Campeche
| Campeche Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche |
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| — State — | |||
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| Country |  Mexico |
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| Capital | San Francisco de Campeche | ||
| Municipalities | 11 | ||
| Largest City | San Francisco de Campeche | ||
| Admission | April 29, 1863[1] | ||
| Order | 25th | ||
| Government | |||
| - Governor | Fernando Ortega Bernés (PRI) | ||
| - Federal Deputies | PRI:2 | ||
| - Federal Senators | PRI:2 PAN:1 |
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| Area Ranked 18th |
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| - Total | 50,812 km2 (19,618.6 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Total | 754,730 (Ranked 30th) | ||
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) | ||
| HDI | 0.825 - high Ranked 18th |
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| ISO 3166-2 | MX-CAM | ||
| Postal abbr. | Camps. | ||
| Website | State Government | ||
Campeche (Spanish pronunciation: [kamˈpetʃe]) is a state in the southeast of Mexico. It is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west. To the south it is bordered by the Petén department of Guatemala and to the west by the Gulf of Mexico.
The area of Campeche is 56,798 square kilometers (21,929.8 sq mi), and the population was only 754,730 inhabitants at the 2005 census. This makes Campeche one of the states with the lowest population densities in Mexico (fifth behind Baja California Sur, Durango, Sonora, and Chihuahua).
The capital city of the state is the city of San Francisco de Campeche, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
In addition to the city of Campeche, the state of Campeche includes the cities of Ciudad del Carmen, Champotón, and Escárcega, the towns of Bolonchén, Calkiní, Dzitbalché, Hecelchakán, Hopelchén, Lerma, Tenabo, and Sabancuy, and many ruins of the Maya civilization such as Becán, Calakmul, Silvituc, Dzibilnocac, Edzná, Hocchob, Holactún, Río Bec, Uxul, Xicalango, Xpuhil, and Xtampak.
Campeche derives from the name of the Mayan city of Kan pech, which became today's San Francisco de Campeche.
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History
Campeche was home to the ancient Mayan culture. Their advanced cultural and scientific development made the Maya's one of the most important pre-Hispanic cultures in Latin America. Many Maya ruins that still stand in Campeche, such as Calakmul, Chicanna, Becan, Edzna, Xpujil, Hormiguero, Balamku, and El Tigre, among many. The name Campeche has Maya origins, however its meaning has had different interpretations: the most accepted one is that Can means snake and Pech means tick, or “Site of Ticks and Snakes”; this matches the sculpture of a large snake with a tick on its head found within one of its temples.
When the Spaniards first landed on the coast of Campeche in 1517, they were defeated several times by the local leader Moch Couoh. After his death and thanks to territorial conflicts among the indigenous groups, the Spaniards were able to take control and in 1540 gave the settlement the official name of Villa de San Francisco de Campeche to honor Francisco de Montejo, “El Mozo”. The polytheist religion of the Maya civilization, which controlled every aspect of their lives, made the evangelization process of the Spaniards specially difficult to achieve in Mayan territory.
The new government readily took advantage of the geographical location of the port and this was soon reflected in a commercial boom. Salt; timber; and Palo de Tinta, timber from a tree called Tinta, were exported to foreign countries. This boom not only attracted the conquistadores, it attracted European pirates as well; during the XVII century Campeche was attacked repeatedly by them until 1704.
In 1821, at the end of the war for Independence, the new sovereign country was witness to political conflicts between liberals, conservatives, centralists and federalists. The indigenous rebellion known as the "Caste War" began at this time in the Yucatan peninsula, included the states of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. The Mayas rebelled against the “white government” to regain control of their land.
The peninsula was also one of the regions in the country that rejected the imposition of a federal government. And to top it all, Campeche and Yucatan had economic conflicts between them at the same time. It wasn’t until May 3, 1858 that Campeche was formally separated from Yucatan. But it was only recognized as a sovereign region in 1863 by president Benito Juarez.
The state economy has been based on the exportation of timber and salt since the government of Porfirio Diaz. Corn and sugar cane are the main agricultural products. In 1975, the state’s economy was impelled by the discovery of an oil bed off its coasts in the Gulf of Mexico
Municipalities
The State of Campeche is divided into 11 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president (mayor).
Data from the II Conteo de Población y Vivienda 2000, INEGI.
Tourism
 Jungle and Archaeological Zone of Calakmul. |
 Hacienda Uayamón. |
 Edzná Archaeological Zone. |
 Isla Aguada Beach. |
 San Francisco de Campeche. |
 Mangroves in the Terminos Lagoon. |
 Becán Archaeological Zone. |
 Cenote in the village of Miguel Colorado. |
 Champotón River. |
 Chenkán Beach. |
 Palizada River. |
 Chicanná Archaeological Zone. |
 Bahamitas Beach, Carmen Island. |
 Mangroves in the Reserve of "Los Petenes". |
Demographics
- Inhabitants: 754,730
- Age Average: 24 years.
- Annual Population Growth: 1.46%
- Population at the Capital: 216,900.
- Population that speaks a native tongue: 89,000.
- Population that does not speak Spanish: 3,140
References
External links
- Campeche Tourism
- Campeche Tourism
- Yucatan Today - The leading tourist guide to Merida and Yucatan - article about Campeche
- (Spanish) Campeche State Government
- (Spanish) Instituto de Cultura
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