A report on Mexico, Mesoamerica and Oaxaca

Depiction of the founding myth of Mexico-Tenochtitlan from the Codex Mendoza. The eagle perched on a cactus has been incorporated into the Mexican flag since its independence, and was a motif in colonial-era art.

A pair of swinging Remojadas figurines, Classic Veracruz culture, 300 to 900 CE.

Looking southwest over the site of Monte Albán

Page 9 of the Dresden Codex (from the 1880 Förstermann edition)

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, the motherchurch of the Oaxacan Archdiocese

View of the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan with first human establishment in the area dating back to 600 BCE

El Mirador flourished from 600 BCE to 100 CE, and may have had a population of over 100,000.

Cultivation of maize, shown in the Florentine Codex (1576) drawn by an indigenous scribe, with text in Nahuatl on this folio

1945 mural by Diego Rivera depicting the view from the Tlatelolco markets into Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the largest city in the Americas at the time

Workers campaigning in the historic 2010 state government election

Hernán Cortés and his multilingual cultural translator, Doña Marina ("Malinche"), meeting Moctezuma II from the Lienzo de Tlaxcala, a document created ca. 1550 by the Tlaxcalans to remind the Spanish of their loyalty and the importance of Tlaxcala during the conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites, urban centers, and tourist attractions of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala.

Smallpox depicted by an indigenous artist in the 1576 Florentine Codex

View of the Plaza Mayor (today Zócalo) in Mexico City (ca. 1695) by Cristóbal de Villalpando

Pyramid of the Moon viewed from atop of the Pyramid of the Sun.

New Spain was essential to the Spanish global trading system. White represents the route of the Spanish Manila Galleons in the Pacific and the Spanish convoys in the Atlantic. (Blue represents Portuguese routes.)

Xochicalco, Temple of the Feathered Serpent, 650–900 CE

Silver peso mined and minted in colonial Mexico, which became a global currency

Detail of the Nunnery Quadrangle at Uxmal, 10th century

Viceroyalty of New Spain following the signing of the 1819 Adams-Onís Treaty

Mesoamerica and Central America in the 16th century before Spanish arrival

Luis de Mena, Virgin of Guadalupe and castas, showing race mixture and hierarchy as well as fruits of the realm, ca. 1750

The conserved rainforest of Santiago Comaltepec, Oaxaca

Father Hidalgo used this banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe as their emblem

Entrance to the crocodile nursery located inside the Lagunas de Chacahua National Park

Siege of the Alhondiga de Granaditas, Guanajuato, 28 Sept. 1810.

K'inich Kan B'alam II, the Classic period ruler of Palenque, as depicted on a stele

Cerro de San Felipe, Benito Juárez National Park

Flag of the Army of the Three Guarantees, the force formed by ex-royalist Iturbide and insurgent Vicente Guerrero in February 1821

Illustration that recreates the structures of the archaeological site of Yarumela or El Chircal in Honduras, this place reflects the Olmec influence that existed in Central America in the pre-classic period.

Map marking the numerous municipalities of Oaxaca. Oaxaca de Juárez is highlighted.

Flag of the First Mexican Empire under Agustín I, 1822-23, with the eagle wearing a crown

"Head Variant" or "Patron Gods" glyphs for Maya days

Interior view of the old Oaxaca Government Palace and Capitol Building, which now houses the state museum

Flag of the First Republic of Mexico, with the eagle without a crown, signaling the new republic

The Central Eólica Sureste I, Fase II in Asunción Ixtaltepec. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the region of Mexico with the highest capacity for wind energy.

One of the earliest examples of the Mesoamerican writing systems, the Epi-Olmec script on the La Mojarra Stela 1 dated to around 150 CE. Mesoamerica is one of the five places in the world where writing has developed independently.

Portrait of Liberal President Benito Juárez

The xoloitzcuintle is one of the naguales of the god Quetzalcoatl. In this form, it helps the dead cross the Chicnahuapan, a river that separates the world of the living from the dead.

The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, 19 June 1867. Gen. Tomás Mejía, left, Maximiian, center, Gen. Miguel Miramón, right. Painting by Édouard Manet 1868.

President Porfirio Díaz linking himself to independence hero Hidalgo and liberal hero Juárez September 1910.

