Yahuimilco

From Tiandi Encyclopedia
People's Federal Republic of Yahuimilco


고밀〮위야〮 요ᇋ〮가〮왛버〮더알〮 요ᇋ〮가〮돟ᅞᅡᇂ가ᅞᅡ〮리ᇫ티〮와나〮너
Nenāhuatīliztlācatlahtohcāyōtl Āltepēhuahcāyōtl Yāhuimīlco
Flag of Yahuimilco
National Emblem
Flag Emblem
Motto: Cuicuitlauilli In Tlalticpac
By Nibbling Away in This World
Anthem: Huitzitzilin
"Hummingbird"
Capital Teotihuacan
Largest city Tlaxcallan
Official languages Nahuatl
Recognised regional languages 89 languages
Demonym(s) Yahuimilcan
Government Federal single-party socialist republic
Nezahualcoyotl
Miahuaxihuitl
Legislature Federal People's Congress
Establishment
• Yahuimilcan Empire
19 Samwol 1419
26 Guwol 1774
• Declaration of independence
29 Irwol 1941
7 Chirwol 1948
Area
• Total
7,499,167 km2 (2,895,445 sq mi) (2nd)
• Water (%)
2.4
Population
• 2020 estimate
728,454,389 (1st)
• 2018 census
720,858,016 (1st)
• Density
99.4/km2 (257.4/sq mi)
GDP (PPP) 2020 estimate
• Total
Increase $6.557 trillion (2nd)
• Per capita
Increase $9,001
GDP (nominal) 2020 estimate
• Total
Increase $2.866 trillion (9th)
• Per capita
Increase $3,934
HDI (2019) Increase 0.698
medium
Currency Quachtli ()
Driving side left
Calling code +43

Yahuimilco (Nahuatl: 고밀〮위야〮, Yāhuimīlco), officially the People's Federal Republic of Yahuimilco (Nahuatl: 고밀〮위야〮 요ᇋ〮가〮왛버〮더알〮 요ᇋ〮가〮돟ᅞᅡᇂ가ᅞᅡ〮리ᇫ티〮와나〮너, Nenāhuatīliztlācatlahtohcāyōtl Āltepēhuahcāyōtl Yāhuimīlco), is a sovereign state in South Yeongju that, with over 528 million people, is the world's most populous nation. Spanning 4,900,000 square kilometers, it is also the world's fourth largest country in terms of area. It faces the Eastern Ocean to the west and the Mulberry Ocean to its east. The country shares land borders with Guiotam, X, and Y to its north. To its south, it shares borders with Niteo, Lu'umjiol, X, Y, Z, A to its south.

Yahuimilco is known for being a cradle of agriculture and civilization - maize cultivation began c. 7000 BCE, and several early civilizations developed in the Central Yahuimilcan Plateau. Yahuimilco experienced a period of unity and the rapid expansion of its influence from the 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE, but later fragmented into several states until the rise of the Iztaccihuatl dynasty in 1419. The period between the 15th and early 18th centuries saw a significant expansion of Yahuimilcan territory, particularly into the rest of South Yeongju, and was also a period in which the economy, the arts, and and philosophy flourished. Yahuimilco was gradually brought under the control of Jeongmi beginning in the mid-18th century, with the country officially being incorporated into the Jeongmian Empire in 1774. Due to the country's immense mineral reserves, silver in particular, and large population, the country served as a vast source of raw materials and manpower for Jeongmi. In addition to to the wealth obtained from mining silver, massive plantations were established to grow cotton for Jeongmi's industrial revolution. Independence was declared in 1941, shortly after the official end of the Great Eulhae War, which led to a three-year struggle for independence.

The country is a federation governed by the Communist Party of Yahuimilco and divided into twenty-one republics. Yahuimilco is a major power with immense regional power on its continent and has been characterized as a potential superpower. Currently, Yahuimilco is the ninth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP and the second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Since the introduction of market based reforms in the 1980s, Yahuimilco has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and the country is now the largest exporter in the world. Yahuimilco is a recognized nuclear weapons state and has one of the highest defense budgets in the world. It is an ecologically megadiverse country, home to a significant percentage of the world's unique plant and animal species. Yahuimilco is a member of the Congress of Nations and was a founding member of the OSDMA. It has been an observer in the Jeongmisphere Organization since 1999. In 2018, Yahuimilco received 58.9 million tourists, making it the sixth most visited country in the world.

