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135-398: The meaning of the word mestizo has changed with time; it was originally used in the colonial era to refer to individuals who had one Spanish and one Amerindian parent. Although the caste system and racial classification were officially abandoned when Mexico became independent , the label mestizo was still used in academic circles to refer to people of mixed race . A mestizo ideology

270-457: A corregidor (also known as an alcalde mayor ) or a cabildo (town council), both of which had judicial and administrative powers. In the late 18th century the Bourbon dynasty began phasing out the corregidores and introduced intendants , whose broad fiscal powers cut into the authority of the viceroys, governors and cabildos . Despite their late creation, these intendancies so affected

405-475: A Spanish city, sixteenth-century Puebla had Indians resident in the central core. Yucat%C3%A1n Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( / ˌ j uː k ə ˈ t ɑː n , - ˈ t æ n / YOO -kə- TA(H)N , UK also / ˌ j ʊ k -/ YUU - ; Spanish : Península de Yucatán [peˈninsula ðe ʝukaˈtan] ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala . The peninsula extends towards

540-401: A bacterial relative of syphilis . According to study lead researcher Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, "It really looks as if this woman had a very hard time and an extremely unhappy end of her life. Obviously, this is speculative, but given the traumas and the pathological deformations on her skull, it appears a likely scenario that she may have been expelled from her group and was killed in the cave, or

675-577: A culture distinct from indigenous and Spanish culture, with African and low Asian influences. After independence, the Mexican population was estimated at 50–60 percent indigenous, 18 to 22 percent Creole and about two percent Black; the rest of the population (21 to 25 percent) was considered mestizo , an important part of the independence movement. The banda de viento is a musical ensemble primarily consisting of wind instruments, brass, and percussion. The history of Mexican mestizo music dates back to

810-518: A fabrication by historians which began during the 1940s. Pilar Gonzalbo , in her study "The Trap of the Caste", discards the idea of a caste-based society in New Spain understood as a "social organization based on the race and supported by coercive power". Recent scholarship questions the existence of a caste system and reviewing the use of terms in colonial sources. According to a journal article, "In

945-558: A heavier European admixture while more recent ones commonly show a dominant Native American component. Admixture also varies by region, wealth, and sample size. Findings from these studies show Native American admixture being more dominant in the Central and Southern regions of Mexico whereas European admixture is greater in the Northern regions of Mexico. Some Mestizos may identify as "White," which generally indicates that European ancestry

1080-507: A localized network. Even where infrastructure was improved, transit on the Veracruz-Puebla main road had other obstacles, with wolves attacking mule trains, killing animals, and rendering some sacks of foodstuffs unsellable because they were smeared with blood. The north-south Acapulco route remained a mule track through mountainous terrain. Veracruz was the first Spanish settlement founded in what became New Spain, and it endured as

1215-430: A more inclusive classification have higher European ancestry, but at the moment it is undetermined. Regardless of criteria, the autosomal DNA studies agree that there is significant genetic variation depending on the region analyzed. Southern Mexico has the most prevalent Amerindian ancestry and small (but higher than average) African genetic contributions; Central Mexico (where most of the population lives) leans towards

1350-520: A multicultural country (rather than a monolithic mestizo country) would benefit Mexican society as a whole. Other critics say that the ideology could not homogenize Mexico's races because it sought to "whiten" indigenous peoples rather than "Indianize" whites and accidentally erased minority ethnic groups (such as Afro-Mexicans) from history. Outside Mexico, the word mestizo is still used to refer to people with mixed indigenous and European ancestry. This does not conform to present-day Mexican usage, where

1485-561: A person of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered mestizo by rejecting his indigenous culture or not speaking an indigenous language and a person with little (or no) indigenous genetic heritage would be considered indigenous by speaking an indigenous language or identifying with an indigenous cultural heritage. In some regions, such as the Yucatán Peninsula , mestizo refers to Maya-speaking populations in traditional communities for historical reasons. In Chiapas , Ladino

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1620-703: A phenotype-based selection, studies of populations considered indigenous because of the language spoken (like the Nahuas from Veracruz ) indicate a higher degree of European genetic admixture than populations considered mestizo in other studies. Populations considered mestizo are also genetically closer to continental European peoples (like those in Durango ) or European Americans (like those in Jalisco ). The genetic ancestry of Mestizo Mexicans varies by methodology and study. Typically, older studies have pointed towards

1755-583: A predominantly-European background for Mexico City mestizos : 57 percent European ancestry, 40 percent Native American ancestry, and three percent African ancestry. However, the study sampled only 19 people making it unlikely to be representative. A 2012 study published by the Journal of Human Genetics of Y chromosomes found the paternal ancestry of the Mexican mestizo population predominately European (64.9 percent), followed by Amerindian (30.8 percent) and African (1.2 percent). The European Y chromosome

1890-471: A region of nomadic and semi-nomadic indigenous populations, which do not easily support human settlement. In the 1540s, the discovery of silver in Zacatecas attracted Spanish mining entrepreneurs and workers, to exploit the mines, as well as crown officials to ensure the crown received its share of revenue. Silver mining became integral not only to the development of New Spain, but also to the enrichment of

2025-446: A steady stream of tax revenues by supplying the huge Mexican demand, so the crown limited zones of tobacco cultivation. It also established a small number of factories of finished products, and licensed distribution outlets ( estanquillos ). The crown also set up warehouses to store up to a year's worth of supplies, including paper for cigarettes, for the factories. With the establishment of the monopoly, crown revenues increased and there

2160-502: A woman approximately 30 years of age who lived at least 9,900 years ago. According to craniometric measurements, the skull is believed to conform to the mesocephalic pattern, like the other three skulls found in Tulum caves. Three different scars on the skull of the woman showed that she was hit with something hard and her skull bones were broken. Her skull also had crater-like deformations and tissue deformities that appeared to be caused by

2295-771: Is an important aspect of the culture, social structure, and popular traditions of mestizo Mexico. An example of this blended cuisine is the use of mole for special occasions and holidays throughout the country. Traditional Mexican cuisine was added to UNESCO 's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. New Spain New Spain , officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( Spanish : Virreinato de Nueva España [birejˈnato ðe ˈnweβa esˈpaɲa] ; Nahuatl : Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl ), originally

