Municipal Palace of Veracruz

Municipalities (municipios in Spanish) are the second-level administrative division in Mexico (where the first-level administrative division is the estado, or state). There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico. The internal political organization and their responsibilities are outlined in the 115th article of the Mexican Constitution,^[1] and further expanded in the constitutions of the states they are part of. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (1800 × 1200 pixel, file size: 517 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Palacio Municipal de Veracruz Foto Propia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixel Image in higher resolution (1800 × 1200 pixel, file size: 517 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Palacio Municipal de Veracruz Foto Propia. ... Veracruz from space, July 1997 The city of Veracruz is a major port city on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. ... The United Mexican States are a federation made up by thirty-one free and sovereign states. ... This article is about the current Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. ...

Structure

All Mexican states are divided into municipalities. Each municipality is administratively autonomous; citizens elect a "municipal president" who heads an ayuntamiento or municipal council, responsible of providing all the public services for their constituents. This concept, which originated after the Mexican Revolution is known as a municipio libre ("free municipality"). A municipal president heads the municipal council. The municipal president is elected by plurality and cannot be reelected for the next immediate term. The municipal council consists of a cabildo (chairman) and several síndicos (trustees). This article is about the Mexican Revolution of 1910. ... A plurality, or relative/simple majority as it is also referred to outside the United States (especially in non-English speaking countries; in the US, simple majority has another meaning), is the largest share of something, which may or may not be a majority in the American sense of the...

If the municipality covers a large area and contains more than one city or town (collectively called localidades), one city or town is selected as a cabecera municipal (head city, seat of the municipality's government) while the rest elect representatives of a presidencia auxiliar or junta auxiliar (auxiliary presidency or council). In that sense, a municipality in Mexico is roughly equivalent to American counties, whereas the auxiliary presidency is equivalent to a township. Nonetheless, auxiliary presidencies are not considered a third-level administrative division since they fiscally depend on the municipalities in which they are located.

Northern states are divided into small numbers of large municipalities (e.g. Baja California is divided into only 5 municipalities), and therefore they cover large areas incorporating several separated cities or towns that do not necessarily conform one single conurbation. Central and southern states, on the other hand, are divided into a large number of small municipalities (e.g. Oaxaca is divided into 570 municipalities), and therefore large urban areas usually extend over several municipalities which form one single conurbation. In spite of the fact that an urban area might cover the entire area of a municipality, auxiliary councils might still be used for administrative purposes. Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... Catedral de Santo Domingo The Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca or simply Oaxaca   is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located in the southern part of Mexico, west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. ...

Municipalities are responsible for public services (such as water and sewerage), street lighting, public safety, traffic, supervision of slaughterhouses and the cleaning and maintenance of public parks, gardens and cemeteries. They may also assist the state and federal governments in education, emergency fire and medical services, environmental protection and maintenance of monuments and historical landmarks. As of 1983, they can collect property taxes and user fees although more funds are obtained from the state and federal governments than from their own collection efforts. 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Since the Conquest and colonization of Mexico, the municipality became the basic entity of the administrative organization of the New Spain and the Spanish Empire. Settlements located in strategic locations received the status of city (the higher status within the Empire, superior to that of villas and pueblos) and were entitled to form an ayuntamiento or municipality. After the independence, the 1824 Constitution did not specify any regulation for the municipalities, whose structure and responsibilities were to be outlined in the constitution of each state of the federation. As such, every state set its own requirements for a settlement to become a municipality (usually based on population). The constitution of 1917 abolished the jefatura política ("politic authority"), the intermediate administrative authority between the states and converted all existing municipalities into municipios libres ("free municipalities"), that is, gave them full autonomy to manage local affairs, while at the same time restricting the scope of their competencies.^[2] However, in 1983 the 115th article was modified to expand the municipality's authority to raise revenue (through property taxes and other local services) and to formulate budgets. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Military flag of the Spanish Empire from the 16th century up to 1843. ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ranking of municipalities

By population

Data from the Conteo 2005 by INEGI.^[3]

