House in suburban Mexico City
A low house sits set back among verdant landscaping. A large expanse of concrete foregrounds the photo.Mexico City is the capital of the country of Mexico. It is known as the D.F., or Distrito Federal (Federal District). When Cortes and his Spanish conquistadors destroyed the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1521, they built their new city on the foundation of the old. The original city was built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The lake has since dried up, as the city has grown to be one of the largest in the world. The sprawling city continues to grow and incorporate surrounding areas. These areas may retain much of their rural character for a while, before being fully integrated into the urban city.
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