Popocatépetl is the active Mexican volcano that towers over Mexico City.
Popocatépetl is a 5,426-metre stratovolcano in central Mexico, about 70 kilometres southeast of Mexico City. Its name comes from Nahuatl and is commonly translated as “Smoking Mountain,” reflecting its long history of visible activity.
The volcano has erupted repeatedly since the mid-1990s, with ash emissions, explosions, lava-dome growth, and volcanic gases. Authorities monitor it closely because large populations live in nearby cities and towns.
Popocatépetl is often paired visually and culturally with Iztaccíhuatl, the neighboring dormant volcano whose profile resembles a sleeping woman in Aztec legend. However, Iztaccíhuatl is not the frequently erupting volcano near the capital. Pico de Orizaba is Mexico’s highest mountain, but it is not Popocatépetl.