Cuernavaca is the capital of the state of Morelos, located 85 km south of Mexico City and 290 km north of Acapulco.
The municipality has 365,168 inhabitants (INEGI, 2010). The urban area, however, spills over into other nearby municipalities (Huitzilac, Jiutepec, Temixco, Xochitepec, and Emiliano Zapata), and because of its proximity to other locations constitutes a metropolitan area of approximately 857,386 inhabitants, making it the fifteenth largest metro zone in Mexico.
It has the seventh highest Human Development Index in the country.