2430-492: Is evidence that despite high prices and expanding rates of poverty, tobacco consumption rose while at the same time, general consumption fell. In 1787 during the Bourbon Reforms Veracruz became an intendancy , a new administrative unit. Founded in 1531 as a Spanish settlement, Puebla de los Angeles quickly rose to the status of Mexico's second-most important city. Its location on the main route between

2565-527: Is not uniform in its genetic composition, with significant regional variation. Light-skinned mestizos predominate in Sonora , and mestizos from the central region ( Guanajuato and Zacatecas ) are split between indigenous and European composition. The highest African contribution in the twelve participating states (representative of the country's major regions ) was found in Guerrero and Veracruz , and

2700-485: Is present in New Spain 's first national census (in 1793), in which castizo , pardo , mulatto and zambo are also collectively listed as "castes". The caste system and racial censuses were legally abandoned after independence, and academics who reviewed and republished the census figures referred to the castes simply as mestizos . A number of historians have questioned the existence of a caste system, considering it

2835-469: Is the dominant element in their genetic makeup. This identity often reflects a heritage where European characteristics are the most visible or prominent in their appearance. However, this typically does not mean they are purely European in ancestry and likely have significant native contribution. Genetic research on the Mexican population is abundant, and has yielded a variety of results. Genetic studies in

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2970-586: Is the site of the Chicxulub crater impact, which was created 66 million years ago by an asteroid of about 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles) in diameter at the end of the Cretaceous Period . In 2020, an underwater archaeological expedition led by Jerónimo Avilés excavated Chan Hol cave, near the Tulum archaeological site in the state of Quintana Roo on the peninsula, and revealed the skeleton of

3105-407: Is unknown, but the earliest surviving records categorizing people by "qualities" (as castes were known in early colonial Mexico) are late-18th-century church birth and marriage records. An extensive caste system assigned a name to each possible racial combination; unlike later definitions of mestizo , in these records it referred only to people with half-Spanish and half-indigenous ancestry. The system

3240-708: Is used instead of mestizo . Mestizo is not widely used in contemporary Mexican society; its use is limited to social and cultural studies when referring to the non-indigenous Mexican population. It has a pejorative connotation; most Mexicans who would be defined as mestizos in sociological literature would probably self-identify as Mexicans, complicating their quantification via self-identification. This contrasts with ethno-racial terms such as "Indian", "White" and "Black", still common in everyday Mexican social interactions. Genetic ancestry of Mexicans according to various sources Mexicans who are genetically mestizo are primarily of European and Native American ancestry. At

3375-531: The Amsterdam stock market , the first in history and whose origin is owed precisely to the need for funds to finance pirate expeditions, as later by the London market. The above is what some authors call the "historical process of the transfer of wealth from the south to the north." In the colonial period, basic patterns of regional development emerged and strengthened. European settlement and institutional life

3510-943: The Cayman Islands , Trinidad , and the Bay Islands . New Spain also claimed jurisdiction over the overseas territories of the Spanish East Indies in Asia and Oceania: the Philippine Islands, the Mariana Islands , the Caroline Islands , parts of Taiwan , and parts of the Moluccas . Although asserting sovereignty over this vast realm, it did not effectively control large swaths. Other European powers, including England, France, and

3645-919: The Isthmus of Tehuantepec , the narrowest point in Mexico separating the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, from the Pacific Ocean. Some consider the isthmus to be the geographic boundary between Central America and the rest of North America , placing the peninsula in Central America. Politically, all of Mexico, including the Yucatán, is generally considered part of North America, while Guatemala and Belize are considered part of Central America. The proper derivation of

3780-836: The Kingdom of New Spain , was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire , established by Habsburg Spain . It was one of several domains established during the Spanish conquest of the Americas , and had its capital in Mexico City. Its jurisdiction comprised a large area of the southern and western portions of North America, mainly what became Mexico and the Southwestern United States, but also California , Florida and Louisiana ; Central America,

3915-837: The Manila galleon . In the Philippines Manila near the South China Sea was the main port. The ports were fundamental for overseas trade, stretching a trade route from Asia, through the Manila galleon to the Spanish mainland. These were ships that made voyages from the Philippines to Mexico, whose goods were then transported overland from Acapulco to Veracruz and later reshipped from Veracruz to Cádiz in Spain. So then,

4050-578: The Metropolis (mother country) due to Spanish Roman Catholic Monarchy's frequent preoccupation with European wars (enormous amounts of this wealth were spent hiring mercenaries to fight the Protestant Reformation ), as well as the incessant decrease in overseas transportation caused by assaults from companies of British buccaneers , Dutch corsairs and pirates of various origin. These companies were initially financed by, at first, by

4185-531: The Mexica (Aztec) Empire . Central Mexico became the base of expeditions of exploration and conquest, expanding the territory claimed by the Spanish Empire. With the political and economic importance of the conquest, the crown asserted direct control over the densely populated realm. The crown established New Spain as a viceroyalty in 1535, appointing as viceroy Antonio de Mendoza , an aristocrat loyal to

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4320-732: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521) to the collapse of Spanish rule in the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821). Beginning with the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in 1521 by Hernán Cortés , Spanish rule was established, leading to the creation of governing bodies like the Council of the Indies and the Audiencia to maintain control. It involved the forced conversion of indigenous populations to Catholicism and

4455-523: The port of Veracruz . Alexander von Humboldt called this area, Mesa de Anahuac , which can be defined as the adjacent valleys of Puebla, Mexico, and Toluca, enclosed by high mountains, along with their connections to the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz and the Pacific port of Acapulco , where over half the population of New Spain lived. These valleys were linked trunk lines, or main routes, facilitating

4590-511: The "Indian problem" by transforming indigenous communities into mestizo ones. Although the concept of mestizo has been generally praised in Mexican intellectual circles, it has recently been criticized; according to detractors, it delegitimizes the importance of race in Mexico by saying that "(racism) [does] not exist here (in Mexico), as everybody is Mestizo." A study concludes that Mexico introducing racial classification and accepting itself as