Ritual human sacrifice portrayed in Codex Laud

Francisco I. Madero, who challenged Díaz in the fraudulent 1910 election and was elected president when Díaz was forced to resign in May 1911.

A small ceremonial ballcourt at Uaxactun.

Various sizes of Chapulines at the Mercado Benito Juárez in Oaxaca, Mexico

Revolutionary Generals Pancho Villa (left) and Emiliano Zapata (right)

Ballgame marker from the classic Lowland Maya site of Chinkultic, Mexico depicting a ballplayer in full gear

Ex-monastery of Santiago Apóstol in Cuilapan de Guerrero

General Álvaro Obregón (far left) shown with a cigar in his left hand and his right arm missing, center with the white beard is First Chief Venustiano Carranza

The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan, an example of a Mesoamerican settlement planned according to concepts of directionality

Art with ideological and political meaning: depiction of an Aztec tzompantli (skull-rack) from the Ramirez Codex

Barro negro pottery at the state crafts museum

Pemex, the national oil company created in 1938 for reasons of economic nationalism; it continues to provide major revenues for the government

Alebrijes at the Pochote Market in Oaxaca, México

NAFTA signing ceremony, October 1992. From left to right: (standing) President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (Mexico), President George H. W. Bush (U.S.), and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada)

Craftswoman making banana leaf bun in Tavehua, Oaxaca.

Vicente Fox and his opposition National Action Party won the 2000 general election, ending one-party rule.

The Cultural Universitario & Rectoria on the main campus of the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca.

Mexico map of Köppen climate classification

Sculpture of "The Acrobat" from Tlatilco

Pyramid of the archaeological site of La Venta 1000-400 BCE

The National Palace on the east side of Plaza de la Constitución or Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City; it was the residence of viceroys and Presidents of Mexico and now the seat of the Mexican government.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador President of Mexico

The partly excavated main structure of San José Mogote 1500–500 BCE

Alfonso García Robles diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982

Monte Albán, Building J in the foreground. 200 BCE – 200 CE

Demonstration on 26 September 2015, in the first anniversary of the disappearance of the 43 students in the Mexican town of Iguala

A reconstruction of Guachimontones, flourished from 200 to 400 CE

The territorial evolution of Mexico after independence: secession of Central America (purple), Chiapas annexed from Guatemala (blue), losses to the U.S. (red, white and orange) and the reannexation of the Republic of Yucatán (red)

A proportional representation of Mexico's exports. The country has the most complex economy in Latin America.

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Historical GDP per capita development of Mexico

Mask located on the "Temple of the Masks" Kohunlich c. 500 CE

K'inich Janaab Pakal I of Palenque 603–683 AD

The Central Eólica Sureste I, Fase II in Oaxaca. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the region of Mexico with the highest capacity for wind energy. (see Tehuantepecer, a strong wind that affects the region)

Copan Stela H commissioned by Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil 695–738 AD

Guillermo Haro Observatory in Cananea, Sonora.

Jaina Island type figure (Maya) 650–800 AD

Cancun and the Riviera Maya is the most visited region in Latin America

Cacaxtla, Mural depicting the Bird Man 650–900 AD

The Baluarte Bridge is the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the fifth-highest bridge overall and the highest bridge in the Americas.

Chichen Itza, Temple of the Jaguars 900–1000 AD

Governor's Palace rear view and details, 10th century CE, Uxmal

Las castas. Casta painting showing 16 racial groupings. Anonymous, 18th century, oil on canvas, 148×104 cm, Museo Nacional del Virreinato, Tepotzotlán, Mexico.

Colonial caste painting of Mexican family in Viceroyalty of New Spain

Chichen Itza, "Temple of Three Dintels" 600–1000 CE

Octavio Paz was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico. This painting of her at the Basilica of Guadalupe is among her most notable depictions. Scientists debate if it should be dated 1531, the year of the first apparition was said to appear, or the 1550s.

The Calendar temple of Tlatelolco, 1200 CE

Detail of page 20 from the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, 14–15th century

General Hospital of Mexico in Mexico City.

Central Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

Olga Sánchez Cordero, Minister of the Interior (Gobernacion) in President López Obrador's cabinet

Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), with murals, other artwork, and a major performance space

Mexican Muralism. A cultural expression starting in the 1920s created by a group of Mexican painters after the Mexican Revolution.

