Oaxaca
Oaxaca is a state in southern Mexico, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and seven Mexican states. Its capital and largest city is Oaxaca de Juárez.
Oaxaca de Juárez: Oaxaca de Juárez is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The state’s capital anchors its political life and gives Oaxaca its best-known urban center.
Monte Albán: Monte Albán is an ancient Zapotec city and archaeological site on a mountaintop near Oaxaca City. Its political and ceremonial center reveals the region’s pre-Hispanic history.
Oaxacan textiles: Oaxacan textiles are woven and embroidered garments and fabrics made by Indigenous and other communities in Oaxaca. Distinct local weaving traditions turn regional knowledge into everyday goods and artistic work.
Benito Juárez: Benito Juárez was a Mexican statesman from Oaxaca who served as president during the nineteenth century. His life connects the state to national reform, Indigenous leadership, and Mexican political history.
Sierra Madre del Sur: The Sierra Madre del Sur is a mountain range running along southern Mexico’s Pacific coast. Its rugged terrain divides Oaxaca into distinct valleys, highlands, and coastal regions.
Mixtec codices: Mixtec codices are Indigenous screenfold manuscripts recording histories, genealogies, and rituals through pictorial writing. These manuscripts preserve accounts of Oaxaca’s precolonial rulers and communities.
Barro negro pottery: Barro negro pottery is a black, polished ceramic tradition associated with San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. This distinctive craft links a specific Oaxacan community to a widely recognized material tradition.
Oaxaca protests of 2006: The Oaxaca protests of 2006 were a prolonged political and social conflict centered on Oaxaca City. The protests exposed tensions among state authorities, teachers, and social movements.
Isthmus of Tehuantepec: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the narrowest land bridge between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. This eastern region links Oaxaca to major routes across southern Mexico.
Spanish conquest of Oaxaca: The Spanish conquest of Oaxaca was the sixteenth-century incorporation of the region into New Spain. Colonial rule transformed landholding, religion, and political authority across the state.