Zempoala is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 319.78 km². The name Zempoala derives from the Nahuatl roots "Cempoalli", meaning "twenty" and "tlan", meaning "place"; giving Zempoala the meaning of "place of twenties", referring to the market held every twenty days.

Hidalgo is a state in central Mexico divided into 84 municipalities. According to the 2020 Mexican census, Hidalgo is the 16th most populous state with 3,082,841 inhabitants and the 26th largest by land area spanning 20,813 square kilometres (8,036 sq mi).