The United Mexican States, or Mexico, is a federal republic, comprising 31 states. ... Seal of the municipal government Ecatepec de Morelos is a municipio in the the State of México, its seat is San Cristóbal Ecatepec de Morelos. ... Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... Nickname: City of Roses Western Pearl Coordinates: Country Mexico State Jalisco Boroughs Guadalajara Zapopan Tlaquepaque Tonala Tlajomulco de Zuñiga Foundation 1542 Mayor Ernesto A. Espinosa Guarro Area    - City 187. ... The Mexican state of Puebla is located in the center of the country, to the east of Mexico City. ... Nickname: Angelópolis, City of the Angels Location of Puebla in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico State Puebla Founded 1531  - Mayor Enrique Doger (PRI) Area    - City 546 km²  (211 sq mi) Elevation 2,175 m (7,136 ft) Population (2005)  - City 1,485,941  - Density 5,741/km² (14,869. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... Tijuana (Spanish [tixwana], English usually [ËŒtiːəˈwÉ‘nÉ™]), is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California and the seat of the municipality of Tijuana. ... For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation). ... La Catedral in downtown Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez, or simply Juárez, is a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua with an estimated population of 1,512,354. ... Guanajuato is a state in the central highlands of Mexico. ... The name Leon or Léon or León may refer to: // Places in Spain León, city León, province Castile-Leon, autonomous community Kingdom of León, historical kingdom Places in North and Central America León, Guanajuato, Mexico León, Nicaragua Places in the United States De... Jalisco is one of the states of the United Mexican States (Mexico). ... Zapopan is a municipality in the Mexican state Jalisco, and is part of the Guadalajara metropolitan area. ... The United Mexican States, or Mexico, is a federal republic, comprising 31 states. ... Nezahualcóyotl (also: Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl or Ciudad Neza, which is strictly the name of the municipal seat; informally: mi Nezota) is a municipality of the State of México adjacent to the eastern fringe of Mexicos Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. ... Nuevo León (Spanish for New León, after the former kingdom in Spain) is a state located in north-eastern Mexico. ... Nickname: The City of the Mountains Motto: El Trabajo templa el Espíritu Location of Monterrey in northern Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico State Nuevo León Founded 20 September 1596 Government  - Mayor Adalberto Madero (PAN) Area  - City 572 km²  (220. ...

By area

Data from Los Municipios con Mayor y Menor Extensión Territorial by Instituto Nacional Para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal^[4]

This article explains the meaning of area as a Physical quantity. ... Baja California (literally lower California in Spanish) is the northernmost state of Mexico. ... The municipio (municipality) of Ensenada is the largest in the state of Baja California and the largest in Mexico by area. ... Baja California Sur is one of the 31 States of Mexico, occupying the part of the Baja California Peninsula south of the 28th parallel. ... Mulegé is the northernmost municipality of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. ... Coahuila (formal name: Coahuila de Zaragoza) is one of Mexicos 31 component states. ... Baja California Sur is one of the 31 States of Mexico, occupying the part of the Baja California Peninsula south of the 28th parallel. ... The Bay of La Paz, as seen from the International Space Station La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur, Mexico, is a small city on the shores of the Gulf of California. ... The state of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that compose Mexico (does not include the Mexican Federal District). ... Quintana Roo is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. ... The Municipality of Othón P. Blanco is one of the eight subdivisions (municipios) of the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico. ... For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation). ... Baja California Sur is one of the 31 States of Mexico, occupying the part of the Baja California Peninsula south of the 28th parallel. ... Comondú is a municipality of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. ... For other uses, see Chihuahua (disambiguation). ... Camargo is a town in Chihuahua, Mexico. ... Tlaxcala is the name of both a state of Mexico and of that states capital city. ...

Delegaciones or boroughs

Main article: Boroughs of the Mexican Federal District

Mexico City is a special case in that it is not organized as a municipality, but as a federal district as the capital of the federation. It is administered through the Government of the Federal District and it has its own unicameral Legislative Assembly. For administrative purposes, the Federal District is subdivided into delegaciones or boroughs. While not fully equivalent to a municipality as of 2000 they have gained a certain degree of political autonomy, in that residents within a borough directly elect a local borough head of government (called jefe delegacional). However, boroughs do not form local [municipal] councils nor are they constituted by a group of trustees. They do not have regulatory powers, which are mostly centralized in the Federal District government. The majority of the city's public services are organized by the Federal District even if part of the administration responsibilities are carried out by the boroughs. In spite of that, at the federal level, the delegaciones of the Federal District are considered a second-level territorial division in statistical data collection and cross-municipal comparisons. The Mexican Federal District is divided into 16 boroughs (delegaciones) for local government and administrative purposes. ... Nickname: Ciudad de los Palacios Location of Mexico City in central Mexico Coordinates: Country Mexico Federal entity Federal District Boroughs The 16 delegaciones Founded (as Tenochtitlan) c. ... Federal districts are subdivisions of a federal system of government. ... A Legislative Assembly in some parts of the Commonwealth refers to a legislature, or a chamber of the legislature. ... The Mexican Federal District is divided into 16 boroughs (delegaciones) for local government and administrative purposes. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other cities in Mexico have chosen to use a similar administrative internal organization. The municipality of Santiago de Querétaro, for example is subdivided into seven delegaciones. Nonetheless, the heads of government of the boroughs in Querétaro are not elected by the residents but appointed by the municipal president. Unlike the boroughs of Mexico City, the boroughs of Querétaro would constitute a third-level administrative division. Latitude 20. ...

References

External links

• Mexican government structure
• (Spanish) History of the Mexican constitution

• Mexico Portal de Información Municipal - Spanish