Nahuatl languages in the context of "Aztec codex"

The Mesoamerican ballgame (Nahuatl languages: ōllamalīztli, Nahuatl pronunciation: [oːlːamaˈlist͡ɬi], Mayan languages: pitz) was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BCE the middle Mesoamerican Preclassic period of the Pre-Columbian era. The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, and a modernized version of the game, ulama, is still played by the indigenous peoples of Mexico in some places.

The rules of the game are not known, but judging from its descendant, ulama, they were probably similar to racquetball, where the aim is to keep the ball in play. The stone ballcourt goals are a late addition to the game.

Coatzacoalcos (Spanish: [koatsakoˈalkos]; formerly known as Puerto México; Nahuatl languages: Koatzakwalko; Zapotec: Niniashi; Popoluca: Puertu) is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the Bay of Campeche, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city had a 2020 census population of 212,540, making it the third-largest city in the state after Veracruz and Xalapa. The municipality covers a surface area of 471.16 km (181.916 sq mi) and reported a population of 310,698 persons. The municipality population in 2015 was 319,187 a decrease of 9% over 2020.

The Valley of Mexico (Spanish: Valle de México; Nahuatl languages: Anahuac, lit. 'Land Between the Waters'), sometimes also called Basin of Mexico, is a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec Empire. The valley used to contain five interconnected lakes called Lake Zumpango, Lake Xaltocan (Nahuatl languages: Xāltocān), Lake Xochimilco, Lake Chalco and the largest, Lake Texcoco, covering about 1,500 square kilometers (580 sq mi) of the valley floor. When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with about one million people. After the conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city, Mēxihco Tenōchtitlan, renaming it Ciudad de México (Mexico City) and over time began to drain the lakes' waters to control flooding.

The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The valley contains most of the Mexico City metropolitan area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, and Puebla. The Basin of Mexico covers approximately 9,600 km (3,700 sq mi) in the NNE-SSW direction with length to width dimensions of approximately 125 km (78 miles) to 75 km (47 miles) The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and most-studied is the area that contains Mexico City. This section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the "Valley of Mexico".The valley has a minimum elevation of 2,200 meters (7,200 ft) above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reach elevations of over 5,000 meters (16,000 ft). It is an enclosed valley with no natural outlet for water to flow to the sea although there is a gap to the north where there is a high mesa but no high mountain peaks. Within this vulnerable watershed all the native fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features. The first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area. These last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of artificial canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Páruco River and the Gulf of Mexico. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is an earthquake-prone zone.

Lake Texcoco (Spanish: Lago de Texcoco; Nahuatl languages: Tetzco(h)co) was a natural saline lake within the Anahuac or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known for an island situated on the western side of the lake where the Mexica built the city of Mēxihco Tenōchtitlan, which would later become the capital of the Aztec Empire. After the Spanish conquest, efforts to control flooding led to most of the lake being drained.

The entire lake basin is now almost completely occupied by Mexico City, the capital of the present-day nation of Mexico. Drainage of the lake has led to serious ecological and human consequences. The local climate and water availability have changed considerably, contributing to water scarcity in the area; subsequent groundwater extraction leads to land subsidence under much of the city. Native species endemic to the lake region, such as the axolotl, have become severely endangered or extinct due to ecosystem change.

Chinampa (Nahuatl languages: chināmitl [tʃiˈnaːmitɬ]) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. The word chinampa has Nahuatl origins, chinampa meaning “in the fence of reeds”. They are built up on wetlands of a lake or freshwater swamp for agricultural purposes, and their proportions ensure optimal moisture retention. This method was also used and occupied most of Lake Xochimilco. The United Nations designated it a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in 2018.

Although different technologies existed during the Post-classic and Colonial periods in the basin, chinampas have raised many questions about agricultural production and political development. After the Aztec Triple Alliance formed, the conquest of southern basin city-states, such as Xochimilco, was one of the first strategies of imperial expansion. Before this time, farmers maintained small-scale chinampas adjacent to their households and communities in the freshwater lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco. The Aztecs did not invent the chinampa technology but rather were the first to develop it to a large scale cultivation. Sometimes referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas are artificial islands that were created by interweaving reeds with stakes beneath the lake's surface, creating underwater fences. A buildup of soil and aquatic vegetation would be piled into these "fences" until the top layer of soil was visible on the water's surface.

Acapulco de Juárez (Spanish: [akaˈpulko ðe ˈxwaɾes] ), commonly called Acapulco (/ˌækəˈpʊlkoʊ/ AK-ə-PUUL-koh, US also /ˌɑːk-/ AHK-; Nahuatl languages: Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico's history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruise lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resort city. Acapulco de Juárez, Guerrero is the municipal seat of the municipality of Acapulco, Guerrero.

The city is one of Mexico's oldest beach resorts, coming into prominence in the 1940s through the 1960s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco was once a popular tourist resort, but due to a massive upsurge in gang violence and homicide numbers since 2014, Acapulco no longer attracts many foreign tourists, and most now only come from within Mexico itself. It is both the ninth deadliest city in Mexico and the tenth-deadliest city in the world as of 2022; the US government has warned its citizens not to travel there. In 2016 there were 918 murders, and the homicide rate was one of the highest in the world: 103 in every 100,000. In September 2018, the city's entire police force was disarmed by the military, due to suspicions that it had been infiltrated by drug gangs.

Amate (Spanish: amate [aˈmate] from Nahuatl languages: āmatl [ˈaːmat͡ɬ]) is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since the precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices.

Amate paper was extensively produced and used for both communication, records, and ritual during the Triple Alliance; however, after the Spanish conquest, its production was mostly banned and replaced by European paper. Amate paper production never completely died, nor did the rituals associated with it. It remained strongest in the rugged, remote mountainous areas of northern Puebla and northern Veracruz states. Spiritual leaders in the small village of San Pablito, Puebla were described as producing paper with "magical" properties. Foreign academics began studying this ritual use of amate in the mid-20th century, and the Otomi people of the area began producing the paper commercially. Otomi craftspeople began selling it in cities such as Mexico City, where the paper was revived by Nahua painters in Guerrero to create "new" indigenous craft, which was then promoted by the Mexican government.

Puebla de Zaragoza (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweβla]; Nahuatl languages: Cuetlaxcoapan; Mezquital Otomi: Nde'ma), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and the fourth-largest city in Mexico, after Mexico City, Monterrey, and Guadalajara. A viceregal era planned city, it is located in the southern part of Central Mexico on the main route between Mexico City and Mexico's main Atlantic port, Veracruz—about 100 km (62 mi) east southeast of Mexico City and about 220 km (140 mi) west of Veracruz.

The city was founded in 1531 in an area called Cuetlaxcoapan, which means "where serpents change their skin", between two of the main indigenous settlements at the time, Tlaxcala and Cholula. This valley was not populated in the 16th century, as in the pre-Hispanic period this area was primarily used for the "flower wars" between a number of populations. Due to its history and architectural styles ranging from Renaissance to Mexican Baroque, the city was named a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city is also famous for mole poblano, chiles en nogada and Talavera pottery. However, most of its economy is based on industry.