The Mayans were a group of ancient Indians, the only people in the Americas to have left written records. They make up a diverse group of Native American peoples that live in southern Mexico and northern Central America. “Maya” is a convenient designation for their collective, which includes people who contribute some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage to the area. But it also includes many different demographic, social and ethnic groups, all of whom have their own special traditions, cultures and historical characteristics.
At the beginning of the 21st century, there were about seven million Mayans. There are also significant remnants of ancient cultural heritage in southern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. Some Mayans have assimilated fairly well into modern culture, while others continue with more traditional practices, and these people use Mayan as their primary language.
Most contemporary Mayans live in the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas, and in the Central American countries of Belize, Guatemala, western Honduras, and El Salvador.
Mainly engaged in agriculture, planting corn, broad beans, pumpkin, cocoa, sweet potato, pepper, tobacco, cotton, etc.
Land is communally owned, allocated to each family, and redistributed every three years. After the Western Yuan Dynasty, there was a division between free people and slaves, and the rulers were called “monarchs”, with hereditary positions and military and political power.