Geography
Morelos covers 4,879 km², the third-smallest entity after Mexico City and Tlaxcala, and holds 1,971,520 people. It is essentially one long slope. The northern edge follows the crest of the Sierra Chichinautzin at about 3,000 m, part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and one of the youngest volcanic fields in the country, with several hundred cinder cones. From there the land falls almost without interruption to about 900 m at Amacuzac in the south-west, where the state meets the Balsas depression. That 2,000 m of drop over barely 70 km is why the state has cool pine forest, temperate valleys and hot lowland cane fields within an hour's drive of each other.
Lava flows from the Chichinautzin cones blocked the old drainage and created the small lakes of Zempoala, now a national park on the boundary with the State of Mexico. Everything else drains south to the Balsas through three rivers — the Amacuzac, the Yautepec and the Cuautla — which supported the first sugar mills in the Americas and, from the 19th century, the haciendas that gave the state its revolutionary history. The north-eastern corner around Tetela del Volcán climbs onto the flank of Popocatépetl (5,426 m), whose ash occasionally reaches Cuautla; CENAPRED has monitored the volcano continuously since it reawakened in 1994.
The state has 36 municipalities, three of them created after 2017 for indigenous communities — Xoxocotla, Coatetelco and Hueyapan. Two UNESCO listings sit here: the fortified 16th-century monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl, inscribed in 1994, of which eleven of the fourteen are in Morelos; and the Xochicalco archaeological site near Miacatlán, inscribed in 1999, a hilltop city that flourished between 650 and 900 AD.
Main cities
Cuernavaca, Jiutepec, Temixco, Emiliano Zapata and Xochitepec form a single built-up area of roughly a million people in the west of the state; Cuautla anchors a second, smaller conurbation in the east. Figures are INEGI 2020 municipal populations, rounded where the count is approximate.
| Municipality | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cuernavaca | 378,476 | Capital, 1,510 m; Cortés palace of 1526 |
| Jiutepec | 215,357 | CIVAC industrial estate, adjoins the capital |
| Cuautla | 187,118 | Eastern centre; sugar and spa water |
| Temixco | 116,143 | Cuernavaca airport (CVJ) |
| Yautepec | 105,780 | Between the two conurbations |
| Emiliano Zapata | 100,000 | Named for the revolutionary leader |
| Ayala | 90,000 | Includes Anenecuilco, Zapata's birthplace |
| Xochitepec | 74,000 | Water parks on Highway 95 |
| Puente de Ixtla | 65,000 | Junction for Taxco and the Balsas |
| Tepoztlán | 54,000 | Tepozteco cliffs, weekend town |
Neighbouring states
Four neighbours. Clockwise from the north: Mexico City, State of Mexico, Puebla, Guerrero. Mexico City meets Morelos along the forested crest above Milpa Alta and Tlalpan; the State of Mexico wraps the north-west and west; the Puebla line runs south from Popocatépetl past Izúcar de Matamoros; and Guerrero holds the south-west, where Highway 95D continues towards Taxco and the Pacific. The state belongs to Central Mexico.
Getting there
Cuernavaca's Mariano Matamoros airport (CVJ), at Temixco 20 km south of the city, has only limited scheduled service; nearly all visitors fly into Mexico City's Benito Juárez (MEX), 90 km away, or Felipe Ángeles (NLU). The airports map shows the alternatives.
The road is the practical route. Highway 95D, the Autopista del Sol, climbs out of Mexico City past the Tres Marías pass at 2,900 m and drops into Cuernavaca in 85 km, about an hour and a quarter when traffic allows; the free Highway 95 runs alongside more slowly and passes Tepoztlán's turn-off. Highway 160 crosses the state from Cuautla north-east to Amecameca and south-east to Izúcar de Matamoros in Puebla, and a toll spur links Cuernavaca to Cuautla in about 45 minutes. Southbound, 95D reaches Chilpancingo in a further 190 km and Acapulco in 380 km from Mexico City, which is why Morelos traffic peaks on Friday evenings and Sunday nights. See the road map and the archaeological sites map for Xochicalco and the Tepozteco.
Questions about Morelos
Where is Morelos on the map of Mexico?
Immediately south of Mexico City in the centre of the country, on the far side of the Ajusco–Chichinautzin range. Cuernavaca, the capital, is 85 km from the capital's centre on Highway 95D, about an hour and a quarter by car.
Why is Cuernavaca called the city of eternal spring?
Because it sits at about 1,510 m on the warm southern slope of the volcanic belt, roughly 700 m lower than Mexico City, so daytime temperatures stay near 25 °C all year. The nickname is traditionally credited to Alexander von Humboldt, who passed through in 1803.
How far is Morelos from Mexico City?
The state line is about 45 km from the centre of Mexico City. Cuernavaca is 85 km (1 h 15), Tepoztlán 80 km (1 h 20) and Cuautla 105 km (1 h 45), all on Highway 95D and its branches.
What is Morelos known for?
Sugar cane, which Cortés introduced at Tlaltizapán in the 1520s; Emiliano Zapata, born at Anenecuilco in 1879 and killed at the Hacienda de Chinameca in 1919; the Xochicalco ruins; and weekend houses for residents of Mexico City.