The Aztec florescence, between about AD 1325 and 1520, produced one of the largest and most powerful culture groups in Latin America. Population estimates for this time suggest that there may have been between 1.2.and 1.7 million people living in the Basin of Mexico. It was a mixture of culture groups and city states, similar to the diverse groups of people found in modern cities today. The term 'Aztec' refers to the coalition of the Mexica, the Acolhua and the people of the city of Tlacopan, who each occupied different regions of the Basin of Mexico. These three distinct groups of people fostered bonds which resulted in strong political and economic ties. At the heart of the Aztec world were three large lakes?Lake Texcoco, Lake Chalco and Lake Xaltocan. Interestingly, these lakes are actually a single body of water, but were probably given different names because they were divided by dykes and causeways. These lakes played an important role in Aztec transportation and agricultural systems.

The largest and most politically powerful Aztec centres were the twin cities of Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco. These two cities, which cover an entire island in the centre of Lake Texcoco, had a combined population of 220,000 people. The cities were cross-cut with canals to move goods, waste and people from the cities, and several immense floating bridges linked them to land. The city of Tlatelolco had a vast market, which was described with awe by the Spanish. This market existed primarily for the merchant-warrior class, the pochteca, to sell the goods which they traded over vast distances.

The Aztec were able to support their huge population in the Basin of Mexico through the use of the lakes for agriculture. There was regular expansion of chinampas, or floating gardens, which provided a great deal of the food for the Aztec people. These gardens were grown and created much like a living barge and then pulled to a final location, usually within an existing grid of chinampas. This agricultural system was extremely productive due to the constant water supply available from the lake and the rich alluvial sediments which provided a natural fertiliser for the plants. The chinampas also provided a habitat for fish and wildlife that contributed to the ecosystem and were also available to be harvested for consumption.