Pachuca (Spanish pronunciation: [paˈtʃuka] ; Mezquital Otomi: Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexican state of Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality for which the city serves as municipal seat. Pachuca is located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Mexico City via Mexican Federal Highway 85.
There is no agreed upon consensus regarding the origins of the word pachuca. It has been loosely traced to pachoa ('strait', 'opening'), pachoacan ('place of government', 'place of silver and gold') and patlachuican ('place of factories', 'place of tears').