The following is a list of all metropolitan areas in Mexico as defined in 2004 by a joint task force of the National Population Council (CONAPO), the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL) and the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Data Processing (INEGI). [1]
The task force identified a total of 55 metropolitan areas in the country. The state with most metropolitan areas is Veracruz with nine (eight being entirely in its territory and one shared with the neighbouring state of Tamaulipas). Three states do not have any: Baja California Sur, Campeche and Sinaloa. The only entity whose area is entirely within a metropolitan area is the Federal District.
The first attempt to clasify metropolitan areas in Mexico in a systematic way was done by Luis Unikel in 1976, where he followed a definition set by an expert panel appointed the United Nations in 1966. [2]
In the 2004 definition of metropolitan areas, municipalities were classified as being either core or external per their relationship with the main city.
Core municipalities contain the main city and are considered to be the source of the metropolitan area. To be identified as such, a municipality must satisfy one of the following criteria:
External municipalities are not in conurbation with the main city, but instead are functionally related to it. To be identified as such, a municipality must satisfy all the following geographical and statistical criteria:
In addition some cases were identified where legislation (either local or federal) considered a municipality part of a metropolitan area for the purposes of urban planning and policy. These were also included in the external muncipality count as part of the study.
Metropolitan area | State(s) | Core municipalities | External municipalities | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aguascalientes | Aguascalientes | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2 | Tijuana | Baja California | 2 | - | 2 |
3 | Chihuahua | Chihuahua | 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | Ciudad Juárez | Chihuahua | 1 | - | 1 |
5 | Monclova– Frontera | Coahuila | 2 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Piedras Negras | Coahuila | 2 | - | 2 |
7 | Saltillo | Coahuila | 2 | 1 | 3 |
8 | La Laguna | Coahuila, Durango | 3 | 1 | 4 |
9 | Colima– Villa de Álvarez | Colima | 2 | - | 2 |
10 | Tecomán | Colima | 2 | - | 2 |
11 | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | Chiapas | 2 | - | 2 |
12 | Valle de México | Federal District, Hidalgo, Mexico | 51 | 24 | 75 [3] |
13 | León | Guanajuato | 1 | 1 | 2 |
14 | Moroleón– Uriangato | Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
15 | San Francisco del Rincón | Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
16 | Acapulco | Guerrero | 2 | - | 2 |
17 | Pachuca | Hidalgo | 2 | 5 | 7 |
18 | Tula | Hidalgo | 1 | 4 | 5 |
19 | Tulancingo | Hidalgo | 3 | - | 3 |
20 | Guadalajara | Jalisco | 6 | 2 | 8 |
21 | Ocotlán | Jalisco | 2 | - | 2 |
22 | Puerto Vallarta | Jalisco, Nayarit | 2 | - | 2 |
23 | Toluca | Mexico | 7 | 5 | 12 |
24 | Morelia | Michoacán | 1 | 1 | 2 |
25 | Zamora– Jacona | Michoacán | 2 | - | 2 |
26 | La Piedad | Michoacán, Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
27 | Cuautla | Morelos | 3 | 2 | 5 [4] |
28 | Cuernavaca | Morelos | 6 | - | 6 |
29 | Tepic | Nayarit | 2 | - | 2 |
30 | Monterrey | Nuevo León | 11 | - | 11 |
