Tlaxiaco is a city, and its surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Tlaxiaco District in the south of the Mixteca Region, with a population of about 17,450. The city is formally known as Heroica Ciudad de Tlaxiaco("heroic city") in honour of a battle waged there during the 1862–67 French invasion. Tlaxiaco [t͡ɬa.ˈʃia.ko] is a Nahuatl name containing the elements tlachtli [t͡ɬˈat͡ʃt͡ɬi] (ball game), quiahuitl [kiˈawit͡ɬ] (rain), and -co [ko] (place marker). It thus approximates to "Place where it rains on the ball court".