Etymology[edit]

Nochtlico means "the place of the yāhuitl fields." It derives from the words yāhuitl, meaning black or brown corn, mīlli, meaning a cultivated field, and the suffix -co, which is a Nahuatl locative, making the word a place name. Yahuimilco is first mentioned in the Acapulco Codex as a toponym used to describe the Valley of Yahuimilco; the name was gradually adopted as an ethnonym by the people living there.

The name Ya-mil (謐椰) was first used by Mun U-gi in Jeongmi after spending several years in the country.

History[edit]

Prehistoric and ancient Yahuimilco[edit]

Archeological evidence for early hominids suggests that they inhabited Yahuimilco between 1.78 million and 200,000 years ago. Evidence for presence of Homo sapiens in Yahuimilco dates back to c. 25,000 BCE with the appearance of stone tools and human settlement sites.

The farming of maize first began in Yahuimilco around 9,000 years ago, with people also harvesting crops such as beans, tomatoes, squash. The rise of agriculture resulted in increasingly dense villages, which soon became stratified towns and cities ruled by chiefs and kings. The Mazatlan culture in the Central Yahuimilco Plateau developed large amounts of complex pottery around 2500 BCE and bronze metallurgy first appeared c. 1900 BCE.

Classical Yahuimilco[edit]

Writing first emerged in South Yeongju in the Nuusavese Yodzoco Empire via the Yahuimilcan script.

The first major empire to rise in the area was the Yodzocoo Empire, a Nuusavese state that had originated around the modern day Acatepec Nuusavese People's Republic in the 8th century BCE. It was in this area that writing first emerged in South Yeongju, and the system gradually spread throughout the rest of the region.

Various kingdoms and city-states had emerged in the Central Yahuimilco Plateau, concentrated especially in the Valley of Yahuimilco. Lack of political unity led to frequent conflict between these valley city-states. The Nahua ethnic group that is today a majority of Yahuimilco's population is estimated to have arrived in the Central Yahuimilco Plateau sometime between 300 BCE and 200 CE from East Yeongju. The Nahua proved themselves to be strong warriors and were hired as mercenaries by various city-states to fight in their wars. Eventually, many Nahua began to seize control of the city-states they fought for and carved out their own territories. By 432 CE, one of these Nahua-led city-states, Azcapotzalco, had unified the valley and began to its lands beyond the plateau to the coasts.

The Azcapotzalco Empire left several large murals and built large apartment complexes.

Azcapotzalco built massive pyramid structures and its height, the city is estimated to have been home to some 350,000 people, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time and the largest by far in Yeongju. People lived in multi-story apartment complexes that were built to accommodate the large population and housed several families each.

Medieval Yahuimilco[edit]

Yahuimilco remained divided into several states following the collapse of Azcapotzalco in 672 CE. Modern Yahuimilco was divided into several states, which continued many of the legacies of Azcapotzalco. Medieval Yahuimilco was marked by the presence of several regional empires, such as the Nuusavese Chiyoca'nu Empire controlled much of the central-southern coast. In 1419, Xochipilli successfully managed to reunite much of Yahuimilco and founded the Iztaccihuatl dynasty.

Early modern Yahuimilco[edit]

A depiction of Iztaccihuatl Teotihuacan before being razed by Jeongmian troops in 1774.

The early modern period saw a significant expansion of Yahuimilco's territory and the state's transformation into the largest empire ever seen in Yeongju, reaching roughly the modern borders of the country today. After purchasing firearms and cannon from Sinju traders, Yahuimilco would have them reverse engineered; the empire significantly expanded its territory by using gunpowder weaponry against states and people groups which had not yet acquired them. Yahuimilco also fought numerous wars with states that also possessed advanced gunpowder weapons, chief among them the Chiyoca'nu and Cupareo Empires, which had also obtained such weapons from Sinju traders. Chiyoca'nu and Yahuimilco were bitter and rivals and fought numerous wars from the 15th century until Chiyoca'nu's complete defeat and annexation in 1607. Cupareo was incorporated in 1633 at the end of a bitter 17-year war as Yahuimilco sought to have greater control over trade in Yahuimilco Bay.