31 | Oaxaca | Oaxaca | 18 | - | 18 |
32 | Puebla–Tlaxcala | Puebla, Tlaxcala | 23 | - | 23 |
33 | San Martín Texmelucan | Puebla | 2 | - | 2 |
34 | Querétaro | Querétaro | 3 | - | 3 |
35 | Cancún | Quintana Roo | 1 | 1 | 2 |
36 | Rioverde– Ciudad Fernández | San Luis Potosí | 2 | - | 2 |
37 | San Luis Potosí– Soledad de G.S. | San Luis Potosí | 2 | - | 2 |
38 | Guaymas | Sonora | 1 | 1 | 2 |
39 | Villahermosa | Tabasco | 2 | - | 2 |
40 | Matamoros | Tamaulipas | 1 | - | 1 |
41 | Nuevo Laredo | Tamaulipas | 1 | - | 1 |
42 | Reynosa– Río Bravo | Tamaulipas | 1 | 1 | 2 |
43 | Tampico | Tamaulipas, Veracruz | 5 | - | 5 |
44 | Apizaco | Tlaxcala | 8 | - | 8 |
45 | Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala | 11 | - | 11 |
46 | Acayucan | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
47 | Coatzacoalcos | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
48 | Minatitlán | Veracruz | 4 | 2 | 6 [5] |
49 | Córdoba | Veracruz | 3 | 1 | 4 |
50 | Xalapa | Veracruz | 4 | 2 | 6 |
51 | Orizaba | Veracruz | 9 | 2 | 11 |
52 | Poza Rica | Veracruz | 4 | - | 4 |
53 | Veracruz | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
54 | Mérida | Yucatán | 3 | 2 | 5 |
55 | Zacatecas– Guadalupe | Zacatecas | 2 | - | 2 |
The following table shows the 55 metropolitan areas ordered by decreasing population. At the time of the study it was found that nine areas had a population of 1 million inhabitants or more; 14 had a population between 500,000 and 999,999 and 32 had a population between 100,000 and 499,999. In total, all metropolitan areas concentrated 51,502,972 inhabitants or 52.8% of the country's population in the year 2000. Figures in the table below use the data from the XII General Population and Housing Census (2000).
Also listed is the extension of each metropolitan area. In total they occupy 142,337 km², that is, 7.2% of the country's area (1,972,550 km²).
Fix this text ->It is important to realize that some municipalities, especially in the north, tend to be occupy a large extension of land but have a low population count, however this land may not be covered in its entirety by a city or another form of urban development. This may lead to the counter-intuitive result of some large metropolitan areas having a comparatively low population. To help to understand this fact the population density of each area is provided and the five largest and the five densest areas are highlighted in the table below.
Rank | Metropolitan area | Population | Area ( km²) | Density (inhab/km²) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valley of Mexico | 18 396 677 | 7 815 | 2 354 |
2 | Guadalajara | 3 699 136 | 2 734 | 1 353 |
3 | Monterrey | 3 299 302 | 5 560 | 593 |
4 | Puebla–Tlaxcala | 1 885 321 | 1 338 | 1 409 |
5 | Toluca | 1 451 801 | 1 991 | 729 |
6 | Tijuana | 1 274 240 | 1 621 | 786 |
7 | León | 1 269 179 | 1 767 | 718 |
8 | Ciudad Juárez | 1 218 817 | 3 569 | 341 |
9 | La Laguna | 1 007 291 | 5 022 | 200 |
10 | San Luis Potosí– Soledad de G.S. | 850 828 | 1 742 | 488 |
11 | Mérida | 803 920 | 1 547 | 519 |
12 | Acapulco | 791 558 | 3 544 | 223 |
13 | Querétaro | 787 341 | 1 650 | 477 |
14 | Tampico | 746 417 | 5 293 | 141 |
15 | Cuernavaca | 738 326 | 772 | 956 |
16 | Aguascalientes | 707 516 | 1 685 | 419 |
17 | Chihuahua | 696 495 | 18 091 | 38 |
18 | Morelia | 659 940 | 1 456 | 453 |
19 | Veracruz | 642 680 | 1 120 | 573 |
