Geographic HistoryMap of the Aztec Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Aztec Empire appears from 1428 to 1521. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1506: about 220 thousand km² across 13 provinces.
The Aztec Empire was the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan, formed in 1428, which dominated central Mexico mainly through tribute rather than direct rule. Tenochtitlan, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, was one of the largest cities in the world at the time. Hernan Cortes and his Indigenous allies captured the city in 1521.
The source dataset also uses this name outside 1428 - 1521; this page counts only 1428 - 1521.
Mapped area over time
The Aztec Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in 1506
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Ming | 4.1 million km² |
| Russia | 2 million km² |
| Kazakh Khanate | 1.7 million km² |
| Sibir | 1.6 million km² |
| Oirat Horde | 1.4 million km² |
| Mongolia | 1.4 million km² |
| Songhai | 1.3 million km² |
| Khorasan | 1.2 million km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
