From 1895 to 2015, the Mexican census has painted a picture of Mexico’s people, providing details about languages spoken (Spanish, foreign and indigenous), religion, education, literacy, employment and migration. From the beginning, the Mexican census provided details about indigenous languages spoken by its citizens. However, in the first half century, it is possible that there were undercounts of indigenous language speakers because some may have failed to declare their language status for fear of affecting their position within the community. In addition, poor communication channels with rural, isolated indigenous communities may also have caused an undercount of the indigenous people.

The Uto-Aztecan Language Group includes a wide range of languages, stretching from Idaho and Montana all the way down to El Salvador in Central America. The Náhuatl language of the Aztecs represents only a small — but significant — part of this linguistic group.

Across the 761,606 square miles (1,972,550 square kilometers) that comprise Mexico you can find a great variety of landscapes and climates. While mountains and plateaus cover more than two-thirds of her landmass, the rest of Mexico’s environment is made up of deserts, tropical forests, and fertile valleys. Mexico’s many mountain ranges tend to split the country into countless smaller valleys, each forming a world of its own. Over the last few thousand years, this has been a factor in the differentiation of a wide range of indigenous Mexican languages.

There is strong evidence that Puebla has been inhabited for a long time. In fact, the skull of the Texcal Man — which was found in a cave near Tehuacán in southeastern Puebla — has been dated at 7,480 years old. For the past millennium, several cultures — including the Olmec, Toltec, Náhuatl, Popoloca, Totonac, Mazatec and Otomí cultures — have thrived in the region that is now called Puebla. However, by the 15th Century, the Náhuatl-speakers of the Aztec Empire conquered nearly all of Puebla and ruled it until the coming of Hernán Cortés and the Spaniards. When the Spaniards destroyed the mighty Aztec Empire, the empire’s Puebla territories devolved into the hands of the Spanish Empire.

Puebla de Zaragoza is a landlocked state in east central Mexico. It is surrounded by Veracruz on the northeast, Hidalgo on the northwest, Tlaxcala on the west, Estado de México on the west and southwest, Morelos on the southwest, Guerrero on the south and Oaxaca on the south and southeast. Politically, Located on the central plateau southeast of Mexico City, Puebla is divided in 217 municipios and has an area of 34,306 square kilometers (13,245 square miles), making it the 21st largest Mexican state (1.7% of the national territory).