Printable ScholarMaya Civilization Map
A free printable map of the Maya civilization drawn on real terrain, with the great Maya cities of the Yucatan Peninsula, the Peten lowlands and the highlands, plus the Olmec heartland and the Aztec capital for the rest of Mesoamerica. It comes in color, black and white, and blank.
Choose your version
Black and white, color or blank.
All three are free PDFs sized for US Letter paper.
Black and white
Everything named on a plain outline map with no terrain. No color ink needed.
downloadBlack and white PDF
Color
Maya cities, regions, rivers and seas named, on shaded relief.
downloadColor PDF
Blank
The black-and-white map with its routes and markers but no names, for labeling practice.
downloadBlank PDFThe world of the Maya
The Maya lived in what is now southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the western edges of Honduras and El Salvador. They were never one empire. Instead they built dozens of city-states, each with its own king, its temples and its ball court, and the cities traded, made alliances and fought wars with each other. The first Maya cities grew more than 2,500 years ago; El Mirador, in the northern Peten, had huge pyramids by about 300 BC. Maya cities were at their height in the Classic period, about AD 250 to 900, when Tikal and Calakmul were rival powers in the rainforest lowlands and Palenque and Copan were famous for their carved monuments. The Maya developed a full writing system, a calendar and a number system with a zero. After about 800 most cities in the southern lowlands were abandoned, but cities in the north, such as Chichen Itza and later Mayapan, grew strong. Spanish soldiers conquered the Maya kingdoms in the 1500s and 1600s. Millions of Maya people live in the region today and many still speak Maya languages. Earlier, the Olmec had built one of the first civilizations of Mesoamerica on the Gulf coast to the west, and later the Aztecs ruled central Mexico from Tenochtitlan.
On the map
- Tikal and Calakmul: rival great cities of the Classic period
- El Mirador: an early city with some of the largest pyramids ever built
- Palenque and Copan: famous for their carvings and inscriptions
- Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Mayapan: cities of the northern Yucatan
- Tulum: a walled city on the Caribbean coast
- San Lorenzo and La Venta: Olmec centers, about 1200 to 400 BC
- Tenochtitlan: the Aztec capital, founded in 1325
Find it on the map
- The flat, low Yucatan Peninsula, where many cities used natural wells called cenotes
- The rainforest of the Peten, home of Tikal
- The volcanic highlands of Guatemala to the south
The Maya region and the Olmec heartland are approximate outlines drawn by hand: the Maya lived in many separate city-states, so the region had no fixed border. City positions are the locations of their ruins. Country borders are today’s, shown for reference. Coastlines and rivers are shown as they are today.
Frequently asked questions
Where did the Maya live?
In southern Mexico, including the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas, and in Guatemala, Belize and the western parts of Honduras and El Salvador. Maya people still live there today.
What were the biggest Maya cities?
Tikal and Calakmul were the most powerful in the Classic period, about AD 250 to 900. El Mirador was huge earlier, and Chichen Itza and Mayapan were the leading cities of the north later on.
Were the Maya, Aztecs and Olmecs the same?
No. The Olmec lived on the Gulf coast about 1200 to 400 BC. The Maya lived to the east and south from about 1000 BC on. The Aztecs ruled central Mexico from Tenochtitlan from the 1300s until the Spanish conquest in 1521.