The Zapotec are an indgenous people who are primarily located in the state of Oaxaxa, Mexico, even thought some communities exist in neighboring states. They are known for their rich history and culture, including the ancient city of Monte Albán, (17.0455559, -96.7676467) and their distinct languages and traditions. Those who speak Zapotecan and or the several dialects number between 500,000 to 600,000.

The Zapotec call themselves Be·ena·′a, which, in English translates to The People, however, some call themselves: Bën Za which when translated means The Cloud People, which moniker is likely due to their highland homeland.

It is believed that the Zapotec indigenous people arrived at the central valley of Oaxaca as early as 500 to 300 BCE, during what the Wise Men of this world considered as the Monte Alban I period. Too, it is believed that the Zapotecs established a significant system of governance over the regions population which lasted through five of the Alban periods, through to the time of the conquest in 1521 CE.

Further Archaeological examination at the ruins at Monte Alban, which has been dubbed the name, The First City in Ancient Mesoamerica, is said to disclose evidence that the region was settled as far back as 1150 BCE.

The Zapotecan language group is composed of over 60 variants and/or dialects of Zapotecan including the closely related Chatino language. The major variant is the Isthmux Zapotec, which is spoken on the Pacific coastal plain of Southern Oaxaca′s Isthmus de Tehuantepec.

This language constitutes a major branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, however, the Manguean branch of the family that is now extinct, was spoken as far south as Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The Oto-Manguean language family is widely viewed as a proven language family with the highest number of Oto-Manguean found in Mexico are found in the state of Oaxaca, where the two largest branches, the Zapotecan and the Mixtecan languages are spoken by almost 1.5 million people.

In central Mexico, particulary in the states of Mexico, Hidalgo and Querétaro, the languages of the Oto-Pamean branch including the Pames, the Mazahua and the Otimi are spoken. The Oto-Pamean branch has a combined number of more than half a million speakers. It is said by the Wise Men of this world, that when it comes to linguistics within Mesoamerica, the Oto-manguean family stands out as the most diverse and extensively distributed.

However, some Oto-Manguean languages are moribund (highly endangered) for example, Ixcatec and Matlatzinca each have fewer than 250 remaining indigenous speakers, most of whom are elderly. Several other languages of the Manguean branch, specifically those outside of Mexico have already become extinct, such as the Chiapanec language, declared extinct in 1990. Also, Subtiaba, which was closely related to Me′phaa (Tlapanec) has been extint longer and only known from early Twentieth Century descriptions.

Furthermore, the Oto-Manguean language is not only the most diverse and most geographically widespread language in Mesoamerica, its internal diversity is comparable with that of Indo-European languages. Too, the Proto-Oto Mangueanb language is estimated to have been spoken some time proir to 2000 BCE, having coexisted for the past 4,000 years with other Mesoamerica languages, being seen as part of a sprachbund, or linguistc area of language convergence and;or diffusion area, called the Mesoamercan Linguistic Area.