Administrative divisions of Mexico facts for kids

The United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is a federal republic. Think of it like a team of 32 players, where each player is a "federal entity." These include 31 states and one special area called the Federal District.

According to Mexico's Constitution of 1917, each state in the country is free and can make its own rules. This means every state has its own congress (like a mini-parliament) and its own constitution (a set of main laws). However, the Federal District, which is commonly known as Mexico City, is a bit different. It has some freedom, but not as much as the states. It has its own local Congress and government, and it serves as the capital city of Mexico.

How Mexico is Divided

A map showing the different states and the Federal District that make up Mexico.

The Federal District: Mexico City

The Federal District is a very important part of Mexico because it's where the national capital, Mexico City, is located. It's a huge and busy city! Even though it's called a "district," it works a lot like a state in many ways, but with some special rules because it's the capital.

Entity	Official Name	Flag	Area	Population (2010)	Date of establishment
Ciudad de México	Distrito Federal		0 1,485 km2 (573.4 sq mi)	08,720,916	181912141824-11-18

The States of Mexico

Mexico has 31 states, and each one is unique! They all have their own capital cities, flags, and local governments. Just like in other federal countries, the states work together with the national government to make sure everything runs smoothly across the country.

Here's a list of the states, their capitals, and some other interesting facts:

States of Mexico

State	Official Name Estado Libre y Soberano de:	Flag	Capital	Largest city	Area	Population (2010)	Order of Admission to Federation	Date of Admission to Federation
Aguascalientes	Aguascalientes		Aguascalientes	Aguascalientes	0056185,618 km2 (2,169 sq mi)	011849961,184,996	24&&&&&&&&&&&&&024.&&&&&024	181912141857-02-05
Baja California	Baja California		Mexicali	Tijuana	07144671,446 km2 (27,585 sq mi)	031550703,155,070	29&&&&&&&&&&&&&029.&&&&&029	181912141952-01-16
Baja California Sur	Baja California Sur		La Paz	La Paz	07392273,922 km2 (28,541 sq mi)	00637026637,026	31&&&&&&&&&&&&&031.&&&&&031	181912141974-10-08
Campeche	Campeche		San Francisco de Campeche	San Francisco de Campeche	05792457,924 km2 (22,365 sq mi)	00822441822,441	25&&&&&&&&&&&&&025.&&&&&025	181912141863-04-29
Chiapas	Chiapas		Tuxtla Gutiérrez	Tuxtla Gutiérrez	07328973,289 km2 (28,297 sq mi)	047965804,796,580	19&&&&&&&&&&&&&019.&&&&&019	181912141824-09-14
Chihuahua	Chihuahua		Chihuahua	Ciudad Juárez	247455247,455 km2 (95,543 sq mi)	034064653,406,465	18&&&&&&&&&&&&&018.&&&&&018	181912141824-07-06
Coahuila1 4	Coahuila de Zaragoza		Saltillo	Torreón	151563151,563 km2 (58,519 sq mi)	027483912,748,391	16&&&&&&&&&&&&&016.&&&&&016	181912141824-05-07
Colima	Colima		Colima	Manzanillo	0056255,625 km2 (2,172 sq mi)	00650,555 650,555	23&&&&&&&&&&&&&023.&&&&&023	1856120909-12-1856
Durango	Durango		Victoria de Durango	Victoria de Durango	123451123,451 km2 (47,665 sq mi)	016329341,632,934	17&&&&&&&&&&&&&017.&&&&&017	181912141824-05-22
Guanajuato	Guanajuato		Guanajuato	León	03060830,608 km2 (11,818 sq mi)	054863725,486,372	02&&&&&&&&&&&&&&02.&&&&&02	181912141823-12-20
Guerrero	Guerrero		Chilpancingo de los Bravo	Acapulco de Juárez	06362163,621 km2 (24,564 sq mi)	033887683,388,768	21&&&&&&&&&&&&&021.&&&&&021	181912141849-10-27
Hidalgo	Hidalgo		Pachuca de Soto	Pachuca de Soto	02084620,846 km2 (8,049 sq mi)	026650182,665,018	26&&&&&&&&&&&&&026.&&&&&026	181912141869-01-16
Jalisco	Jalisco		Guadalajara	Guadalajara	07859978,599 km2 (30,347 sq mi)	073506827,350,682	09&&&&&&&&&&&&&&09.&&&&&09	181912141823-12-23
