Mexico State or
State of Mexico (often abbreviated to "
Edomex", from
Estado de México in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
) is a state in the center of the country of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The state's capital is the city of
TolucaToluca, formally: Toluca de Lerdo is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the western...
.
The
Pre-ColumbianThe Pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic to European colonization during the...
ruins of the city of
TeotihuacanTeotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
are located in the State of Mexico.
Geography
The State of Mexico is located in the central part of the Mexican Republic between 18’ 21’ 29’’ and 20’ 17’ 20’’ north, and 98’35’50’’ and 100’36’3” west, with an altitude that varies from 1,330 meters above sea level to 2,800. The state has a surface of , which represents 1.1% of Mexican territory.
Borders
Mexico State is bounded to the north by Hidalgo and
QuerétaroQuerétaro is a state in central México.Its capital is the city of Santiago de Querétaro, although in general parlance the name "Querétaro" is used for both the city and the state....
, to the east by
TlaxcalaTlaxcala is one of the 31 states of the Mexican Republic. It is located east of the center of the country, bordering the states of Puebla, Hidalgo and Mexico State. It is the smallest state of the republic, accounting for only 0.2% of the country’s territory. The state of Tlaxcala is named after...
and
PueblaPuebla is a Mexican state located in the south-central part of the country, to the east of Mexico City. The state borders Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south. The state's largest cities are Puebla and Tehuacan, it has...
, to the south by
MorelosMorelos is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. Morelos has an area of about , making it the second-smallest of the country's states. Morelos is bordered by Mexico State to the north-east and north-west, the Federal District to the north, Puebla to the east, and Guerrero to the south-west...
and
GuerreroThe State of Guerrero is a state in the southern meridional region of Mexico. With an area of , it occupies about 3.3% of Mexican territory. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the south , Michoacán to the west , Oaxaca to the east , and Mexico State , Morelos , and Puebla to the north...
, and to the west by
MichoacánMichoacán formally Michoacán de Ocampo , is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. It borders the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west, Guanajuato and Querétaro to the north, México to the east, Guerrero to the south-east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.Michoacán has an area of...
. It surrounds to the east, north and west of the
Mexican Federal DistrictMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
and capital
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
and has an area of , which is not in the state of Mexico, but borders it to the west, north and east of the District.
Political division
It consists of 121 municipalities, grouped into 8 counties:
- Atlacomulco, which has 9 municipalities.
- Coatepec Harinas, which has 12 municipalities.
- Jilotepec, which has 7 municipalities.
- Tejupilco, which has 5 municipalities.
- Texcoco, which has 25 municipalities.
- Toluca, which has 24 municipalities.
- Valle de Bravo, which has 9 municipalities.
- Zumpango, which has 30 municipalities.
Features
Its total surface is . It is used for agriculture, forest and livestock. 14% of the territory is urban, water and industrial zones.
Biospheres
The state is characterized by large plains divided by mountain ranges. To the north is a dry region called "Los Llanos", with vegetation such as mezquites and paddle cactus. In this region there are oak trees and holm oak like in Cuzdha and El Rosal in the municipality of San Miguel Calpulalpan. Toluca and Lerma are in the central valleys, where industrial parks are the source of income. In the surrounding hills, the vegetation consists of pines and oaks. There are white cedars at the National Park of Bancheves. Ocotes, that are aromatic resins, are very common in El Oro, a municipality located in the north-east part of the state. In the central valley are industries and cultivated lands. In the lower, warm elevations to the south, the vegetation is tropical. Here are found guajes (fruits of climber), papelillos (trees whose crust is withdrawed by itself), acacias, palo de Brasil (red tree), guacima (small tree with rounded crown) and amate(tree whose bark is used to paint or write).
