Tlaxcala, << tlah SKAHL uh, >> is a state in south-central Mexico. It is the country’s smallest state, with an area of 1,551 square miles (4,016 square kilometers), but it is densely populated. At the time of the 2020 census, Tlaxcala had 1,342,977 people and a population density of about 865 people per square mile (335 people per square kilometer). The state is on a high plateau with an average elevation of about 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) above sea level. The climate is cool and subhumid, with a rainy season that lasts from June to October. The capital is also named Tlaxcala.
Tlaxcala has an economy based on manufacturing and agriculture. The chief manufactured goods are textiles. The state is known for such handicrafts as shawls and other woven goods. Important crops include beans and corn. Tourists enjoy visiting the historic capital and the ruins of a fortified city at Cacaxtla. The ruins include ancient murals that depict warriors dressed as jaguars and birds. Historians think that native peoples painted the murals between the A.D. 600’s and 900’s.
The Tlaxcalteca Indians lived in what is now Tlaxcala when Spaniards arrived in the region in the 1500’s. The Tlaxcalteca were rivals of the Aztec Indians. The Aztec emperor Montezuma regularly waged war against the Tlaxcalteca to obtain victims for human sacrifice. When the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés laid siege to Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, the Tlaxcalteca leader Xicotencatl provided him with soldiers and food and assisted him with military planning. Owing to this alliance, the Tlaxcalteca received certain privileges. But the Spaniards did not always honor these privileges. Tlaxcala became a state of Mexico in 1856. During the Mexican Revolution of 1910, it was the site of several peasant revolts against landowners and the state and national governments.
