The Zapotecs are an indigenous people of Mexico concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, with up to 650,000 Zapotecs living in Mexico by 2021. The Zapotec developed an advanced civilization and inhabited cities as well as towns, their homes built from stones and mortar. They had an early written language system, which perhaps influenced other Mesoamerican writing systems developed by the Aztec, Maya, and Mixtec. The Zapotec also had a marvelous capital city of Monte Alban, and they were advanced both socially and militarily - indeed, they managed to maintain their autonomy from the larger Aztec Empire. They held out from the Spanish invaders until the mid-sixteenth century. The name "Zapotec" was given to them by their rivals to the north, the Aztec. However, their creation tales spoke of their origins from supernatural beings from above, hence their native name "Be'ena Za'a", or "people of the clouds."
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