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Capitals of the world
Mexico City, capital of Mexico: facts and figures
Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. It has about 22,000,000 residents, which makes it the 3rd most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 2,238 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Guatemala City, 1,060 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Mexico |
| Continent | North America |
| City population | 22,000,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 3rd of 172 |
| Elevation | 2,238 m |
| Founded | 1521 |
| Time zone | America/Mexico_City |
| Coordinates | 19.43° N, 99.13° W |
| Country population | 131,946,900 residents |
| Country GDP | 1.8 trillion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $13,889 |
| Life expectancy | 75.3 years |
| Internet users | 83.1 % |
| Big Mac price | MX$109 (about $6.27) |
Climate through the year
Mexico City averages 14.7 °C from December to February and 17.5 °C from June to August. January is the coldest month of the year and May the warmest, and the city receives 1,128 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 13.9 °C |
| February | 15.8 °C |
| March | 17.8 °C |
| April | 19.2 °C |
| May | 19.7 °C |
| June | 18.5 °C |
| July | 17.0 °C |
| August | 17.0 °C |
| September | 16.7 °C |
| October | 16.0 °C |
| November | 15.5 °C |
| December | 14.3 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Size: 3rd most populous capital in the world (22,000,000 residents).
- Elevation: highest capital in North America (2,238 m).
- Winter: 3rd coldest capital in North America (14.7 °C).
- Prices: 2nd priciest capital for a Big Mac in North America ($6.27).
- Isolation: most isolated capital in North America (1,060 km).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Guatemala City is the closest capital to Mexico City.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Guatemala City | Guatemala | 1,060 km |
| Belmopan | Belize | 1,120 km |
| San Salvador | El Salvador | 1,236 km |
| Tegucigalpa | Honduras | 1,403 km |
| Managua | Nicaragua | 1,600 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Mexico City to a place and a number you already know: it is 1,060 km from Guatemala City, and it is the 3rd largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Mexico compares with every other country on figures like these, the most expensive Big Mac index ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Big Mac price: The Economist's Big Mac index, from its published dataset. The index covers about 55 economies, so most capitals here have no figure.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Mexico City is the capital of Mexico, in North America, with about 22,000,000 residents, averaging 14.7 °C from December to February and 17.5 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Mexico?
Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. It has about 22,000,000 residents and lies in North America.
How many people live in Mexico City?
About 22,000,000, which ranks Mexico City 3rd of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Mexico City?
Mexico City averages 14.7 °C from December to February and 17.5 °C from June to August, with 1,128 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Mexico City?
A Big Mac costs MX$109 (about $6.27) there. GDP per capita in the country is $13,889, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Guatemala City, capital of Guatemala: facts and figures
Guatemala City is the capital of Guatemala: 2,900,000 residents, 1,497 m above sea level, 17.2 °C from December to February and 19.1 °C from June to August.
- Belmopan, capital of Belize: facts and figures
Belmopan is the capital of Belize: 23,000 residents, 73 m above sea level, 23.1 °C from December to February and 26.8 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- San Salvador, capital of El Salvador: facts and figures
San Salvador is the capital of El Salvador: 1,100,000 residents, 645 m above sea level, 24.2 °C from December to February and 24.4 °C from June to August.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.