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'Quintana Roo' [kinˈtana ˈro] is a state of Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the states of Yucatán and Campeche to the north and west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the nation of Belize to the south.
The capital of Quintana Roo is the city of Chetumal. Quintana Roo also contains the resort city of Cancún, the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres, the towns of Bacalar, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Juárez, Akumal, Xcalak and Puerto Morelos, as well as the ancient Maya ruins of Chacchoben, Chakanbakán, Chamax, Coba, Dzibanché, El Meco, Ichpaatán, Kohunlich, Muyil, Oxtankah, Tancah, Tulum, Tupak, Xel-Há, and Xcaret. The Sian Ka'an national park is also in Quintana Roo.
The state covers an area of , and the 2005 census reported a population of 1,135,309. The statewide population is currently expanding at a rapid rate due to the construction of hotels and the demand for workers. Many immigrants to the state come from Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco, and Veracruz. The state, despite its status as a resort area, is also often hit by severe hurricanes due to its exposed location.

Contents

History

Major communities

Footnotes

References

External links

History

The area that makes up modern Quintana Roo was long part of Yucatán, sharing its history. With the Caste War of Yucatán starting in the 1840s, all non-natives were driven from the region and the independent Maya nation of Chan Santa Cruz was centered on what is now the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The region was for a time dominated by the religion of the "Talking Cross": in a church was a cross guarded by Maya priests that was said to speak and give them orders. The Mexican government continued to have very little control over this region until the early decades of the 20th century.
Quintana Roo was made a territory of Mexico by decree of President Porfirio Díaz on November 24, 1902. It was named after an early patriot of the Mexican Republic, Andrés Quintana Roo. The Mexican army succeeded in defeating most of the Maya population of the region during the 1910s, and in 1915 the area was again declared to legally be part of the state of Yucatán. In 1931 the territory of Quintana Roo was again separated from Yucatán.
Quintana Roo was granted statehood within the United Mexican States on October 8, 1974. It is the Mexican Republic's youngest state. Around the same time Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Cozumel were developed as tourist destinations.
During the 1990s, Quintana Roo was governed by Mario E. Villanueva Madrid. His administration was alleged to be so corrupt it developed relations with drug traffickers in Colombia. By 1998 the state had become the first "Narco-Political Subdivision" in Mexico. Villanueva was such a problem for Mexican-American relations that the Mexican Government of Ernesto Zedillo began seeking indictments against Villanueva once the governor left office in 1999. Villanueva fled the country but was finally arrested and returned to Mexican soil to face justice in 2001.^[1][2] Since that time Quintana Roo has recovered and has become an ever more popular tourist destination.

Major communities

★ Cancún

★ Chetumal

★ Cozumel

★ Felipe Carrillo Puerto

★ Isla Mujeres

★ Playa del Carmen

★ Tulum

Footnotes

1. DEA press release
2. DOJ website

References

★ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática

External links

★ Quintana Roo State Government

★ Towns, cities, and postal codes in Quintana Roo

★ News from Quintana Roo