Quintana Roo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Quintana Roo | |||
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| Location within Mexico | |||
| Municipalities of Quintana Roo | |||
| Country | Image:Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico | ||
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| Capital | Chetumal | ||
| Municipalities | 8 | ||
| Largest City | Cancún | ||
| Government | |||
| - Governor | Félix González Canto (PRI) | ||
| - Federal Deputies | PRI:2 PAN:1 |
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| - Federal Senators | PRI: 1 PVEM: 1 PRD: 1 |
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| Area Ranked 19th | |||
| - Total | 50,212 km² (19,387 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Total | 1,135,309 (Ranked 26th) | ||
| HDI (2004) | 0.8238 - high Ranked 6th |
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| ISO 3166-2 | MX-ROO | ||
| Postal abbr. | Q. Roo | ||
| Website: http://www.quintanaroo.gob.mx | |||
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 50,351 square kilometers (19,440.6 sq mi), 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, known as a resort area, is frequently hit by severe hurricanes due to its exposed location.
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[edit] 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[citation needed].
[edit] Municipalities
The State of Quintana Roo is divided into 8 municipalities (Spanish: municipios), each headed by a municipal president.
[edit] Major communities
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
[edit] External links
- (Spanish) Quintana Roo State Government
- (Spanish) Towns, cities, and postal codes in Quintana Roo
- (Spanish) News from Quintana Roo
- Tours, Activities, Information and Tourist Services in Quintana Roo
States of Mexico | |
|---|---|
| Aguascalientes · Baja California · Baja California Sur · Campeche · Chiapas · Chihuahua · Coahuila · Colima · Durango · Distrito Federal · Guanajuato · Guerrero · Hidalgo · Jalisco · Mexico State · Michoacán · Morelos · Nayarit · Nuevo León · Oaxaca · Puebla · Querétaro · Quintana Roo · San Luis Potosí · Sinaloa · Sonora · Tabasco · Tamaulipas · Tlaxcala · Veracruz · Yucatán · Zacatecas | Image:Flag of Mexico.svg |
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