阿兹特克人(Aztecs)
操纳瓦特尔语的民族，15世纪和16世纪初，曾在今墨西哥中南部统治一帝国。他们可能发源於今墨西哥北部高原，後来又迁徙至别处。他们的迁徙可能与托尔特克人（Toltec）文明的没落有关。阿兹特克帝国鼎盛时期，人口最高约达五百万～六百万，幅员80,000平方哩（200,000平方公里），主要归功於成功的农业方法，包括密集耕种、灌溉和湿地的开垦等。阿兹特克国家实行专制体制，奉行军国主义，根据阶级和社会地位明确地划分社会阶层。阿兹特克的宗教是混合了各种不同的信仰，尤其是马雅人的信仰。阿兹特克人实行人祭（human sacrifice），曾有一可怕的传说，两万～八万名囚犯在四天之内全被杀死。科尔特斯俘虏阿兹特克皇帝蒙提祖马二世并征服大城市特诺奇蒂特兰（今墨西哥城）後，该帝国灭亡。亦请参阅Nahua。
English version：
Aztecs
Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th century ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. They may have originated on the northern Mexican plateau before migrating to their later location. Their migration may have been linked to the collapse of the Toltec civilization. Their empire, which at its height comprised 5-6 million people spread over 80,000 sq mi (200,000 sq km), was made possible by their successful agricultural methods, including intensive cultivation, irrigation, and reclamation of wetlands. The Aztec state was despotic, militaristic, and sharply stratified according to class and caste. Aztec religion was syncretic, drawing especially on the beliefs of the Maya. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice; in a particularly gruesome episode, 20,000-80,000 prisoners were said to have been killed in four days. The empire came to an end when Hernan Cortes took the emperor Montezuma II prisoner and conquered the great city Tenochtitlán (present-day Mexico City). See also Nahua.
