The states are the first-level administrative divisions of Mexico and are officially named the United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate entity that is not formally a state).[1][2][3][4]

States are further divided into municipalities. Mexico City is divided into boroughs, officially designated as demarcaciones territoriales or alcaldías, similar to other states' municipalities but with different administrative powers.[5]

List

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Mexico's post agency, Correos de México, does not offer an official list of state name abbreviations, and as such, they are not included below. A list of Mexican states and several versions of their abbreviations can be found here.

Federal Entities
State Official name[a] Coat of arms Capital Largest city Area (1,972,550 km2 total)[6] Population (February 2023; 127,104,000 total)[7] Munici­palities Order of Admission
to Federation
Date of Admission
to Federation
Aguascalientes Aguascalientes   Aguascalientes 5,615.7 km2 (2,168.2 sq mi) 1,465,000 11 24 5 February 1857[8]
Baja California Baja California   Mexicali Tijuana 71,450.0 km2 (27,587.0 sq mi) 3,822,000 6 29 16 January 1952[9]
Baja California Sur Baja California Sur   La Paz 73,909.4 km2 (28,536.6 sq mi) 759,000 5 31 8 October 1974[10]
Campeche Campeche   San Francisco de Campeche 57,484.9 km2 (22,195.0 sq mi) 965,000 13 25 29 April 1863[11]
Chiapas Chiapas   Tuxtla Gutiérrez 73,311.0 km2 (28,305.5 sq mi) 5,602,000 124 19 14 September 1824[12]
Chihuahua Chihuahua   Chihuahua Ciudad Juárez 247,412.6 km2 (95,526.5 sq mi) 3,806,000 67 18 6 July 1824[12]
Coahuila[b][c] Coahuila de Zaragoza   Saltillo 151,594.8 km2 (58,531.1 sq mi) 3,189,000 38 16 7 May 1824[12]
Colima[d] Colima   Colima Manzanillo 5,626.9 km2 (2,172.6 sq mi) 830,000 10 23 12 September 1856[14]
Durango Durango   Victoria de Durango 123,364.0 km2 (47,631.1 sq mi) 1,846,000 39 17 22 May 1824[12]
Guanajuato Guanajuato   Guanajuato León de los Aldama 30,606.7 km2 (11,817.3 sq mi) 6,205,000 46 2 20 December 1823[12]
Guerrero Guerrero   Chilpancingo de los Bravo Acapulco de Juárez 63,595.9 km2 (24,554.5 sq mi) 3,556,000 81 21 27 October 1849[15]
Hidalgo Hidalgo   Pachuca de Soto 20,821.4 km2 (8,039.2 sq mi) 3,115,000 84 26 16 January 1869[16]
Jalisco Jalisco   Guadalajara 78,595.9 km2 (30,346.0 sq mi) 8,400,000 125 9 23 December 1823[12]
México México   Toluca de Lerdo Ecatepec de Morelos 22,351.8 km2 (8,630.1 sq mi) 17,102,000 125 1 20 December 1823[12]
Mexico City[e] Ciudad de México   Mexico City 1,494.3 km2 (577.0 sq mi) 9,305,000 16
(boroughs)
32 29 January 2016
Michoacán Michoacán de Ocampo   Morelia 58,598.7 km2 (22,625.1 sq mi) 4,736,000 113 5 22 December 1823[12]
Morelos Morelos   Cuernavaca 4,878.9 km2 (1,883.8 sq mi) 2,016,000 36 27 17 April 1869 [17]
Nayarit Nayarit   Tepic 27,856.5 km2 (10,755.5 sq mi) 1,274,000 20 28 26 January 1917[18]
Nuevo León[c] Nuevo León   Monterrey 64,156.2 km2 (24,770.8 sq mi) 5,846,000 51 15 7 May 1824[12]
Oaxaca Oaxaca   Oaxaca de Juárez 93,757.6 km2 (36,200.0 sq mi) 4,096,000 570 3 21 December 1823[12]
Puebla Puebla   Puebla de Zaragoza 34,309.6 km2 (13,247.0 sq mi) 6,535,000 217 4 21 December 1823[12]
Querétaro Querétaro   Santiago de Querétaro 11,690.6 km2 (4,513.8 sq mi) 2,404,000 18 11 23 December 1823[12]
Quintana Roo Quintana Roo   Chetumal Cancún 44,705.2 km2 (17,260.8 sq mi) 1,895,000 11 30 8 October 1974 [19]
San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí   San Luis Potosí 61,138.0 km2 (23,605.5 sq mi) 2,815,000 58 6 22 December 1823[12]
Sinaloa Sinaloa   Culiacán Rosales 57,365.4 km2 (22,148.9 sq mi) 3,015,000 18 20 14 October 1830[20]
Sonora[f] Sonora   Hermosillo 179,354.7 km2 (69,249.2 sq mi) 3,006,000 72 12 10 January 1824[12]
Tabasco[g] Tabasco   Villahermosa 24,730.9 km2 (9,548.7 sq mi) 2,435,000 17 13 7 February 1824[12]
Tamaulipas[c] Tamaulipas   Ciudad Victoria Reynosa 80,249.3 km2 (30,984.4 sq mi) 3,506,000 43 14 7 February 1824[12]
Tlaxcala Tlaxcala   Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl San Pablo del Monte 3,996.6 km2 (1,543.1 sq mi) 1,405,000 60 22 9 December 1856[21]
Veracruz Veracruz de
Ignacio de la Llave
  Xalapa-Enríquez Veracruz 71,823.5 km2 (27,731.2 sq mi) 8,105,000 212 7 22 December 1823[12]
Yucatán[h] Yucatán   Mérida 39,524.4 km2 (15,260.5 sq mi) 2,374,000 106 8 23 December 1823[12]
Zacatecas Zacatecas   Zacatecas 75,275.3 km2 (29,064.0 sq mi) 1,674,000 58 10 23 December 1823[12]

