The Metropolitan Area of Puebla – Tlaxcala is a metropolitan area of Mexico located in the center of the state of Puebla and the south of the state of Tlaxcala. This metropolitan area is the fourth in economic and population terms in Mexico, after urban agglomerations from the Valley of Mexico, Monterrey, and Guadalajara.
The official definition of this Mexican metropolis is adopted by the National Population Council (Conapo) and the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (INEGI) of Mexico.
The criteria used for the delimitation of metropolitan areas in Mexico basically correspond to the economic and social relations between the municipalities of the conurbation, such as those related to economic activity, inter-municipal trips, or the distance between the suburban municipalities and the central city.
In the case of the Puebla-Tlaxcala metropolitan area, the central city is Puebla de Zaragoza, the capital of the state of Puebla, which is home to more than half of the inhabitants of the metropolis.
The Metropolitan area of Puebla City or Greater Puebla is the fourth largest agglomeration in Mexico with a population of 3.199 million.
The Puebla-Tlaxcala metropolitan area brings together a total of 38 Puebla and Tlaxcala municipalities located in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley. The agglomeration includes 18 municipalities of the state of Puebla and 20 municipalities of the state of Tlaxcala. It does not include the city of Tlaxcala.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Data Processing (INEGI), it consists 18 of the following municipalities of the State of Puebla:
- Amozoc
- Coronango
- Cuautlancingo
- Chiautzingo
- Domingo Arenas
- Huejotzingo
- Juan C. Bonilla
- Ocoyucan
- Puebla
- San Andrés Cholula
- San Felipe Teotlalcingo
- San Gregorio Atzompa
- San Martín Texmelucan
- San Miguel Xoxtla
- San Pedro Cholula
- San Salvador el Verde
- Tepatlaxco de Hidalgo
- Tlaltenango
And the 20 following municipalities of the State of Tlaxcala:
- Ixtacuixtla de Mariano Matamoros
- Mazatecochco de José María Morelos
- Tepetitla de Lardizábal
- Acuamanala de Miguel Hidalgo
- Natívitas
- San Pablo del Monte
- Tenancingo
- Teolocholco
- Tepeyanco
- Tetlatlahuca
- Papalotla de Xicohténcatl
- Xicohtzinco
- Zacatelco
- San Jerónimo Zacualpan
- San Juan Huactzinco
- San Lorenzo Axocomanitla
- Santa Ana Nopalucan
- Santa Apolonia Teacalco
- Santa Catarina Ayometla
- Santa Cruz Quilehtla
It may be considered one of the oldest inhabited areas in the world, as it includes the city of Cholula, the oldest still inhabited city in America.
Metropolitan areas in Mexico
The metropolitan areas or Metropolitan Zones in Mexico have traditionally been described as the group of municipalities that interact with each other, usually around the main city.
In 2004, the National Population Council (CONAPO), the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Informatics (INEGI), and the Secretariat for Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define a metropolitan as:
- The group of two or more municipalities in which a city of at least 50,000 inhabitants is located whose area extends over the limits of the municipality to which it originally belongs, incorporating direct influence on one or more neighboring populations regularly with a high level of socio-economic integration.
- A single municipality within which a city with a population of at least one million inhabitants is fully located.
- A city with a population of at least 250,000 that forms a conurbation with a city.