The country incorporated local elites into its governance and possessed great tolerance for non-Teotlist beliefs. Despite this, the Yahuimilcan Empire grew increasingly centralized and systematized; the Yahuimilcan compulsory education system was expanded to all peoples, resulting in the Yahuimilcanization of many non-Nahua peoples, although education was generally conducted in local languages. Nahuas also moved into other parts of the empire, often overwhelming or assimilating existing groups indigenous to the area. The Yahuimilcan Empire reached its zenith under the reign of Emperor Nochehuatl, who ruled from 1701 to 1717.

The introduction of porcelain-making techniques from Sinju led to a flourishing indigenous Yahuimilcan porcelain industry.

This period saw a great increase in wealth and production of goods, as well as direct contact with Sinju maritime powers, who would stop by regularly to trade with the nation. The discovery of new silver mines led to a dramatic increase in the production of silver, in which taxes were required to be paid. The requirement to pay taxes in silver meant that peasants began to farm more cash crops as well as increasing movement of peasants and artisans into urban areas. Sinju was the primary destination for silver exports, and the country was able to regulate inflation through the increase or reduction of silver exports in addition to regulations of silver mining. In exchange for silver, Yahuimilco would purchase goods such as advanced firearms, cannons, and porcelain. Yahuimilco soon developed its own indigenous porcelain industry, mixing Central and Yahuimilcan designs and traditions. While the seat of government stayed at Teotihuacan, Tlaxcallan and the west coast eclipsed Teotihuacan and the central plateau as the main economic center of Yahuimilco in the mid-17th century. The increasing commercialization of society and rising incomes meant greater patronage for visual arts, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. It was during this period that masterpieces such as Milintica the Potter, The Legend of Azcapotzalco, and The Hummingbird and the Jaguar, considered among the most famous works of Yahuimilcan literature, were written.

In 1720, the Rebellion of the Two Princes broke out, devastating the nation and the entirety of South Yoju's economy. By the end of the war in 1730, an estimated 8 to 20 million were dead and much of the country's administrative, economic, and social structures were destroyed. In 1731, disputes over trade and the sensing of Yahuimilcan weakness by Jeongmi after the recent civil war led to the First Jeongmian-Yahuimilcan War, which resulted in humiliation as Jeongmian troops seized much of the west-central coast with ease, threatened Tlaxcallan, and forced Yahuimilco to sign the Gyechuk Treaty.

This period saw the beginning of the great Yahuimilcan diaspora; an estimated 16-20 million Yahuimilcans left the country between 1720 and the 1941 Yahuimilcan Revolution, primarily to other countries surrounding Yahuimilco Bay, and later on to various other Jeongmian colonies.

Jeongmian Yahuimilco[edit]

Jeongmi set up several large rubber plantations in Yahuimilco.

In 1771, war once again broke out with Jeongmi, and in 1774, Jeongmian troops razed Teotihuacan and left it heavily depopulated. Emperor Huitzilihuitl was taken as a hostage to Hapcheon. Jeongmi administered the country largely from the port city of Tlaxcallan, and numerous parts of the city were rebuilt to fit Jeongmian styles. During Jeongmian rule, Yahuimilco's economy was largely dismantled in order to prevent competition with Jeongmian products. Colonial policy resulted in the production of raw goods which suited Jeongmi's industrial growth and power, and heavy taxes were placed upon Yahuimilco in order to further enrich Jeongmi. The colonial period saw the de-industrialization and de-urbanization of much of Yahuimilco, although port cities such as Nohang were able to grow and prosper. During the 19th century, Yahuimilco was a major producer of rubber and cotton, becoming the largest producer and exporter of both early on. The commercialization of agriculture and the shift toward cash crops resulted in an increase in large-scale famines.

The Yahuimilcan education system was coopted by Jeongmi and used to enforce loyalty to the colonial regime and the creation of good Confucian subjects. The curriculum heavily changed and removed all references to traditional religion, which were deemed by the colonial authorities as barbaric superstition.

