Tlālacuetztla

Tlālacuetztla
Downtown Tlālacuetztla at the Tower of Victory monument
Flag
Nickname(s):  "The Golden City", "City of Flowers"
Country	Xiomera
āltepētl	Tlālacuetztla
Settled	1323
Government
• Mayor	Chimalley (XCP)
Area
• City	581 sq mi (1,500 km2)
• Metro	3,084 sq mi (7,990 km2)
Elevation	7,350 ft (2,240 m)
Population  (2025)
• Total	9,127,205 city
	17,286,365 metro region

Tlālacuetztla is the capital and largest city of Xiomera. As the historic center from which the modern Xiomeran Empire grew, it has long held preeminence as its foremost political, economic and cultural center.

History

The city of Tlālacuetztla first emerged in 1323 as one of several city-states competing for control over the Xiomerans' homeland in eastern Huenya. By the late 1300s, Tlālacuetztla had consolidated control over neighboring rivals such as Montelin and Huitzitaca. It was declared the capital of the Xiomeran Empire in 1388 by the first Xiomeran Emperor, Quiauhticue.

As the Xiomeran Empire grew to take over first eastern Huenya, and then western Huenya, Tlālacuetztla became its dominant city. During the Second Great Reformation under Empress Camaxtica, Tlālacuetztla would be the spearhead of Xiomera's rapid technological advancement and industrialization. The capital would increasingly be coupled economically and through infrastructure to the port of Huitzitaca, Xiomera's largest port and the center of its foreign trade. This connection, along with Tlālacuetztla's leading role in Xiomeran industrialization, would drive the capital into its firm status as the Empire's economic and political powerhouse by the late 1800s.

Xiomera's major corporations made Tlālacuetztla their own center, with almost all of them basing their headquarters either in the capital itself or in neighboring towns. The neighboring towns would rapidly grow as a result of this corporate activity, merging with Tlālacuetztla itself to form a massive metropolis. Cities such as Tlilotl'pac and Montelin would become cities of immense wealth and influence as part of the greater Tlālacuetztla metropolitan area.

Geography

Tlālacuetztla is located in north central Xiomera, on the southern shore of Lake Ehehuani. The city is located on a set of flat plains, rising to rolling foothills in the north approaching Lake Ehehuani. The lake itself is fed with water flow from the higher elevations of far northern Xiomera, as well as the Ixcal River.

One of the noteworthy features of the city's environment is the series of floating gardens and farmland around Tlālacuetztla known as chināmitl. This combination of artificial islands and canals has been in place since ancient times, and was originally the main source of food for the capital. Today, the chināmitl serve as a tourist feature, urban parkland and recreation, and a source of "artisanal" food for Tlālacuetztla's urbanites.

In addition to Lake Ehehuani, a series of freshwater springs from groundwater aquifers provide a source of additional water for the capital. There are also several thermal hot springs that are popular both with tourists and residents of Tlālacuetztla as recreational sites.

Areas

Tlālacuetztla is divided for administrative purposes into 20 districts known as āltepētl. These districts are subdivided further into smaller units known as calpolli. These divisions are based on historic locality-based political entities of Xiomeran city-states.

The city is more broadly grouped by its residents into certain "neighborhoods" as follows:

• Aztahuan - neighborhood in central Tlālacuetztla, centered on the Boulevard Culhuaxte; notorious as the center of the party scene for Xiomeran elites
• Montelin - extremely affluent neighborhood in northern Tlālacuetztla; home of the wealthiest Xiomerans and most powerful officials
• Tlilotl'pac - affluent suburb of northeastern Tlālacuetztla; center of the Xiomeran tech industry
• Zipacpepe - extremely poor and dangerous neighborhood in western Tlālacuetztla; center for organized (and unorganized) crime
• Inchahuan - upper-class neighborhood in central Tlālacuetztla; home to art galleries, performing arts centers, bookstores, libraries, museums and other artistic and educational sites of interest; considered the "high-brow culture" center of Tlālacuetztla
• Italman - neighborhood in downtown Tlālacuetztla to the northwest of Aztahuan; a center of Xiomeran pop culture and street art and the more "underground" and "quirky" counterpart to Aztahuan; also houses many of the capital's sports arenas and stadiums
• Xilonenpilli - broad collection of neighborhoods constituting first and second-ring suburbs and neighborhoods housing a mix of middle to lower income residents

Politics

All of Tlālacuetztla's political offices are held by members of the XCP, with the exception of a few minor āltepētl and calpolli leaders who are allowed from other parties to maintain the appearance of a multi-party government. The current mayor of Tlālacuetztla is Chimalley, a member of the XCP. All 20 members of the Tlālacuetztla Municipal Council, made up of the 20 chief āltepētl leaders, are also members of the XCP.

Tlālacuetztla area municipal leaders are up for election every four years, on the same schedule as other elected Xiomeran leaders.

Transit

The capital is served by three airports. Ocatzcal International Airport is the largest airport in Xiomera, and the one with the highest number of both domestic and international passengers yearly. It is the first airport ever built in Xiomera, opening in 1939. Miquiztli International Airport serves as a backup airport to Ocatzcal, and opened in 1963. The newest airport, Emperor Topilpopoca Inter-Imperial Airport, serves mainly as a domestic airport to relieve pressure on Ocatzcal and Miquiztli. It opened in 2024.