4725-457: The 1530s sugar production was underway. New Spain's first viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza established an hacienda on lands taken from Orizaba. Indians resisted cultivating sugarcane themselves, preferring to tend their subsistence crops. As in the Caribbean, black slave labor became crucial to the development of sugar estates. During the period 1580–1640 when Spain and Portugal were ruled by

4860-710: The Americas and Northern Europe , with traces of haplogroups from Central Asia , Southeast Asia , South Asia , Western Asia , the Caucasus , North Africa , the Near East , East Asia , Northeast Asia , Southwest Asia and the Middle East . A study published in 2011 of Mexican mitochondrial DNA found that maternal ancestry was predominately Native American (85–90 percent), with a minority having European (five to seven percent) or African (three to five percent) mtDNA. A Mexico City autosomal ancestry study found that

4995-471: The Captaincies General of the Philippines (established 1574) and Guatemala (established in 1609), which were joint military and political commands with a certain level of autonomy. The viceroy was captain-general of those provinces that remained directly under his command. At the local level there were over two hundred districts, in both indigenous and Spanish areas, which were headed by either

5130-469: The Caribbean, and northern parts of South America; several Pacific archipelagos, including the Philippines and Guam . Additional Asian colonies included " Spanish Formosa ," on the island of Taiwan . After the 1521 Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , conqueror Hernán Cortés named the territory New Spain, and established the new capital, Mexico City, on the site of Tenochtitlan , the capital of

5265-468: The European ancestry of Mexicans was 52 percent; the remainder was primarily Amerindian, with a small African contribution. Maternal ancestry was also analyzed, with 47 percent of European origin. The only criterion for sample selection was that the volunteers self-identified as Mexican. However, the sample pool was rather low at only 37 participants making its accuracy dubious at best. New Spain developed

5400-583: The Holy Office of the Inquisition , the merchants' guild ( consulado ), and home of the most elite families in the Kingdom of New Spain. Mexico City was the single most populous city, not just in New Spain, but for many years the entire Western Hemisphere, with a high concentration of mixed-race castas . Significant regional development grew along the main transportation route from the capital east to

5535-604: The Maya ruins of Tulum and Coba . The population of the Yucatán Peninsula is very different throughout each part of the Peninsula. Population density and ethnic composition are two factors that play into the total population. The most populated area is Mérida in Yucatán state and the surrounding region, contrasted by the state of Quintana Roo, the least populated part of the peninsula. In terms of ethnic composition,

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5670-499: The Mexican mestizo population vary widely. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , which bases its estimate on the 1921 census, from one-half to two-thirds of the Mexican population is mestizo . As Mexico's national identity, all Mexicans who are not indigenous and participate in the nation's culture may be considered mestizo (culturally Mexican) regardless of racial background. The word had disappeared from

5805-437: The Mexican census. All Mexicans who did not speak indigenous languages (including European Mexicans) were now considered mestizo , transforming a racial identity into a national one. People of different phenotypes make up Mexico's mestizo population, with many being of predominantly European or predominantly Indigenous ancestry. Since the term has a number of socio-cultural, economic, racial and genetic meanings, estimates of

5940-813: The Native American component. European admixture gradually increases in the West and especially the North . In cities on the Mexico–United States border , studies suggest a significant resurgence of Amerindian and African admixture. A 2006 INMEGEN study which genotyped 104 samples from the states of Sonora, Yucatan, Guerrero, Zacatecas, Veracruz, and Guanajuato, reported that mestizo Mexicans in those areas combined average 59 percent European, 35 percent "Asian" (primarily Amerindian), and 5 percent other. INMEGEN research has found that Mexico's mestizo population

6075-705: The Netherlands established colonies in territories Spain claimed. Much of what was called in the United States the "Spanish borderlands", is territory that attracted few Spanish settlers, with less dense indigenous populations and apparently lacking in mineral wealth. Huge deposits of gold in California were discovered immediately after it was incorporated into the U.S. following the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). The northern region of New Spain in

6210-530: The Provincias Internas (1776) (analogous to a dependent captaincy general). Two governorates , third-level administrative divisions, were established, the Governorate of Spanish Florida (Spanish: La Florida ) and the Governorate of Spanish Louisiana (Spanish: Luisiana ). The high courts, or audiencias , were established in major areas of Spanish settlement. In New Spain the high court

6345-527: The Spanish crown claimed on the mainland of the Americas much of North America south of Canada, that is: all of modern Mexico and Central America except Panama ; most of the United States west of the Mississippi River, plus the Floridas . The Spanish West Indies , settled prior to the conquest of the Aztec Empire, also came under New Spain's jurisdiction: Cuba, Hispaniola , Puerto Rico, Jamaica,

6480-489: The Spanish crown, which marked a transformation in the global economy . New Spain's port of Acapulco became the New World terminus of the transpacific trade with the Philippines via the Manila galleon . New Spain became a vital link between Spain's New World empire and its East Indies empire . From the beginning of the 19th century, the kingdom fell into crisis, aggravated by the 1808 Napoleonic invasion of Iberia and

6615-523: The United States in the nineteenth century. Regional characteristics of colonial Mexico have been the focus of considerable study. For those based in the vice-regal capital of Mexico City, everywhere else were the "provinces." Even in the modern era, "Mexico" for many refers solely to Mexico City, with the pejorative view that anywhere outside the capital is a hopeless backwater. "Fuera de México, todo es Cuauhtitlán" ["outside of Mexico City, it's all Podunk"], that is, poor, marginal, and backward, in short,

6750-502: The Viceroyalty); Panama (1st one, 1538–1543); Guatemala (1543); Guadalajara (1548); Manila (1583). Audiencia districts further incorporated the older, smaller divisions known as governorates ( gobernaciones , roughly equivalent to provinces ), which had been originally established by conquistador -governors known as adelantados . Provinces which were under military threat were grouped into captaincies general , such as

6885-520: The Yucatán Peninsula any time of year. Although these storms pummel the area with heavy rains and high winds, they tend to be short-lived, clearing after about an hour. The average percentage of days with rain per month ranges from a monthly low of 7% in April to a high of 25% in October. Breezes can have a cooling effect, humidity is generally high, particularly in the remaining rainforest areas. Due to

