency of the diseases they spread. However, draining the wetlands also changed the habitat for fish and birds and the areas accessible for indigenous cultivation close to

9372-441: The colonial period, the city's motto was "Muy Noble e Insigne, Muy Leal e Imperial" (Very Noble and Distinguished, Very Loyal and Imperial). During Andrés Manuel López Obrador 's administration a political slogan was introduced: la Ciudad de la Esperanza ( lit.   ' The City of Hope ' ). This motto was quickly adopted as a city nickname but has faded since the new motto, Capital en Movimiento ("Capital in Movement"),

9504-499: The colonial system, the friars taught indigenous scribes to write their languages in Latin letters so that there is a large corpus of colonial-era documentation in the Nahuatl language, Mixtec , Zapotec , Yucatec Maya , and others. Such a written tradition likely took hold through existing practices of pictorial writing found in many indigenous codices . New Philology scholars have utilized

9636-421: The colonial-era alphabetic documentation to illuminate the colonial experience of Mesoamerican peoples from their own viewpoints. Conquerors awarded labor and tribute under the encomienda system benefitted financially. Since Mesoamerican peoples had existing requirements of labor duty and tribute in the pre-conquest era, indigenous officials were involved in maintaining this system in their communities. There

9768-546: The constitution. According to this article, indigenous peoples are granted: The Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Languages recognizes 89 indigenous languages as national languages, which have the same validity as Spanish in all territories where they are spoken. According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing (INEGI), approximately 5.4% of the population speaks an indigenous language. The recognition of indigenous languages and

9900-498: The construction of large sporting facilities. In 1969, the Mexico City Metro was inaugurated. Explosive growth in the population of the city started in the 1960s, with the population overflowing the boundaries of the Federal District into the neighboring State of Mexico, especially to the north, northwest, and northeast. Between 1960 and 1980 the city's population more than doubled to nearly 9 million. In 1980, half of all

10032-601: The consular services provided in Spanish as well as Zapotec and Mixe . Some of the Maya peoples of Chiapas have revolted, demanding better social and economic opportunities, requests voiced by the EZLN . The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , a libertarian socialist indigenous political group. This movement generated international media attention and united many indigenous groups. In 1996

10164-593: The cultural area where several complex civilizations developed before the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Aridoamerica (or simply "The North"), the arid region north of the Tropic of Cancer which was less densely populated. Despite the conditions, the Mogollon culture and peoples established urban population centers at Casas Grandes and Cuarenta Casas in a vast territory that encompassed northern Chihuahua state and parts of Arizona and New Mexico in

10296-429: The draining of Lake Texcoco and global warming have greatly reduced snowfalls after the snow flurries of 12 February 1907. Since 1908, snow has only fallen three times, snow on 14 February 1920; snow flurries on 14 March 1940; and on 12 January 1967, when 8 centimeters (3 in) of snow fell on the city, the most on record. The 1967 snowstorm coincided with the operation of Deep Drainage System that resulted in

10428-427: The empire, Tenochtitlan , became one of the largest urban centers in the world, with an estimated population of 350,000 inhabitants. During the conquest of the Aztec Empire , the Spanish conquistadors allied with other ethnic groups in the region, including the Tlaxcaltecs . This strategy succeeded due to discontent with Aztec rule, which demanded tributes and used conquered peoples for ritual sacrifice . During

10560-493: The final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán , but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order. He did not establish a territory under his own personal rule , but remained loyal to the Spanish crown. The first Spanish viceroy arrived in Mexico City fourteen years later. By that time, the city had again become a city-state , having power that extended far beyond its borders. Although

10692-515: The first time that indigenous rights were acknowledged by the Mexican government. The San Andrés Accords did not explicitly state language but language was involved in matters involving culture and education. In 2001, the second article of the constitution of Mexico was changed to recognize and enforce the right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and therefore their autonomy to preserve and enrich their language, knowledge, and every part of their culture and identity. In 2003,

10824-549: The following decades, the Spanish consolidated their rule in what became the viceroyalty of New Spain . Through the Valladolid Debate , the crown recognized the indigenous nobility in Mesoamerica as nobles, freed indigenous slaves, and kept the existing basic structure of indigenous city-states. Indigenous communities were incorporated as communities under Spanish rule. As part of the Spanish incorporation of indigenous into

