Oaxaca (state, Mexico), state in southern Mexico. Oaxaca has the largest indigenous population in the country. It is also one of the largest and poorest states in the nation. The state borders the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Tehuantepec along its southern boundary, and the states of Chiapas to the east, Veracruz to the north, and Guerrero and Puebla to the west.

The eastern part of the state encompasses about half of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a narrow neck of land that connects central Mexico with the Yucatán Peninsula and Central America. Much of the state is covered by mountainous terrain—including the Sierra de Oaxaca and the Sierra Madre del Sur ranges—and is characterized by moderate temperatures and a mild climate. The mountains drop down to hot and arid lowlands on the isthmus, and hot and humid lowlands on the northern side of the state, bordering the Atlantic state of Veracruz. The country’s only tropical national park, Lagunas de Chacahua, is located along the Pacific Ocean in the southwestern corner of the state. Benito Juárez National Park, named for revered 19th-century Mexican president Benito Pablo Juárez, is on a hill overlooking the city of Oaxaca. The state covers an area of 93,136 sq km (35,960 sq mi).

Indigenous people make up about a third of Oaxaca’s population. The two most prominent groups, the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs, are descendants of major Mesoamerican civilizations. The capital city, also named Oaxaca, is an important cultural and economic center in southern Mexico. The city’s cathedral, state museum, and public university are prominent cultural attractions. The capital has important representative examples of ornate religious art from the colonial period. Other important cities include Juchitán de Zaragoza and Santo Domingo Tehuantepec. The state is also home to a number of important archaeological sites. These include spectacular Monte Albán, the ruined center of Zapotec civilization located on several hilltops just west of the city of Oaxaca, and Mitla, the remains of a prominent Zapotec religious center 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Oaxaca. The state’s population in 2008 was 3,552,300.

Although some mining operations exist, the state’s economy has long depended more on forestry and the production of lumber and other wood products. The Pacific coast of the state is largely undeveloped, although several small port cities, including Puerto Escondido, are located there, and an oil pipeline crosses the isthmus at Salina Cruz. Oaxaca is connected by railroad and highway to Mexico City and Puebla in the north, and to the cities of Tehuantepec and Juchitán de Zaragoza in the south. A major highway also connects Juchitán de Zaragoza with the city of Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico to the north. The state’s two major archaeological sites are central tourist attractions, contributing significantly to the economy.

Zapotec culture reached its height in the Oaxaca region from the 3rd through the 10th centuries, while Mixtec culture was most prominent from about ad 1000 until the Spanish conquest in 1521. During Mexico’s struggle for independence in the early 1800s, a Catholic priest and independence movement leader, José María Morelos y Pavón, briefly ruled from Oaxaca. The region became a state in 1824. Oaxaca also produced two of the most prominent leaders in Mexican history: Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz. Juárez was the nation’s first and only Native American president and served two terms in the 1860s and 1870s. He led the nation’s liberal reform movement, which sought to weaken the power of the Catholic Church and the military, and attempted to protect freedom of religion, speech, and the press. Díaz was a key general in battles to end the French occupation of Mexico during the 1860s. He led a revolt against the Mexican government in 1876 and convened elections in 1877 in which he won the presidency. Díaz stepped down in 1880 and was then reelected in 1884. Back in office, he helped amend the constitution so that he could serve successive terms and remained in power until 1911. His rule brought a railway to Oaxaca that connected it to Mexico City and prompted a mining and agricultural boom in the state. It also fueled the mounting political and social discontent that led to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). After the revolution, Oaxaca received little attention from the national government, resulting in virtually no industrialization and minimal economic growth. The state benefited little from Mexico’s rapid economic growth after World War II (1939-1945). By the 1980s, Oaxaca was one of Mexico’s poorest states, having some of the nation’s highest rates of illiteracy, malnutrition, and infant mortality, especially among its Native American population.