Apizaco is a city an its surrounding municipality located near the geographic center of the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, approximately 25 minutes away from the state's capital city of Tlaxcala. The city gets its name from the Nahuatl language words "ātl" (water), "pitzāhuac" (thin), and the suffix "co" (place), forming "Āpitzāco", or roughly "thin water place". Those seeking to reach the port of Veracruz by railroad from Mexico City must travel through Apizaco. The city began because of its location on this railroad.