Boroughs of Mexico City

Boroughs (Spanish: demarcaciones territoriales) are the subdivisions of Mexico City, the capital city and a federative entity of Mexico. As of 2025, there are 16 boroughs in Mexico City.^[1] Each borough is headed by a borough mayor (alcalde), which makes it colloquially known as alcaldía.^[2] The traditional center of Mexico City comprises four boroughs: Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo, and Venustiano Carranza.

Borough demarcación territorial (Spanish)
Also known as: alcaldía (Spanish), delegación (Spanish)
Mexico City boroughs
Category	Borough / City district
Location	Mexico
Found in	Mexico City
Number	16 (as of July 2025)
Populations	Smallest: 152,685 (Milpa Alta) Largest: 1,835,486 (Iztapalapa)
Areas	Smallest: 23.1 km2 (8.9 sq mi) (Iztacalco) Largest: 314.5 km2 (121.4 sq mi) (Tlalpan)
Government	Borough mayor (Alcalde)
Subdivisions	Neighborhoods

Mexico City is one of the 32 federal entities of Mexico, with the others being the 31 states. It was named Distrito Federal (Federal District) until February 5, 2016, when it was officially renamed the Ciudad de México.^[3] According to the 2020 Mexican census, it is the second most populated entity with 9,209,944 inhabitants and the smallest by land area, spanning 1,494.3 square kilometres (577.0 sq mi).^[4][5]

Map of Mexico with Mexico City highlighted

Despite containing the word "city", it is not governed as a city but as a unit consisting of multiple subdivisions. 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, the seat of the Powers of the Union, and the capital of Mexico.^[1] Thus, Mexico City is not organized into municipalities.

The largest borough by population is Iztapalapa, with 1,835,486 residents, while the smallest is Milpa Alta, with 152,685 residents. Iztacalco is the most densely populated subdivision in Mexico.^[4] The largest borough by land area is Tlalpan, which spans 314.50 km² (121.43 sq mi), and the smallest is Iztacalco, with 23.10 km² (8.92 sq mi).^[5]

The most recent boroughs are Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc, Miguel Hidalgo, and Venustiano Carranza, all established in 1970 out of the former circumscription of Mexico City.^[6]

Boroughs

Name	Population (2020)[4]	Population (2010)[7]	Change	Land area[5]		Population density (2020)	Incorporation date[6]	Mayor
				km2	sq mi
Álvaro Obregón[a]	759,137	727,034	+4.4%	95.9	37.0	7,915.9/km2 (20,502.1/sq mi)	February 15, 1826	Javier López Casarín
Azcapotzalco	432,205	414,711	+4.2%	33.5	12.9	12,901.6/km2 (33,415.1/sq mi)	August 6, 1826	Nancy Marlene Núñez Reséndiz
Benito Juárez	434,153	385,439	+12.6%	26.7	10.3	16,260.4/km2 (42,114.3/sq mi)	December 29, 1970	Luis Mendoza Acevedo
Coyoacán	614,447	620,416	−1.0%	53.9	20.8	11,399.8/km2 (29,525.2/sq mi)	August 6, 1824	Giovani Gutiérrez Aguilar
Cuajimalpa	217,686	186,391	+16.8%	71.2	27.5	3,057.4/km2 (7,918.6/sq mi)	July 28, 1899	Carlos Orvañanos Rea
Cuauhtémoc	545,884	531,831	+2.6%	32.5	12.5	16,796.4/km2 (43,502.6/sq mi)	December 29, 1970	Alessandra Rojo de la Vega
Gustavo A. Madero[b]	1,173,351	1,185,772	−1.0%	87.9	33.9	13,348.7/km2 (34,573.0/sq mi)	May 6, 1861	Janecarlo Lozano Reynoso
Iztacalco[c]	404,695	384,326	+5.3%	23.1	8.9	17,519.3/km2 (45,374.7/sq mi)	March 5, 1862	Lourdes Paz Reyes
Iztapalapa	1,835,486	1,815,786	+1.1%	113.2	43.7	16,214.5/km2 (41,995.5/sq mi)	March 5, 1862	Aleida Alavez Ruiz
La Magdalena Contreras	247,622	239,086	+3.6%	63.4	24.5	3,905.7/km2 (10,115.7/sq mi)	December 31, 1928	Fernando Mercado Guaida
Miguel Hidalgo	414,470	372,889	+11.2%	46.4	17.9	8,932.5/km2 (23,135.2/sq mi)	December 29, 1970	Mauricio Tabe Echartea
Milpa Alta	152,685	130,582	+16.9%	298.2	115.1	512.0/km2 (1,326.1/sq mi)	February 15, 1826	Octavio Rivero Villaseñor
Tláhuac[d]	392,313	360,265	+8.9%	85.9	33.2	4,567.1/km2 (11,828.7/sq mi)	February 15, 1826	Berenice Hernández Calderón
Tlalpan[e]	699,928	650,567	+7.6%	314.5	121.4	2,225.5/km2 (5,764.1/sq mi)	April 8, 1825	Gabriela Osorio
Venustiano Carranza	443,704	430,978	+3.0%	32.5	12.5	13,652.4/km2 (35,359.6/sq mi)	December 29, 1970	Evelyn Parra Álvarez
Xochimilco	442,178	415,007	+6.5%	114.1	44.1	3,875.4/km2 (10,037.1/sq mi)	August 6, 1826	Circe Camacho Bastida
Mexico City	9,209,944	8,851,080	+4.1%	1,494.3	577.0	6,163.4/km2 (15,963.1/sq mi)	—	—
Mexico	126,014,024	112,336,538	+12.2%	1,960,646.7	757,010	64.3/km2 (166.5/sq mi)	—	—

Notes

1. Álvaro Obregón was originally incorporated as San Ángel, changing its name on December 31, 1941.^[6]
2. Gustavo A. Madero was originally incorporated as Guadalupe Hidalgo, changing its name on December 31, 1941.^[6]
3. Iztacalco was merged with Gustavo A. Madero (at that time known as Guadalupe Hidalgo) from 1903 to 1921.^[6]
4. Tláhuac was merged with Xochimilco from 1903 to 1928.^[6]
5. Tlalpan was originally incorporated as San Agustín de las Cuevas, changing its name on September 25, 1827.^[6]