10956-499: The foundation of Mexican society in a movement known as indigenismo . Several prominent artists promoted the "Indigenous Sentiment" ( sentimiento indigenista ) of the country, including Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera . Throughout the twentieth century, the government established bilingual education in some indigenous communities and published free bilingual textbooks. Some states of the federation appropriated an indigenous inheritance in order to reinforce their identity. In spite of

11088-430: The high Mexican central plateau , at an altitude of 2,240 meters (7,350 ft). The city has 16 boroughs or demarcaciones territoriales , which are in turn divided into neighborhoods or colonias . The 2020 population for the city proper was 9,209,944, with a land area of 1,495 square kilometers (577 sq mi). According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments,

11220-574: The highest temperature on record was 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) on 25 May 2024. Overall precipitation is heavily concentrated in the summer months, and includes dense hail . Snow falls in the city scarcely, although somewhat more often on nearby mountaintops. Throughout its history, the Central Valley of Mexico was accustomed to having several snowfalls per decade (including a period between 1878 and 1895 in which every single year—except 1880—recorded snowfalls ), mostly lake-effect snow . The effects of

11352-610: The industrial jobs in Mexico were located in Mexico City. Under relentless growth, the Mexico City government could barely keep up with services. Villagers from the countryside who continued to pour into the city to escape poverty only compounded the city's problems. With no housing available, they took over lands surrounding the city, creating huge shanty towns . The inhabitants of Mexico City faced serious air pollution and water pollution problems, as well as groundwater-related subsidence . Air and water pollution has been contained and improved in several areas due to government programs,

11484-628: The insurgency, occurred four days later. After a decade of war, Mexico's independence from Spain was effectively declared in the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire on 27 September 1821. Agustín de Iturbide is proclaimed Emperor of the First Mexican Empire by Congress, crowned in the Cathedral of Mexico . The Mexican Federal District was established by the new government and by

11616-399: The land. Indigenous people use collective property so that the aforementioned services that the land provides are available to the entire community and future generations. This was a stark contrast to the viewpoints of colonists that saw the land purely in an economic way where land could be transferred between individuals. Once the land of the indigenous people and therefore their livelihood

11748-526: The land. Indigenous communities do this when they do not have the legal evidence to claim the land. In 1992, free market reforms allowed ejidos to be partitioned and sold. For this to happen, the PROCEDE program was established. The PROCEDE program surveyed, mapped, and verified the ejido lands. According to several analysts, the privatization of ejidos has undermined the economic base of indigenous communities. The history of linguistic rights in Mexico began when

11880-413: The language of the indigenous group they identify with. This means that the percentage of the Mexican population defined as "indigenous" varies according to the definition applied; cultural activists have referred to the usage of the narrow definition of the term for census purposes as "statistical genocide". The indigenous peoples in Mexico have the right of free determination under the second article of

12012-459: The last half of the 18th century. Many of these palaces can still be seen today, leading to Mexico City's nickname of "The city of palaces" given by Alexander Von Humboldt . The Grito de Dolores ("Cry of Dolores"), also known as El Grito de la Independencia ("Cry of Independence"), marked the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence . The Battle of Guanajuato, the first major engagement of

12144-595: The late sixteenth century, the prevalence of the Spanish language increased. Indigenous tongues are discriminated against and seen as not modern. By the seventeenth century, the elite minority were Spanish speakers. After independence in 1821, there was a shift to Spanish to legitimize the Mexican Spanish created by Mexican criollos . The nineteenth century brought with it programs to provide bilingual education at primary levels where they would eventually transition to Spanish-only education. Linguistic uniformity

12276-433: The law . The creation of a national identity not linked to racial or ethnic identity was an aim of Mexican liberalism. In the late twentieth century, there has been a push for indigenous rights and a recognition of indigenous cultural identity. According to the constitutional reform of 2001, the following rights of indigenous peoples are recognized: The second article of the Constitution of Mexico recognizes and enforces

12408-452: The levels of these two pollutants reached critical levels, contingency actions were implemented which included closing factories, changing school hours, and extending the A day without a car program to two days of the week. The government also instituted industrial technology improvements, a strict biannual vehicle emission inspection and the reformulation of gasoline and diesel fuels . The introduction of Metrobús bus rapid transit and

