The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the native peoples in southern Mexico and northern Central America that share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage. In other words, the term embraces many distinct ethnic groups that each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity. The pre-Columbian Maya population was approximately eight million, and despite the centuries of massacres, slavery and diseases, in nowadays there are an estimated seven million living in this area. The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas.
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