Valley of Mexico

The Valley of Mexico

The Valley of Mexico is a big, bowl-shaped area in the middle of Mexico. It is surrounded by tall mountains and volcanoes. Long ago, this valley was home to many ancient peoples, like the Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec Empire. Today, the valley is mostly covered by Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.

Many years ago, the valley had five shallow lakes: Lake Zumpango, Lake Xaltocan, Lake Xochimilco, Lake Chalco, and Lake Texcoco. When Spanish explorers arrived in 1519, lots of people lived here. After the Spanish came, they drained the lakes to stop floods. By the 1900s, the lakes were almost gone, and the city grew over the land where the lakes used to be.

The valley is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and has many people living there today. It stretches about 125 kilometers long and 75 kilometers wide. Even though it is high up—about 2,200 meters above sea level—it has a comfortable climate that helped people live there for thousands of years. Today, around 21 million people call the valley home, making it one of the biggest cities in the world.