Monument to Cuauhtémoc, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City (1887)

The colonial-era Cathedral Mexico City dominates one side of the main square of the capital

David Alfaro Siqueiros by Héctor García Cobo at Lecumberri prison, Mexico City, 1960.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, "The Tenth Muse." Posthmous portrait Juan Cabrera

Actress Dolores del Río, Hollywood star in the 1920s and 1930s and prominent figure of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s

Mole sauce, which has dozens of varieties across the Republic, is seen as a symbol of Mexicanidad and is considered Mexico's national dish.

Portrait of composer Carlos Chávez by Carl van Vechten

Plaque in Mexico City commemorating Lucha libre as an intangible cultural heritage

View of the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacan, the first human establishment in the area dating back to 600 BCE

View of the Pyramid of the Sun in the ancient city-state of Teotihuacan, which was the 6th largest city in the world at its peak (1 AD to 500 AD)

Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo) in the maya city of Chichen Itza

Storming of the Teocalli by Cortez and his Troops (1848)

The Baluarte Bridge was the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the fifth-highest bridge overall and is the highest bridge in the Americas.

Students in a burned bus during the protests of 1968

Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, two of the most famous mexican artists

Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico

Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Congress of Mexico

Alfonso Cuarón, the first mexican filmmaker to win the Academy Award for Best Director

Headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs

El Santo, one of the most iconic Mexican luchadores

Mexico City, the financial center of Mexico

Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest freshwater lake.

Regional variation of ancestry according to a study made by Ruiz-Linares in 2014, each dot represents a volunteer, with most coming from south Mexico and Mexico City.

Map for the year 2000 of the indigenous languages of Mexico having more than 100,000 speakers.

Mexico–United States barrier between San Diego's border patrol offices in California, USA (left) and Tijuana, Mexico (right)

Secretary of Health, Mexico City, Mexico.

Frida Kahlo, the most famous woman artist in Mexican history.

Octavio Paz was awarded the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature

El Santo, one of the most famous and iconic Mexican luchadores

Oaxaca (, also , , from ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca (Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico.

- Oaxaca

It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica.

- Mesoamerica

In particular, the Mesoamerican region was home to many intertwined civilizations; including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha.

- Mexico

The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatán to the humid southern Pacific and Caribbean lowlands.

- Mesoamerica

1000–1519 CE), Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec, and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán.

- Mexico

It has the largest ball court in the valley and stated to be the second largest in the Mesoamerican region.

- Oaxaca

6 related topics with Alpha

Nahuas

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The Nahuas are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Number of Nahuatl speakers per state, according to the 2000 Mexican census

Current distribution of Nahuatl variants

Ceramic sculpture of Nahua deity from Puebla

"Atlantean figures" from the Nahua culture of the Toltecs at Tula.

Depiction of Tlaxcaltec soldiers leading a Spaniard to Chalco from Lienzo de Tlaxcala

Depiction of Tlaxcaltecs and Spanish at the founding of the Colonial Province of Tlaxcala in 1545.

Nahua man of Morelos ploughing a bean field by mule

The first group of Nahuas to split from the main group were the Pochutec who went on to settle on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca possibly as early as 400 CE.

Through their integration in the Mesoamerican cultural area the Nahuas adopted many cultural traits including maize agriculture and urbanism, religious practices including a ritual calendar of 260 days and the practice of human sacrifices and the construction of monumental architecture and the use of logographic writing.

With the achievement of Mexican independence in 1821, the casta system, which divided the population into racial categories with differential rights, was eliminated and the term "Indian" (indio) was no longer used by government, although it continued to be used in daily speech.

Puebla

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Pine forest near Huauchinango in the Sierra Norte

The Convento de San Miguel Arcángel in Huejotzingo, part of the Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl.

Former Franciscan monastery at Tecali de Herrera

Mexican cavalry charge at the Battle of Puebla

Uriarte Talavera pottery workshop in Puebla, Mexico

Mural of the founding of Puebla by Roberto Cueva Del Río

Day of the Dead altar in the Sierra Mixteca

The exterior of the Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla City, Mexico, is recognized by the UNESCO for being the first public library in the Americas. Founded in 1646 by Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.

Hall of protocols of the State Government of Puebla, Puebla city.

Puebla ( colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla (Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico.

