Toluca

**Toluca** city or **Toluca de Lerdo**, is the state capital of both the State of Mexico and its surrounding municipality.

## Etymology

The name comes from Nahuatl and means "place of god Tolloh", named _Tollohcan_, although both the town and municipality are commonly referred to as simply "Toluca". According to the studies of Cecilio Robelo, Toluca means 'where the god Tolo is' or 'hill of the god Tolo' or 'place of the god Tolo'. Its grammatical roots are toloqui, from toloa, 'to bow or lower the head'.

In 1861 by decree of the local legislature, the municipality took the official name of Toluca de Lerdo, in memory of the politician Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada who was still alive at that time.

_Nzehñi_ in Otomi language, _Imbomáani_ in Matlatzinca language, _Zúmi_ in Mazahua language and _Tsindijets_ in Tlahuica language.

## History

The first human settlements on these lands date back to 1,200 BC, according to information provided by the Museum of Anthropology and History, located in the Ex-Hacienda La Pila, in San Buenaventura.

## Geography

The Lerma River flows from Lake Almoloya del Río through the center of the municipality towards the west, flowing into Lake Chapala. From this point westward the river takes the name of Río Grande de Santiago in Jalisco. The river is about  long; about 60% of it is known as Lerma River and 40% as Santiago River.

The Nevado de Toluca or Xinantécatl is  southwest of the city. The god Tolo was supposed to reside in the volcano's crater. Its original indigenous name was _Chiknauhtekatl_ which means "Nine Mountains" but later was named _Xinantecatl_ which means "naked man", because the silhouette of its crater resembles a sleeping man, before the Spaniards named it _Nevado_, meaning "snow-covered". It is a place of increasing sporting activity, such as mountain biking, climbing, and high altitude running. Zopilocalco hill is in Toluca City, near of Martíres Main Plaza.

### Climate

The climate in Toluca is prone to extended dry periods particularly in the winter. Almost nine-tenths of the annual rainfall occurs between June and September. Just outside the heavily industrialized city, the municipality has forests with oak, pine, fir, cedar, cypress and other flora, characteristic of the temperate zone of central Mexico.

## Twin towns

Toluca is twin town with:

- Caparroso, Spain
- Cartago, Costa Rica
- Debrecen, Hungary
- Fort Worth, United States
- Nanchang, China
- Novi Sad, Serbia
- Ramallah and al-Bireh, Palestine
- Saitama, Japan
- Suwon, South Korea
- La Vega, Dominican Republic

## Related pages

- Toluca Municipality

## Infobox (settlement)

- **official name**: Toluca
- **other name**: Toluca de Lerdo
- **native name**: Tollohcan
- **nickname**: Toluca "The beautiful one"
- **image skyline**: Toluca a los pies del nevado.jpg
- **imagesize**: 275px
- **image seal**: Escudo Municipio de Toluca 2022 2024.png
- **pushpin map**: Mexico
- **pushpin mapsize**: 300px
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Mexico
- **subdivision type1**: States of Mexico, State
- **subdivision name1**: Mexico (state), Mexico
- **subdivision type2**: Municipalities o Mexico (state), Municipality
- **subdivision name2**: Toluca Municipality, Toluca
- **leader title**: Municipal President
- **leader name**: Martha Hilda González Calderón (2012-2015)
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: May 19, 1522
- **population as of**: 2010
- **population total**: 819,561
- **population metro**: 1,610,786
- **population blank1 title**: Demonym
- **population blank1**: Toluqueño(a)
- **timezone**: Central Standard Time, CST
- **utc offset**: −6
- **timezone dst**: Central Daylight Time, CDT
- **utc offset dst**: −5
- **elevation m**: 2667
- **postal code type**: Postal code
- **postal code**: 50000-
- **area code**: 722
- **website**: www.toluca.gob.mx