What Do Most Mexicans Call Mexico City? Understanding the Various Names

Mexico City is surrounded by history, cultural monuments and opportunities that allow its inhabitants to have a quality life. That is why many people who say ”I’m going to Mexico” wonder What do most Mexicans call Mexico City?

Mexico City is the capital of Mexico and is part of the federal entities of the Latin American country. This important city is the central seat of Mexican politics and economy, contributes one fifth of the National GDP and is divided into sixteen territorial districts.

In addition to being the important political and economic headquarters of the country, it is ranked number eight among the richest cities in the world. After highlighting all these important factors we will tell you What do most Mexicans call Mexico City?

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This is all you need to know about What do most Mexicans call Mexico City?

Those who visit Mexico City or are surrounded by Mexicans realize that few are those who call their capital by its official name, while some still refer to this city by its former name, others prefer to use other more colloquial names, that is why here we will tell you What do most Mexicans call Mexico City?

Historical names of Mexico City

To know What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? It is good to know what were the historical names of the capital city of the Mexican territory, so before revealing What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? We will mention each one of them:

Before knowing What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? You should know that the capital of the Mexican territory is considered the oldest capital city in America, so it has a relevant historical importance; added to this, like Quito (Ecuador) is one of the only two capitals founded by indigenous people.

The first name by which it was known by the Aztecs was Tenochtitlan, but after the siege of Tenochtitlan it was redesigned and established by the Spaniards as a municipality, by then it was known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan and later became official as Mexico City.

After liberation from the Empire of Spain, Mexico City was named Federal District and remained with that name until 2016, when it officially began to be called Mexico City.

Mexico City (D.F)

If you are wondering What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? You will surely know that it was formerly known as Distrito Federal (abbreviated as D.F.). The Federal District was created on November 18, 1824, right after the fall of the Empire of Agustin de Iturbide, all this conflict led the Congress of Mexico to decide that the territory would house the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers, therefore, the now Mexico City began to be known as the Federal State, and the city had no political autonomy, because its decisions were made by the President of the Republic.

It is precisely because of the aforementioned factors, that the inhabitants of D.F. fought for their political autonomy for many years, until achieving it in 2016, when D.F. became Mexico City.

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Therefore, despite the change many inhabitants still call this city Distrito Federal (D.F.). There are several changes that were achieved by becoming officially known as Mexico City, such as the exercise of its integral development in the governmental administration of the country.

Mexico City

Mexico City, also known by its abbreviation CDMX, was promoted since 2010 and finally became official on January 29, 2016. The change from Distrito Federal to Mexico City responds to the necessary change of identity of the territory, in order to highlight the social, industrial and cultural aspects, since when it was officially known as Distrito Federal it did not have autonomy in government administration.

It should also be noted that after promoting the initiative of change after 6 years, Mexico City was integrated as the 32nd entity of the United States of Mexico, acquiring in turn, the political rights it lacked.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning why the abbreviation Mexico City (CDMX) is more commonly used, and it seems that it was born in a local government office in 2013, and became quite popular after the federal Congress made the official change of the capital’s name. Currently the reception of the locals is quite good and you can see the abbreviation in the subway, cabs, public transport buses, headlines in the press, and even both locals and visitors who come to the Zocalo, can see in the main square of the nation a giant letters that say CDMX, next to the flag of the country.

Learn what the differences are after the change from D.F. to CDMX

Besides knowing What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? It is important that you know what are the most important changes after the change from D.F. to CDMX, here we will tell you:

After the official change from D.F. to CDMX, a new Constitution was created.
There was a transformation from delegations to mayor’s offices, which are currently headed by a mayor and a council, which in turn are made up of 10 councilors who are democratically elected.
The creation of the Local Congress.
There is now access to federal funds for both states and municipalities.
Democratic and free elections.
Change of image in the capital territory for the promotion of national and international tourism.

This is what most Mexicans call CDMX

If you are one of the people who want to know What do most Mexicans call Mexico City? The first thing to highlight is that almost all people who live in Mexico City call it simply Mexico City, when they chat or make any written material they abbreviate it to CDMX, another percentage is still not used to the change that was made in 2016 and still call it DF.

It is also called the Great Tenochtitlan or simply Tenochtitlan. Chilangolandia is the more colloquial way they call it, Defeños and Cedemex.

Colloquial terms : What do most Mexicans call Mexico City?

There are actually many ways to refer to Mexicans born in the capital city, the most common are chilangos, defeños and mexiqueños.

Some inhabitants of the capital call themselves chilangos, however, more than the official way of addressing those born in the capital, it is part of the colloquial spoken language.

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It should also be noted that this term is considered by some to be derogatory, mainly because Chilango was born as a derogatory nickname for people from the capital. Another way to differentiate Mexicans from the rest is to call them defeño or mexiqueños.

How is the Mexico City Metropolitan Zone defined?

At present, Mexico City and all the surrounding cities are defined as the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico.

Mexico City is administratively divided into 16 districts. On the other hand, the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico includes the capital, with 60 surrounding municipalities, 59 that make up the State of Mexico and one that is part of the State of Hidalgo.
It is important to mention that the Metropolitan Zone has the largest number of businesses and the largest amount of commercial activity in Mexico City, therefore, this area is of great importance for the city and for the rest of the country.

The following are the main advantages of belonging to the Metropolitan Zone:

You can generate intermunicipal partnerships.
In the Metropolitan Zone there is greater capacity to solve environmental and regional problems.
Increases the capacity to manage resources before the government.
Planting actions are strengthened.
The potential for economic growth expands, generating positive effects on the income and standard of living of citizens.
An increase in the number of taxpayers is generated, thus increasing tax collection.
Production costs are reduced in this zone because there is a greater proximity to services, labor and inputs.
The market is larger
Job opportunities increase
There are possibilities of having an international presence and in turn attracts foreign investors.