The Yahuimilco Act of 1833 resulted in the introduction of Jeongmian as the language of instruction; several other acts promoted the usage of Jeongmian as the language of administration and high courts. It also introduced the civil service examination system present in Jeongmi to Yahuimilco, and calmecac, schools for nobles and promising commoners, had their curriculum reoriented toward the taking of the exam. Yahuimilcans who passed the highest-level civil service exam in Yahuimilco were able to travel to Hapcheon to take higher-level examinations.

In 1850, the Yahuimilcan Rebellion broke out.

Amoxtli, one of Yahuimilco's most prominent communist and nationalist intellectuals and the founder of the Communist Party of Yahuimilco, led much of the resistance to Hachuabshi during the Great Eulhae War.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, urban and Sinju-educated Yahuimilcan intellectuals began to harbor nationalist sentiments in greater numbers and with greater passion. The most prominent and influential of these was Amoxtli, who was educated at the University of Hapcheon and founded the Communist Party of Yahuimilco in 1919.

Yahuimilco saw direct fighting during the Great Eulhae War, as Hachuabsh sought to cut off Jeongmian access to Yahuimilco and take control of its vast resources. The Jeongmian Navy suffered several early defeats at the hands of the Hachuabshis, cutting off Jeongmian access to Yahuimilco Bay and allowing for Hachuabshi troops to land on the Cupareo peninsula, Nuusavia, and the west Nahua coast, including Tlaxcallan. The Jeongmian-organized Yahuimilcan Army initially faced almost complete collapse after the arrival of Hachuabshi troops, and fighting in occupied areas was led by communist guerrillas under the leadership of Amoxtli. The fighting between Hachuabshi and Yahuimilcan troops was particularly brutal and horrific, and numerous war crimes were inflicted on the civilian population by Hachuabshi troops. Estimates for the number of Yahuimilcan deaths during the Great Eulhae War range in the millions, with an estimated 1.5 million military deaths and 8 to 10 million civilian ones.

Even when cut off from access to Yahuimilco Bay, Jeongmi heavily recruited Yahuimilcan troops to fight in other theaters of the war. Over half a million Yahuimilcan troops were recruited to fight in the Sinju theater of the Great Eulhae War alone.

By the end of the war, desire for independence had grown even stronger. On Irwol 29, 1941, shortly after the official end of the war, Amoxtli declared the country's independence, and after being ignored by Jeongmian authorities, started a war of independence to oust colonial rule. However, he was captured two months later after being betrayed by Tecuetlaza, one of his generals. On Owol 28 of that year, he was found mysteriously killed while under the custody of Jeongmian authorities, causing widespread anger to flare among the populace and huge riots in Jeongmian-controlled urban areas, which were violently suppressed. Ilhicamina, Amoxtli's close friend and successor, led the rest of the war that resulted in Jeongmian troops withdrawing from the country in 1944, although independence was not formally recognized by most countries until the 1948 Sinsa Treaty between Jeongmi and Yahuimilco.

Modern Yahuimilco[edit]

Ilhicamina, newly equipped with enormous power and popularity following the victory against Jeongmi, oversaw a rapid reconstruction process involving an unprecedented level of collectivization. Following independence, the country experienced a massive baby boom which boosted the country's population from 290 million in 1940 to 540 million by 1980. Teotihuacan was rebuilt as a modern city near the ruins of the old city, and the capital was officially opened in 1965. Ethnic Jeongmian and nationals had their holdings seized and nationalized, and many who had collaborated with the Jeongmians during the war of independence had their possessions seized or were killed through vigilante justice. Yahuimilco independently produced a nuclear weapon in 1962.

Ilhicamina died in 1978, resulting in Milintica taking power. Following a large famine resulting from poor weather conditions and flooding in 1979, Milintica began to tolerate more black market and gray market activity, as well as market reforms taken out by regions and counties. In the 1980s, major economic reforms were officially undertaken by the government. Yahuimilco's transition from a planned economy to an increasingly open market environment were marked by the disbandment of communes, the privatization and commercialization of land, and loosened control over the personal lives of its citizens. Yahuimilco has seen rapid growth since market reforms, with an average annual gross domestic product growth rate of 10.9% during the 2000s.


