Ethnos

Maya

The Maya people are a native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America.

"We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism." -- Rigoberta Menchú

There are an estimated 6 million Maya people living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Some are quite integrated into the modern culture of the nations in which they reside, others continue a more traditional culturally distinct life, often speaking a Maya language. The largest populations of Maya people are in the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas, in Belize, and Guatemala, additional populations in the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. ***