Administrative divisions of Mexico
is a federal republic composed of 32 federative entities : 31 states and Mexico City. According to the Constitution of Mexico, the states of the federation are free and sovereign in all matters concerning their internal affairs. Since 2016, Mexico City has been a fully autonomous entity on par with the states. Each state federative entity has its own congress and constitution.
Overview
The current structural hierarchy of Mexican administrative divisions are outlined by Constitution of Mexico as well as the constitutions and laws of federative entities. The laws together established the following levels of administrative divisions. The levels in bold are those regulated by the federal constitution. 'Federative entities
There are currently 32 federative entities of Mexico.States
The states of the Mexican Federation are officially free, sovereign, autonomous and independent of each other. They are free to govern themselves according to their own laws; each state has a constitution. States may not contradict the federal constitution, which covers issues of national competence. Nor may they ally with other states or any independent nation except with the consent of the whole federation, or in defense and security arrangements necessary to keep the border states secure during an invasion.The political organization of each state is based on a separation of powers in a congressional system: legislative power is vested in a unicameral congress, executive power is independent of the legislature and vested in a governor elected by universal suffrage, and judicial power is vested in a Superior Court of Justice. Since the states have legal autonomy, each has its own civil and penal codes and judicial body.
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital of the United Mexican States. Before January 2016, the city was officially named the Federal District.Mexico City was separated from the State of Mexico, of which it was the capital, on November 18, 1824, to become the capital of the federation. As such, it belonged not to any state in particular but to all of them and to the federation. Therefore, the president of Mexico, who represented the federation, designated its head of government, previously referred to as the regent or head of department. However, the Federal District received more autonomy in 1997, and its citizens were then able to elect their chief of government for the first time.
In 2016, the Mexican Congress approved a constitutional reform eliminating the federal district and establishing Mexico City as a fully autonomous entity on par with the states. However, unlike the other states of the Union, it would receive funds for education and health. When full autonomy was granted, Mexico City adopted its own constitution and its boroughs expanded their local government powers.
Abbreviations and codes
Federal representation
In the Congress of the Union, the Senate represents the federative entities. Each federative entity elects three senators. Two are elected by universal suffrage on the principle of relative majority and one is assigned to the party that obtains the largest minority. In addition, the federation elects 32 at-large senators by proportional representation. These make a total of 128 Senators.Subdivisions of federative entities
Regions and districts
The intrastate region or district are not constitutional administrative division levels. However, some states with higher numbers of municipalities establish such regions to support the administration.Intrastate regions exist in the following 11 states:
- Chiapas groups its 124 municipalities into 15 economic regions.
- Guerrero groups its 81 municipalities into 7 economic regions.
- Hidalgo groups its 84 municipalities in 3 ways, into 26 micro regions, 14 operational regions, or 5 macro regions.
- Jalisco groups its 125 municipalities into 12 regions.
- México groups its 125 municipalities into 20 regions.
- Michoacán groups its 113 municipalities into 10 regions.
- Oaxaca groups its 570 municipalities into 30 districts, and then into 8 regions.
- San Luis Potosí groups its 58 municipalities into 4 regions.
- Tabasco groups its 17 municipalities in 2 ways, into 4 subregions, or 2 regions.
- Veracruz groups its 212 municipalities into 10 regions.
- Yucatán groups its 106 municipalities into 7 regions.
Municipalities and boroughs
Each municipality is autonomous in its ability to elect its own administration. A council is headed by a municipal president who is elected every three years. Each municipality has a council composed of councilors in terms of population size. In most cases, the council is responsible for providing all utilities required for its population. This concept, which arises from the Mexican Revolution, is known as a "free municipality".
The boroughs of Mexico City are colloquially known as alcaldías in Spanish, these boroughs kept the same territory and name as the former delegaciones. A borough is headed by a borough mayor who is elected every three years.
