The discovery outside of the zone of settled indigenous populations of rich deposits of silver in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in the 1540s saw the expansion of the Spanish Empire northward, with population growth as wealth was extracted.
The huge and diverse indigenous populations, designated "Indians" ( indios) under Spanish rule, were at the bottom of the legal system of racial hierarchy, with the small population of white, European Spaniards ( españoles) at the top, and the small population of mixed-race castas in the middle. Northern Mexico was outside of Mesoamerica it was sparsely populated and the indigenous peoples were resistant to conquest. Spanish rule recognized indigenous elites as nobles and they served as mediators between their communities and the Spanish ruling structures. Spanish rule incorporated Native peoples of Mesoamerica into colonial order, initially maintaining the existing indigenous social and economic structures. Over the three centuries after the conquest, the Spanish state and the Catholic Church, both of which were controlled by the Spanish crown, played important, intertwined institutional roles, expanding the colonial territory, enforcing Christianity, and spreading the Spanish language throughout. The image of Mexico's prehispanic indigenous cultures has played a crucial role in the formation of a distinct Mexican identity from the colonial era onward, symbolized by the post-independence national flag with Aztec eagle. In 1521, the Spanish Empire and its indigenous allies conquered the Aztec Empire from its capital Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, establishing the colony of New Spain. Last were the Aztecs, who dominated the region in the century before European contact. In particular, the Mesoamerican region was home to many interconnected civilizations including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha.
Pre-Columbian Mexico traces its origins to 8,000 BCE and is identified as one of the world's six cradles of civilization. Other major urban areas include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and León. The capital is not only a primate city, with a population of approximately 21 million, but also one of the world's largest cities. Mexico is organized as a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital. Mexico covers 1,972,550 square kilometers (761,610 sq mi), making it the world's 13th-largest country by area with approximately 126,014,024 inhabitants, it is the 10th-most-populous country and has the most Spanish-speakers. It is bordered to the north by the United States to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America.
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