State of Mexico

Lore & Background

Later, the Matlatzincas established Teotenango as their capital, and in the 15th century the Aztecs conquered the Toluca and Chalco valleys.

Reader's Guide

The State of Mexico is significant as the most populous entity in Mexico and as the historical core of the Aztec Empire. Its name derives from the Nahuatl Mēxihco, possibly meaning "from the navel of the moon" or from an alternate name for the god Huitzilopochtli. After the Spanish Conquest, the region was reorganized as the audiencia of Mexico and later as part of New Spain. Over time, parts were separated to form the states of Hidalgo, Guerrero, and Morelos, leaving the state with its current shape: the Toluca Valley to the west of Mexico City and a panhandle extending around the north and east. The demonym mexiquense distinguishes people and things from the state from mexicano, which refers to the country as a whole.

Did You Know?

• The state is colloquially called Edomex, from E[sta]do Méx[ico].
• The name "Mexico" may derive from metztli (moon) and xictla (navel), meaning "from the navel of the moon."
• The state surrounds Mexico City on three sides.

Identity, Naming, and the 'Edomex' Distinction

The State of Mexico carries one of the most confusing naming situations in the country. It shares its official name with the nation itself and with the federal capital, Mexico City, a collision that has driven residents and outsiders alike to adopt the colloquial shorthand Edomex, a contraction of Estado de México. The people of the state are called mexiquense, a deliberate linguistic separation from mexicano, which refers to the entire country. The name traces back to the Nahuatl word Mēxihco, originally denoting the Valley of Mexico where the Mexica, the proper name for the Aztec Triple Alliance, built their cities. Two etymologies are proposed: one linking the term to metztli (moon) and xictla (navel), referencing the Aztec belief that lunar craters form a rabbit bearing a navel; the other connecting it to Mextictli, an alternate name for the god Huitzilopochtli. Before independence, the broader Aztec-dominated territories were called Anáhuac, meaning 'surrounded by waters,' a reference to Lake Texcoco at the center of the Aztec world, and the term was even proposed as an early name for the whole nation to distinguish it from the preexisting administrative division of New Spain.

Geography, Population, and Administrative Layout

Toluca de Lerdo serves as the capital, though Ecatepec de Morelos is the largest city by population. The state's most defining geographic feature is its embrace of Mexico City on three sides, creating a distinctive silhouette: the Toluca Valley sits to the west of the capital, while a long panhandle wraps around the north and east. To the north it borders Querétaro and Hidalgo; to the south, Morelos and Guerrero; to the west, Michoacán; and to the east, Tlaxcala and Puebla. This configuration is not accidental but the residue of centuries of territorial reorganization. The state's central location and dense population make it a critical corridor connecting the capital to the broader Mexican interior, and its municipalities collectively house a share of the national population that rivals that of many entire countries.

Deep Time: Prehistoric and Pre-Hispanic Inhabitants

These early peoples were hunter-gatherers who pursued mammoths and gathered wild fruits, as indicated by stone tools, mammoth bones, and human remains found across sites like Los Reyes Acozac, Tizayuca, and Tequixquiac.

Territorial Shaping: From Aztec Core to Modern Borders

The State of Mexico's current borders are the product of layered political transformations spanning over five centuries. Its territory once formed the heartland of the pre-Hispanic Aztec Empire, encompassing the lands controlled by Tenochtitlan and its allied cities. Following the Spanish Conquest, these territories were reorganized into the audiencia of Mexico, which included Mexico City and portions of what are now several other states. When Mexico achieved independence in the nineteenth century, the capital city was carved out as a separate entity. Over subsequent decades, additional portions were detached to create the states of Hidalgo, Guerrero, and Morelos. Each of these separations progressively reduced the state's area, leaving behind the configuration seen today: the Toluca Valley anchoring the western portion and a narrow panhandle encircling the north and east of Mexico City. The Spanish colonial practice of applying the name México to Tenochtitlan and all the pre-conquest lands it controlled, including territories now belonging to those three successor states, further illustrates how the modern state is a residue of a once much larger Aztec domain.