Mountains and valleys
The state is divided into two unequal parts: the cross-sectional volcanic axis, which is formed by peaks, the Mountain Range of Queretaro and Hidalgo, and the Sierra Madre del Sur, which is formed by the depression of the Balsas River, in addition to valleys which begin in Guerrero. Inside this system are included the Sierra de Ajusco and Montes de las Cruces, which form a wooded ridge across it from east to west, with a general elevation of about 3000 meters above sea-level. These ranges are part of a broken irregular chain which sometimes bears the name of
AnahuacAnahuac is an ancient name for a Mesoamerican, particularly Aztec, area or areas, usually identified as located within or even coterminous with the Valley of Mexico...
.
The most important summits are the "Sierra Nevada", the "Sierra de las Cruces", “Nevado de Toluca” and the significant valleys are Toluca-Lerma and Cuautitlan- Texcoco.
Lakes and rivers
A considerable part of the northern plateau consists of a broad plain, once the bed of a great lake but now covered with swamps, sodden meadows and lakes. The surrounding country drains into this depression, but an artificial diversion of this water has been created by the opening of the
TequixquiacSantiago Tequixquiac is the seat of the municipality of Tequixquiac located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Mexico, although both are commonly called Tequixquiac. The town is located at a northern pass leading out of the Valley of Mexico and about 120 km northeast of the...
tunnel. The plateau drains westward to the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
via the
Lerma RiverThe Lerma Santiago River is Mexico's second longest river. It is a 965-km river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexico's central plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, Jalisco...
which has a surface of , and north-east to the Gulf of South of the Sierra de Ajusco. The state is roughly mountainous and drains to the Pacific through tributaries of the
Balsas RiverThe Balsas River is a river in south-central Mexico that drains the large Balsas Basin . At a length of some it is one of Mexico's longest rivers. The Balsas River originates at the confluence of the San Martin and Zahuapan Rivers in the state of Puebla...
that has . It drains to the Gulf of Mexico through the
San Juan-References:*Atlas of Mexico, 1975 .*The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984.*Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993....
and
PanucoThe Pánuco River is a river in Mexico that flows from the River Moctezuma in the Valley of Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico.At its source, it serves as a channel for water-drainage for Mexico City. From there, it becomes the state border between Hidalgo and Querétaro as it moves towards San Luis...
river that has a surface of .
Within the depression of the north are the lakes of Zumpango, San Cristobal, Xaltocan,
ChalcoLake Chalco was an endorheic lake formerly located in the Valley of Mexico and was important for human development in central Mexico. The lake was named after the city of Chalco on its eastern shore....
,
XochimilcoLake Xochimilco is an ancient endorheic lake located in the Valley of Mexico, part of a series of lakes, which included the brackish Lake Texcoco, Lake Zumpango, and Lake Xaltocan and the fresh water Lake Chalco...
and
TexcocoLake Texcoco was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico, a basin with an average elevation of above mean sea level located in the southern highlands of Mexico's central altiplano...
, the latter three lying partly or wholly in the Federal District.
Weather
The most common climates in Mexico State are tempering-humid and tempering sub-humid. 60% of the State has these type of climates. In the highest mountains, the weather is cold.
The annual average temperature in the south-east is about , and in the north is about . The annual rainfall is between 600 and 1800 mm. The weather can variate a lot from one season to another. In the summer, it is very warm but during winter, the temperature can be lower than . It can snow in Mexico.
Pre-Hispanic
In the Pre-Hispanic period codices were very important. There were several
Aztec codicesAztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....
about history, religion, tribute’s administration, cartography (maps) from the 16th century. The pre-Columbian codices differ from European codices in that they are largely pictorial; they were not meant to symbolize spoken or written narratives. The colonial era codices not only contain Aztec pictographs, but also Classical Nahuatl (in the
Latin alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
),
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
, and occasionally Latin. Examples of these Aztec codices include:as Tlacotepec, Xilotepec codex, Tezcoco-Acampan codex.
Mexico State is part of a cultural area called Valle de México or
Valley of MexicoThe Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a center for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...