México	México		Toluca de Lerdo	Ecatepec de Morelos	02235722,357 km2 (8,632 sq mi)	1517586215,175,862	01&&&&&&&&&&&&&&01.&&&&&01	181912141823-12-20
Michoacán	Michoacán de Ocampo		Morelia	Morelia	05864358,643 km2 (22,642 sq mi)	043510374,351,037	05&&&&&&&&&&&&&&05.&&&&&05	181912141823-12-22
Morelos	Morelos		Cuernavaca	Cuernavaca	0048934,893 km2 (1,889 sq mi)	017772271,777,227	27&&&&&&&&&&&&&027.&&&&&027	181912141869-04-17
Nayarit	Nayarit		Tepic	Tepic	02781527,815 km2 (10,739 sq mi)	010849791,084,979	28&&&&&&&&&&&&&028.&&&&&028	181912141917-01-26
Nuevo León4	Nuevo León		Monterrey	Monterrey	06422064,220 km2 (24,800 sq mi)	046534584,653,458	15&&&&&&&&&&&&&015.&&&&&015	181912141824-05-07
Oaxaca	Oaxaca		Oaxaca de Juárez	Oaxaca de Juárez	09379393,793 km2 (36,214 sq mi)	038019623,801,962	03&&&&&&&&&&&&&&03.&&&&&03	181912141823-12-21
Puebla	Puebla		Puebla de Zaragoza	Puebla de Zaragoza	03429034,290 km2 (13,240 sq mi)	057798295,779,829	04&&&&&&&&&&&&&&04.&&&&&04	181912141823-12-21
Querétaro	Querétaro		Santiago de Querétaro	Santiago de Querétaro	01168411,684 km2 (4,511 sq mi)	018279371,827,937	11&&&&&&&&&&&&&011.&&&&&011	181912141823-12-23
Quintana Roo	Quintana Roo		Chetumal	Cancún	04236142,361 km2 (16,356 sq mi)	013255781,325,578	30&&&&&&&&&&&&&030.&&&&&030	181912141974-10-08
San Luis Potosí	San Luis Potosí		San Luis Potosí	San Luis Potosí	06098360,983 km2 (23,546 sq mi)	025855182,585,518	06&&&&&&&&&&&&&&06.&&&&&06	181912141823-12-22
Sinaloa	Sinaloa		Culiacán	Culiacán	05737757,377 km2 (22,153 sq mi)	027677612,767,761	20&&&&&&&&&&&&&020.&&&&&020	181912141830-10-14
Sonora2	Sonora		Hermosillo	Hermosillo	179503179,503 km2 (69,306 sq mi)	026624802,662,480	12&&&&&&&&&&&&&012.&&&&&012	181912141824-01-10
Tabasco5	Tabasco		Villahermosa	Villahermosa	02473824,738 km2 (9,551 sq mi)	022386032,238,603	13&&&&&&&&&&&&&013.&&&&&013	181912141824-02-07
Tamaulipas4	Tamaulipas		Ciudad Victoria	Reynosa	08017580,175 km2 (30,956 sq mi)	032685543,268,554	14&&&&&&&&&&&&&014.&&&&&014	181912141824-02-07
Tlaxcala	Tlaxcala		Tlaxcala de Xicoténcatl	Vicente Guerrero	0039913,991 km2 (1,541 sq mi)	011699361,169,936	22&&&&&&&&&&&&&022.&&&&&022	181912141856-12-09
Veracruz	Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave		Xalapa	Veracruz	07182071,820 km2 (27,730 sq mi)	076431947,643,194	07&&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07	181912141823-12-22
Yucatán3	Yucatán		Mérida	Mérida	03961239,612 km2 (15,294 sq mi)	019555771,955,577	08&&&&&&&&&&&&&&08.&&&&&08	181912141823-12-23
Zacatecas	Zacatecas		Zacatecas	Zacatecas	07553975,539 km2 (29,166 sq mi)	014906681,490,668	10&&&&&&&&&&&&&010.&&&&&010	181912141823-12-23

Notes:

1. This state joined Mexico with the name Coahuila y Texas.
2. This state joined Mexico with the name Estado de Occidente, also known as Sonora y Sinaloa.
3. This state joined Mexico as the Federated Republic of Yucatán (English: Federated Republic of Yucatán). It was made up of the areas that are now Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. It became independent in 1841 and rejoined Mexico in 1848.
4. The states of Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Coahuila briefly tried to become independent in 1840 to form the República del Río Grande (English: Republic of the Rio Grande). However, their independence didn't last because their forces were defeated.
5. The state of Tabasco left Mexico twice, once from February 13, 1841, to December 2, 1842, and again from November 9, 1846, to December 8 of the same year.

Images for kids

• 

  Typical (unofficial) regional grouping of the Mexican states.

• 

  Location of Socorro Island and the rest of the Revillagigedo Archipelago, and extent of Mexico's western EEZ in the Pacific. The islands are part of Colima state, but under federal jurisdiction.

See also

In Spanish: Organización territorial de México para niños