States in the region
Central Mexico is the country's demographic core: 39,182,978 people live in these six federal entities, on 87,849 km². That is roughly 31 per cent of the national population on 4.5 per cent of the land. The State of Mexico is the most populous entity in the country and Mexico City the densest, at about 6,160 people per km².
| State | Capital | Population (2020) | Area km² |
|---|---|---|---|
| State of Mexico | Toluca | 16,992,418 | 22,357 |
| Mexico City | Mexico City | 9,209,944 | 1,495 |
| Puebla | Puebla | 6,583,278 | 34,306 |
| Hidalgo | Pachuca | 3,082,841 | 20,821 |
| Morelos | Cuernavaca | 1,971,520 | 4,879 |
| Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala | 1,342,977 | 3,991 |
Geography
The region sits on the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the east–west chain of stratovolcanoes that crosses the country at about 19° N. Its centre is the Valley of Mexico, a closed basin at 2,240 m with no natural outlet, which is why the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan stood on a lake and why draining the basin has been a public works project since the Nochistongo cut was begun in 1607. Water still leaves the valley only through tunnels; the Túnel Emisor Oriente, 62 km long, was opened in stages from 2019.
Volcanoes ring the basin. Popocatépetl (5,426 m) and Iztaccíhuatl (5,230 m) form the eastern wall between Mexico City and Puebla; the Nevado de Toluca (4,680 m), with two crater lakes, stands south-west of Toluca; and La Malinche (4,461 m) rises alone in Tlaxcala. Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest peak at 5,636 m, marks the eastern edge of the region on the Puebla–Veracruz border. All are mapped on the volcanoes map, and the belt as a whole on the physical map.
Land falls away sharply in every direction. South of the Ajusco ridge, Morelos drops from 3,000 m to 900 m within 40 km, which is why Cuernavaca is subtropical and has been the weekend escape for the capital since the 16th century. North, Hidalgo climbs into the arid Mezquital valley and then breaks over the Sierra Madre Oriental into cloud forest at the Huasteca escarpment. Drainage is split three ways: the Lerma runs west to Lake Chapala, the Tula and Moctezuma north into the Pánuco, and the Amacuzac south into the Balsas.
Main cities and sights
Mexico City is the largest city in North America, with 9.21 million people in the federal entity and about 21.8 million in the metropolitan area that spills into the State of Mexico and Hidalgo. Its historic centre and Xochimilco were listed by UNESCO in 1987. Toluca is the highest state capital in Mexico at 2,660 m and the centre of a large vehicle-manufacturing cluster. Puebla keeps a colonial grid of tiled façades, also UNESCO-listed in 1987, and the neighbouring town of Cholula has the largest pyramid in the world by volume, about 4.45 million m³, with a church on top of it.
Cuernavaca in Morelos and the Pueblo Mágico of Tepoztlán, below its clifftop Tepozteco shrine, are the standard weekend destinations. Pachuca in Hidalgo was worked by Cornish miners from the 1820s, which is why the local pastry is the paste; the mining towns of Real del Monte and Mineral del Chico are just above it. Tlaxcala is the smallest state capital and stands beside the painted murals of Cacaxtla. Teotihuacan, Tula's Toltec Atlantes and Xochicalco are all within 130 km of the capital and appear on the archaeological sites map. The silver town of Taxco lies just outside the region, in Guerrero, 170 km south of Mexico City.
When to go and getting around
The dry season runs from November to April and is the best time to travel; the rainy season from June to September delivers most of the year's 600–900 mm in afternoon storms. Frost is possible in Toluca and on the high passes between December and February.
Two airports serve the capital: Benito Juárez (MEX), the busiest in Latin America, and Felipe Ángeles (NLU), opened in March 2022 about 45 km north at Santa Lucía. Toluca (TLC) and Puebla (PBC) take some low-cost traffic. Toll roads radiate from Mexico City in every direction — 150D to Puebla (130 km, 1 h 45), 95D to Cuernavaca (85 km, 1 h 15), 85D to Pachuca (95 km, 1 h 15), 15D to Toluca (65 km, 1 h) and 57D to Querétaro and the El Bajío. Inside the city, the Metro runs 12 lines over about 200 km, and an interurban train to Toluca opened in stages from 2023. See the road map for the toll network.
Questions about Central Mexico
Which states make up central Mexico?
Mexico City and the five states that ring it: State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala. Between them they hold about 31 per cent of Mexico's population on 4.5 per cent of its land.
How far is Teotihuacan from Mexico City?
About 50 km north-east of the city centre, roughly 1 hour by car on the Mexico–Pirámides toll road or 1 hour 15 minutes by bus from the Terminal Central del Norte. The Pyramid of the Sun is 65 m high and the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.
How high is Mexico City and does the altitude affect visitors?
The historic centre sits at about 2,240 m and the surrounding ridges reach 3,000 m. Most people notice shortness of breath on stairs for the first day or two; Toluca, at 2,660 m, is higher still.
Can you see Popocatépetl from Mexico City?
Yes, from high ground on clear mornings, most reliably between November and February. The volcano is 70 km south-east of the city centre, has been erupting continuously since 1994 and is monitored by CENAPRED; the summit and a 12 km exclusion radius are closed.
What is the best time to visit central Mexico?
November to April is dry and mild, with daytime highs of 21–26 °C in Mexico City and warmer weather in Cuernavaca. June to September brings heavy afternoon thunderstorms; March to May is the warmest and haziest period.