, characterized by homogeneous cultural elements despite the presence of multiple linguistic groups.
Different ethnic groups including the
OtomiOtomi may refer to:*Otomi people, an indigenous people of Mexico*Otomi language, the language of the Otomi people*Otomi , an Aztec military order...
,
MazahuaThe Mazahua are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence also in the Federal District owing to recent migration...
,
MatlatzincaMatlatzinca is a name used to refer to different indigenous ethnic groups in the Toluca Valley in the state of México, located in the central highlands of Mexico. The term is applied to the ethnic group inhabiting the valley of Toluca and to their language, Matlatzinca.When used as an ethnonym,...
and
ChichimecaChichimeca was the name that the Nahuas generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico and southwestern United States, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian". The name was adopted with a pejorative tone by the Spaniards...
have made the State of Mexico their home.
At the end of the classic period the region was dominated by the
TepanecThe Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries. The Tepanec were a sister culture of the Aztecs as well as the Acolhua and others—these tribes spoke the Nahuatl language and shared the same general pantheon, with...
as who live in the
AzcapotzalcoAzcapotzalco is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern part of Mexico City...
region, the
otomiOtomi may refer to:*Otomi people, an indigenous people of Mexico*Otomi language, the language of the Otomi people*Otomi , an Aztec military order...
es that create the kingdom of
XaltocanXaltocan was a pre-Columbian city-state and island in the Valley of Mexico, located in the center of Lake Xaltocan, part of an interconnected shallow lake system which included Lake Texcoco...
, the
acolhuaThe Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others....
s that live in Coatlichan and a new tribe call the Mexicas who end being the dominant power of the region. (The mexicas was original name it Aztecs that means people form
AztlanAztlán is the legendary ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. "Aztec" is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan."-Legend:...
, the mythical city in the north from who in their tradition they begin his journey, as they travel to the south they change their name to mexicas or mexitin, see Aztecs).
With the dead of
TezozomocTezozomoc Yacateteltetl born 1320, was a Tepanec leader who ruled the altepetl of Azcapotzalco from the year Five Reed or Eight Rabbit until his death in the year Twelve Rabbit...
from
AzcapotzalcoAzcapotzalco is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern part of Mexico City...
his son
MaxtlaMaxtla was a Tepanec ruler of Azcapotzalco from 1426 to his death in 1428. He succeeded his father Tezozomoc, possibly through assassination of his elder brother Tayauh. His reign saw a rapid decline in the fortunes of Azcapotzalco...
, king of
CoyoacanCoyoacán is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. Coyoacán also is commonly used to refer to the neighborhood at the heart of the borough...
, assume the power of the region. Maxtla try to submit the mexicas into his direct control. The mexicas forge an alliance with the
tetzcocanosTexcoco was a major Acolhua city-state in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica during the Late Postclassic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. It was situated on the eastern bank of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, to the northeast of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan...
, another group submitted by Tezozomoc. Their combine forces defeated the
tepanecThe Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries. The Tepanec were a sister culture of the Aztecs as well as the Acolhua and others—these tribes spoke the Nahuatl language and shared the same general pantheon, with...
as.
Some of the more important emperors settled in the Valley of Mexico were
TezozomocTezozomoc Yacateteltetl born 1320, was a Tepanec leader who ruled the altepetl of Azcapotzalco from the year Five Reed or Eight Rabbit until his death in the year Twelve Rabbit...
,
TlalmanalcoTlalmanalco is a town and municipality located in the far south-eastern part of the State of Mexico. The name is from the Nahuatl language, meaning “flat area.” The municipality’s seal shows flat land, with a pyramid on it, representing its pre-Hispanic history, surrounded by small mountains, which...
, Opochihuacan and
XaltocanXaltocan was a pre-Columbian city-state and island in the Valley of Mexico, located in the center of Lake Xaltocan, part of an interconnected shallow lake system which included Lake Texcoco...
.
