Popocatépetl

Where is Popocatépetl?

Popocatépetl is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

You will find it in: Mexico.

Summit: 19.022° N, 98.628° W

The story behind it

Popocatépetl is one of the most active volcanoes in North America, formed by molten rock rising where an oceanic tectonic plate slides slowly beneath Mexico. Aztec legends tell of a warrior named Popocatépetl who stands eternal watch over his sleeping love, the volcano Iztaccíhuatl nearby, whose snowy outline is said to resemble a sleeping woman. Spanish conquistador Diego de Ordaz led an expedition partway up the mountain in 1519, curious about the smoke pouring from its summit, in one of the first recorded European climbs anywhere in the Americas. Today the volcano is watched constantly, since it regularly sends up plumes of ash and gas that can shut nearby airports, and the closest city, Puebla, sometimes gets dusted in fine grey ash. Climbing to the crater rim is currently banned because of this activity, so most visitors only hike partway up its lower slopes.

Find it on the globe

Popocatépetl is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.