Gulf of Mexico Pacific Ocean Central America United States of America Federal District AG Baja California Baja California Sur Campeche Chiapas Chihuahua Coahuila Colima Durango Guanajuato Guerrero HD Jalisco EM Michoacán MO Nayarit Nuevo León Oaxaca PB QU Quintana Roo SLP Sinaloa Sonora Tabasco Tamaulipas TL Veracruz Yucatán Zacatecas

Main articles: Political divisions of Mexico and Mexican state name etymologies

The United Mexican States are a federation of thirty-one free and sovereign states, which form a union that exercises jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories. Each state has its own Constitution and Congress, as well as a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting, a governor for a six-year term, as well as representatives to their respective unicameral state congresses, for three-year terms.^[62]
The states are also divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or municipal president (Presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality.^[63] Municipalities can be further subdivided into non-autonomous boroughs or in semi-autonomous auxiliary presidencies.
Constitutionally, Mexico City, as the capital and seat of the federal powers, is the Federal District, a special political division 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.^[64] Since 1987, it has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy, and residents now elect a head of government 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 coterminous and coextensive with the Federal District.

Administrative Divisions of Mexico
State	Capital	State	Capital	State	Capital	State	Capital
Aguascalientes	Aguascalientes	Federal District	Mexico City	Morelos	Cuernavaca	Sinaloa	Culiacán
Baja California	Mexicali	Durango	Durango	Nayarit	Tepic	Sonora	Hermosillo
Baja California Sur	La Paz	Guanajuato	Guanajuato	Nuevo León	Monterrey	Tabasco	Villahermosa
Campeche	Campeche	Guerrero	Chilpancingo	Oaxaca	Oaxaca	Tamaulipas	Ciudad Victoria
Chiapas	Tuxtla Gutiérrez	Hidalgo	Pachuca	Puebla	Puebla	Tlaxcala	Tlaxcala
Chihuahua	Chihuahua	Jalisco	Guadalajara	Querétaro	Querétaro	Veracruz	Xalapa
Coahuila	Saltillo	Mexico State	Toluca	Quintana Roo	Chetumal	Yucatán	Mérida
Colima	Colima	Michoacán	Morelia	San Luis Potosí	San Luis Potosí	Zacatecas	Zacatecas