12540-438: The locals' nickname chilangos . Chilango is used pejoratively by people living outside Mexico City to "connote a loud, arrogant, ill-mannered, loutish person". For their part those living in Mexico City designate insultingly those who live elsewhere as living in la provincia ('the provinces', 'the periphery') and many proudly embrace the term chilango. Residents of Mexico City are more recently called defeños (deriving from

12672-553: The lower Cenolithic period (9500–7000 BC). However, a 2003 study placed the age of the Peñon woman at 12,700 years old (calendar age), one of the oldest human remains discovered in the Americas. Studies of her mitochondrial DNA suggest she was either of Asian or European or Aboriginal Australian origin. The area was the destination of the migrations of the Teochichimecas during the 8th and 13th centuries, people that would give rise to

12804-477: The main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico . Designed by the most prestigious architects of the era, including Mario Pani , Eugenio Peschard , and Enrique del Moral , the buildings feature murals by artists Diego Rivera , David Alfaro Siqueiros , and José Chávez Morado . It has since been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The 1968 Olympic Games brought about

12936-424: The metropolitan area. The area receives about 820 millimeters (32 in) of annual rainfall, which is concentrated from May through October with little or no precipitation for the remainder of the year. The area has two main seasons. The wet humid summer runs from May to October when winds bring in tropical moisture from the sea, the wettest month being July. The cool sunny winter runs from November to April, when

13068-448: The new republic. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 has several articles pertaining to indigenous peoples. The Mexican War of Independence was a decade-long struggle ending in 1821, in which indigenous peoples participated for their own motivations. The new country was named after its capital city, Mexico City . The new flag had at its center a symbol of the Aztecs, an eagle perched on

13200-569: The non-indigenous populations. Some indigenous groups, particularly the Yucatec Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula and some of the Nahua and Otomi peoples in central states have maintained higher levels of development while indigenous peoples in states such as the Guerrero or Michoacán are ranked drastically lower than the average Mexican citizen in these fields. Despite certain indigenous groups such as

13332-413: The official recognition of indigenous peoples, the economic underdevelopment of their communities, accentuated by the crises of the 1980s and 1990s, has not allowed for the development of most indigenous communities. Thousands of indigenous Mexicans have emigrated to urban centers in Mexico and the United States. In Los Angeles, for example, the Mexican government has established electronic access to some of

13464-455: The old Aztec ceremonial center. The existing central plaza of the Aztecs was effectively and permanently transformed to the ceremonial center and seat of power during the colonial period, and remains to this day in modern Mexico, the central plaza of the nation. The rebuilding of the city after the siege of Tenochtitlan was accomplished by the abundant indigenous labor in the surrounding area. Franciscan friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinia , one of

13596-571: The original foundation. The number of indigenous Mexicans is measured using constitutional criteria. The category of indigena (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexico's 89 indigenous languages , this is the categorization used by the National Mexican Institute of Statistics. It can also be defined broadly to include all persons who self-identify as having an indigenous cultural background, whether or not they speak

13728-419: The over-extraction of groundwater, called groundwater-related subsidence . Since the beginning of the 20th century the city has sunk as much as nine meters (30 feet) in some areas. On average Mexico City sinks 20 inches (1 foot and 8 inches) or 50 centimetres (1/2 meters ) every year. This sinking is causing problems with runoff and wastewater management, leading to flooding problems, especially during

13860-536: The party had some minor influence in the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM) and among the intelligentsia of Mexico City . In the mid-1960s the US State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 50,000. In 1976, the party nominated Valentín Campa as its presidential candidate, competing (unofficially) against José López Portillo . Following the electoral reform of 1977 that lowered

13992-629: The pine forests of the Desierto de los Leones National Park . Amusement parks include Six Flags México , in Ajusco neighborhood which is the largest in Latin America. There are numerous seasonal fairs present in the city. Mexico City has three zoos. Chapultepec Zoo , the San Juan de Aragon Zoo  [ es ; no ] and Los Coyotes Zoo . Chapultepec Zoo is located in the first section of Chapultepec Park in