Geography[edit]

The territory of Yahuimilco lies between latitudes 6° S and 31° N. Yahuimilco's landscapes vary significantly across its vast territory.

Climate[edit]

The Northern Tropic divides the nation into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the tropics experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the Northern Tropic, temperatures are fairly constant year round and vary solely as a function of elevation. This gives Yahuimilco one of the world's most diverse weather systems.

Biodiversity[edit]

Yahuimilco is one of the world's 20 megadiverse countries, lying in two of the world's major ecozones: the Neararctic and the Anatolitropic. Some of Yahuimilco's native culinary ingredients include: chocolate, avocado, tomato, maize, vanilla, guava, chayote, epazote, camote, jícama, nopal, zucchini, tejocote, huitlacoche, sapote, mamey sapote, many varieties of beans, and an even greater variety of chiles, such as the habanero and the jalapeño. Most of these names come from Nahuatl. At least 962 animal species are threatened, vulnerable or in danger of local extinction in Yahuimilco, due mainly to human activity such as habitat destruction, pollution and poaching for food and fur.

Politics and government[edit]

Nezahualcoyotl
Huehuetlatoani
Miahuaxihuitl
Cihuacoatl

Yahuimilco is a federal semi-presidential socialist republic with a de facto single-party system, and the constitution officially espouses communism as a political ideology. The government is divided into X branches. The Huehuetlatoani serves as head of state and commander-in-chief and is directly elected. The Cihuacoatl, the head of government, serves as the head of the Federal People's Congress by which they are elected.

The Federal People's Congress is divided into the House of Nations, in which different republics and recognized ethnic groups are afforded seats, and the House of Representatives, in which there is one representative for roughly one in every 300,000 people. The Yahuimilco House of Representatives is the largest state legislature in the world, being composed of 2403 members. The country is dominated politically by the Communist Party of Yahuimilco, and while other parties are legally allowed to exist, they hold very limited power and must be in accordance with the Defense of the Revolution Act, which prohibits "agitation for the overthrow of the people's democratic dictatorship on any and all levels."

The constituent republics of Yahuimilco generally emulate the structure of central institutions, having their own republican presidents known as huetlatoani as well as cihuacoatl as heads of government.

Communist Party[edit]

While the country is federal in nature, the Communist Party is unitary. It is the dominant party of Yahuimilco, having won all huehuetlatoanial and legislative elections since the end of the Yahuimilcan Revolution. Membership in the Communist Party is necessary for any modicum of power at the republican level and above; all huetlatoani of Yahuimilco's twenty-one republics are also members of the Communist Party. While the overwhelming majority of government officials are Communist Party members, there are several officials at the local level who are members of other, usually regional, parties, particularly in non-Nahua areas. Nonetheless, this has meant that the selection process for Communist Party candidates in elections are often hotly contested, as they are generally guaranteed to be the winner.

The Communist Party holds congresses every five years, in which the party's platform is updated and the candidate for the Yahuimilcan presidential election is chosen.

In school, children learn about the contributions made by the Communist Party during the Great Eulhae War in fighting the Hachuabshis and during the Yahuimilcan Revolution which freed the country from Jeongmian rule.

International relations[edit]

Administrative divisions[edit]

Constitutionally, Yahuimilco is a federation of twenty-one constituent people's republics. While nominally a union of equals, in practice the country is dominated by the Nahua People's Republic.

Military[edit]

Economy[edit]

Yahuimilco possesses a mixed economy where both the government and the private sector play major roles in economic decisions. It has been termed by many as a "market-conforming control economy." Since liberalization in the late 1980s, over 200 million Nocthlicans have emerged from extreme poverty. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. Yahuimilco is the world's largest exporter of textiles. The service sector makes up a majority of the country's GDP.

Since liberalization, inequality has increased dramatically.

Agriculture[edit]

Agriculture constitutes an important part of the Yahuimilcan economy, comprising 45% of the workforce and 17-18% of GDP. Most of its agriculture exports serve developing and least developed nations.

