Municipalities (municipios in Spanish) are the second-level administrative divisions of Mexico, where the first-level administrative division is the state (Spanish: estado). They should not be confused with cities or towns that may share the same name as they are distinct entities and do not share geographical boundaries. As of March 2024, there are 2,460 municipalities in Mexico, adding the 16 boroughs of Mexico City to constitute 2476 territorial units.[1]
The internal political organization and their responsibilities are outlined in the 115th article of the 1917 Constitution[7] and detailed in the constitutions of the states to which they belong. Municipalities are distinct from cities, a form of Mexican locality, and are divided into colonias (neighborhoods); some municipalities can be as large as full states, while cities can be measured in basic geostatistical areas or city blocks.
All Mexican states are divided into municipalities. Each municipality is autonomous; citizens elect a "municipal president" (presidente municipal) who heads a municipal council (ayuntamiento), responsible for providing all the public services for their constituents. This concept, which originated after the Mexican Revolution, is known as a municipio libre ("free municipality").
The municipal president is elected by plurality and cannot be reelected for the next immediate term. The municipal council consists of a cabildo (chairman) with a síndico and several regidores (trustees).
If the municipality covers a large area and contains more than one city or town (collectively called localidades), one city or town is selected as a cabecera municipal (head city, seat of the municipal government) while the rest elect representatives to a presidencia auxiliar or junta auxiliar (auxiliary presidency or council). In that sense, a municipality in Mexico is roughly equivalent to the counties of the United States, whereas the auxiliary presidency is equivalent to a township. Nonetheless, auxiliary presidencies are not considered a third-level administrative division since they depend fiscally on the municipalities in which they are located.
North-western and south-eastern states are divided into small numbers of large municipalities (e.g. Baja California is divided into only seven municipalities), and therefore they cover large areas incorporating several separated cities or towns that do not necessarily conform to one single conurbation. Central and southern states, on the other hand, are divided into many small municipalities (e.g. Oaxaca is divided into 570 municipalities), and therefore large urban areas usually extend over several municipalities which form one single conurbation. Although an urban area might cover an entire municipality, auxiliary councils might still be used for administrative purposes.
Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, supervision of slaughterhouses and the cleaning and maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. Since 1983, they can collect property taxes and user fees, although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own collection efforts.
Some municipalities in Mexico are subdivided into internal, third-level administrative organizations. All municipalities of Baja California are subdivided into boroughs, or delegaciones. Mexicali municipality, for example, is divided into 14 boroughs besides the City of Mexicali, which comprises the municipal seat and three additional metropolitan boroughs.[8]Querétaro municipality is subdivided into seven boroughs.[9] Nonetheless, the heads of government of the boroughs are not elected by the residents but rather appointed by the municipal president.
Mexico City is a special case in that it is not organized into municipalities. As a result of the Political Reforms enacted in 2016, it 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. The boroughs are considered as third-level territorial divisions for statistical data collection and cross-country comparisons.
Since the Conquest and colonization of Mexico, the municipality became the basic entity of the administrative organization of New Spain and the Spanish Empire. Settlements located in strategic locations received the status of ciudad (the highest status within the Empire, superior to that of villas and pueblos) and were entitled to form an ayuntamiento or municipality. During the first decades, the local authorities had full powers on the public and economic administration of each municipality, but successive reforms diminished their attributions.[11]
After Independence, the 1824 Constitution did not specify any regulation for the municipalities, whose structure and responsibilities were to be outlined in the constitution of each state of the federation. As such, every state set its own requirements for a settlement to become a municipality (usually based on population).
The Constitution of 1917 abolished the jefatura política ("political authority"), the intermediate administrative authority between the states and converted all existing municipalities into municipios libres ("free municipalities"), that is, gave them full autonomy to manage local affairs, while at the same time restricting the scope of their competencies.[12] However, in 1983 the 115th article was modified to expand the municipalities' authority to raise revenue (through property taxes and other local services) and to formulate budgets.