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7020-664: The Yucatán Peninsula is an unconfined flat lying karst landscape. Sinkholes, known locally as cenotes , are widespread in the northern lowlands. According to the Alvarez hypothesis , the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs at the transition from the Cretaceous to the Paleogene Period, the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg boundary), 66 million years ago was caused by an asteroid impact somewhere in

7155-417: The Yucatán Peninsula was largely a cattle ranching, logging, chicle and henequen production area. Since the 1970s, the Yucatán Peninsula has reoriented its economy towards tourism, especially in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Aside from tourism, another source of income that is important in the Peninsula is logging as well as chicle industries specifically in Belize. Oil was also found in certain parts of

7290-411: The Yucatán, bringing in more economic opportunities. Once a small fishing village, Cancún in the northeast of the peninsula has grown into a thriving city. The Riviera Maya , which stretches along the east coast of the peninsula between Cancún and Tulum , houses over 50,000 beds. The best-known locations are the former fishing town of Playa del Carmen , the ecological parks Xcaret and Xel-Há and

7425-450: The aforementioned "Ring of Cenotes", as well as the presence of impact debris such as shocked quartz and tektites , a type of glass formed during meteorite impacts . The Arrowsmith Bank is a submerged bank located off the northeastern end of the peninsula. The peninsula has a tropical climate, which ranges from semi-arid in the northwest to humid in the south. Average annual rainfall ranges from less than 800 mm (30 inches) in

7560-449: The ample tithe income indicates, plus manufacturing woolen cloth for the domestic market. Merchants, manufacturers, and artisans were important to the city's economic fortunes, but its early prosperity was followed by stagnation and decline in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The foundation of the town of Puebla was a pragmatic social experiment to settle Spanish immigrants without encomiendas to pursue farming and industry. Puebla

7695-427: The average proportion of Native American, European, and African ancestry for the population was 64, 32 and four percent, respectively. Additional autosomal DNA studies conducted on people from Mexico City show a predominantly Native American background, with Native American ancestry ranging from 61 to 69 percent in five studies. The number of people sampled in the studies ranged from 66 to 984. An outlier study indicated

7830-445: The blending of Spanish and indigenous cultures. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Spanish settlers founded major cities such as Mexico City, Puebla , and Guadalajara , turning New Spain into a vital part of the Spanish Empire. The discovery of silver in Zacatecas and Guanajuato significantly boosted the economy, leading to conflicts like the Chichimeca War . Missions and presidios were established in northern frontiers, aiding in

7965-404: The capital and the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz , size and complexity of indigenous populations, and the presence or absence of mineral resources. Central and southern Mexico had dense indigenous populations, each with complex social, political, and economic organization, but no large-scale deposits of silver to draw Spanish settlers. By contrast, the northern area of Mexico was arid and mountainous,

8100-457: The coastal margins. The thousands of sinkholes known as cenotes throughout the region provide access to the groundwater system. The cenotes have long been relied on by ancient and contemporary Maya people. The vegetation and plant communities of the peninsula vary from north to south. The Yucatán dry forests occupy the dry northwestern peninsula, and include dry forests and scrublands and cactus scrub. The Yucatán moist forests occur across

8235-465: The colonial era was considered marginal to Spanish interests compared to the most densely populated and lucrative areas of central Mexico. To shore up its claims in North America in the eighteenth century as other powers encroached on its claims, the crown sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , which explored and claimed the coast of British Columbia and Alaska. Religious missions and fortified presidios were established to shore up Spanish control on

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8370-448: The country's entire population became mestizo . By the 1930 census the racial classifications of "White" and "Mestizo" had disappeared, and all Mexicans who did not speak an indigenous language were implicitly considered mestizo . The government also implemented cultural policies designed to "help" indigenous peoples achieve the same level of progress as mestizo society, eventually assimilating them into mainstream Mexican culture to solve

8505-399: The country, Amerindian ancestry is dominant." According to a nationwide autosomal DNA study from 2008, by the University of Brasília (UnB), Mexican genetic admixture is 60.1% Native American, 29.8% European, and 10.1% African. In 2014, researchers Francisco Salzano and Mónica Sans looked through approximately twenty previous studies done on the admixture of Mexicans. Their general conclusion

8640-415: The crown to oversee the Church in all aspects save doctrine. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was created by royal decree on October 12, 1535, in the Kingdom of New Spain with a viceroy appointed as the king's "deputy" or substitute. This was the first New World viceroyalty and one of only two that the Spanish Rmpire administered in the continent until the 18th-century Bourbon Reforms . At its greatest extent,

8775-414: The discovery of silver in the north, the Spanish sought to conquer or pacify those peoples in order to exploit the mines and develop enterprises to supply them. Nonetheless, much of northern New Spain had sparse indigenous population and attracted few Europeans. The Spanish crown and later the Republic of Mexico did not effectively exert sovereignty over the region, leaving it vulnerable to the expansionism of

8910-573: The driest parts of the northwest up to 2,000 mm (80 inches) in the Petén Basin to the south. Rainfall varies seasonally, with August and September generally the wettest months. Like much of the Caribbean , the peninsula lies within the Atlantic Hurricane Belt, and with its almost uniformly flat terrain it is vulnerable to these large storms coming from the east, and the area has been devastated by many hurricanes, such as Hurricane Gilbert , Hurricane Emily , Hurricane Wilma , and Hurricane Dean . Strong storms called nortes can quickly descend on

9045-414: The east along the Caribbean Sea. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System is an immense coral barrier reef which stretches over 1,100 km (700 miles) along the eastern coast of the peninsula. The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán , Campeche , and Quintana Roo , as well as Guatemala 's Petén Department and almost all of Belize . In the late historic and early modern eras,

9180-473: The end of the colonial period, about 10 percent of the population (Euromestizos and Indomestizos were estimated at 1,000,000 and 600,000, respectively). The mestizo ideology, which has blurred racial lines at the institutional level, has significantly influenced Mexican genetic studies. Since the criteria used in studies to determine if a Mexican is mestizo or indigenous are often cultural traits (such as language spoken) instead of racial self-identification or