Demographics[edit]

With a population of over 728 million in 2020, Yahuimilco is the most populous nation in the world, and the only political entity in history to ever have over half a billion people, having passed this milestone in 1973. The median age is 26.8 years. Life expectancy is at 70.8 years, at 71.9 years for women and 69.7 years for men. Yahuimilco has a huge sex imbalance, particularly in the countryside, where boys are more desired for work on farms. The human sex ratio, according to the 2018 census, is 948 females to 1,000 males.

Urbanization has been occurring rapidly in the past few decades; the percentage of Yahuimilcans living in urban areas more than doubled from 14.1% of Yahuimilcans in 1972 to 34.0% in 2020, resulting in a ballooning in the size of various cities such as Tlaxcallan and Teotihuacan.

Ethnic groups[edit]

Religion[edit]

Itzpapalotl (Obsidian Butterfly) is a fearsome skeletal warrior goddess that rules Tamoanchan, a paradise world in Teotlism.

Most people in Yahuimilco adhere to Teotlism, a polytheistic and unorganized set of beliefs that has been present in the region for millennia. In 2013, it was found that roughly 80% of Yahuimilcans engage in Teotlist rituals. The Communist Party is officially atheist and discourages participation in religious organizations. In recent years, however, the Party has promoted religious festivals and used religious imagery to showcase Yahuimilcan culture.

Various folk religions are practiced by the country's numerous minorities. Buddhism, first brought by Sinju traders in the 15th century, has been notably syncretized to some extent among various in the country.

Languages[edit]

The most widely spoken languages in Yahuimilco tend to be three of families: the Uto-Aztecan, Oto-Manguean, or Mixe-Zoque language families. Standard Yahuimilcan, a variety of Nahuatl, is the sole official language of Yahuimilco. Native Nahuatl speakers composed 86% of the population in 2012; while it is classified as a single language by the government, Nahuatl has multiple dialects of which several are mutually unintelligible. However, the usage of dialects is discouraged by the government and many are slowly becoming closer to Standard Yahuimilcan. Standard Yahuimilcan was constructed by the government in 1948 in order to remove loanwords from Jeongmian and use more native vocabulary, and is largely based upon the Teotihuacan dialect. In 2015, it was estimated that around 62% of the country's population spoke Standard Yahuimilcan as a first language. An indigenous logographic writing system was developed around the 7th century BCE, which eventually evolved into the Yahuimilcan script. However, ways of transcribing Yahuimilco's languages using jeonggeul also began to take hold following colonization.

Jeongmian came into widespread use among the country's elite following Jeongmi's colonization of the country in 1774. Jeongmian was the language of administration, high courts, and of instruction beginning from the early 19th century; the language has heavily influenced the languages present in Yahuimilco. Following the country's independence in 1944, Jeongmian was gradually phased out and replaced with local languages, then Standard Yahuimilcan for most purposes beginning in 1948.

Languages of Yahuimilco by number of native speakers
Rank Language Speakers Percentage
1 Nahuatl 459,144,801 63.03%
2 Nuusavese 59,077,651 8.11%
3 Benese 52,375,871 7.19%
4 Otomi 50,918,962 6.99%
5 Cuparese 36,568,410 5.02%

Education[edit]

Yahuimilco was the first state to impose universal compulsory education in 1438, with three different types of education based upon class and gender. Taught at home for the first fourteen years of life, people attended and lived in educational institutions until their early twenties. Sons of nobles attended institutions known as calmecac, in which they would receive a general liberal arts education, learning subjects such as history, mathematics, philosophy, literacy, medicine, and theology. While promising sons of commoners could attend calmecac, most attended schools known as telpochcalli, in which they received a technical education focusing on agriculture specializing in various trades, but also studied history and religion. Women learned household skills, how to perform religious rituals, healing, craftwork, and entertainment; institutions for girls were also segregated by class.

The literacy rate increased rapidly after independence, rising from 13.2% in 1944 to 59.8% in the 1978 census. In 2018 the country had a literacy rate of 91.2%, although there remained a significant in literacy rates among men and women, particularly for older generations.

Since 1985, compulsory education has consisted of primary and junior secondary school. There have been criticisms for the gap in quality between rural and urban schools.

Yahuimilco has suffered significant brain drain from the migration to educated Yahuimilcans to wealthier countries, Jeongmi, Hachuabsh, and Hokan in particular.

Culture[edit]

Music[edit]

Marimba bands are a relatively common streetside occurrence.

