Mayan City-States

State · 247 BCE – 849 CE · at its largest around 299 CE

Network of rival Maya kingdoms in southern Mexico and Central America, such as Tikal and Calakmul, known for hieroglyphic writing and monumental cities.

On its lands while it lasted

Maya civilization (c. 2,000 BCE – c. 1697 CE): Civilization of southern Mexico and Central America known for its writing system, calendar, astronomy and monumental cities; Maya peoples still live in the region.
El Mirador (c. 600 BCE – c. 150 CE): Major Preclassic Maya city in northern Guatemala, peaking c. 300 BCE–100 CE, with La Danta, one of the largest pyramids in the world by volume.
Tikal (c. 400 BCE – c. 900 CE): One of the largest Classic Maya cities, in the rainforest of Guatemala, with towering temple-pyramids; a dominant power of the Maya lowlands until its decline in the 9th century.
Palenque (c. 226 BCE – c. 800 CE): Classic Maya city in Chiapas celebrated for its refined architecture, stucco reliefs and long hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Maya numerals and zero (c. 36 BCE): The Long Count calendar, in use by the 1st century BCE, required a zero placeholder; the Maya used a vigesimal place-value system with a zero glyph, one of the few independent inventions of zero.
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar (c. 36 BCE): Calendar counting days from a mythical creation date in 3114 BCE; among the earliest surviving Long Count dates is on Stela 2 at Chiapa de Corzo (36 BCE).
Copán (c. 426–900 CE): Classic Maya city in western Honduras whose dynasty was founded by Kinich Yax Kuk Mo in 426; famous for its sculpted stelae and Hieroglyphic Stairway.
Chichen Itza (c. 600–1200 CE): Large Maya city in Yucatán, dominant in the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic, known for the El Castillo pyramid and its great ballcourt.
K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603 CE – 683 CE): Ruler of Palenque for 68 years (615–683), who presided over its golden age; his tomb lies inside the Temple of the Inscriptions.
Bonampak murals (c. 790 CE): Maya wall paintings covering three rooms of a temple at Bonampak in Chiapas, showing court ceremonies, a battle and its aftermath. They are among the best-preserved Maya murals.
Classic Maya collapse (c. 800–950 CE): Decline and abandonment of many Classic Maya cities of the southern lowlands during the 8th–10th centuries, linked to warfare, drought and political breakdown.