Peninsula of Yucatán

The peninsula of Yucatán is located at the south-east of the Mexico.

It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea in the east, by the Gulf of Mexico in the west and by the Sierra Veined LED on in the south.

It includes/understands, in a strict sense, the three States of the Campeche, the Yucatán and the Quintana Roo.

To the full extent, one can associate there the two States of the Tabasco and the Chiapas, bordering in the south and located in on this side Isthme of Tehuantepec (or isthmus of Mexico).

History

The Cratère of Chicxulub 200 km in diameter, to which the center is close to the northern coast of Yucatán, would be due to a Météorite 10 km in diameter approximately which struck the Planet with nearly 90000 km/h about 65 million years ago. This impact and its consequences would be a possible cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs and many other species, also marking the end of the secondary era.

Formerly, the Mayas of the post-traditional period had founded in the peninsula of Yucatán a centralized empire. Its capital was Chichén Itzá.

Geography

The peninsula is roughly 300 km long and 250 km broad. The coasts are bordered by coral reefs in the east, whereas Mangrove S and marsh S develops in north and the west.

Its altitude gradually rises Caribbean coast towards the interior of the grounds, seldom exceeding 50 meters.

The area is a vast calcareous plate, as punt as a wafer, with some small hills that and there but without mountains. The highest relief is the “sierrita of Tical”, in the south of the area, which has an altitude a little lower than 200 Mr.

The climate of Yucatán is tropical with annual downpours of 700 mm in the North-West and 1700 mm on the island of Cozumel. 90% of precipitations are carried out during the rain season from June to October. They are more important in the south where the dense forest develops.

In spite of rather abundant rains, the peninsula of Yucatán does not have true rivers, except some coastal brooks, of which two are notable: the Rio Candelaria which are thrown to south-west in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Rio Hondo , in south-east.

Water rather runs by tunnels which perforate the basement of this vast calcareous portion of Mexican south-east, by creating Cénote S, typical drowned cavities. This hydrographic characteristic, associated with the climate, involves sometimes drynesses in the North-East of the peninsula.

Tourism

The peninsula of Yucatán is large like a quarter of France approximately. It represents a tenth of the surface of Mexico.

The principal tourist attractions of the peninsula are the temples Maya S, the seaside resorts of the Quintana Roo (Riviera Maya and Cancún), the Cénote S, the old colonial cities and their churches…

The peninsula also contains nearly the quarter of the Mexican Hacienda S. These fields, which date from Spanish colonization, had fallen to the abandonment. Some became hotels of charm.

From Europe, one reaches the peninsula of Yucatán via Mexico City and Mérida or via Cancún.

External bonds

Photographs of Yucatán

Simple: Yucatán Peninsula

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