Lake Texcoco

This article is about the lake. For the pre-Columbian city-state, see Texcoco (altepetl). For the modern municipality and city, see Texcoco, State of Mexico.

Lake Texcoco
Lago de Texcoco Tetzco(h)co
Lake Texcoco Location within Mexico Lake Texcoco Location within North America
Interactive map of Lake Texcoco
Location	Central Mexico
Coordinates	19°25′10″N 99°08′00″W
Type	Former pluvial and paleo salt lake, endorheic
Surface area	5,400 square kilometres (2,100 sq mi)
Max. depth	over 150 metres (490 ft)
Surface elevation	2,240 metres (7,350 ft)
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Lago de Texcoco
Designated	5 June 2022
Reference no.	2469

Lake Texcoco (Spanish: Lago de Texcoco; Nahuatl languages: Tetzco(h)co) was a natural saline lake within the Anahuac or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known for an island situated on the western side of the lake where the Mexica built the city of Mēxihco Tenōchtitlan, which would later become the capital of the Aztec Empire. After the Spanish conquest, efforts to control flooding led to most of the lake being drained.

The entire lake basin is now almost completely occupied by Mexico City, the capital of the present-day nation of Mexico. Drainage of the lake has led to serious ecological and human consequences. The local climate and water availability have changed considerably, contributing to water scarcity in the area; subsequent groundwater extraction leads to land subsidence under much of the city. Native species endemic to the lake region, such as the axolotl, have become severely endangered or extinct due to ecosystem change.