9315-489: The entire Mexican population as mestizo . Other studies may do both, such as the 2009 genetic study published by the Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica (INMEGEN) which reported that 93 percent of the Mexican population is mestizo ; the remainder were Amerindian . However, the INMEGEN study only recruited people who self-identified as mestizo . Some studies avoid racial classification, including anyone who self-identifies as Mexican. This may suggest that studies that use

9450-470: The establishment of economic societies, were part of the efforts to enhance efficiency and revenue for the crown. The decline of New Spain culminated in the early 19th century with the Mexican War of Independence. Following Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla 's 1810 Cry of Dolores , the insurgent army waged an eleven-year war against Spanish rule. The eventual alliance between royalist military officer Agustín de Iturbide and insurgent leader Vicente Guerrero led to

9585-455: The even worse treatment given to the black slaves. In colonial Mexico, Encomenderos de Negros were specialized middlemen during the first half of the seventeenth century. While encomendero (alternatively, encomenderos de indios) generally refers to men granted the labor and tribute of a particular indigenous group in the immediate post-conquest era, encomenderos de negros were Portuguese slave dealers who were permitted to operate in Mexico for

9720-601: The existence of at least two morphologically diverse groups of people living separately in Mexico during the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene . The Yucatán Peninsula constitutes a significant proportion of the ancient Maya lowlands and was the central location of the Maya Civilization. The Maya culture also extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula into Guatemala , Honduras , and the highlands of Chiapas . There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout

9855-525: The expansion and control of territories that later became part of the southwestern United States. The 18th century saw the implementation of the Bourbon Reforms , which aimed to modernize and strengthen the colonial administration and economy. These reforms included the creation of intendancies , increased military presence, and the centralization of royal authority. The expulsion of the Jesuits and

9990-419: The extreme karst nature of the whole peninsula, the northern half is devoid of aboveground rivers. Where lakes and swamps are present, the water is marshy and generally unpotable. Due to its coastal location, the whole of the peninsula is underlain by an extensive contiguous density stratified coastal aquifer , where a fresh water lens formed from meteoric water floats on top of intruding saline water from

10125-532: The forced abdication of the Bourbon monarch, Charles IV . This resulted in a political crisis in New Spain and much of the Spanish Empire in 1808, which ended with the government of Viceroy José de Iturrigaray . Conspiracies of American-born Spaniards sought to take power, leading to the Mexican War of Independence , 1810–1821. At its conclusion in 1821, the viceroyalty was dissolved and the Mexican Empire

10260-417: The formation of regional identity that they became the basis for the nations of Central America and the first Mexican states after independence . As part of the sweeping eighteenth-century administrative and economic changes known as the Bourbon Reforms , the Spanish crown created new administrative units called intendancies , to strengthen central control over the viceroyalty. Some measures aimed to break

10395-546: The frequency of blond hair and light eyes in Mexicans was 18.5 and 28.5 percent, respectively, giving Mexico the study's second-highest frequency of blond hair. The reason for the discrepancy between phenotypical traits and genetic ancestry may lie in the low African contribution in the Mexican population compared with that of Brazil and Colombia. An extensive study published in 2020 estimated Mexican mestizo admixture using HLA class I and class II allele groups. The sample group

10530-432: The genetic ancestry of Mexican mestizos was 60 percent Native American, 36 percent European and 4% African, making Mexico (after Peru and Bolivia) the country with the highest Amerindian ancestry of the five sample populations however this mostly used individuals from the southern part of Mexico with little representation of the north, which comprises a significant portion of the population. Phenotypical traits were analyzed;

10665-424: The greater Caribbean Basin . The deeply buried Chicxulub crater is centered off the north coast of the peninsula near the town of Chicxulub . The now-famous "Ring of Cenotes," a geologic structure composed of sinkholes arranged in a semi-circle, outlines one of the shock-waves from this impact event in the approximately 66-million-year-old rock. The existence of the crater has been supported by evidence including

10800-708: The ground. On the mainland, the administrative units included Las Californias , that is, the Baja California peninsula, still part of Mexico and divided into Baja California and Baja California Sur ; Alta California (modern Arizona , California , Nevada , Utah , western Colorado , and southern Wyoming ); (from the 1760s) Louisiana (including the western Mississippi River basin and the Missouri River basin); Nueva Extremadura (the modern states of Coahuila and Texas ); and Santa Fe de Nuevo México (parts of Texas and New Mexico ). The Viceroyalty

10935-466: The highest Asian contribution was found in Guerrero and Sonora. However, In 2009 INMEGEN published an updated version of the study with a much larger sample size of 300 identified mestizos. The combined admixture average resulted in modest variation, with 55.2% Native American, 41.8% European, 1.8% African, and 1.2% Asian. In this group, Sonora had the most European admixture at 61.6%, while Guerrero had

11070-457: The lack of state involvement in the development of physical infrastructure was to have lasting effects, constraining development until the late nineteenth century. Despite the road improvements, transit was still difficult, particularly for heavy military equipment. Although the crown had ambitious plans for both the Toluca and Veracruz portions of the king's highway, improvements were limited to

11205-732: The largest continuous tracts of tropical rainforest in Central America . However, these forests are suffering extensive deforestation . Mangroves occur along the coast, with the Usumacinta mangroves around the Laguna de Términos in the southwest, the Petenes mangroves along the west coast, Ría Lagartos mangroves along the northern shore of the peninsula, and the Mayan Corridor mangroves and Belizean Coast mangroves to

11340-413: The least amount of European admixture at only 28.5%. Researchers in other reports have indicated that recent samples are more likely to contain a dominant Native American component compared to older ones. Researchers Francisco Salzano and Mónica Sans stated, "European ancestry is most prevalent in the north (Chihuahua, 50%; Sonora, 62%; Nuevo León, 55%), but in a recent sample from Nuevo León and elsewhere in

11475-423: The mean admixture 0.590, 0.348 and 0.062 for Amerindian, European and African, respectively. European admixture was found to be about 70 percent on average for mestizos in one report in which they're suggested to be at a higher socioeconomic level, however, this data was published in 1978, which could make the findings outdated. A 2011 autosomal DNA study conducted in Mexico City with 1,310 samples indicated that