20 | Saltillo | 637 273 | 13 995 | 45 |
21 | Villahermosa | 600 580 | 2 235 | 268 |
22 | Reynosa– Río Bravo | 524 692 | 4 713 | 111 |
23 | Xalapa | 510 410 | 444 | 1 149 |
24 | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | 494 763 | 1 174 | 421 |
25 | Oaxaca | 460 350 | 474 | 971 |
26 | Poza Rica | 443 419 | 2 544 | 174 |
27 | Cancún | 431 128 | 3 010 | 143 |
28 | Matamoros | 418 141 | 4 659 | 89 |
29 | Pachuca | 375 022 | 1 181 | 317 |
30 | Orizaba | 367 021 | 504 | 728 |
31 | Cuautla | 358 405 | 910 | 393 |
32 | Tepic | 342 840 | 2 160 | 158 |
33 | Minatitlán | 323 389 | 2 923 | 110 |
34 | Nuevo Laredo | 310 915 | 1 220 | 254 |
35 | Coatzacoalcos | 307 724 | 495 | 621 |
36 | Monclova– Frontera | 282 853 | 5 047 | 56 |
37 | Córdoba | 276 553 | 466 | 593 |
38 | Tlaxcala | 249 453 | 353 | 706 |
39 | Puerto Vallarta | 244 536 | 1 472 | 166 |
40 | Zacatecas– Guadalupe | 232 965 | 1 263 | 184 |
41 | La Piedad | 229 372 | 1 846 | 124 |
42 | Zamora– Jacona | 216 048 | 460 | 469 |
43 | Colima– Villa de Álvarez | 210 766 | 1 033 | 204 |
44 | Tulancingo | 193 638 | 679 | 285 |
45 | Guaymas | 180 316 | 8 571 | 21 |
46 | Tula | 169 901 | 586 | 290 |
47 | Apizaco | 158 948 | 370 | 429 |
48 | Piedras Negras | 151 149 | 1 379 | 109 |
49 | San Francisco del Rincón | 145 017 | 710 | 204 |
50 | San Martín Texmelucan | 143 720 | 195 | 737 |
51 | Rioverde– Ciudad Fernández | 128 935 | 3 596 | 35 |
52 | Tecomán | 127 863 | 1 201 | 106 |
53 | Ocotlán | 125 027 | 1 089 | 114 |
54 | Acayucan | 102 992 | 830 | 124 |
55 | Moroleón– Uriangato | 100 063 | 273 | 366 |
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www.conapo.gob.mx/prensa/2005/102005.pdf www.cmq.edu.mx/docinvest/document/DI32145.pdf
The following is a list of all metropolitan areas in Mexico as defined in 2004 by a joint task force of the National Population Council (CONAPO), the Secretariat of Social Development (SEDESOL) and the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Data Processing (INEGI). [1]
The task force identified a total of 55 metropolitan areas in the country. The state with most metropolitan areas is Veracruz with nine (eight being entirely in its territory and one shared with the neighbouring state of Tamaulipas). Three states do not have any: Baja California Sur, Campeche and Sinaloa. The only entity whose area is entirely within a metropolitan area is the Federal District.
The first attempt to clasify metropolitan areas in Mexico in a systematic way was done by Luis Unikel in 1976, where he followed a definition set by an expert panel appointed the United Nations in 1966. [2]
In the 2004 definition of metropolitan areas, municipalities were classified as being either core or external per their relationship with the main city.
Core municipalities contain the main city and are considered to be the source of the metropolitan area. To be identified as such, a municipality must satisfy one of the following criteria:
External municipalities are not in conurbation with the main city, but instead are functionally related to it. To be identified as such, a municipality must satisfy all the following geographical and statistical criteria:
In addition some cases were identified where legislation (either local or federal) considered a municipality part of a metropolitan area for the purposes of urban planning and policy. These were also included in the external muncipality count as part of the study.
