Like an enormous living museum, Mexico City is a remarkable showplace for Mexico's 3,000 years of human cultural achievement. It ranks as one of the world's great capitals and is a must for anyone yearning to understand Mexico's complex past and ever challenging future. The size and grandeur of the city are staggering. It is not only the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere, but also carries the burden of being the largest city the world has ever known.
Mexico City is located on an enormous dry lake bed in a highland basin (elevation 7,400 feet) surrounded by towering mountains. The city faces some formidable urban problems, it has a population of approximately 8'605,239 inhabitants.

But beneath its riveting facade, is an endearing and captivating city that has a magnetism unfound in other cities. With some patience, the city's engaging history and cosmopolitan air compensate for its glaring urban character.

Few cities on earth can match Mexico City for historic grandeur. Its tumultuous past encompasses every phase of Mexican history. It is unique in the Western Hemisphere as a colorful and compelling mosaic of Pre-Columbian, European colonial, and modern eras.

It is here that in 1519 the Old World and New World met face to face in a confrontation that would forever shape world history. Mexico City is the exact site upon which the great Mexica (Aztec) civilization flourished, developing one of the greatest cities of the 16th century.