Departments
The United Mexican States are a union of thirty-one free and sovereign states which form a Union that exercises jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories. Every state has its own constitution and congress, and its citizens elect by direct voting, a governor (gobernador) for a six-year term, as well as representatives (diputados locales) to their respective state congresses, for three-year terms.
The states and their capitals are shown in the table below:
| State | Capital | Area | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aguascalientes | Aguascalientes | 5,625 | 1,051,000 |
| Baja California | Mexicali | 71,546 | 2,842,000 |
| Baja California Sur | La Paz | 73,943 | 517,000 |
| Campeche | Campeche | 57,727 | 751,000 |
| Chiapas | Tuxtla Gutiérrez | 73,681 | 4,256,000 |
| Chihuahua | Chihuahua | 247,487 | 3,238,000 |
| Coahuila | Saltillo | 151,445 | 2,475,000 |
| Colima | Colima | 5,627 | 562,000 |
| Durango | Durango | 123,367 | 1,489,000 |
| Guanajuato | Guanajuato | 30,621 | 4,893,000 |
| Guerrero | Chilpancingo | 63,618 | 3,116 000 |
| Hidalgo | Pachuca | 20,856 | 2,334,000 |
| Jalisco | Guadalajara | 78,630 | 6,652,000 |
| State of México | Toluca | 22,333 | 14,161,000 |
| Michoacán | Morelia | 58,667 | 3,988,000 |
| Morelos | Cuernavaca | 4,892 | 1,605,000 |
| Nayarit | Tepic | 27,862 | 943,000 |
| Nuevo León | Monterrey | 64,203 | 4,164,000 |
| Oaxaca | Oaxaca | 93,343 | 3,522,000 |
| Puebla | Puebla | 34,251 | 5,391,000 |
| Querétaro | Santiago de Queretaro | 11,658 | 1,593,000 |
| Quintana Roo | Chetumal | 42,535 | 1,134,000 |
| San Luis Potosí | San Luis Potosí | 61,165 | 2,412,000 |
| Sinaloa | Culiacán | 57,331 | 2,610,000 |
| Sonora | Hermosillo | 179,516 | 2,384,000 |
| Tabasco | Villahermosa | 24,747 | 2,013,000 |
| Tamaulipas | Victoria | 80,148 | 3,020,000 |
| Tlaxcala | Tlaxcala | 3,997 | 1,061,000 |
| Veracruz | Jalapa | 71,856 | 7,081,000 |
| Yucatán | Mérida | 39,671 | 1,803,000 |
| Zacatecas | Zacatecas | 75,416 | 1,357,000 |
| Federal District | - | 1,484 | 8,670,000 |
Mexican states are also divided into municipalities (municipios), the smallest official political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or 'municipal president' (presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality.
Constitutionally, Mexico City, as the capital of the federation and seat of the powers of the Union, is the Federal District, a special political division in Mexico that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state, and as such, has more limited local rule than the nation's states. Nonetheless, since 1987 it has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy, and residents now elect a head of government (Jefe de Gobierno) and representatives of a Legislative Assembly directly. Unlike the states, the Federal District does not have a constitution but a statute of government. Mexico City is coterminus and coextensive with the Federal District.
