In Mexico, boroughs in which some municipalities and the Federal District are divided for administrative purposes are known as delegaciones (sing. delegación). Boroughs can either be second-level semi-autonomous administrative divisions –as it is the case in the Federal District– or third-level non-autonomous administrative divisions –as it is the case in all other municipalities that have implemented this particular territorial organization. The limits, nature and competencies of boroughs are usually described in the constitutions of the states they are part of, or in the laws enacted by the municipality itself, and may differ from municipality to municipality.

Since Mexico City does not belong to any particular state, but to the federation, it is a federal district, and as such, a first-level administrative division on par with the states of Mexico, even if it differs in the nature of its autonomy and legislative powers. The 16 boroughs in which the Federal District is divided are semi-autonomous, in that a head of government, called simply "head of the borough" (jefe delegacional, in Spanish), is elected by the residents through direct suffrage. However, unlike the municipalities of Mexico, they do not have regulatory powers, and many of the services are still provided by the government of the Federal District itself.

Mexico (ⁱ/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish:  Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.

In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.