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'''Yucatán''' is a peninsula which separates the [[Caribbean Sea]] from the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. The peninsula is divided among |
'''Yucatán''' is a peninsula which separates the [[Caribbean Sea]] from the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. The peninsula is divided among part of [[Mexico]] (the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan), the nation of [[Belize]] and [[Guatemala]]'s northern territory of El Peten. |
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'''Yucatán''' is also the name of one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The state occupies approximately 38,500 square kilometers and has a population of 1.4 million. The capital is [[Merida|Mérida]]. Merida is well known for its excellent hammocks, which do not stretch when you use them. |
'''Yucatán''' is also the name of one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The state occupies approximately 38,500 square kilometers and has a population of 1.4 million. The capital is [[Merida|Mérida]]. Merida is well known for its excellent hammocks, which do not stretch when you use them. |
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The term ''The Yucatan'' is also used to refer to the region of 3 Mexican states on the Peninsula where Maya culture was dominent. |
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In common usage ''The Yucatan Peninsula'' is used when refering to the geographic area; ''Yucatán'' when refering to the Mexican state; and ''The Yucatan'' when refering to the region of Mexico consisting of the states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. |
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'''The Pre-Columbian era'''<br> |
'''The Pre-Columbian era'''<br> |
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Before the arrival of the [[Spain|Spanish]] in the area, Yucatán was the home of the [[Maya (civilization)|Maya]] civilisation. Archaelogical remains show ceremonial |
Before the arrival of the [[Spain|Spanish]] in the area, Yucatán was the home of the [[Maya (civilization)|Maya]] civilisation. Archaelogical remains show ceremonial architecture dating back some 3000 years; some heiroglyphic texts date back to the Maya Pre-Classic era. Maya cities of the Yucatan continued to flourish after the Central Lowland Classic Maya cities collapsed; some continued to be occupied through the arrival of the Spanish. Many ruins of their cities can still be found on the peninsula, such as [[Chichen Itza|Chichén Itzá]]. Other important ancient cities were built over and continue to be occupied today, such as [[Izamal]] and [[Merida Yucatan]] (formerly T'ho). Many inhabitants of the Yucatán today are of Maya ancestry and speak Maya languages. |
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'''The arrival of the Spanish''' <br> |
'''The arrival of the Spanish''' <br> |
Revision as of 18:41, 23 September 2002
Yucatán is a peninsula which separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. The peninsula is divided among part of Mexico (the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan), the nation of Belize and Guatemala's northern territory of El Peten.
Yucatán is also the name of one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The state occupies approximately 38,500 square kilometers and has a population of 1.4 million. The capital is Mérida. Merida is well known for its excellent hammocks, which do not stretch when you use them.
The term The Yucatan is also used to refer to the region of 3 Mexican states on the Peninsula where Maya culture was dominent.
In common usage The Yucatan Peninsula is used when refering to the geographic area; Yucatán when refering to the Mexican state; and The Yucatan when refering to the region of Mexico consisting of the states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo.
Pre-History
It is thought that the asteroid impact event which rendered the dinosaurs extinct occurred at the location where the Yucatán peninsula is today, centered on the current-day city of Chicxulub.
The Pre-Columbian era
Before the arrival of the Spanish in the area, Yucatán was the home of the Maya civilisation. Archaelogical remains show ceremonial architecture dating back some 3000 years; some heiroglyphic texts date back to the Maya Pre-Classic era. Maya cities of the Yucatan continued to flourish after the Central Lowland Classic Maya cities collapsed; some continued to be occupied through the arrival of the Spanish. Many ruins of their cities can still be found on the peninsula, such as Chichén Itzá. Other important ancient cities were built over and continue to be occupied today, such as Izamal and Merida Yucatan (formerly T'ho). Many inhabitants of the Yucatán today are of Maya ancestry and speak Maya languages.
The arrival of the Spanish
It is claimed that the name Yucatan derived from a Native American language, and means "What did you say?" The (possibly apocryphal) story goes that when the Spaniards first waded ashore on the Yucatán Peninsula, they asked the Indians watching, "What is this place?" The local indígenas, not understanding Spanish, asked "What did you say?" The Spanish, in their arrogance, assumed that anyone would understand their meaning, and took it to be the name.
Conquest of the Maya city states took decades of long fighting.
Republic of Yucatan
In the 1830s - 1840s (dates?) the area now consisting of the Mexican states of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo was an independant Republic of Yucatan with its capital in Merida.
The War of the Castes
In the 1840s saw a major revolt of the Maya people against the Ladino population in political and economic control. At one point this revolt was successfull to the point of driving all Hispanic Yucatecans out of almost the entire Peninsula other than the walled cities of Merida and Campeche. The Ladino government appealed to Mexico for help in supressing the revolt, and this resulted in Yucatan again becomming part of Mexico. Some Maya communities in the Quintana Roo area continued to refuse to acknowledge Ladino or Mexican sovernty as late as the 1910s.
Sisal for making rope was the major export crop of Yucatan. The region prospered from this lucrative crop until alternative rope materials came into wider use after World War I. The decades of the Sisal boom was a fairly progressive era for Yucatan; the city of Merida had electric streetlights and trolley cars before Mexico City.
Until the mid 20th century most of Yucatan's contact with the outside world was by sea; trade with the USA and Cuba was sometimes more significant than that with the rest of Mexico. In the 1950s the Yucatan was linked to the rest of Mexico by railway, followed by highway in the 1960s, ending the region's comparative isolation.
Commercial jet airplanes began arriving in Merida in the 1960s, and additional international airports were built first in Cozumel and then in the new planned resort community of Cancun in the 1980s, making tourism a major force in the area's economy.