Oaxaca de Juárez
Oaxaca de Juárez, with a metropolitan population of 594 thousand,1 with 300 thousand in the city,2 located in the approximate center of the state of Oaxaca, in México, west north-west of Mitla. South of the city proper is the city of Zaáchila, with a population of 28 thousand,3 built upon its pre-Columbian precursor, Zaachila.4 The old city of Zaachila reached its greatest importance around 1400-1500,5 though the extent of its political authority is uncertain. The Aztecs built a fortress in Oaxaca (city) proper in 14406 and the Spanish took this over in the 16th century.
West of the city proper is Monte Albán, a great archaeological site of the Olmec and Zapotec cultures with famous pyramids carved out of a mountain. It together with the colonial buildings in the older part of Oaxaca and a ruined monastery south of the city constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as being tourist attractions.
| Year | Population | Political entity |
| 1800 CE | 25,0007| Reino de España (Spanish Empire) | |
| 1900 CE | 25,0007| México | |
| 2010 CE | 594,0001| México | |
External references
Part of the Monte Albán site, near Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca state, México
Historical maps
Footnotes
1. 2010 figure from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_areas_of_Mexico, accessed August 12, 2015.
2. 2014 figure from the side banner of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaxaca_City, accessed August 12, 2015.
3. Figure for 2005 from ths side banner of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_de_Zaachila, accessed June 13, 2016.
4. I do not know how the old city was spelled prior to the use of the Roman script.
5. Continental Tables and Maps: The Americas, in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 1400 and 1500 it may have been the largest city in southeastern México.
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oaxaca_City, accessed June 13, 2016.
7. Chandler, op. cit., Tables of the World's Largest Cities.