14124-505: The political disputes of the country. It was the imperial capital on two occasions (1821–1823 and 1864–1867), and of two federalist states and two centralist states that followed innumerable coups d'états in the space of half a century before the triumph of the Liberals after the Reform War . It was also the objective of one of the two French invasions to Mexico ( 1861–1867 ), and occupied for

14256-468: 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. Greater Mexico City has a GDP of $ 411 billion in 2011, which makes it one of the most productive urban areas in

14388-550: The population of Mexico City was about 500,000. The city began to grow rapidly westward in the early part of the 20th century and then began to grow upwards in the 1950s, with the Torre Latinoamericana becoming the city's first skyscraper. The rapid development of Mexico City as a center for modernist architecture was most fully manifested in the mid-1950s construction of the Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City ,

14520-621: The postal abbreviation of the Federal District in Spanish: D.F., which is read "De-Efe"). They are formally called capitalinos (in reference to the city being the capital of the country), but "[p]erhaps because capitalino is the more polite, specific, and correct word, it is almost never utilized". The oldest signs of human occupation in the area of Mexico City are those of the " Peñón woman " and others found in San Bartolo Atepehuacan ( Gustavo A. Madero ). They were believed to correspond to

14652-432: The presidency was set between the P.R.I. 's candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and a coalition of left-wing parties led by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas , son of the former president Lázaro Cárdenas . The counting system "fell" because coincidentally the power went out and suddenly, when it returned, the winning candidate was Salinas, even though Cárdenas had the upper hand. As a result of the fraudulent election, Cárdenas became

14784-419: The protection of indigenous cultures is granted not only to the ethnic groups indigenous to modern-day Mexican territory but also to other North American indigenous groups that migrated to Mexico from the United States in the nineteenth century and those who immigrated from Guatemala in the 1980s. The prehispanic civilizations of what now is known as Mexico are often divided into two regions: Mesoamerica ,

14916-661: The removal of provisions protecting indigenous communal land holdings through the Lerdo law . In the North of Mexico, indigenous peoples, such as the Comanche and Apache , who had acquired the horse, waged a successful warfare against the Mexican state. The Comanche controlled considerable territory, called the Comancheria . The Yaqui also had a long tradition of resistance, with the late nineteenth-century leader Cajemé being prominent during

15048-466: The renovation of vehicles and the modernization of public transportation. The autocratic government that ruled Mexico City since the Revolution was tolerated, mostly because of the continued economic expansion since World War II. This was the case even though this government could not handle the population and pollution problems adequately. Nevertheless, discontent and protests began in the 1960s leading to

15180-425: The right of indigenous peoples and communities to self-determination and autonomy to: V. Preserve and improve their habitat as well as preserve the integrity of their lands in accordance with this constitution. VI. Be entitled to the estate and land property modalities established by this constitution and its derived legislation, to all private property rights and communal property rights as well as to use and enjoy in

15312-417: The siege of Tenochtitlan, and during colonial times the Spanish regularly drained the lake to prevent floods. Only a small section of the original lake remains, located outside Mexico City, in the municipality of Atenco , State of Mexico . Architects Teodoro González de León and Alberto Kalach along with a group of Mexican urbanists, engineers and biologists have developed the project plan for Recovering

15444-576: The signing of their new constitution, where the concept of a federal district was adapted from the United States Constitution . Before this designation, Mexico City had served as the seat of government for both the State of Mexico and the nation as a whole. Texcoco de Mora and then Toluca became the capital of the State of Mexico. During the 19th century, Mexico City was the center stage of all

15576-462: The summer. The entire lake bed is now paved over and most of the city's remaining forested areas lie in the southern boroughs of Milpa Alta , Tlalpan and Xochimilco . Originally much of the valley lay beneath the waters of Lake Texcoco , a system of interconnected salt and freshwater lakes. The Aztecs built dikes to separate the fresh water used to raise crops in chinampas and to prevent recurrent floods. These dikes were destroyed during

15708-417: The total draining of what was left of Lake Texcoco. After the disappearance of Lake Texcoco, snow has never fallen again over Mexico City. The region of the Valley of Mexico receives anti-cyclonic systems. The weak winds of these systems do not allow for the dispersion, outside the basin, of the air pollutants which are produced by the 50,000 industries and 4 million vehicles operating in and around

