Mexico City lies at 2,200 metres above sea level where, some 500 years ago, the sumptuous city of Tenochtitlan was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The capital of the Aztec empire, founded in 1325, was rebuilt after the Spanish conquest and renamed Mexico. The lake has gradually dried up, leaving little more than the canals and gardens of Xochimilco. Today, Mexico City has become one of the most populated cities in the world, with 20 million inhabitants, and is an essential megapolis in the Spanish-speaking world. Ciudad de México, the centre of government as well as the business, financial, intellectual and artistic life of the country, fascinates visitors with its numerous historical and cultural treasures, as well as its great energy. The city is also the strategic centre of the country and a departure point for discovering the Pacific coast in the south or the Caribbean coasts on the other side.
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