North America
Mexico
Pacific Coast

Michoacan

Michoacan is a state in western Mexico known for its lush coastline, rugged mountains, and vibrant culture. It is home to the Purépecha people, one of Mexico's oldest and most influential indigenous cultures.
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Photo: Henryficar, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Morelia and Paricutin.

Photo: Rafael Torres, CC BY-SA 3.0.
With a consistent colonial style throughout, is one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico. It is not really on the well-trodden path of the leisure tourists and so you can walk around in comfort without fear of the bermuda shorts crowds.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
is a notorious volcano in the state of Michoacan in . It is the youngest volcano on earth. Two small villages nearby were destroyed in the volcano's first eruption.

Photo: Nia Ran01, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a town in the region of Michoacan. The town is known as a market town where vendors and craftsmen from the many small villages and islands of the lake region bring their wares to sell.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Lake Patzcuaro and Uruapan.

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lake Pátzcuaro is a popular vacation region in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, . The closest large cities are and .

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city of 357,000 people in Michoacan. It is the center of Mexico's avocado growing region, with most of the crop distributed from here nationally and internationally.

Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain.
The are in Michoacán of . It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Millions of monarch butterflies descend on the forests of Michoacan each November and leave for their northward migration around March.

Photo: Drini, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Zamora is a small city of 155,000 people in Michoacan. Its big main plaza surrounded by local commerce, a cathedral, and the Federal Palace. Visiting is particularly recommended on Sundays when people come to mingle in the plaza.

Photo: Puerto Lázaro Cárdenas, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lázaro Cárdenas is a busy port city on Mexico's Pacific coast in the state of Michoacan. It handles a wide range of cargo, particularly container ships to and from Asia and South America.

Photo: Charmander 567, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a mid-size city in the state of Michoacan, . Archaeology and history buffs will enjoy the nearby site at San Felipe los Alzati. Nature lovers will want to explore the famous colonies of monarch butterflies at nearby .

Photo: Rafael Cervantes, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a small town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the state of Michoacan. Famous among foodies for the semi-hard to hard cheese, which is often compared to feta when served young, or parmesan when grated as a hard cheese.

Photo: Octavio Alonso Maya …, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small town of about 3,600 residents in Michoacan. It is a historic gold mining town and an important site in the Mexican War of Independence against Spain.

Photo: Kiquerojas1, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a small town in Michoacan, . It is best known as being the birthplace of two presidents. It is a culturally vibrant town that has been designated as one of Mexico's Pueblos Magicos.

Photo: Manuel Duran Guzman, CC BY-SA 3.0.
, officially known as de Codallos, is a small city in the Mexican state of Michoacan. It is a place where history comes alive, but is also known for outdoor activities including a volcanic crater lake, hiking areas to waterfalls, and aquatic parks.

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small village in Michoacan, , best known for being the closest town to El Rosario, the most popular entrance to Reserva de la Biosfera de la Mariposa Monarca.

Photo: Andmedpin, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city of 21,000 people in central Michoacan. The town is famous for having hundreds of master luthiers and guitar shops. It calls itself the "world capital of the guitar". The town is one of Mexico's designated .

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small lakeside town in the southern state of Michoacan, . It has a charming colonial center with a historic Augustinian monastery. It is a lively town that celebrates several local festivals. It is one of Mexico's designated .

Photo: Azul Pagnotta, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a Nahuat indigenous town on the coast of Michoacán, . It's part of the Pomaro indigenous community; an isolated, autonomous group of towns that banded together following the genocidal "motines" era of the 16th century.

Photo: Ildeamitail, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a national park straddling the border between Michoacan and . It is located within the volcano belt of . The park is close to Michoacan's world-famous Monarch Butterfly Reserve.