It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the north and east, Hidalgo, México, Tlaxcala and Morelos to the west, and Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south.

By the Mesoamerican period, the area was inhabited by a number of ethnicities.

Veracruz

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Mountain formation in the south of the state

Playa Villa Rica, where the Spanish built the first city of Veracruz

Depiction of the Battle of Veracruz during the Mexican–American War

Huachinango (red snapper) a la Veracruzana

The Olmec San Martin Pajapan Monument 1 on exhibit in the Museum of Anthropology in Xalapa

Mural depicting the history of Papantla in the town square by Teodoro Cano García

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico.

It is located in eastern Mexico and is bordered by seven states, which are Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco.

It is believed to have originated with the Nahua, Huastec and Otomi peoples in central Mexico, and then spread throughout most of Mesoamerica.

Map of the different dialect areas of Otomí in central Mexico

Oto-Manguean languages

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The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas.

The location of Zapotec dialect groups within the state of Oaxaca.

Mixtec languages (in green) and its surrounding languages including Triqui, Cuicatec and Amuzgo within the state of Oaxaca.

All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the family, which is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The highest number of speakers of Oto-Manguean languages today are found in the state of Oaxaca where the two largest branches, the Zapotecan and Mixtecan languages, are spoken by almost 1.5 million people combined.

This means that at least for the past 4000 years Oto-Manguean languages have coexisted with the other languages of Mesoamerica and have developed many traits in common with these, to such an extent that they are seen as part of a sprachbund called the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area.

Aztec Empire

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Alliance of three Nahua altepetl city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan.

First page of the Codex Boturini, showing the migration of the Mexica.

Jaguar warriors in a flowery war from the Codex Zouche-Nuttall

Map of the expansion of the empire, showing the areas that have been conquered by the Aztec rulers.

The maximal extent of the Aztec Empire, according to María del Carmen Solanes Carraro and Enrique Vela Ramírez.

The Valley of Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

Codex Azcatitlan depicting the Spanish army, with Cortés and Malinche in front

Cristóbal de Olid led Spanish soldiers with Tlaxcalan allies in the conquests of Jalisco and Colima of West Mexico.

A tlacochcalcatl pictured in the Codex Mendoza. Mexico-Tenochtitlan kept the city-states under threat de facto just by military brute force.

The Huēyi Teōcalli ruins in Mexico-Tenochtitlan remnants, present-day Historic center of Mexico City.

Ehecatl Temple in the foundations of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, Historic center of Mexico City.

This page from the westernized Codex Tovar depicts a scene of gladiatorial sacrificial rite, celebrated on the festival of Tlacaxipehualiztli.

The Nahuas placed Techcatl, the Aztec sacrifice altar, in the sacrifice paving, and the courtyard on the south side of Huēyi Teōcalli.

Aztec Empire territorial organization in 1519

Double Quetzalcoatl statues in the Huēyi Teōcalli ruins.

Coyolxauhqui killed after she tried kill her mother disc, sacrifice paving in the courtyard on the south side, Huēyi Teōcalli ruins.

The five Tlaloquê as depicted in the Codex Borgia.

The alliance controlled most of central Mexico at its height, as well as some more distant territories within Mesoamerica, such as the Xoconochco province, an Aztec exclave near the present-day Guatemalan border.

Moctezuma and Nezahualcoyotl continued to expand the empire east towards the Gulf of Mexico and south into Oaxaca.

The west side platform at the Monte Alban pyramid complex

Monte Albán

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Panoramic showing a section of the North Platform in the foreground.

View of Main Plaza from the North Platform. The South Platform can be seen in the distance.

The impressive stairs leading up to the South Platform.

View of Main Plaza from the South Platform, with Building J in the foreground.

Panorama of Monte Albán from the South Platform.

Unrestored section of Monte Albán with Oaxaca City in the background

One of the stelae known as Dancing by unorthodox positions of the characters represented.

Plan of Monte Alban's System IV structure, cut from a 3D laser scan image.

Image of Monte Alban's System IV structure, taken from a 3D laser scan image.

View across Main Plaza from the South Platform, with Building J in the foreground.

Building M as seen from the South Platform.

Stones of the Dancers, in the Plaza of the Dancers, next to Building L.

View of Main Plaza from the North Platform

Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W).

Besides being one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica, Monte Albán was important for nearly one thousand years as the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center.