Colonial period
The first incursions of Spaniards to the State of Mexico were led by Andrés de Tapia who destroyed the population of
MalinalcoMalinalco is a town and municipality located in the southwestern part of Mexico State, Mexico. Malinalco is to the south of Mexico State, more or less 65 kilometers from the city of Toluca. , about 70 km away from Toluca. This town serves as a municipality seat and is famous for its cultural...
in 1521. Later,
Gonzálo de SandovalGonzalo de Sandoval was a Spanish conquistador in New Spain and briefly co-governor of the colony while Hernan Cortés was away from the capital .-Arrival in New Spain:Sandoval was the youngest of the lieutenants of Cortés. They arrived together in New Spain in 1519...
arrived in
Toluca ValleyToluca Valley is a valley located approximately 75 km southwest Mexico City. The modern city of Toluca is located there. Other municipalities within valley and part of the Toluca metropolitan area include Metepec, Calimaya, Almoloya de Juárez, San Mateo Atenco, Lerma, Lago, Temoaya, Otzolotepec and...
and defeated the Matlazincas who were allied with the
AztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Often the term...
s. After the fall of the Aztec empire, some
mazahuaThe Mazahua are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence also in the Federal District owing to recent migration...
s were taken to rebuild
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
. Evangelization began in 1523 in
TexcocoTexcoco was a major Acolhua city-state in the central Mexican plateau region of Mesoamerica during the Late Postclassic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. It was situated on the eastern bank of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico, to the northeast of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan...
by Brother
Pedro de GanteFray Pieter van der Moere, also known as Fray Pedro de Gante or Pedro de Mura was a Franciscan missionary in sixteenth century Mexico. Born in Geraardsbergen in present day Belgium, he was of Flemish descent...
, who funded the
PaduaPadua is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice , in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area, having a population of c...
School. In 1524, the first religious order formed by the Franciscans came.
When
Hernán CortésHernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the King of Castile, in the early 16th century...
arrived, the conditions of the political situation were on his side. The heirs of the
Texcoco crown were having a conflict. Cortés took advantage of and conquered what is now the State of Mexico. The Colonial period was when the original inhabitants formed a new world. They established new values, structures and created what now is known as the State of Mexico. This period began with the creation of small villages, territory delimitation, and the most important characteristic: the establishment of the original authority. Since this period, religion has been a very important of Mexican culture. The influence of the
DominicansThe Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France...
and
AugustiniansThe Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , are several Christian monastic orders and congregations of both men and women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of Saint Augustine...
was as important as that of the Franciscans” left. Education was well organized until “Jesus Company” arrived. In the 17th century, the native communities’ culture started to fall apart.
In 1799, the town of
TolucaToluca, formally: Toluca de Lerdo is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the western...
was declared a city by Carlos V.
In this period Mexico State was too big (107,619 square kilometers). The "Congreso de la Union" decided to take Querétaro, D.F., Guerrero, Tlalpan, Hidalgo, Morelos and Calpulalpan( Total: 86,466 square kilometers) from it. Also the capital D.F. was taken because the "Congreso de la Union" said that the capital must not be part of one state.
Independence of Mexico (1810-1821)
At the beginning of the independence movement in 1810,
Miguel HidalgoMiguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mondarte Villaseñor , often known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or simply Miguel Hidalgo, was a Mexican priest and a leader of the Mexican War of Independence.In 1810 Hidalgo led a group of indigenous and mestizo peasants in a revolt...
visited
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
. On his way there, he passed through many towns of Toluca, gathering supporters among the people of Toluca. On October 24, 1810, Hidalgo fought against
Agustin de IturbideAgustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu was a Mexican Army General who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821; decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...
and won. On October 28, Hidalgo entered Toluca with his army and put the army of Torcuato Trujillo to flight.
In this period, State of Mexico’s population increased considerably; to around 12 million inhabitants, and became the state with the largest population.
