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North America in 1492

1492 is the year Columbus reached the Americas. This map shows the 4 states and peoples the data has for North America in that year.

Map of North America in 1492 with 4 states and peoples
Borders: Cliopatria, Seshat Global History Databank (CC BY 4.0). Coarse outlines: check and adjust them for your story.

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States and peoples in North America in 1492

Largest first, by area on this map.

  • Later Mayan City-States
  • Aztec Triple Alliance
  • Haudenosaunee
  • Michoacán

New on the map since 1442

Haudenosaunee

Gone from the map by 1542

Aztec Triple Alliance · Michoacán

Animated maps of this time

North America in other years

Other regions in 1492

The outlines are coarse and follow the Cliopatria dataset: borders before modern surveys are estimates, and a blank area means the data has no state on record there, not that nobody lived there. A state that changed hands during the year can appear together with its successor.