Greater Mexico City is the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (Spanish: Zona metropolitana del Valle de México).[2] It encompasses Mexico City itself and 60 adjacent municipalities of the State of Mexico and Hidalgo.
Mexico City's metropolitan area is the economic, political, and cultural hub of Mexico. In recent years it has reduced its relative importance in domestic manufacturing, but has kept its dominant role in the country’s economy thanks to an expansion of its tertiary activities.[3] The area is also one of the powerhouse regions of Latin America, generating approximately $200 billion in GDP growth or 10 percent of the regional total.[4]
As of 2020[update], 21,804,515 people lived in Greater Mexico City,[5] making it the largest metropolitan area in North America. Covering an area of 7,866.1 square kilometres (3,037.1 sq mi), it is surrounded by thin strips of highlands separating it from other adjacent metropolitan areas, together with which it makes up the Mexico City megalopolis.
The phenomenon of conurbation in Mexico is relatively recent, starting in the 1940s. Mexico City became the first metropolitan area in the country when its urban core spread beyond the borders of the Federal District into the municipality of Naucalpan in the State of Mexico.[6] From that date, there have been different proposals to establish the limits of the growing conurbation of Mexico City, and different definitions were used unofficially as the city continued to grow: between 1950 and 1980, the conurbation extended to dozens of municipalities in the State of Mexico and the population trebled.[7]
The first official definition of Greater Mexico City was coined in 2004. A joint effort between the National Population Council (CONAPO), the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) named the 16 boroughs of Mexico City and 59 municipalities in the State of Mexico and Hidalgo as the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico.[8] This definition was also agreed by the government of Mexico City and the government of the State of Mexico on December 22, 2005.[9] As per the agreement, most urban planning projects were to be administered by Metropolitan Commissions.
As a result of the Political Reforms enacted in 2016, Mexico City is no longer designated as a Federal District and became a city, a member entity of the Mexican federation, seat of the Powers of the Union and the capital of Mexico.[10] Mexico City is divided in 16 boroughs, officially called demarcaciones territoriales, substituting the old delegaciones.
According to the latest definition by the National Population Council (CONAPO) in 2018, the Metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico is formed by the following subdivisions:[2]