This is a list of Mexican states by date of statehood, that is, the date when each state was accepted by Congress of the Union as a free and sovereign state of the United Mexican States.
The effective independence of Mexico reached on September 27, 1821, does not meant the independence of the states, because Mexico was the only Latin American country which became independent from Spain as a monarchy. After the fall of the Mexican Empire, the Federal Republic was established on July 12, 1823.[1]
Although 18 of the 19 founder states can be considered official members of the federation since the enactment of the Constitutive Act of the Mexican Federation on January 31, 1824; eleven of them were ratified as states before the enactment and some of the others were included as three states (the internal States of North, Western and Eastern). Tamaulipas, Tabasco and Chiapas were ratified after the enactment of the act.
All the later admission dates were set by law or decree of congress, except for Chiapas, whose admission was determined by its own people in a referendum.[2]
This list does not account the secession of several states during the establishment of the Centralist Republic and the territorial changes made during the civil and foreign wars.
| State | Admission | Preceding Entity[3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| México | [4] | Intendancy of México, then Province of México | |||
| Guanajuato | Intendancy of Guanajuato, then Province of Guanajuato | ||||
| Oaxaca | Intendancy of Oaxaca, then Province of Oaxaca | ||||
| Puebla | Intendancy of Puebla, then Province of Puebla de los Angeles | ||||
| Michoacán | Intendancy of Valladolid, then Province of Valladolid | ||||
| San Luis Potosí | Intendancy of San Luis Potosí, then San Luis Potosí | ||||
| Veracruz | Intendancy of Veracruz, then Province of Veracruz | ||||
| Yucatán | Captaincy General of Yucatán, Intendancy of Yucatán, Province of Mérida de Yucatán and then Republic of Yucatán | ||||
| Jalisco | Nueva Galicia, Intendancy of Guadalajara, Province of Guadalajara | ||||
| Zacatecas | Nueva Galicia, Intendancy of los Zacatecas, Province of Zacatecas | ||||
| Querétaro | Intendancy of México, then Province of Querétaro | ||||
| Sonora | Nueva Navarra, Province of Sonora | ||||
| Tabasco | [5] | Split off from Veracruz and Yucatán | |||
| Tamaulipas | Nuevo Santander, then Province of Santander | ||||
| Nuevo León | [6] | New Kingdom of León, then Province of New Kingdom of León | |||
| Coahuila | [7] | Nueva Extremadura, then Province of Coahuila | |||
| Durango | [8] | Nueva Vizcaya, then Province of Nueva Vizcaya | |||
| Chihuahua | [9] | Nueva Vizcaya, then Province of Nueva Vizcaya | |||
| Chiapas | Captaincy General of Guatemala, then Province of Guatemala | ||||
| Sinaloa | [10] | Split off from Estado de Occidente | |||
| Guerrero | [11] | Formed from parts of México, Puebla and Michoacán | |||
| Tlaxcala | [12] | Territory of Tlaxcala | |||
| Colima | [13] | Territory of Colima | |||
| Aguascalientes | [14] | Territory of Aguascalientes | |||
| Campeche | [15] | Territory of Campeche, split off from Yucatán | |||
| Hidalgo | [16] | Split off from México | |||
| Morelos | [17] | Split off from México | |||
| Nayarit | [18] | Territory of Tepic | |||
| Baja California | [19] | North Territory of Baja California | |||
| Quintana Roo | [20] | Territory of Quintana Roo, split off from Yucatán | |||
| Baja California Sur | [21] | South Territory of Baja California | |||
1. The order of the states admitted the same day was determined by the day of the installation of its congress.
2. The intendancies were created in 1776 under the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The provinces were created as part of the territorial administration of the Mexican Empire.
3. Yucatán joined to the federation as the Federated Republic of Yucatán (Spanish; Castilian: República Federada de Yucatán).[22]
4. Sonora joined to the federation along with Sinaloa as Estado de Occidente, also recognized as Sonora y Sinaloa.
5. Coahuila joined to the federation along with Texas as Coahuila y Tejas.
6. Estado Interno del Norte (north) was formed with Durango, Chihuahua and Nuevo México. Estado Interno de Oriente (eastern) was formed with Coahuila, Nuevo León and Texas. Estado Interno de Occidente (western) was formed with Sonora y Sinaloa. Only the Western State was finally ratified in the Constitution of 1824 and the other two states were divided in different states and federal territories.
7. The Mexican Federation was finally composed of 19 states, the Federal District and the federal territories of Alta California, Baja California, Santa Fe de Nuevo México, Colima and Tlaxcala.
8. Tamaulipas and Tabasco were included in the act as a state, but congress ratified its admission on February 7.