The formative-era of Mesoamerica is considered one of the six independent cradles of civilization.In the subsequent pre-classical period, the Maya and Zapotec civilizations developed complex centers at Calakmul and Monte Albán, respectively.The most powerful rulers had religious and political power, organizing construction of large ceremonial centers developed.The earliest complex civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture, which flourished on the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BCE.On two occasions (1821–18–1867), the country was known as View of the Pyramid of the Moon and entrance to the Quetzalpapálotl Palace.During its peak in the Classic era, Teotihuacan dominated the Valley of Mexico and exerted political and cultural influence in other areas, such as in the Petén Basin.the country is the eleventh most populous and the most populous Spanish-speaking state in the world while being the second most populous nation in Latin America.Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a special federal entity that is also its capital and most populous city.

This enabled the transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural villages beginning around 5000 BCE.

This meaning ("Place at the Center of the Moon") might refer to Tenochtitlan's position in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

The system of interconnected lakes, of which Texcoco formed the center, had the form of a rabbit, which the Mesoamericans pareidolically associated with the Moon.

In the subsequent formative eras, maize cultivation and cultural traits such as a mythological and religious complex, and a vigesimal numeric system, were diffused from the Mexican cultures to the rest of the Mesoamerican culture area.

In this period, villages became more dense in terms of population, becoming socially stratified with an artisan class, and developing into chiefdoms.