The poetic and symbolic nature of the Nahuatl language and writing systems is carried over into their music. Each place, each god, each thing often has multiple names. Music in old Yahuimilco was a combination of dance, ritual, instruments, vocals, and even whistling. There were several different genres of cuicatl (song): Yaocuicatl was devoted to war and the god(s) of war, Teocuicatl to the gods and creation myths and to adoration of said figures, xochicuicatl to flowers (a symbol of poetry itself and indicative of the highly metaphorical nature of a poetry that often utilized duality to convey multiple layers of meaning). While the first two have lost most of their popularity and meaning, the third genre continues to be popular throughout the country. The second has also been seeing a comeback as the government has been loosening controls on religious expression.

The marimba was introduced in the 17th century and found great popularity in Yahuimilco. Public performances of marimba ensembles are often seen throughout the country.

Today, Yahuimilcan society enjoys a great diversity of different musical genres, and is home to one of the largest music industries in the world. The most popular genre of music, X, makes up 62% of music sales in the country.

Literature[edit]

Performing arts[edit]

Cinema[edit]

Cuisine[edit]

Molli chicken and rice, along with various Yahuimilcan ingredients

Yahuimilcan cuisine is as complex as any of the great cuisines of the world and globally renknowned. The basic staples remain native foods such as maize, beans and squash, grown and known together as the Three Sisters. In addition to staples such as maize and squash, native ingredients include tomatoes, chili peppers, avocados, cocoa and vanilla, as well as ingredients not generally used in other cuisines such as edible flowers, vegetables such as huauzontle and papaloquelite or small criollo avocados, whose skin is edible. Yahuimilcans consume a wide variety of meats, the most popular being turkey, venison, and fish. Venison is uniquely the only large country where venison is commonly consumed, and is the largest producer of the meat in the world. Beef, pork, and other meats are also often used as ingredients in Yahuimilcan cooking.

Chocolate beverages, popularized early in Yahuimilco, are now consumed all across the world

Yahuimilcan food has a reputation for being very spicy, but its seasoning can be better described as strong. Many dishes also have subtle flavors. Chili peppers are used for their flavors and not just their heat, with Yahuimilco using the widest variety of chili peppers. If a savory dish or snack does not contain chili pepper, hot sauce is usually added, and chili pepper is often added to fresh fruit and sweets. Chili peppers are considered another staple of the Yahuimilcan diet and a meal without them is often not considered an actual meal in Yahuimilcan culture.

Despite the introduction of wheat and rice to Yahuimilco, the basic starch remains maize in almost all areas of the country. While it is eaten fresh, most maize is dried, treated with lime and ground into a dough. This dough is used both fresh and fermented to make a wide variety of dishes from drinks (atolli, pozol, etc.) to tamalli, to sopes and much more. The most common way to eat maize in Yahuimilco is in the form of atolli, tlaxcalli, and tamalli. Tlaxcalli, which accompany almost every dish, also serves as the general word for food in most Yahuimilcan dialects. Tlaxcalli are most commonly made from maize in most of the country, but other variations do exist such as tlaxcalli made from rice or wheat, as well as tlaxcalli made with yuca, plantain, and other wild greens along the tropical coast and much of South Yahuimilco in general.

The most popular alcoholic drinks in Yahuimilco are metoctli and tlachique, both made from the maguey plant. A wide variety of drinks such as atolli, xocolatl, and texatl are also popular.

Philosophy[edit]

Yahuimilco has had a philosophical tradition dating back to ancient times. Ancient Yahuimilcan philosophy focused on dualism, monism, and aesthetics, and old Yahuimilcan philosophers attempted to answer the main Yahuimilcan philosophical question of how to gain stability and balance in an ephemeral world. Yahuimilcan philosophers focused on morality as establishing balance. The world was seen as constantly shifting with the ever-changing teotl. Morality focused on finding the path to living a balanced life, which would provide stability in the shifting world. Yahuimilcan philosophy saw the arts as a way to express the true nature of teotl. Art was considered to be good if it in some way brought about a better understanding of teotl. Yahuimilcan poetry was closely tied to philosophy and often used to express philosophic concepts.

Sport[edit]