The Zapotecs call themselves binnizá (binni- people; zá-cloud : the people from the clouds). For the Mexica they were the zapotecatl, "people from Teozapotlán", or "Place of the Gods". The Spaniards called them zapotecs, just as they are known today.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the narrowest part of México, it is located in the southeast of the state of Oaxaca. It has two districts Juchitán and Tehuantepec and borders at the north with the state of Veracruz; to the south with the Pacific Ocean ; to the west with Sierra Juárez and Sierra Madre del Sur, and to the east with the state of Chiapas.

The most important cities in the Isthmus are: Juchitán, Tehuantepec, Salina Cruz, Matías Romero and lxtepec. Most Zapotecs live in the two most populated cities: Juchitán and Tehuantepec.