11610-663: The mid-nineteenth century arrival of piston brass instruments, when communities tried to imitate military bands. Mestizo cuisine combines produce such as corn, chili peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and fruits and brushes from the Americas with meat and produce from Europe such as beef and chicken, wheat, and many old world fruits. Prior to European contact, only meats such as turkeys, deer, quail and fish were consumed. Europe introduced other meats (such as pork, goat, and sheep), dairy products (especially cheese and milk), and rice into Mexican cuisine. African and Asian influences also minimally influenced Mexican cuisine . Mexican cuisine

11745-538: The middle and east of the peninsula, and are characterized by semi-deciduous forests where 25 to 50% of the trees lose their leaves during the summer dry season. The Belizian pine forests are found in several enclaves across central Belize. The southernmost portion of the peninsula is in the Petén–Veracruz moist forests ecoregion, an evergreen rain forest. Northern Guatemala ( El Petén ), Mexico ( Campeche and Quintana Roo ), and western Belize are still occupied by

11880-412: The mines in the north of Mexico had a workforce of black slave labor and indigenous wage labor, not draft labor. Indigenous who were drawn to the mining areas were from different regions of the center of Mexico, with a few from the north itself. With such diversity they did not have a common ethnic identity or language and rapidly assimilated to Hispanic culture. Although mining was difficult and dangerous,

12015-554: The monarch rather than the conqueror Cortés. New Spain was the first of the viceroyalties that Spain created, the second being Peru in 1542, following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire . Both New Spain and Peru had dense indigenous populations at conquest as a source of labor and material wealth in the form of vast silver deposits, discovered and exploited beginning in the mid-1500s. New Spain developed strong regional divisions based on local climate, topography, distance from

12150-418: The movement of vital goods and people to get to key areas. Even in the relatively richly endowed region of Mexico, the difficulty of transit of people and goods in the absence of rivers and level terrain remained a major challenge to the economy of New Spain. This challenge persisted during the post-independence years until the late nineteenth-century construction of railroads. In the colonial era and up until

12285-466: The multiethnic Indian populations in the Veracruz area and for that reason Spaniards imported black slaves as either an alternative to indigenous labor or its complete replacement in the event of a repetition of the Caribbean die-off. A few Spaniards acquired prime agricultural lands left vacant by the indigenous demographic disaster. Portions of the province could support sugar cultivation and as early as

12420-401: The natives could have actually said, among which " mathan cauyi athán ", " tectecán ", " ma'anaatik ka t'ann " and " ci u t'ann ". This origin story was first told by Hernán Cortés in his letters to Charles V . Later 16th century historians Motolinia and Francisco López de Gómara also repeat this version. In some versions the expedition is not the one captained by Córdoba but instead

12555-541: The northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the Caribbean Sea to the east. The Yucatán Channel , between the northeastern corner of the peninsula and Cuba , connects the two bodies of water. The peninsula is approximately 181,000 km (70,000 sq mi) in area. It has low relief and is almost entirely composed of porous limestone . The peninsula lies east of

12690-506: The one a year later captained by Juan de Grijalva . The second major theory is that the name is in some way related to the yuca crop, as written by Bernal Díaz del Castillo . Others theories claim that it is a derivative of Chontal Tabascan word yokat'an meaning speaker of the Yoko ochoco language, or an incorrect Nahuatl term yokatlan as supposedly "place of richness" ( yohcāuh cannot be paired with tlán ). The Yucatán Peninsula

12825-501: The only viable Gulf Coast port, the gateway for Spain to New Spain. The difficult topography around the port affected local development and New Spain as a whole. Going from the port to the central plateau entailed a daunting 2000 meter climb from the narrow tropical coastal plain in just over a hundred kilometers. The narrow, slippery road in the mountain mists was treacherous for mule trains, and in some cases mules were hoisted by ropes. Many tumbled with their cargo to their deaths. Given

12960-493: The peninsula; some of the better-known are Chichen Itza , Coba , Tulum , and Uxmal . Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there. The peninsula is the exposed portion of the larger Yucatán Platform , all of which is composed of carbonate and soluble rocks, being mostly limestone although dolomite and evaporites are also present at various depths. The whole of

13095-417: The periphery. The picture is far more complex, however; while the capital is enormously important as the center of institutional, economic, and social power, the provinces played a significant role in colonial Mexico. Regions (provinces) developed and thrived to the extent that they became sites of economic production and tied into networks of trade. "Spanish society in the Indies was import-export oriented at

13230-441: The popular Mexican vocabulary long ago, since it had a pejorative connotation. Some modern academics have challenged the mestizo concept on the grounds that census data indicates that marriages between people of different races were rare; arguing that the ideology has incentivized racism rather than ending it, denying Mexico's distinct ethnic groups and cultures. When the term mestizo and the caste system were introduced to Mexico

13365-477: The population there, a far greater proportion than any other area of New Spain, and greater than even nearby Jalapa. In 1765 the crown created a monopoly on tobacco, which directly affected agriculture and manufacturing in the Veracruz region. Tobacco was a valuable, high-demand product. Men, women, and even children smoked, something commented on by foreign travelers and depicted in eighteenth-century casta paintings. The crown calculated that tobacco could produce

13500-566: The port of Acapulco and European goods via the flota (convoy) from the Spanish port of Cádiz . Spaniards also settled in the temperate area of Orizaba , east of the Citlaltepetl volcano. Orizaba varied considerably in elevation from 800 metres (2,600 ft) to 5,700 metres (18,700 ft) (the summit of the Citlaltepetl volcano), but "most of the inhabited part is temperate." Some Spaniards lived in semitropical Córdoba , which

13635-452: The port of Veracruz and the capital had some short sections paved and bridges constructed. The construction was done despite protests from some indigenous settlements when the infrastructure improvements, which sometimes included rerouting the road through communal lands. The Spanish crown finally decided that road improvement was in the interests of the state for military purposes, as well as for fostering commerce, agriculture, and industry, but

13770-474: The power of local elites in order to improve the economy of the empire. Reforms included the improvement of public participation in communal affairs, distribution of undeveloped lands to the indigenous and Spaniards, ending the corrupt practices of local crown officials, encouraging trade and mining, and establishing a system of territorial division similar to the model created by the government of France, already adopted in Spain. The establishment of intendancies