As of March 2024, there are 2,460 municipalities in the 31 states of Mexico. The state with the highest number of municipalities is Oaxaca, with 570, and the state with the lowest number is Baja California Sur, with only five. There are 16 boroughs in Mexico City. These sums up to 2,476 division units.
Local settlements
The divisions of municipalities and boroughs are regulated solely by constitutions and laws of the respective federative entities. This level of divisions are collectively called localities by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of the federal government.Among the states, settlement classification schemes vary. Common types of localities include:
- City — for more populous places, see List of cities in Mexico,
- Town — for middle populous places, and
- Village — for less populous places.
Mexico City further divides its boroughs into neighborhoods.
History
Constitutional empire
On September 27, 1821, after three centuries of Spanish rule, Mexico gained independence. The Treaty of Córdoba recognized part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain as an Independent Empire – "monarchist, constitutional and moderate". The new country named itself the Mexican Empire. The morning after the Army of the Three Guarantees entered Mexico City on September 28, 1821, Agustín de Iturbide ordered the Supreme Provisional Governmental Junta to meet to elect a president of the Imperial Regency and to issue a declaration of independence for the new nation. Iturbide was elected president of the Regency, and that afternoon the members of the Regency and the Supreme Junta signed the Declaration.A minority of the Constituent Congress, looking for stability, elected Agustín de Iturbide as emperor. On July 21, 1822, Iturbide was crowned Emperor of Mexico. However, the Constitutional Empire quickly demonstrated the incompatibility of its two main parts: the Emperor and the Constituent Congress. The deputies were imprisoned just for expressing their opinions, and eventually Iturbide decided to dissolve the Congress and instead establish a National Board.
The lack of a legitimate legislature, the illegitimacy of the Emperor, and the absence of real solutions to the nation's problems increased revolutionary activity. Antonio López de Santa Anna proclaimed the Plan of Casa Mata, to which later joined Vicente Guerrero and Nicolás Bravo. Iturbide was forced to reestablish the Congress and, in a vain attempt to save the order and keep the situation favorable to his supporters, he abdicated the crown of the empire on March 19, 1823.
Congress nullified the designation of Iturbide and therefore the recognition of the abdication. It deemed the coronation of Iturbide to have been a logical mistake in consummation of Independence. The dissolution of the Empire was the first political realignment of independent Mexico.
Federal republic
After the fall of the Empire, a triumvirate called the Supreme Executive Power was created. The provisional government created the Federal Republic, and it was in effect from April 1, 1823, to October 10, 1824.Unrest in the provinces was widespread. On May 21, 1823, The Founding Plan of the Federal Republic was enacted. Its sixth article stated, "The component parts of the Republic are free, sovereign and independent States in that which touches internal administration and government". Most of the Free States, which were invited to form the Federal Republic, joined the Union, except for the five Central American provinces, the former Captaincy General of Guatemala, which formed their own Federal Republic.
On January 31, 1824, the decree to create a Constitutive Act of the Mexican Federation was issued, which incorporated the basic structure of the Federal Republic. It was determined that the criteria for inviting states to the federation should be that they "...not be so few that through expansion and wealth in a few years they be able to aspire to constitute themselves as independent nations, breaking the federal bond, nor so many that through lack of manpower and resources the system should come to be unworkable."
Between 1823 and 1824, some of the Free States created their own constitutions, and others had already installed a Constituent Congress. Special cases were those of Yucatán, which on December 23, 1823, decided to join the federation but as a Federated Republic, and Chiapas, which decided by referendum to join the federation on September 14, 1824.
On October 4, 1824, the Federal Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1824 was enacted. The constitution officially created the United Mexican States. The country was composed of 19 states and 4 federal territories. After the publication of the constitution, on November 18, the Federal District was created. On November 24, Tlaxcala, which had retained a special status since the colonial era, was incorporated as a territory.
On October 10, 1824, Guadalupe Victoria took office as the first President of Mexico.