Ixtapaluca is a city and a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the eastern part of the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It lies between

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and the western border of the state of

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

. The name Ixtapaluca means "Where the salt gets wet". As of 2006, Ixta included part of the world's largest mega-

slum A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...

, along with Chalco and Neza. Mike Davis, ''Planet of Slums'', La Découverte, Paris, 2006 (), p. 31.

The city

At the census of 2005 the city had a population of 290,076. The parish of Ixtapaluca was founded in 1531 and had great prominence in the area. The municipal palace was built in 1973.

The municipality

As municipal seat, the town of Ixtpaluca has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Acozac, Ampliación San Francisco, Cabaña de los Medina, Camino a Mina Milagro (El Potrero), Camino Mina Rosita, Cerro de la Abundancia, Coatepec, Colonia Julio Chávez López (UPREZ), Colonia Tetitla, Ejido el Capulín, Ejido San Francisco (Las Joyas), Ejidos de Xalpa (Camino de los Alcanfores), El Campamento (Las Cocinas) El Carmen, El Corazón, El Cuarenta, El Jaral (El Capulín), El Patronato del Maguey (Santa Rosa), El Pozo del Venado, El Treinta y Nueve (Dos Jagüeyes), El Treinta y Siete (Kilómetro Diecinueve), General Manuel Ávila Camacho, Huertas de Canutillo, Jorge Jiménez Cantú, La Cañada, La Cañada, La Espinita (Parque Industrial la Espinita), La Granja, La Guadalupana, La Mesa, Linderos de Ixtapaluca (El Tablón), Llano Grande (Rancho Viejo), Loma del Rayo (Chocolines Segunda Sección), Lomas de Coatepec, Los Cedros, Los Hornos, Los Lavaderos, Los Vergeles, Piedra Grande (Las Cabañas), Pueblo Nuevo (San Isidro Labrador), Puente del Tablón, Puente el Mezquite, Rancho el Guarda, Rancho Francisco Santillán (Atzizintla Tres), Rancho la Pastoría, Rancho la Peña, Rancho Loma Ancha, Rancho los Gavilanes, Rancho San Isidro, Rancho Venta Nueva, Rancho Verde,

Río Frío de Juárez Río Frío de Juárez, originally Río Frío (Cold River), a Mexican populated place, is located in the municipality of Ixtapaluca in the State of Mexico. Río Frío de Juárez is located at the highest point on the highway between Mexico City to ...

, Ricardo Calva, San Buenaventura,

San Francisco Acuautla San Francisco Acuautla is located in the eastern part of the Estado de Mexico to 4 kilometers from the county seat of Ixtapaluca; Coatepec bordered on the north, south to the suburbs of Ixtapaluca and Ranch San Andrés, east to the town Manuel Av ...

, San Jerónimo Cuatro Vientos, Santa Ana, Santa Bárbara, Tierras Comunales (Cerro de Ayotla), Villas de Escalerillas (Bellavista), and Zoquiapan. The municipality had a population of 429,033 in 2005. The area of the municipality is 315.10 km² (121.66 sq mi). The municipality is part of the Mexico City

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

. It is an important suburb because many people that work in Mexico City live in Ixtapaluca, and it has developed recent commercial interest due to this. The first "fraccionamiento" or subdivision called San José de la Palma, Municipio de Ixtapaluca, was built in 1989. The municipality is bordered by Chalco,

Valle de Chalco Solidaridad Valle de Chalco, officially named Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, is a municipality located in the State of Mexico, Mexico, on the eastern outskirts of the metropolitan area of Mexico City. Formerly part of the municipality of Chalco, it was split ...

, Chicoloapan,

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

, Texcoco,

Tlalmanalco Tlalmanalco is a municipality located in the far south-eastern part of the State of Mexico. The municipal seat and second largest town in the municipality is the town of Tlalmanalco de Velázquez The name is from the Nahuatl language, meaning “f ...

, and the state of

. The area was first settled in 1286 by the

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...

s. After the Spanish conquest, in 1543 Ixtapaluca was given to the control of Juan de Cuellar, who continued the indigenous practice of demanding tribute every 80 days from the people.

References

External links

Portal Oficial de Ixtapaluca
Official website {{Authority control Populated places in the State of Mexico Municipalities of the State of Mexico