Notes:

  1. ^ (except Mexico City):
    Estado Libre y Soberano de ("Free and Sovereign State of")
  2. ^ Joined the federation with the name of Coahuila y Tejas.
  3. ^ a b c The states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Coahuila became independent de facto in 1840 to form the República del Río Grande (English: Republic of the Rio Grande); never consolidated its independence because independent forces were defeated by the centralist forces.[13]
  4. ^ Includes the remote Revillagigedo Islands, which are federally administered.
  5. ^ Mexico City was a Federal District until 29 January 2016, when this status was abolished.
  6. ^ Joined the federation with the name of Estado de Occidente, also recognized as Sonora y Sinaloa.
  7. ^ The State of Tabasco seceded from Mexico on two occasions: first on 13 February 1841, rejoining again on 2 December 1842; and the second from 9 November 1846 to 9 December 1846.
  8. ^ Joined the federation as República Federada de Yucatán[22] (English: Federated Republic of Yucatán) formed by the current states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo. Became independent in 1841 constituting the second Republic of Yucatán and definitively rejoined in 1848.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Agren, David (29 January 2015). "Mexico City officially changes its name to – Mexico City". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  2. ^ El Diario de México. "La Ciudad de México no será estado, sino entidad federal autónoma" (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Artículo 43 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos" (PDF).
  4. ^ "DF no es el estado 32, aclaran legisladores". Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Constitution of Mexico City" (PDF) (in Spanish). Gobierno de la Ciudad de México. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  6. ^ "México en cifras - Medio Ambiente - Superficie continental" (in Spanish). INEGI. January 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2022 - SCITEL" (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Historical Summary of Aguascalientes" (in Spanish). Gobierno del estado de Aguascalientes. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Transformación Política de Territorio Norte de la Baja California a Estado 29" (in Spanish). Gobierno de Baja California.
  10. ^ "44 Years Ago, Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo became States" (in Spanish). Gobierno de México. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  11. ^ "156th Anniversary of Campeche's Statehood" (in Spanish). INAFED. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Las Diputaciones Provinciales" (PDF) (in Spanish). p. 15.
  13. ^ "República de Río Grande, el País que no pudo ser" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  14. ^ "Universidad de Colima". Archived from the original on 10 August 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Commemorating the 169th Anniversary of Guerrero's Statehood" (in Spanish). Gobierno de México. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  16. ^ "History of the state of Hidalgo" (in Spanish). INAFED. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  17. ^ "History of Morelos" (in Spanish). Gobierno del estado de Morelos. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Anniversary of Nayarit's Statehood" (in Spanish). Gobierno de México. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Historia de Quintana Roo" (in Spanish). Gobierno del Estado de Quintana Roo. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  20. ^ "500 años de México en documentos" (in Spanish). Biblioteca Garay.
  21. ^ "History of Tlaxcala" (in Spanish). Congreso del estado de Tlaxcala. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  22. ^ "La historia de la República de Yucatán".