13905-412: The railroads were built in key areas in post-independence in the late nineteenth century, mule trains were the main mode of transporting goods. Pack mules were used because unpaved roads, mountainous terrain, and seasonal flooding could not generally accommodate carts. In the late eighteenth century, the crown devoted some resources to study and remedy the poor roads. The Camino Real (royal road) between

14040-633: The regions or provinces that had developed earlier in the center, South, and North. Many of the intendancy boundaries became Mexican state boundaries after independence. The intendancies were created between 1764 and 1789, with the greatest number in the mainland in 1786: 1764 La Habana (later subdivided); 1766 Nueva Orleans; 1784 Puerto Rico; 1786 México, Veracruz, Puebla de Los Ángeles, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Durango, Oaxaca, Guatemala, San Salvador, Comayagua, León, Santiago de Cuba, Puerto Príncipe; 1789 Mérida. The history of mainland New Spain spans three hundred years from

14175-480: The same location vary. In Monterrey , Nuevo León , studies indicate an average European ancestry ranging from 38 to 78 percent; in Mexico City , European admixture ranges from 21 to 70 percent. Reasons for the variation may include the socioeconomic background of the analyzed samples and the criteria for recruiting volunteers. Some studies only analyze Mexicans who self-identify as mestizo , and others classify

14310-463: The same monarch and Portuguese slave traders had access to Spanish markets, African slaves were imported in large numbers to New Spain and many of them remained in the region of Veracruz. But even when that connection was broken and prices rose, black slaves remained an important component of Córdoba's labor sector even after 1700. Rural estates in Córdoba depended on African slave labor, who were 20% of

14445-499: The same name. It became the seat of the richest diocese in New Spain in its first century, with the seat of the first diocese, formerly in Tlaxcala, moved there in 1543. Bishop Juan de Palafox asserted that the income from the diocese of Puebla was twice that of the archbishopic of Mexico, due to the tithe income derived from agriculture. In its first hundred years, Puebla was prosperous from wheat farming and other agriculture, as

14580-401: The seventeenth century, but silver mining in Mexico out-performed all other Spanish overseas territories in revenues for the royal coffers. The fast red dye cochineal was an important export in areas such as central Mexico and Oaxaca in terms of revenues to the crown and stimulation of the internal market of New Spain. Cacao and indigo were also important exports for the New Spain, but

14715-513: The ships that set sail from Veracruz were generally loaded with merchandise from the East Indies originating from the commercial centers of the Philippines , plus the precious metals and natural resources of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. During the 16th century, Spain held the equivalent of US$ 1.5 trillion (1990 terms) in gold and silver received from New Spain. However, these resources did not translate into development for

14850-474: The slave trade. In Peru, the other discovery that perpetuated the system of forced labor, the mit'a , was the enormously rich single silver mine discovered at Potosí, but in New Spain, labor recruitment differed significantly. With the exception of silver mines worked in the Aztec period at Taxco , southwest of Tenochtitlan, the Mexico's mining region was outside the area of dense indigenous settlement. Labor for

14985-425: The successful campaign for independence. In 1821, New Spain officially became the independent nation of Mexico, ending three centuries of Spanish colonial rule. During the era of the conquest, in order to pay off the debts incurred by the conquistadors and their companies, the new Spanish governors awarded their men grants of native tribute and labor, known as encomiendas . In New Spain these grants were modeled after

15120-446: The transport constraints, only high-value, low-bulk goods continued to be shipped in the transatlantic trade, which stimulated local production of foodstuffs, rough textiles, and other products for a mass market. Although New Spain produced considerable sugar and wheat, these were consumed exclusively in the colony even though there was demand elsewhere. Philadelphia, not New Spain, supplied Cuba with wheat. The Caribbean port of Veracruz

15255-539: The tribute and corvee labor that the Mexica rulers had demanded from native communities. This system came to signify the oppression and exploitation of natives, although its originators may not have set out with such intent. In short order the upper echelons of patrons and priests in the society lived off the work of the lower classes. Due to some horrifying instances of abuse against the indigenous peoples, Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas suggested bringing black slaves to replace them. Fray Bartolomé later repented when he saw

15390-399: The twentieth century, the prestige of authors such as Angel Rosenblat and Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, who unreservedly admitted the concept of society of caste, has determined the perpetuation of a myth of social stratification based on race". The new definition of mestizo was used in the 1921 census (the second nationwide census which included a comprehensive racial classification). The census

15525-598: The very base and in every aspect," and the development of many regional economies was typically centered on support of that export sector. Mexico City was the center of the Central region, and the hub of New Spain. The development of Mexico City itself was vitally important to the development of New Spain as a whole. It was the seat of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the Archdiocese of the Catholic Church,

15660-466: The viceregal capital and the port of Veracruz, in a fertile basin with a dense indigenous population, largely not held in encomienda , made Puebla a destination for later arriving Spaniards. If there had been significant mineral wealth in Puebla, it could have been even more prominent a center for New Spain, but its first century established its importance. In 1786 it became the capital of an intendancy of

15795-405: The wages were good, which is what drew the indigenous labor. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was the principal source of income for Spain in the eighteenth century, with the revival of mining under the Bourbon Reforms . Important mining centers like Zacatecas , Guanajuato , San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo had been established in the sixteenth century and suffered decline for a variety of reasons in

15930-544: The word Yucatán is widely debated. 17th-century Franciscan historian Diego López de Cogolludo offers two theories in particular. In the first one, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba , having first arrived to the peninsula in 1517, inquired the name of a certain settlement and the response in Yucatec Mayan was "I don't understand", which sounded like yucatán to the Spaniards. There are many possibilities of what

16065-533: Was a kingdom and not a colony, subject to the presiding monarch on the Iberian Peninsula . The monarch had sweeping power in the overseas territories, with not just sovereignty over the realm but also property rights. All power over the state came from the monarch. The crown had sweeping powers over the Catholic Church in its overseas territories, and via the Patronato real , a grant by the papacy to

