Ecatepec, << ay kaht ay PEHK, >> is a large city in México state, Mexico. It forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area. The city’s official name is Ecatepec de Morelos, in honor of the Mexican independence hero José María Morelos y Pavón. At the time of the 2020 census, Ecatepec had a population of 1,643,623. It is Mexico City’s largest suburb and a chief industrial center of the metropolitan area.
When Spanish conquistadors arrived in central Mexico in 1519, Ecatepec was part of the Aztec Empire. It lay along the main Aztec trade route running north. After the Spaniards conquered the Aztec, they at first left the area’s governance in the hands of its indigenous (native) majority. However, the Spaniards gradually brought Ecatepec under their direct control, and a Spanish mayor took over its governance.
In 1815, Spanish authorities executed José María Morelos y Pavón at Ecatepec. Morelos was a leader in Mexico’s struggle for independence from Spain. The house where Morelos was killed is now a museum—the Museo Casa de Morelos.
Ecatepec remained a small town through the first half of the 1900’s. Beginning in the 1960’s, the rapidly growing population of Mexico City overflowed to nearby communities, including Ecatepec. Ecatepec officially gained the status of a city in 1980. In 1995, scientists discovered the remains of a mammoth at Ecatepec.