Metropolitan area | State(s) | Core municipalities | External municipalities | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aguascalientes | Aguascalientes | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2 | Tijuana | Baja California | 2 | - | 2 |
3 | Chihuahua | Chihuahua | 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | Ciudad Juárez | Chihuahua | 1 | - | 1 |
5 | Monclova– Frontera | Coahuila | 2 | 1 | 3 |
6 | Piedras Negras | Coahuila | 2 | - | 2 |
7 | Saltillo | Coahuila | 2 | 1 | 3 |
8 | La Laguna | Coahuila, Durango | 3 | 1 | 4 |
9 | Colima– Villa de Álvarez | Colima | 2 | - | 2 |
10 | Tecomán | Colima | 2 | - | 2 |
11 | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | Chiapas | 2 | - | 2 |
12 | Valle de México | Federal District, Hidalgo, Mexico | 51 | 24 | 75 [3] |
13 | León | Guanajuato | 1 | 1 | 2 |
14 | Moroleón– Uriangato | Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
15 | San Francisco del Rincón | Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
16 | Acapulco | Guerrero | 2 | - | 2 |
17 | Pachuca | Hidalgo | 2 | 5 | 7 |
18 | Tula | Hidalgo | 1 | 4 | 5 |
19 | Tulancingo | Hidalgo | 3 | - | 3 |
20 | Guadalajara | Jalisco | 6 | 2 | 8 |
21 | Ocotlán | Jalisco | 2 | - | 2 |
22 | Puerto Vallarta | Jalisco, Nayarit | 2 | - | 2 |
23 | Toluca | Mexico | 7 | 5 | 12 |
24 | Morelia | Michoacán | 1 | 1 | 2 |
25 | Zamora– Jacona | Michoacán | 2 | - | 2 |
26 | La Piedad | Michoacán, Guanajuato | 2 | - | 2 |
27 | Cuautla | Morelos | 3 | 2 | 5 [4] |
28 | Cuernavaca | Morelos | 6 | - | 6 |
29 | Tepic | Nayarit | 2 | - | 2 |
30 | Monterrey | Nuevo León | 11 | - | 11 |
31 | Oaxaca | Oaxaca | 18 | - | 18 |
32 | Puebla–Tlaxcala | Puebla, Tlaxcala | 23 | - | 23 |
33 | San Martín Texmelucan | Puebla | 2 | - | 2 |
34 | Querétaro | Querétaro | 3 | - | 3 |
35 | Cancún | Quintana Roo | 1 | 1 | 2 |
36 | Rioverde– Ciudad Fernández | San Luis Potosí | 2 | - | 2 |
37 | San Luis Potosí– Soledad de G.S. | San Luis Potosí | 2 | - | 2 |
38 | Guaymas | Sonora | 1 | 1 | 2 |
39 | Villahermosa | Tabasco | 2 | - | 2 |
40 | Matamoros | Tamaulipas | 1 | - | 1 |
41 | Nuevo Laredo | Tamaulipas | 1 | - | 1 |
42 | Reynosa– Río Bravo | Tamaulipas | 1 | 1 | 2 |
43 | Tampico | Tamaulipas, Veracruz | 5 | - | 5 |
44 | Apizaco | Tlaxcala | 8 | - | 8 |
45 | Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala | 11 | - | 11 |
46 | Acayucan | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
47 | Coatzacoalcos | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
48 | Minatitlán | Veracruz | 4 | 2 | 6 [5] |
49 | Córdoba | Veracruz | 3 | 1 | 4 |
50 | Xalapa | Veracruz | 4 | 2 | 6 |
51 | Orizaba | Veracruz | 9 | 2 | 11 |
52 | Poza Rica | Veracruz | 4 | - | 4 |
53 | Veracruz | Veracruz | 2 | 1 | 3 |
54 | Mérida | Yucatán | 3 | 2 | 5 |
55 | Zacatecas– Guadalupe | Zacatecas | 2 | - | 2 |
The following table shows the 55 metropolitan areas ordered by decreasing population. At the time of the study it was found that nine areas had a population of 1 million inhabitants or more; 14 had a population between 500,000 and 999,999 and 32 had a population between 100,000 and 499,999. In total, all metropolitan areas concentrated 51,502,972 inhabitants or 52.8% of the country's population in the year 2000. Figures in the table below use the data from the XII General Population and Housing Census (2000).
Also listed is the extension of each metropolitan area. In total they occupy 142,337 km², that is, 7.2% of the country's area (1,972,550 km²).
Fix this text ->It is important to realize that some municipalities, especially in the north, tend to be occupy a large extension of land but have a low population count, however this land may not be covered in its entirety by a city or another form of urban development. This may lead to the counter-intuitive result of some large metropolitan areas having a comparatively low population. To help to understand this fact the population density of each area is provided and the five largest and the five densest areas are highlighted in the table below.
