Mexico at a glance
Mexico (officially the United Mexican States) covers 1,964,375 km² between the United States and Guatemala/Belize. It is divided into 31 states and Mexico City. The country's centre is a high plateau bounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental (west) and Sierra Madre Oriental (east), which explains why Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puebla all sit above 1,500 m while the coasts are hot and low. The physical map shows this relief.
It is the 13th-largest country in the world, with 126,014,024 residents at the 2020 census. The land narrows from about 2,000 km wide at the US border to 215 km at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, then widens into the Yucatán Peninsula; the Baja California Peninsula runs 1,250 km down the north-west.
How to read the map
Almost everything follows from altitude. Two ranges run north to south — the Sierra Madre Occidental on the Pacific side, the Sierra Madre Oriental on the Gulf side — with the Altiplano, the central plateau, between them, tilting up from about 1,100 m near Chihuahua to 2,240 m at Mexico City. Toluca, the highest state capital, is 2,660 m. The Sierra Madre map adds the third range, the Sierra Madre del Sur.
Crossing west to east at about 19° N is the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, carrying every peak above 4,000 m: Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m), Popocatépetl (5,426 m) and Iztaccíhuatl (5,230 m). Popocatépetl still erupts regularly; the volcanoes map shows which of the rest are active.
Latitude therefore tells you less than height. The Tropic of Cancer crosses near Mazatlán, so over half the country is formally tropical, yet Mexico City averages 16–19 °C year round while Veracruz and Mérida, at sea level on the same latitudes, sit near 26 °C. Rain falls mostly from June to October; the Gulf slope is wettest, the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts driest (climate map). The Yucatán has no surface rivers at all, being porous limestone drained through cenotes (rivers map).
The three coastlines
Three coastlines shape the map: the Pacific (including the Gulf of California), the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean along Quintana Roo, where Cancún and Tulum are — 9,330 km in all. The Pacific is the longest and most varied: sport fishing at Cabo San Lucas, resort bays at Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, surf towns at Zihuatanejo, Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, and highway MX-200 down its whole length. The Gulf coast is working coast: oil ports at Tampico and Coatzacoalcos, containers at Veracruz, dark sand, winter nortes. The Caribbean is the shortest but busiest, a reef coast from Cancún down the Riviera Maya to Bacalar (beaches map).
North, centre and south
The split is climatic and economic at once. The six northern border states hold 40% of the territory but 18% of the people: dry ranch and desert country, with assembly plants in the border cities and the highest household incomes around Monterrey. Chihuahua alone is 247,455 km², larger than the United Kingdom, and has 3.7 million residents.
Central Mexico is the opposite: seven entities from Mexico City to Querétaro hold a third of the population on 5% of the land. Add the Bajío, now the car-manufacturing belt, and that is the industrial core. The south — Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guerrero — is the wettest and most mountainous third, with the largest share of indigenous-language speakers, the lowest output per head and most of the major pre-Hispanic sites, from Monte Albán to Palenque.
The ten most populous states account for 60% of all Mexicans. Mexico City holds over 6,000 people per km² against a national average of 64; Baja California Sur has about 11.
| State | Capital | Population (2020) | Area km² | People/km² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Mexico | Toluca | 16,992,418 | 22,357 | 760 |
| Mexico City | Mexico City | 9,209,944 | 1,495 | 6,160 |
| Jalisco | Guadalajara | 8,348,151 | 78,588 | 106 |
| Veracruz | Xalapa | 8,062,579 | 71,826 | 112 |
| Puebla | Puebla | 6,583,278 | 34,306 | 192 |
| Guanajuato | Guanajuato | 6,166,934 | 30,607 | 201 |
| Nuevo León | Monterrey | 5,784,442 | 64,156 | 90 |
| Chiapas | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | 5,543,828 | 73,311 | 76 |
| Michoacán | Morelia | 4,748,846 | 58,599 | 81 |
| Oaxaca | Oaxaca City | 4,132,148 | 93,757 | 44 |
The 32 states of Mexico
Each state has its own page with a zoomable map, capital, cities, neighbours and travel data.
How the 32 entities came about
The 1917 constitution that still governs Mexico listed 28 states, the Federal District and two territories, Baja California and Quintana Roo; Nayarit became a state then, out of the old territory of Tepic. Four entities have changed status since.
Baja California was split in two in 1931 and its northern half became the 29th state in 1952. Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo followed in 1974 — Quintana Roo having spent 1931 to 1935 dissolved into Yucatán and Campeche. The Federal District was renamed Mexico City in 2016 and given its own constitution, in force from 2018; it is not a state, but elects a head of government and its 16 boroughs are now alcaldías. Below that sit 2,475 municipalities, from Oaxaca's 570 to five in Baja California Sur.
