Oaxaca or the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca are a state in southern Mexico. Specifically, it is one of the states that constitute the 32 federative entities of Mexico. What make the state so famous are its land, culture, and people.
A large part of the state is mountainous, covered by the mountains of the Sierra Madre del Sur range. As it goes down south, the mountains turn narrower, and form a plain along the Pacific coast. In the east, it descends to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Historically, there were different native groups inhabiting the region that is now called Oaxaca.
In the early 16th century, Spanish rulers conquered the region and controlled it for a long 300 years. Later, Mexico gained independence from the Spanish, and Oaxaca became a free state in 1824.
It is now one of the most ethnically diverse states in the country with a number of indigenous groups. The capital of the state, Oaxaca de Juarez is the site of the major cultural institutions here, including the Benito Juarez University of Oaxaca and the Regional Museum of Oaxaca.