The Zaca transit service handles inter-city transit from Tlālacuetztla to the rest of the Empire. It also handles commuter and regional transit services. The Zaca Rail division operates a combination of subways, light rail, passenger rail and freight rail services. The Zaca Bus division handles inter-city bus service, as well as local bus routes.

The Xō Car service is a privately-owned car-sharing service that allows users to rent vehicles on a point-to-point basis to get around town. Teliz is a ridesharing service and freelance delivery service that serves multiple cities including Tlālacuetztla. Both are owned by the Xiomeran car manufacturer Matlate Technicar.

Economy

As the corporate and industrial capital of the Empire, Tlālacuetztla has a strong and diverse economy. The city contributes 16% of Xiomera's industrial GDP, and 27% of its service sector GDP. Almost all of Xiomera's major corporations are headquartered there. The defense contractor Coatōn Corporation and Mizhua Corporation, Xiomera's largest consumer goods conglomerate, are the largest employers in the city. The Imperial government is the third-largest employer, followed by the mercenary firm CSSC and Lohuā Licā Companies, another consumer goods manufacturer.

Cala Computer Corporation, Xiomera's largest technology firm, is headquartered in the suburb of Tlilotl'pac. The emergence of Tlilotl'pac as Xiomera's technology capital in the 1990s helped boost the already high economic power of the Tlālacuetztla metropolitan area to new levels.

Tlālacuetztla has the largest share of Xiomera's billionaires and millionaires, giving a new spin to one of its historic nicknames "The Golden City". Most of those super-wealthy Xiomerans live in the elite suburb of Montelin, near the Palace of Flowers. Despite its high levels of wealth, Tlālacuetztla also has areas with very high levels of poverty. The areas of Zipacpepe and Italman, in particular, have pockets of extreme poverty that rank them among the most deprived in Xiomera.

Culture

Tlālacuetztla's emergence as a wealthy metropolis has helped secure its place as the center of Xiomeran culture. The city is home to the most prominent museums and art galleries in the country. Public museums such as the Imperial Museum and the Chāntico Museums provide extensive collections and educational programs. Private museums such as the Xipilli also provide additional collections and programs from all over the world. The Tlanextic Galleries are a series of private art galleries that feature their own collections for exhibition and sale from all over the world, as well as prominent and emerging Xiomeran artists.

The Museum of Xiomera, another public museum, is run jointly by the municipal government of Tlālacuetztla and Tlālacuetztla Polytechnic University. It is widely recognized as the most comprehensive and well-funded museum of Xiomeran and Huenyan history, culture and religion in the world.

Tlālacuetztla is also the center of fashion and pop culture in Xiomera. The Italman section of Tlālacuetztla is the spiritual home to Xiomeran youth culture and the Xiomeran music industry. It is also notorious in Xiomera for its active counter-culture, which often disdains what the rest of Tlālacuetztla (and Xiomera as a whole) places value on. Prominent fashion houses such as A'pilne are headquartered in Italman. Many of Xiomera's largest movie and music studios, such as Mazatl Films and Itspapalotl Records, are also based in Italman.

Education

Tlālacuetztla and its suburbs are served by a series of public schools known as calmecac and telpochcalli. The calmecac are elite schools for highly talented youth in both academic and athletic fields, the equivalent of "gifted and talented" institutions or magnet schools in other countries. The telpochcalli are the standard public schools for Xiomeran youth of all abilities.

At the postsecondary level, the two largest colleges in Tlālacuetztla are Tlālacuetztla Polytechnic University and the Imperial University of Tlālacuetztla.

TPU has a strict cap on enrollment of no more than 22,000 students annually. It is considered Xiomera's most prestigious and rigorous university, with only 4% to 6% of applicants accepted in a typical year. It is the flagship of the Xiomeran Polytechnic Universities and was the first "modern" university established in Xiomera.

IUT, by contrast, is an open admission university with a typical yearly enrollment of around 52,000 students. Despite its open admission status, IUT is also considered a highly prestigious institution and is the flagship of the Imperial University System.

TPU and IUT maintain a fierce rivalry as their respective systems' flagships and the most prominent schools in the most prominent city in Xiomera. The two schools are rivals both on the academic field and the athletic field, routinely exchanging championships and awards in various sports and events. Both schools also boast long rosters of some of the most prominent historical figures and successful people in the Empire.

While existing in the shadow of TPU and IUT, Tlālacuetztla is also home to dozens of smaller colleges, universities and specialized schools. The city also boasts dozens of trade and vocational schools. The capital also is served by fifteen community colleges affiliated with the Imperial University System.

Sports

Tlālacuetztla and its suburbs are home to several professional and semi-professional sports teams. Among the most prominent are the Aketzalli FC football club and its rival, the Tlālacuetztla Warriors football club. Xiomera's most successful baseball and softball teams, the Tlālacuetztla Stars and the Tlālacuetztla Diamonds, are also based in the city.

The sport of ōllamalīztli, a Huenyan ball game played on a stone ball court, is also highly popular as both a professional sport and a recreational game. The Montelin Jaguars, the most followed professional ōllamalīztli team, is based in the suburb of Montelin.