No. 9: Distrito Federal is the authoritative 1922 sheet prepared by the Mexico Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos and issued by the Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento to accompany the Atlas Geografico de la Republica Mexicana (1919–1921). As the second-edition color state of this survey, it condenses a moment of nation-building into a single, lucid plane: the capital’s basin, its arteries of movement, and the relief that shapes them. At a disciplined scale of 1:150,000, the sheet balances scientific exactitude with a confident visual hierarchy, allowing the Distrito Federal to be read at once as a living city and a landscape. It is an atlas plate that feels like a thesis: Mexico’s political heart rendered through meticulously compiled topography, settlement patterns, and hydrology at the dawn of the modern Mexican century.

Its design rewards prolonged looking. Subtle hypsometric shading models the bowl of the Valley of Mexico, with slopes graded in sober, legible tones that recede behind rail and road symbols. Decorative Mayan flourishes—stylized figures and geometric borders—quietly frame the content, a 1920s indigenista accent that signals cultural continuity amid modernization. The legend organizes roads, railways, and settlements by class, while neatlines and graticule ticks cue orientation without clutter. Ingeniously, the relief was conceived to function as a transparent overlay, intended to sit in register with companion geologic plates, so that structure and surface could be read together. The result is a sophisticated layered system: physical landforms, manmade networks, and subterranean narratives fusing into a single, intelligible cartographic language.

At center lies Mexico City, already sprawling yet still visibly conditioned by its lacustrine past. The remnants and memory of the great lakes—Texcoco, Xochimilco, and Chalco—are labeled and contoured, their margins, wetlands, and drainage works guiding the eye across the basin. To the south rise the granitic shoulders of the Sierra de las Cruces and the massif of Ajusco, their ravines and ridgelines carefully shaded to give relief true dimensionality. Boroughs and districts appear as distinct urban organisms: Coyoacán and Tlalpan still semi-rural; Xochimilco threaded by chinampa canals; Azcapotzalco and Gustavo A. Madero anchoring the north; Benito Juárez and Miguel Hidalgo bridging the historic core to newer suburbs; Iztapalapa advancing eastward. Rivers, passes, and low divides are all present, revealing how topography channels both water and people.

Transportation infrastructure is plotted with an engineer’s hand. Principal roads radiate from the capital like spokes—west to Toluca over the Lerma divide, eastward toward Puebla, south to Cuernavaca—while secondary routes knit villages to market towns. Railways, the steel sinews of the period, are prominent: trunk lines, branches, and sidings are clearly differentiated, tracing industrial corridors through Azcapotzalco, Tacuba, and the city’s freight yards. Stations punctuate the lines, fixing a geography of movement and exchange; causeways and bridges cross former lakebeds and canals, gestures of conquest over water that also explain urban growth. Settlements are graded by importance, from the dense central wards of Mexico City to outlying pueblos around Xochimilco and Tlalpan, allowing the viewer to read hierarchy and connectivity at a glance.

Behind the plate stand notable figures of Mexican science. Ing. Sotero Prieto, the chief, brought rigorous mathematical training and a reformist vision to national cartography, while Ing. Luciano López Sorcini, as associate chief, helped orchestrate the data, drafting conventions, and editorial polish that make the atlas cohesive. Within the Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos, their team fused topographic survey, climatology, and geology into a modern state knowledge project. This Distrito Federal sheet exemplifies that ambition: a map meant to be read in layers, bridging geomorphology with daily life. As both geographic tool and historical document, it captures an inflection point—postrevolutionary Mexico aligning science, infrastructure, and identity—making it as intellectually satisfying as it is beautiful to the eye.

Cities and towns on this map

• Mexico City (Ciudad de México)
• Iztapalapa
• Gustavo A. Madero
• Azcapotzalco
• Xochimilco
• Tlalpan
• Coyoacán
• Benito Juárez
• Miguel Hidalgo

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Transparent overlay of relief maps.
• Major roads and railroads detailed.
• Highlighted settlements and cities.
• Topographical features depicted by shading.
• Cultural illustrations reflective of Maya heritage.
• Scale indicated as 1:150,000.
• Lakes and significant water bodies labeled.
• Geological features illustrated through overlays.

Historical and design context

• Created in 1922 by the Mexico Direccion de Estudios Geograficos y Climatologicos.
• Published by the Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento.
• This is the second edition color map designed to accompany the Atlas Geografico de la Republica Mexicana covering 1919-1921.
• Notable cartographers include Ing. Sotero Prieto (chief) and Ing. Luciano López Sorcini (associate chief).
• The coloring and overlaid layers signify a sophisticated approach to cartography for its time.
• Serves as both a geographical tool and a historical document, encapsulating early 20th-century Mexican cartography.

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 70in (180cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

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With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.

This map is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The map is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present a map without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas maps and explore the differences between my different finishes.

For something truly unique, this map is also available in "Unique 3D", our trademarked process that dramatically transforms the map so that it has a wonderful sense of depth. We combine the original map with detailed topography and elevation data, so that mountains and the terrain really "pop". For more info and examples of 3D maps, check my Unique 3D page.