Time zones and daylight saving
Mexico runs four time zones. Zona Sureste (UTC−5) covers only Quintana Roo, which moved to its own zone in 2015 for more evening daylight at Cancún. Zona Centro (UTC−6) covers most of the country, Mexico City and the whole south included. Zona Pacífico (UTC−7) covers Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora and Nayarit; Zona Noroeste (UTC−8) is Baja California alone, on California's clock.
Daylight saving, observed since 1996, was abolished on 30 October 2022 under the Ley de los Husos Horarios. The exception is a strip of border municipalities — Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez and Matamoros among them — which still change clocks with the United States; Sonora had stopped in 1998 to stay level with Arizona. Mexico City therefore matches Chicago in winter and trails it by an hour in summer, and Cancún holds New York's winter time all year.
Planning a trip
Distances are what visitors underestimate: Tijuana to Cancún is about 4,800 km by road, further than New York to Los Angeles. Start from the regions rather than the states — the ten region maps group places practical to combine in one trip. Then the airports map: Mexico City has two airports (MEX and NLU, opened 2022), Cancún takes the most international arrivals of any single airport, and Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana and Puerto Vallarta have direct US flights. The road map shows which federal highways have a tolled autopista alongside: expensive, but far faster. The dry season runs November to April; both hurricane seasons, Atlantic and Pacific, run 1 June to 30 November.
Maps by type
- Mexico Map with States32 federal entities, capitals, borders
- Mexico Map with CitiesCapitals, resorts and border cities
- Gulf of Mexico MapCoastline, ports, depth
- US–Mexico Border MapCrossings and border states
- Blank Mexico MapPrintable outline for study
- Physical Map of MexicoMountains, rivers, deserts
- Mexico Road MapFederal highways and tolls
- Old Maps of MexicoHistorical maps 1520–1917
- Mexico Airports MapInternational airports by code
- Mexico Beaches MapCaribbean, Pacific and Gulf beaches
- Mexico Climate MapZones, rainy season, hurricanes
- Mexico Time Zones MapFour zones, no DST since 2022
- Mexico Rivers MapBravo, Usumacinta, Lerma, Balsas
- Mexico Volcanoes MapTrans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
- Archaeological Sites MapMaya, Aztec, Zapotec, Olmec sites
- Where Is Mexico?Location on the world map
- New Mexico MapThe US state, with cities and counties
Maps by region
- Yucatán PeninsulaYucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche
- Riviera MayaCancún to Tulum, Quintana Roo
- Baja California PeninsulaBaja California, Baja California Sur
- Pacific CoastSinaloa to Chiapas
- Gulf CoastTamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche
- Central MexicoMexico City, State of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo
- El BajíoGuanajuato, Querétaro, Aguascalientes, parts of Jalisco
- Northern MexicoChihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Durango, Tamaulipas
- Southern MexicoOaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero
- Sierra MadreOccidental, Oriental and del Sur ranges
Most-viewed city maps
- CancúnQuintana Roo
- TulumQuintana Roo
- Playa del CarmenQuintana Roo
- CozumelQuintana Roo
- Isla MujeresQuintana Roo
- BacalarQuintana Roo
- Puerto VallartaJalisco
- SayulitaNayarit
- Cabo San LucasBaja California Sur
- San José del CaboBaja California Sur
- LoretoBaja California Sur
- MazatlánSinaloa
- Mexico CityCapital of Mexico City
- GuadalajaraCapital of Jalisco
- MonterreyCapital of Nuevo León
- Oaxaca CityCapital of Oaxaca
- PueblaCapital of Puebla
- MéridaCapital of Yucatán
Questions about the map of Mexico
How many states does Mexico have?
Mexico has 31 states plus Mexico City, which has been a federal entity with state-like powers since 2016. Together they are the 32 entidades federativas. See the map of Mexican states.
Which countries border Mexico?
The United States to the north (3,145 km, see the US–Mexico border map), and Guatemala (958 km) and Belize (276 km) to the south-east.
How big is Mexico?
1,964,375 km² (758,449 sq mi), the 13th-largest country in the world and roughly three times the size of Texas. Its coastline runs about 9,330 km along the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
What is the largest state in Mexico?
Chihuahua, at 247,455 km². The smallest is Mexico City (1,495 km²). The most populous is the State of Mexico with 16.99 million people; the least populous is Colima with 731,391.
Is Mexico in North America or Central America?
North America. Geographically the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is sometimes used as the boundary with Central America, but Mexico as a country is universally classed as North American, alongside the US and Canada.
What time is it in Mexico?
Mexico has four time zones, from UTC−5 in Quintana Roo to UTC−8 in Baja California. Daylight saving time ended nationally on 30 October 2022, except in the northern border municipalities. See the time zones map.