Mexico travel guide

The Mayans are possibly the world’s greatest mystery. Each new excavation, and there are many still happening, such as at Palenque, where ruins are slowly but surely being restored from the jungle, brings new details about lifestyles and governance but, for the most part, their early secrets disappeared with them.

With over 60 indigenous groups living in Mexico today, the influx of people from the North and South to this idyllic, resource rich isthmus, has also formed a major part of its history. The Nahuatl were some of the earliest settlers, during the 6th and 7th century, and indeed there are over 1.5 million people who still speak their language today, mostly around Central Mexico. In fact, there are over 60 indigenous groups and just as many languages in Mexico today, resulting in the country officially defining itself, in its constitution, as a “pluricultural” nation.

The dominant culture that arose around 1000 CE was that of the Toltec people, presumed to have been of Nahua ethnicity, and also in Central Mexico, where their cultural hub can still be seen at Tula, not far from the modern day capital of Mexico City. It wasn’t over for the Mayans, however, with a restoration of the civilisation taking place between the 10th-16th centuries on the Yucatán Peninsula, their colossal creations at Chichén Itzá and Uxmal still bearing evidence of greatness.

Herein followed Nahua inter-tribal differences and wranglings, which, in short, led to the creation of the Aztec Empire, an alliance of Nahuatl-speaking groups which led the country between 1428-1521 from Tenochtitlan, where Mexico City is located today. Indeed, you can still see evidence of the ancient city in its Centro Histórico.

And then, from stage left, enter the Spanish, who began their notorious conquest, led by the conquistadors, literally ‘conquerors’, when they landed in Veracruz in 1519, and went on to take over Tenochtitlan in 1521. They built Mexico City on top of the ruins of the Aztec city and didn’t look back for three centuries, with Mexico the epicentre of their New Spain empire. Colonial architecture still abounds in Mexico and, of course, the national language is still Spanish, but with over 60 other languages still holding strong. As did the people, who fought for independence from the Spanish, a process that took some time. The Treaty of Cordoba, signed in 1821, enabled it to become a sovereign nation with a ruling monarchy and attempted empire that lasted a few years until the Republic of Mexico was established, by constitution, in 1824. Leaving the other countries, once coveted by Emperor Augustín de Iturbide, of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to do their own thing.

Mexico is still a republic, but the constitution was rewritten in 1917. During the interim, significant events such as the Mexican-American War from 1846-8 culminated in Mexico selling its northern provinces to the USA – which are today’s California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. Instability followed, with interventions attempted by Europeans once again, when, randomly, in 1864 Archduke Maximilian Habsburg of Austria was installed as Mexican emperor. Republican rebels ended that one, in 1867. And, just to ensure that no more insurgencies took place, the inevitable dictatorship kicked in, led by Porfirio Diaz between 1876 and 1911. This period was known as "Porfiriato”, which did bring development and economic growth, but with the inevitable downsides of dictatorship too.

After a period of unrest, the National Revolutionary Party was formed in 1929, and went on to rule, under the new name of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI for the next 70 years. Years that included tragedies such as the ‘Tlatelolco’ massacre of student demonstrators during the 1968 Olympics, the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, the 1994 guerrilla rebellion led by indigenous Zapatista National Liberation Army in the Chiapas region, and happier times such as the hosting of the football World Cup in 1986. The PRI stayed in power until 2000.

Drug related violence between cartels became the focus of President Felipe Calderón, who came into power in 2006, helped by a negotiation with the US to put in place security measures on the border. This war on drugs still continues today, although many more security measures are in place. The PRI has also returned to power, led by the current President Enrique Pena Nieto since 2012. One of his most controversial issues is the ongoing movement of immigrants from Mexico into the USA. Read more about the ethical issues relating to immigration and human rights in Mexico at Amnesty International.