This article provides a synthetic examination of the role of external relations in the social, cultural, and political development of the Oaxaca Coast. The article deals primarily with the lower R�o Verde valley and the southern Isthmus since these two regions have been the focus of archaeological research on the Oaxaca Coast; other areas of the coast are discussed when data permit. The data from the coast indicate that interregional relations were dominated by elites in pursuit of exotic materials and ideas that served to symbolize and legitimize their special status in society. Evidence for contact with some of the most powerful political centers of pre-Hispanic Mexico are documented, including Monte Alb�n, Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and possibly El Taj�n and Tula among others. Despite contact with these powerful centers the Oaxaca Coast appears to have been politically autonomous for most of its pre-Hispanic history.