15840-482: The trade via the Manila Galleon there was an intermingling of groups, with mixed-race castas , particularly mestizos , becoming a component of Spanish cities and to a lesser extent indigenous communities. The Spanish legal structure formally separated what they called the República de Indios (the republic of Indians) from the República de Españoles (Republic of Spaniards), with the latter encompassing all those in

15972-530: The viceregal palace on the main square or Zócalo . The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral , the seat of the Archbishopric of New Spain, was constructed on another side of the Zócalo, as was the archbishop's palace, and across from it the building housing the city council or ayuntamiento of the city. A late seventeenth-century painting of the Zócalo by Cristóbal de Villalpando depicts the main square, which had been

16104-454: The world . The city was responsible for generating 15.8% of Mexico's GDP, and the metropolitan area accounted for about 22% of the country's GDP. If it were an independent country in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America . Mexico City is the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Indigenous people . The city was originally built on

16236-470: Was a precipitous decline in indigenous populations, mainly due to the spread of European diseases previously unknown in the America but also through war and forced labor. Pandemics wrought havoc, but indigenous communities recovered with fewer members. With contact between indigenous populations, Spaniards, African slaves , and starting in the late sixteenth century, Asian slaves ( chinos ) brought as goods

16368-423: Was adopted by the administration headed by Marcelo Ebrard , though the latter is not treated as often as a nickname in media. Up until 2013, it was common to refer to the city by the initialism "DF" from "Distrito Federal de México". Since 2013, the abbreviation "CDMX" (Ciudad de México) has been more common, particularly in relation to government campaigns. The city is colloquially known as Chilangolandia after

16500-423: Was built in the center of the inland lake system, with the city reachable by canoe and by wide causeways to the mainland. The causeways were rebuilt under Spanish rule with indigenous labor. Colonial Spanish cities were constructed on a grid pattern, if no geographical obstacle prevented it. In Mexico City, the Zócalo (main square) was the central place from which the grid was then built outward. The Spanish lived in

16632-497: Was no longer monopolized by a small group of conquerors and their descendants but apportioned to a larger group of Spaniards. Through the repartimiento, indigenous peoples were obligated to perform low-paid labor for a certain number of weeks or months on Spanish enterprises, notably silver mining. The land of indigenous peoples is used for material reasons as well as spiritual reasons. Religious, cultural, social, spiritual, and other events relating to their identity are also tied to

16764-418: Was not political but rather a very conservative Spanish social one, based on proving the worthiness of the family. Most of these families proved their worth by making fortunes in New Spain outside of the city itself, then spending the revenues in the capital, building churches, supporting charities and building extravagant palatial homes. The craze to build the most opulent residence possible reached its height in

16896-551: Was signed in what is now the far north of the city. The capital escaped the worst of the violence of the ten-year conflict of the Mexican Revolution . The most significant episode of this period for the city was the Decena Trágica ("Ten Tragic Days") of February 1913, when forces counter to the elected government of Francisco I. Madero staged a successful coup. The center of the city was subjected to artillery attacks from

17028-447: Was sought out to strengthen national identity. This further excluded indigenous languages from power structures. The Chiapas conflict of 1994 led to collaboration between the Mexican government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation , an indigenous political group. In 1996 the San Andrés Larráinzar Accords were negotiated between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and the Mexican government. The San Andrés accords were

17160-413: Was taken from them, they became dependent on those that had land and power. Additionally, the spiritual services that the land provided were no longer available and caused a deterioration of indigenous groups and cultures. The Spanish legal system divided racial groups into two basic categories, the República de Españoles , consisting of all non-indigenous, but initially Spaniards and black Africans, and

17292-458: Was that the encomenderos were monopolizing indigenous labor, excluding newly arriving Spaniards. And third, the crown was concerned about the damage to the indigenous vassals and their communities by the institution. Through the New Laws of 1542 , the crown sought to phase out the encomienda and replace it with another crown mechanism of forced indigenous labor, the repartimiento . Indigenous labor

17424-403: Was where major celebrations took place as well as executions. It was also the site of two major riots in the seventeenth century, one in 1624, the other in 1692. The city grew as the population did, coming up against the lake's waters. As the depth of the lake water fluctuated, Mexico City was subject to periodic flooding. A major labor draft, the desagüe , compelled thousands of indigenous over

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