Ciudad de México, Mexico

Evergreen city guide with quick facts, travel, business, and culture.

MexicoCiudad de México

Overview

Ciudad de México (Mexico City) is the capital of Mexico and one of the largest urban areas in the Western Hemisphere — around 9.2 million people in the city proper and roughly 22 million across the metropolitan area. The city sits at 2,240 metres (7,350 ft) in the Valley of Mexico, built over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán and the dry bed of Lake Texcoco, and concentrates the country's political life, its great muralist tradition, one of the world's flagship anthropology collections and the iconic Estadio Azteca, one of the largest football stadiums in the world and the home of Club América and the Mexican national team.

Centro Histórico and UNESCO Heritage

The Zócalo, the Catedral Metropolitana, the Templo Mayor and the Palacio Nacional — 1,400 historic buildings layered over the Aztec ceremonial centre.

Bellas Artes and Mexican Muralism

Palacio de Bellas Artes interior frescoes by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros and Tamayo, plus the Alameda Central and the Museo Mural Diego Rivera.

Roma, Condesa and Restaurants

Tree-lined Art Nouveau and Art Deco neighbourhoods west of the centre with one of the densest concentrations of new-Mexican and international restaurants in the city.

Coyoacán and Frida Kahlo

Cobblestoned southern district with the Casa Azul, the Leon Trotsky House and the colonial San Ángel core nearby.

Chapultepec and the Anthropology Museum

One of the largest urban parks in the Western Hemisphere with the Museo Nacional de Antropología, the Museo Tamayo, Chapultepec Castle and the Soumaya / Jumex pair in adjacent Polanco.

Xochimilco Canals and Teotihuacán

UNESCO pre-Hispanic canal network with trajinera boats in the south and the pre-Aztec pyramid complex of Teotihuacán 50 km northeast — plus the storied Estadio Azteca in the city's south.
Travel Overview

Ciudad de México is the political and economic centre of Mexico and one of the largest urban areas in the Western Hemisphere — around 9.2 million people in the city proper and roughly 22 million across the metropolitan area. The city sits at 2,240 metres (7,350 ft) above sea level in the Valley of Mexico, ringed by mountains including the snow-capped Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl volcanoes to the east; the modern urban grid is built over the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán and the dry bed of Lake Texcoco. That layered history is the city's defining feature: the UNESCO World Heritage Centro Histórico is built directly over the Aztec ceremonial centre, with the Templo Mayor excavation, the Catedral Metropolitana (the largest cathedral in the Americas) and the Palacio Nacional all framing the Zócalo, one of the largest public squares in the world. The neighbourhoods around the centre form a dense cultural geography: Roma and Condesa west of the centre with tree-lined streets, Art Nouveau and Art Deco apartment buildings, café culture and a modern restaurant scene; Polanco further west with the upscale Avenida Presidente Masaryk corridor and the Museo Soumaya and Museo Jumex collections; Coyoacán south of the centre with cobblestone streets and Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul; Xochimilco at the far south with its UNESCO-listed network of pre-Hispanic canals and trajinera flat-bottomed boats. Chapultepec Park — at 686 hectares one of the largest urban parks in the Western Hemisphere — concentrates many of the city's flagship institutions, including the Museo Nacional de Antropología (one of the great anthropology museums of the world), the Museo de Arte Moderno, the Museo Tamayo and the hilltop Chapultepec Castle. Diego Rivera and the Mexican muralist movement live in public buildings across the city — the Palacio Nacional, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Secretaría de Educación Pública and several smaller markets all carry mural cycles. Estadio Azteca, in the southern district of Santa Úrsula, is one of the largest stadiums in the world and the storied home of Club América and the Mexican national football team.

Discover Ciudad de México

The Centro Histórico, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987, sits directly over the centre of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlán and contains over 1,400 historic buildings across roughly nine square kilometres. The Zócalo — Plaza de la Constitución — is one of the largest public squares in the world, framed by the Catedral Metropolitana (the largest cathedral in the Americas, built from 1573 onward across multiple architectural styles), the Palacio Nacional with Diego Rivera's monumental mural cycle on the history of Mexico, and the Templo Mayor archaeological site exposing the Aztec ceremonial centre uncovered in 1978. Streets radiating from the Zócalo — Madero (pedestrianised, leading to Bellas Artes), Tacuba, Moneda and the Calle Donceles bookshop row — concentrate colonial-era civic and ecclesiastical architecture, hidden courtyards and museum entrances.

Frequently asked questions

Yes — and dramatically. The city was built on the drained bed of Lake Texcoco, and decades of pumping groundwater from that soft former lakebed have caused it to subside: parts of the east and south-east drop by several tens of centimetres a year, and the historic centre has sunk metres over the past century. It is why the Metropolitan Cathedral and other old buildings visibly lean and some streets ripple. The worst-affected zones are monitored and shored up, but the slow sinking is part of the city's geology.

It is, and it is a curious story. The capital's big Día de Muertos parade — with its giant skeletons and floats — did not exist until 2016. It was inspired by the opening of the Bond film Spectre (2015), which staged a fictional parade through the centre; the authorities liked the spectacle so much that they created a real one the following year. Today it is one of the most striking times to visit, around late October and early November, alongside the marigold altars.

It is the home of Club América and the Mexican national team, in the city's south, and one of the largest stadiums in the world. Its landmark distinction: it will be the first stadium ever to host the opening of three men's World Cups — 1970, 1986 and 2026 — and it has staged two finals plus the 1986 "Game of the Century" and Maradona's goals. It was renamed Estadio Banorte in 2025 under a sponsorship deal tied to its refit, and will be branded Estadio Ciudad de México for the 2026 World Cup under FIFA's sponsorship rules.

Diplomatic missions in Ciudad de México

11 embassies based in this city, grouped by region.