There are two meanings:
the place of origin of the mexica people, also known as the aztecs. somewhere far north of present day mexico city, though nobody knows exactly where. different places claim to be the home of
the original aztlan, but experts have found strong evidence that it was in the area now known as the state of Utah.
During the
civil rights movement, chicano rights activists began refferring to the U.S. land that once belonged to mexico as aztlan, this being more of a figurative meaning than a literal one. often when someone speaks of aztlan they are speaking of the southwestern
united states as a common place where their mexican ancestors once lived, not literally meaning that the aztecs/mexica occupied the entire area, though there is no proof of whether or not they did actually occupy the entire area at one time.