16200-579: Was a total of 15,318 mixed ancestry Mexicans from all states of the country. Genetic estimators revealed that the main genetic components in Mexico as a whole are Native American (ranging from 37.8% in the northern part of the country to 81.5% in the southeastern region) and European (ranging from 11.5% in the southeast to 62.6% in northern Mexico). Additional studies correlate a tendency toward higher European admixture with higher socioeconomic status, and higher Amerindian ancestry with lower socioeconomic status. A study of low-income mestizos in Mexico City found

16335-433: Was administered by a viceroy residing in Mexico City and appointed by the Spanish monarch , who had administrative oversight of all of these regions, although most matters were handled by the local governmental bodies, which ruled the various regions of the viceroyalty. First among these were the audiencias , which were primarily superior tribunals, but which also had administrative and legislative functions. Each of these

16470-672: Was built in the Mesoamerican heartland of the Aztec Empire in Central Mexico. The South (Oaxaca, Michoacán, Yucatán, and Central America) was a region of dense indigenous settlement of Mesoamerica, but without exploitable resources of interest to Europeans, the area attracted few Europeans, while the indigenous presence remained strong. The North was outside the area of complex indigenous populations, inhabited primarily by nomadic and hostile northern indigenous groups. With

16605-511: Was conducted after the Mexican Revolution, when the government was rebuilding the country and hoped to unite all Mexicans in a single national identity. The government found the identity in the mestizo ideology forged by the academics and politicians José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio , which asserted that Mexican mestizos resulted from mixing all the races; with the best qualities of each race, Mexico would achieve prosperity when

16740-563: Was created (exemplified by the José Vasconcelos essay La raza cósmica ) that mestizos are the result of racial mixing, and all Mexico must become mestizo so the country could achieve prosperity. After the Mexican Revolution , the government adopted and promoted the mestizo ideology to create a unified Mexican identity with no racial distinctions. By 1930, racial identities other than "indigenous" disappeared from

16875-542: Was established in 1527, prior to the establishment of the viceroyalty. The First Audiencia was headed by Hernán Cortés 's rival Nuño de Guzmán , who used the court to deprive Cortés of power and property. The crown dissolved the First Audiencia and established the Second Audiencia. The audiencias of New Spain were Santo Domingo (1511, effective 1526, predated the Viceroyalty); Mexico (1527, predated

17010-481: Was established. Former royalist military officer turned insurgent for independence Agustín de Iturbide would be crowned as emperor. The Kingdom of New Spain was established on 18 August 1521, following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire , as a New World kingdom ruled by the Crown of Castile . The initial funds for exploration came from Queen Isabella . Although New Spain was a dependency of Castile, it (Mexico)

17145-459: Was founded as a villa in 1618, to serve as a Spanish base against runaway slave ( cimarrón ) predations on mule trains traveling the route from the port to the capital. Some cimarrón settlements sought autonomy, such as one led by Gaspar Yanga , with whom the crown concluded a treaty leading to the recognition of a largely black town, San Lorenzo de los Negros de Cerralvo, later called the municipality of Yanga. European diseases immediately affected

17280-541: Was left in the cave to die there”. The newly discovered skeleton was 140 meters away from the Chan Hol 2 site. Although archaeologists assumed the divers had found the remains of the missing Chan Hol 2, the analysis soon proved that these assumptions were erroneous. Stinnesbeck compared the new bones to old photographs of Chan Hol 2 and showed that the two skeletons represent different individuals. Due to their distinctive features, study co-researcher Samuel Rennie suggest

17415-520: Was more prevalent in the north and west (66.7 to 95 percent), and Native American ancestry increased in the center and southeast (37 to 50 percent); African ancestry relatively homogeneous (2 to 8.8 percent). States participating in the study where Aguascalientes , Chiapas, Chihuahua , Durango , Guerrero , Jalisco , Oaxaca , Sinaloa , Veracruz and Yucatán . The greatest number of chromosomes found were identified as belonging to haplogroups from Western Europe , East Europe and Eurasia , Siberia and

17550-457: Was privileged in a number of ways, starting with its status as a Spanish settlement not founded on existing indigenous city-state, but with a significant indigenous population. It was located in a fertile basin on a temperate plateau in the nexus of the key trade triangle of Veracruz–Mexico City–Antequera (Oaxaca). Although there were no encomiendas in Puebla itself, encomenderos with nearby labor grants settled in Puebla. And despite its foundation as

17685-594: Was responsible to the Viceroy of New Spain in administrative matters (though not in judicial ones), but they also answered directly to the Council of the Indies . The Captaincy Generals were the second-level administrative divisions and these were relatively autonomous from the viceroyalty. The viceroy was captain-general of those provinces that remained directly under his command. Santo Domingo (1535); Philippines (1565); Puerto Rico (1580); Cuba (1608); Guatemala (1609); Yucatán (1617); Commandancy General of

17820-443: Was small, with its hot, pestilential climate not a draw for permanent settlers: its population never topped 10,000. Many Spanish merchants preferred living in the pleasant highland town of Jalapa (1,500 m). For a brief period (1722–76) the town of Jalapa became even more important than Veracruz, after it was granted the right to hold the royal trade fair for New Spain, serving as the entre for goods from Asia via Manila galleon through

17955-469: Was strongly resisted by the viceroyalties and general captaincies similar to the opposition in the Iberian Peninsula when the reform was adopted. Royal audiencias and ecclesiastical hierarchs opposed the reform for its intervention in economic issues, for its centralist politics, and the forced ceding of many of their functions to the intendants. In New Spain, these units generally corresponded to

18090-523: Was the average Mexican is more Native American than European. Subsequently, in 2015, a separate team of researchers performed a meta-analysis, incorporating the findings of many previous studies with additional research. This comprehensive analysis revealed a genetic composition with an average of 62% Native American, 32% European, and 6% African. A University College London study which included Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia , conducted with each country's anthropology and genetics institutes, reported that

18225-460: Was used through rather the vice royalties rather than contact with European countries due to piracy, and smuggling. The indigo industry in particular also helped to temporarily unite communities throughout the Kingdom of Guatemala due to the smuggling. There were two major ports in New Spain, Veracruz the viceroyalty's principal port on the Atlantic, and Acapulco on the Pacific, terminus of

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