Environmental Features of the Aztec World

The Aztec imperial domain lay entirely within the tropics. Yet it was an immensely diverse region, its physical variations dependent largely on differences in elevation and rainfall (Figure 3.1). It was a land of majestic snow-capped volcanic mountains, broad fertile plateaus, semiarid valleys, lake-filled basins, verdant mountains slashed by deep barrancas, dense rain forests, mangrove swamps, and charming lagoons. It was a land ranging in elevation from sea level to 5,610 meters above sea level, and it is usefully divided by modern geographers into three distinct altitudinal levels: tierra caliente, tierra templada, and tierra fría (see Case 3.1).