During this period the State suffered a big transformation of the economic activities. The first type of industrial investment was done during this period. The State of Mexico with a stock-breeder history, transformed itself into an industrial economic Mexican place. The manufactory industry became the major economic activity and the reason of an economic progress for the state. Two cities from the state of Mexico, Lerma and Toluca, became the centers of many important industrial activities, not only for the state, but also for the country.
Due to the industrialization the State of Mexico's economic transformation during this period produced a dual society; an urban one and a rural one. The urban society was known as the rich group from the state, which considerably had the highest incomes of the country in comparison to other urban groups from other states. The rural society is characterized of being a population where the presence of poverty is really marked.
One of this period’s consequences is the partition of land. Mexico State gained from the 50’s land partition, after the Mexican Revolution, about . In spite of new land for the state, it did not help to decrease the poverty rate.
Demographics
In the 2005 census, the state had a population of about 14,007,495 people. (The population in 1900 was 934,468-largely Native American.) The majority of the present-day population in the state is located within the
Greater Mexico CityGreater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Mexico City Metropolitan Area , constituted by the Federal District—itself composed of 16 boroughs—and 41 adjacent municipalities of the states of Mexico and Hidalgo...
metropolitan area surrounding the
Distrito FederalMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
. The state's population is rapidly increasing due to
urbanizationUrbanization is the physical growth of urban areas from rural areas as a result of population immigration to an existing urban area. Effects include change in density and administration services. While the exact definition and population size of urbanized areas varies amongdifferent countries,...
. Mexico State is the most populous state in The Mexican Republic. CONAPO has projected the population to be 14,837,000 in 2009.
Migration is one of the most important problems in the society. The State of Mexico has a very high level of migration to The United States, making up about 75.7% of the total Mexican population that migrates. The three places with the highest population densities in Mexico are: Mexico City (5799 hab/km²), State of Mexico (586 hab/km²) and Morelos (318 hab/km²).
The most significant indigenous groups in the State of Mexico are Mazahuas, Otomis and Nahuatls. Approximately 1.6% of the entire population is composed of these cultural groups. Other cultures that can be found in the state include Mixtecos, Zapotecos, Mazatecos, Totonacas and Mixes. 2.2% of Mexico's native population is distributed among the entire state.
According to the data from the 2005 census, the rate of growth in the State of Mexico is 1.2%. In contrast with past decades, this means that the population growth in the state has decreased considerably, although the state is one of the most populated entities. This is a consequence of the states that are near by the region, as a lot of people migrate to Mexico City because of work and end up living in Mexico.
Economy
The Principal Productive Activities are manufacturing, construction, commercial activities, restaurants and hotels, financial and non-financial services. Mexico State is a leader in metal products, food, clothes, and chemical products industry.
There are eleven industrial parks and its Gross Internal Product is 49,463,122.23 USD. (2001)
Outside of the urban areas, the principal industries of the state are agricultural, and principal products are
cerealCereals, grains or cereal grains, {as a collective} are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their fruit seeds - the endocarp, germ and bran...
s,
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
, maguey (from which
pulquePulque, or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and is a traditional native beverage of Mexico. The drink’s history extends far back into the Mesoamerican period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to certain classes of people...
is made),
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
and
fruitThe term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from...
. Stock-raising has also had a profitable development, owing to the proximity of the national capital. The manufacturing industries produces useful items for community such as cotton and woollen fabrics, flour, dairy products, glass-ware, pottery, bricks, wines and spirits. To contrast, in 1900, the making of
pulque from the sap of the maguey plant (
Agave americana) was the chief industry of the state, and the product is exported in large quantities to the national capital. Also, the state was traversed by the Central, National, Mexican International and Interoceanic railways, and by short lines from the national capital to neighbouring towns.
Some of the most principal companies in Mexico State are Alpura, Bacardi y CIA., Bic, Bimbo, BMW, Central de Abastos, Comercial Mexicana, Daimler Chrysler, Holiday Inn, Jugos Del Valle, Nestlé, Nextel, Panasonic, Robert Bosch, Telemark and Yakult.
