page_title: Oaxaca City
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Oaxaca City / History
caption_attribution_description: Monte Alban (Oaxaca Mexico), temple, August 2006
context_page_description: The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or Oaxaca City, is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Mexican state. It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín, extending to the banks of the Atoyac River. Heritage tourism makes up an important part of the city's economy, and it has numerous colonial-era structures as well as significant archeological sites and elements of the continuing native Zapotec and Mixtec cultures. The city, together with the nearby archeological site of Monte Albán, was designated in 1987 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the site of the month-long cultural festival called the "Guelaguetza", which features Oaxacan dance from the seven regions, music, and a beauty pageant for indigenous women.
  The city is nicknamed "la Verde Antequera" due to its prior Spanish name and the variety of structures built from a native green stone. The name Oaxaca is derived from the Nahuatl name for the place, Huaxyacac, which was Hispanicized to Guajaca, later spelled Oaxaca.
caption: Monte Albán is regarded as the historical antecedent of the modern city of Oaxaca.
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