Mayan City-States: Map & History
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period.
Wikipedia Encyclopedic Compendium
Historiographical synthesis & structured realm registry
The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. Known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script), the civilization is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas.
Modern Countries Once Part of Mayan City-States
At its mapped extent, Mayan City-States covered territory in 5 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Guatemala247 BCE – 849 CE · nearly all
- Belize247 BCE – 849 CE · nearly all
- El Salvador247 BCE – 849 CE · a small part
- Mexico247 BCE – 849 CE · a small part
- Honduras247 BCE – 849 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Mayan City-States's borders of that time.
- Guatemala 247 BCE – 849 CE
- Mérida 299–849 CE
- Quetzaltenango 247 BCE – 849 CE
- Cancún 299–849 CE
- Tuxtla Gutiérrez 299–849 CE
- Villahermosa 299–849 CE
- Santa Ana 247 BCE – 849 CE
- Tapachula 247 BCE – 849 CE
- Campeche 299–849 CE
- San Cristobal de Las Casas 247 BCE – 849 CE
- Chetumal 299–849 CE
- El Progreso 247 BCE – 849 CE
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Mayan City-States in Depth
History
The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic. These were preceded by the Archaic Period, during which the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture emerged. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of Maya chronology, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decline. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author.
The Maya developed their first civilization in the Preclassic period. Scholars continue to discuss when this era of Maya civilization began. Maya occupation at Cuello (modern Belize) has been carbon dated to around 2600 BC.
Geography
The Maya civilization occupied a wide territory that included southeastern Mexico and northern Central America. This area included the entire Yucatán Peninsula and all of the territory now in the modern countries of Guatemala and Belize, as well as the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. Most of the peninsula is formed by a vast plain with few hills or mountains and a generally low coastline. The territory of the Maya covered a third of Mesoamerica, and the Maya were engaged in a dynamic relationship with neighbouring cultures that included the Olmecs, Mixtecs, Teotihuacan, and Aztecs.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Maya civilization (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mayan City-States: Key Facts
| Dissolved | 1521 |
|---|
Succeeded by
- Kingdom of New Spain
Facts from Wikidata Q28567 (CC0).
Mayan City-States Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Mayan City-States appears, with the other states of the time.
Mayan City-States Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 378,616 km² in 844 CE.
Mayan City-States: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Mayan City-States exist?
Mayan City-States is dated to 247 BCE – 849 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Mayan City-States at its peak?
At its peak in 844 AD Mayan City-States covered about 378,616 km².
How did the map of Mayan City-States change over time?
Mayan City-States appears on 10 dated world maps in the atlas, from 200 BCE to 750 CE. Each shows its borders in that year next to the other states of the time.