Today, the auto industry is a major industry in the state, and for most people is considered the key activity for the Mexican economy.
Tourism
Mexico State has a number of tourist attractions. Visitors have the opportunity to enjoy the most variable landscapes, warm climate; fertile and green valleys; lakes, forest and Great Mountains. The most notable tourist sites are
Valle de BravoValle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca on highways 15, 134 or 1.. It takes about 2 hours to drive from Mexico City to Valle de Bravo, making it a...
and
Ixtapan de la SalIxtapan de la Sal is a town and municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is 60 km south of Toluca, the state capital. The word Ixtapan comes from Nahuatl. There are two theories as to the origin of the name. The first one states that it is composed of iztal, which means salt,...
.
Other tourist attractions are the pre-Hispanic monuments of
TeotihuacanTeotihuacan is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
, a civic and religious center.
MalinalcoMalinalco is a town and municipality located in the southwestern part of Mexico State, Mexico. Malinalco is to the south of Mexico State, more or less 65 kilometers from the city of Toluca. , about 70 km away from Toluca. This town serves as a municipality seat and is famous for its cultural...
with its archeological zone carved over the mountain rocks and the archeological zone of
TeotenangoTeotenango was in important pre-Hispanic fortified city located in the southern part of the Valley of Toluca. It was initially founded during the last stages of the Teotihuacan civilization by a group generally referred to as the “Teotenancas.” Later, the Matlatzincas conquered the city and...
“El lugar de la muralla sagrada” (The place of the sacred wall). See also "Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve"
Valle de Bravo
This place was originally named Temascaltepec and San Francisco del Valle de Temascaltepec later. The peculiar urban physiognomy of this place is given by typical houses of white walls with “guardapolvos” of rust color, wide rooftops and portals and balconies. The sloping streets and cobblestone alleys, reach "Plaza Principal" or beautiful neighborhoods like "Santa Maria" and "El Santuario". Art production in
Valle de BravoValle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca on highways 15, 134 or 1.. It takes about 2 hours to drive from Mexico City to Valle de Bravo, making it a...
is based on ceramic and fabric. Valle de Bravo since four decades has become one of the most important tourist places in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. In Valle de Bravo, one can practice golf, equitation, tennis, paragliding and hang-gliding, waterskiing and fishing.
Ixtapan de la Sal
Ixtapan de la SalIxtapan de la Sal is a town and municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is 60 km south of Toluca, the state capital. The word Ixtapan comes from Nahuatl. There are two theories as to the origin of the name. The first one states that it is composed of iztal, which means salt,...
is located 66 km from
TolucaToluca, formally: Toluca de Lerdo is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the western...
and 120 km from
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
. Its original name means "over the salt" and it is 1,900 meters above sea level. Its principal attractions are thermal springs and water parks with indoor pools and other services like private pools and spa. The Church of
El señor del Perdón (Lord of Forgiveness) has kept its original facade from the 16th century. 16 km away are located the
Grutas de la Estrella (Caves of the Star).
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is located mostly in the eastern part of the state of
MichoacánMichoacán formally Michoacán de Ocampo , is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. It borders the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west, Guanajuato and Querétaro to the north, México to the east, Guerrero to the south-east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south.Michoacán has an area of...
with some being in the western part of the State of Mexico in the central Mexican highlands. The Reserve was created to protect the wintering habitat of the
monarch butterflyThe Monarch is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
and contains over 56,000 hectares of land.
Government and politics
The Constitution of Mexico State provides that the
governmentA government is the body within a community, political entity or organization which has the authority to make and enforce rules, laws and regulations.....
of the State of Mexico, like the government of every other state in Mexico, consists of three
powersPolitical power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the...
: the
executive}}In the study of political science the executive branch of government has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers .In many...
