A powerful Indigenous empire that ruled central Mexico before Spanish conquest in the early 1500s, known for their impressive cities, art, and complex society.
From Nahuatl 'Mexica' (the native name); Spanish conquistadors called them 'Azteca.' The term refers to an ethnic group and their vast empire that flourished 1345-1521 CE.
The Aztec capital Tenochtitlan was built on an island in a lake and had a population of 200,000+ people—larger than any European city at the time—with sophisticated engineering, education systems, and democratic governance that rivals modern cities.
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