The first city council in Mexico was established by Hernán Cortés in 1519 in Veracruz; it was also the first in the American mainland.[13] The newest municipalities in Mexico are San Quintín in Baja California, established on February 27, 2020;[6]Seybaplaya and Dzitbalché in Campeche, gazetted on January 1, 2021;[2]Las Vigas, Ñuu Savi, San Nicolás, and Santa Cruz del Rincón in Guerrero, incorporated on August 31, 2021; and San Felipe in Baja California, incorporated on January 1, 2022.
Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 municipalities, and its capital city is Chetumal.
Quintana Roo is a state in southeast Mexico established out of the Quintana Roo Territory in 1974 with seven municipalities, which has since grown into eleven municipalities. According to the 2020 Mexican census, it has the twenty-fourth largest population of all states with 1,857,985 inhabitants and is the 19th largest by land area spanning 44,705.2 square kilometres (17,260.8 sq mi).
This is a list of the extreme coordinates of Mexico, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
Mexicali Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California. Its municipal seat is located in the city of Mexicali. As of 2020, the municipality had a total population of 1,049,792. The municipality has an area of 13,700 km2 (5,300 sq mi). This includes many smaller outlying communities as well as the city of Mexicali. Also, the islands of Baja California located in the Gulf of California are part of the municipality, among them the mudflat islands at the mouth of the Colorado River, Isla Ángel de la Guarda and the islands of the San Lorenzo Marine Archipelago National Park. Mexicali is the northernmost municipality of Latin America.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Mexico expanded in the 21st century, keeping with worldwide legal trends. The intellectual influence of the French Revolution and the brief French occupation of Mexico (1862–67) resulted in the adoption of the Napoleonic Code, which decriminalized same-sex sexual acts in 1871. Laws against public immorality or indecency, however, have been used to prosecute persons who engage in them.
Mexico uses four time zones:
In Mexico, some municipalities and Mexico City are divided into “boroughs” for administrative purposes. Boroughs are known as delegaciones, or in the case of Mexico City, demarcaciones territoriales. Boroughs can either be second-level semi-autonomous administrative divisions or third-level non-autonomous administrative divisions. The limits, nature and competencies of boroughs are usually described in the constitutions of the states they are part of, or in the laws enacted by the municipality itself, and may differ from municipality to municipality.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Mexico:
MVS Radio are a group of four international Spanish-language radio networks owned by the mass media conglomerate MVS Comunicaciones. The group of radio networks consists of Exa FM, La Mejor, Globo and MVS Noticias and are broadcast in a various Latin American countries including Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States.
Most Mexican states do not have an official flag. For these states, a de facto flag is used for civil and state purposes. State flags of Mexico have a 4:7 ratio and typically consist of a white background charged with the state's coat of arms.
Televisa Regional is a unit of Grupo Televisa which owns and operates television stations across Mexico. The stations rebroadcast programming from its subsidiary TelevisaUnivision's other networks, and they engage in the local production of newscasts and other programs. Televisa Regional stations all have their own distinct branding, except for those that are Nu9ve affiliates and brand as "Nu9ve <city/state name>".
The law of Mexico is based upon the Constitution of Mexico and follows the civil law tradition.
The following television stations broadcast on digital channel 34 in Mexico:
The following television stations broadcast on digital channel 20 in Mexico:
Each of the 31 states of Mexico and Mexico City has a separate coat of arms. Each Mexican state flag contains the respective state arms, typically on a white background.
The electoral regions of Mexico are geographic areas composed of various states used for the election of the 200 proportional representation legislators to the Chamber of Deputies.
The governors of the states of Mexico are the first-level administrative divisions of Mexico. There are 31 states and one federal entity in Mexico. The lists include current governors, female governors, and governors of each state.
The biosphere reserves of Mexico are protected natural areas. Some are designated by the national government, while others are internationally designated by UNESCO.
1 2 "Decreto Número 45"(PDF). Periódico Oficial del Estado de Campeche, Segunda Sección (in Spanish). 26 April 2019. pp.3–4. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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