, the
legislativeA legislature is a type of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law...
and the
judiciaryThe judiciary is the system of courts which interprets and applies the law in the name of the sovereign or state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
.
Executive power rests in the
Governor of Mexico StateThe Governor of the State of Mexico wields executive power in the State of Mexico ....
, who is directly elected by the citizens, using a secret ballot, to a 6-year term with no possibility of reelection. Legislative power rests in the
Congress of the State of MexicoThe Congress of the State of México is the legislative branch of the government of the State of Mexico. The Congress is the governmental deliberative body of the State of Mexico, which is equal to, and independent of, the executive...
which is a unicameral legislature. Judicial power is invested in the Superior Court of Justice of the State of Mexico.
Municipalities
Mexico State is divided into 125 municipalities (counties), each headed by a
municipal presidentA presidente municipal is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. The position is comparable to the mayor of a city in the United States although the jurisdiction of a presidente municipal includes not only a city but the municipality surrounding it...
(mayor). Most municipalities are named after the city that serves as municipal seat; e.g. the municipal seat of the Municipality of Nezahualcóyotl is the
City of NezahualcóyotlCiudad Nezahualcóyotl also spelled Nêzahaulkoiächktl or Ciudad Neza is a city and seat of the municipality of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl, the Acolhua poet and...
(aka
Ciudad Neza). Typically, the city contains the majority of the population within the municipality.
Major communities
- Chalco
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited, also known as Chalco or Chinalco , is the only producer of alumina and the largest producer of primary aluminum in the People's Republic of China. Chalco is a member of the SSE 50...
- Chimalhuacán
- Ciudad López Mateos (Atizapán de Zaragoza)
Ciudad López Mateos is a city in the State of México, México, and the seat of the municipality called Atizapán de Zaragoza. The municipality takes its name from the nahuatl word Ātīzapan, which is formed by three words: "ā-tl", which means "water", "tīza-tl", which means "white clay" and "īpan",...
- Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl also spelled Nêzahaulkoiächktl or Ciudad Neza is a city and seat of the municipality of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl, the Acolhua poet and...
- Cuautitlán Izcalli
Cuautitlán Izcalli is a city and municipality in Mexico State, Mexico. The name comes from Náhuatl and means 'your house between the trees.' -The city:...
- Ecatepec de Morelos
- Huixquilucan
- Ixtapaluca
- Los Reyes Acaquilpan (Los Reyes La Paz)
- Naucalpan (Naucalpan de Juárez)
Naucalpan de Juárez is a city and the seat of the municipality called Naucalpan de Juárez in the Mexican state of México.It borders the northwestern part of Distrito Federal, and it is part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, which is the second largest Metropolitan Area of the world...
- San Francisco Coacalco
Coacalco is a city in Mexico State, Mexico. Its official name is Coacalco de Berriozábal municipality and forms part of the Greater Mexico City conurbation...
- Tlalnepantla (Tlalnepantla de Baz)
Tlalnepantla de Baz is a city and a municipality of the State of Mexico in the north of Mexico City . Tlalnepantla comes from the Náhuatl words tlalli and nepantla to mean the middle land...
- Toluca
Toluca, formally: Toluca de Lerdo is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the western...
(Toluca de Lerdo)
- Valle de Bravo
Valle de Bravo is a town and municipality located in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km southwest of Mexico City and west of Toluca on highways 15, 134 or 1.. It takes about 2 hours to drive from Mexico City to Valle de Bravo, making it a...
- Villa Nicolás Romero
- Xico
Xico is a city in Mexico State, Mexico, located . It serves as the municipal seat of Valle de Chalco Solidaridad municipality, with which it is, for all practical purposes, coterminous. The municipality lies adjacent to the east side of the Federal District and is part of the Mexico City...
External links
State of Mexico Government Towns, cities, and postal codes in Mexico Useful information about the regional art, archeology, exciting places to visit (Spanish and English)