Rank | Metropolitan area | Population | Area ( km²) | Density (inhab/km²) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valley of Mexico | 18 396 677 | 7 815 | 2 354 |
2 | Guadalajara | 3 699 136 | 2 734 | 1 353 |
3 | Monterrey | 3 299 302 | 5 560 | 593 |
4 | Puebla–Tlaxcala | 1 885 321 | 1 338 | 1 409 |
5 | Toluca | 1 451 801 | 1 991 | 729 |
6 | Tijuana | 1 274 240 | 1 621 | 786 |
7 | León | 1 269 179 | 1 767 | 718 |
8 | Ciudad Juárez | 1 218 817 | 3 569 | 341 |
9 | La Laguna | 1 007 291 | 5 022 | 200 |
10 | San Luis Potosí– Soledad de G.S. | 850 828 | 1 742 | 488 |
11 | Mérida | 803 920 | 1 547 | 519 |
12 | Acapulco | 791 558 | 3 544 | 223 |
13 | Querétaro | 787 341 | 1 650 | 477 |
14 | Tampico | 746 417 | 5 293 | 141 |
15 | Cuernavaca | 738 326 | 772 | 956 |
16 | Aguascalientes | 707 516 | 1 685 | 419 |
17 | Chihuahua | 696 495 | 18 091 | 38 |
18 | Morelia | 659 940 | 1 456 | 453 |
19 | Veracruz | 642 680 | 1 120 | 573 |
20 | Saltillo | 637 273 | 13 995 | 45 |
21 | Villahermosa | 600 580 | 2 235 | 268 |
22 | Reynosa– Río Bravo | 524 692 | 4 713 | 111 |
23 | Xalapa | 510 410 | 444 | 1 149 |
24 | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | 494 763 | 1 174 | 421 |
25 | Oaxaca | 460 350 | 474 | 971 |
26 | Poza Rica | 443 419 | 2 544 | 174 |
27 | Cancún | 431 128 | 3 010 | 143 |
28 | Matamoros | 418 141 | 4 659 | 89 |
29 | Pachuca | 375 022 | 1 181 | 317 |
30 | Orizaba | 367 021 | 504 | 728 |
31 | Cuautla | 358 405 | 910 | 393 |
32 | Tepic | 342 840 | 2 160 | 158 |
33 | Minatitlán | 323 389 | 2 923 | 110 |
34 | Nuevo Laredo | 310 915 | 1 220 | 254 |
35 | Coatzacoalcos | 307 724 | 495 | 621 |
36 | Monclova– Frontera | 282 853 | 5 047 | 56 |
37 | Córdoba | 276 553 | 466 | 593 |
38 | Tlaxcala | 249 453 | 353 | 706 |
39 | Puerto Vallarta | 244 536 | 1 472 | 166 |
40 | Zacatecas– Guadalupe | 232 965 | 1 263 | 184 |
41 | La Piedad | 229 372 | 1 846 | 124 |
42 | Zamora– Jacona | 216 048 | 460 | 469 |
43 | Colima– Villa de Álvarez | 210 766 | 1 033 | 204 |
44 | Tulancingo | 193 638 | 679 | 285 |
45 | Guaymas | 180 316 | 8 571 | 21 |
46 | Tula | 169 901 | 586 | 290 |
47 | Apizaco | 158 948 | 370 | 429 |
48 | Piedras Negras | 151 149 | 1 379 | 109 |
49 | San Francisco del Rincón | 145 017 | 710 | 204 |
50 | San Martín Texmelucan | 143 720 | 195 | 737 |
51 | Rioverde– Ciudad Fernández | 128 935 | 3 596 | 35 |
52 | Tecomán | 127 863 | 1 201 | 106 |
53 | Ocotlán | 125 027 | 1 089 | 114 |
54 | Acayucan | 102 992 | 830 | 124 |
55 | Moroleón– Uriangato | 100 063 | 273 | 366 |
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www.conapo.gob.mx/prensa/2005/102005.pdf www.cmq.edu.mx/docinvest/document/DI32145.pdf