Geography
Puebla covers 34,306 km², the 21st-largest state, and holds 6,583,278 people, the fifth-largest population. It is long and narrow, running about 350 km from the Hidalgo line in the north to the Oaxaca line in the south, and it crosses more altitude than almost any comparable strip of Mexico. Its western rim is the Sierra Nevada, where Popocatépetl (5,426 m) and Iztaccíhuatl (5,215 m) are shared with State of Mexico; its eastern rim carries Pico de Orizaba, or Citlaltépetl, at 5,636 m the highest mountain in the country, on the border with Veracruz. La Malinche (4,461 m) stands between them on the Tlaxcala line. Four of Mexico's five highest peaks are therefore visible from the state.
Between the volcanoes lies the Valle de Puebla at about 2,160 m, drained by the Río Atoyac into the Valsequillo reservoir and eventually into the Balsas and the Pacific. North of the volcanic belt the Sierra Norte de Puebla drops off the Sierra Madre Oriental towards the Gulf: Zacatlán, Huauchinango and Cuetzalan sit in cloud forest and coffee country, rainfall is heavy, and the land falls below 200 m at the Veracruz boundary. The Río Necaxa was dammed here in 1905 for one of the first large hydroelectric schemes in Latin America.
The south-east is the opposite. The Tehuacán valley is semi-arid, sheltered from Gulf rain by the sierra, and its columnar cactus forest was inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 as the Tehuacán–Cuicatlán biosphere reserve; excavations in the caves above the valley produced some of the earliest evidence for the domestication of maize, from about 5,000 BC. The south-west, the Mixteca Poblana around Izúcar de Matamoros and Acatlán, is dry hill country falling into the Balsas depression.
Main cities
The state has 217 municipalities, more than any state except Oaxaca, and most of them are small. The capital's municipality alone holds a quarter of the state's population; its metropolitan area of about 3.2 million spills across the Tlaxcala border and ranks fourth in Mexico. Figures are INEGI 2020 municipal counts, rounded where the count is approximate.
| Municipality | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Puebla | 1,692,181 | Capital, founded 1531; UNESCO historic centre |
| Tehuacán | 327,312 | South-east; mineral water and poultry |
| San Martín Texmelucan | 156,000 | North-west, on Highway 150D |
| San Pedro Cholula | 138,000 | Great Pyramid, largest by volume in the world |
| San Andrés Cholula | 138,000 | Universities, adjoins the capital |
| Atlixco | 134,000 | Flower growing under Popocatépetl |
| Amozoc | 132,000 | East of the capital; spurs and saddlery |
| Cuautlancingo | 127,000 | Volkswagen plant, operating since 1967 |
| Teziutlán | 106,000 | Sierra Norte, near the Veracruz line |
| Huauchinango | 105,000 | Northern sierra; Necaxa hydro scheme |
Neighbouring states
Seven neighbours. Clockwise from the north-west: Hidalgo, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Morelos, State of Mexico, Tlaxcala. Veracruz takes the longest stretch, following the crest of the Sierra Madre Oriental and Pico de Orizaba; Tlaxcala is almost enclosed by Puebla and shares the built-up area north of the capital; Oaxaca meets the state in the dry Mixteca and beyond Tehuacán. Puebla anchors the eastern half of Central Mexico and the highway through it is the main link between the capital and the Gulf Coast.
Getting there
Hermanos Serdán International (PBC) sits at Huejotzingo, 22 km north-west of the capital on the Mexico City road, and handles domestic flights plus a limited number of US services; it also serves Tlaxcala. Most long-haul passengers still arrive through Mexico City's Benito Juárez (MEX), 130 km away and connected to Puebla by frequent direct buses. See the airports map.
Highway 150D, the Mexico–Puebla–Orizaba–Veracruz toll road, is the spine: 130 km and about an hour and three-quarters from Mexico City, then a further 290 km down the escarpment to the port of Veracruz. Highway 135D branches south at Tehuacán for Oaxaca City, roughly 340 km and four and a half hours from the capital of the state. Highway 190, the old Pan-American route, runs parallel to both more slowly. Highway 119 links Puebla north to Tlaxcala in 35 km, Highway 129 climbs north-east to Teziutlán, and Highway 160 runs west to Izúcar de Matamoros and Morelos. The Arco Norte toll ring lets freight from the Bajío reach Puebla without entering Mexico City. See the road map, the volcanoes map for Popocatépetl and Orizaba, and the archaeological sites map for Cholula and Cantona.
Questions about Puebla
Where is Puebla on the map of Mexico?
In the centre-east of the country, 130 km east of Mexico City on Highway 150D — about an hour and three-quarters by car. The state runs from the volcanoes on its western rim down towards the Gulf lowlands in the north-east and the Oaxaca border in the south.
Which states border Puebla?
Seven: Veracruz, Hidalgo, State of Mexico, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Guerrero, Oaxaca. Only a handful of states have as many neighbours.
What is Cinco de Mayo?
The anniversary of the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862, when a Mexican force under Ignacio Zaragoza held the city's Loreto and Guadalupe forts against a French army. It is not Mexican independence day, which is 16 September, and it is marked more in the United States than in most of Mexico.
Is Pico de Orizaba in Puebla?
The summit, at 5,636 m the highest point in Mexico, sits on the boundary between Puebla and Veracruz. The standard climbing route starts on the Puebla side, at Tlachichuca.
What is the best time to visit Puebla?
October to April is the dry season, with cold clear mornings at 2,160 m in the capital. Rain falls from June to September, and the Sierra Norte around Cuetzalan is wet and misty for much of the year.