Michoacan

Latitude of center
19.2071° or 19° 12′ 26″ north
Longitude of center
-101.8781° or 101° 52′ 41″ west
Population
4,350,000
Elevation
926 metres (3,038 feet)
Abbreviation
“MIC”
Abbreviation
“Mich”
Open­Street­Map ID
node 305626639
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­state
Geo­Names ID
3995955
Wiki­data ID
Q79861
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Michoacan from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Arabic to Yue Chinese—“Michoacan” goes by many names.
  • Arabic: “ميتشواكان”
  • Arabic: “ولايه ميتشواكان”
  • Aragonese: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Aragonese: “Michoacán”
  • Armenian: “Միչոական”
  • Asturian: “Michoacán”
  • Aymara: “Michoacán Istadu”
  • Azerbaijani: “Miçoakan”
  • Balinese: “Michoacán”
  • Basque: “Michoacan de Ocampo”
  • Basque: “Michoacan”
  • Basque: “Michoacán”
  • Belarusian: “Мічаакан”
  • Belarusian: “штат Мічаакан”
  • Bengali: “মিচোয়াকান”
  • Breton: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Breton: “Michoacán”
  • Bulgarian: “Мичоакан”
  • Catalan: “Estat de Michoacán”
  • Catalan: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Catalan: “Michoacán”
  • Cebuano: “Estado de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Chechen: “Мичоакан”
  • Cheyenne: “Michoacán”
  • Chinese: “Michoacán Chiu”
  • Chinese: “米却肯州”
  • Chinese: “米卻肯州”
  • Cornish: “Michoacán”
  • Croatian: “Michoacán”
  • Czech: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Czech: “Michoacán”
  • Danish: “Michoacan”
  • Danish: “Michoacán”
  • Dutch: “Michoacan de Ocampo”
  • Dutch: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Dutch: “Michoacan”
  • Dutch: “Michoacán”
  • Egyptian Arabic: “ميتشواكان”
  • Esperanto: “Michoacan”
  • Esperanto: “Michoacán”
  • Esperanto: “Miĉoakano”
  • Estonian: “Michoacan”
  • Estonian: “Michoacán”
  • Estonian: “Michoacani osariik”
  • Estonian: “Michoacáni osariik”
  • Finnish: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Finnish: “Michoacan”
  • Finnish: “Michoacán”
  • French: “Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • French: “État de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • French: “État de Michoacán”
  • French: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • French: “Michoacan”
  • French: “Michoacán”
  • French: “MX-MIC”
  • Galician: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Galician: “Michoacán”
  • Georgian: “მიჩოაკანი”
  • Georgian: “მიჩოაკანის შტატი”
  • German: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • German: “Michoacan”
  • German: “Michoacán”
  • German: “MX-MIC”
  • Greek: “Μιτσοακάν”
  • Guarani: “Michoacán”
  • Gujarati: “મિચોકાન”
  • Hebrew: “המדינה החופשית והריבונית של מיצ’ואקאן דה אוקמפו”
  • Hebrew: “מיצ’ואקאן דה אוקמפו”
  • Hebrew: “מיצ’ואקאן”
  • Hindi: “मिचौआकैन”
  • Hungarian: “Michoacán”
  • Icelandic: “Michoacán”
  • Ido: “Michoacán”
  • Iloko: “Michoacán”
  • Indonesian: “Michoacan”
  • Indonesian: “Michoacán”
  • Interlingua: “Michoacan”
  • Irish: “Michoacán”
  • Italian: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Italian: “Michoacan”
  • Italian: “Michoacán”
  • Italian: “Michoacàn”
  • Japanese: “ミチョアカン”
  • Japanese: “ミチョアカン州”
  • Kannada: “ಮೈಕೋವಕಾನ್”
  • Korean: “미초아칸”
  • Korean: “미초아칸주”
  • Ladino: “Michoacán”
  • Ladino: “Michoakan”
  • Latin: “Mechoacana”
  • Latin: “Mechoacania”
  • Latin: “Michoacana”
  • Latvian: “Mičoakana de Okampo”
  • Latvian: “Mičoakana”
  • Lithuanian: “Mičoakanas”
  • Lithuanian: “Mičoakano valstija”
  • Lombard: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Malagasy: “Michoacán”
  • Malay: “Michoacán”
  • Maltese: “Michoacán”
  • Marathi: “मिचोआकान दि ओकॅम्पो”
  • Marathi: “मिचोआकान”
  • Mazanderani: “میچوآکان”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Michoacán Chiu”
  • Northern Frisian: “Michoacán (Bundesstoot)”
  • Northern Frisian: “Michoacán”
  • Northern Luri: “میچوآکان”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Michoacan”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Michoacán”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Michoacán”
  • Norwegian: “Michoacán”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Michoacán d’Ocampo”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Michoacán”
  • Ossetian: “Мичоакан”
  • Pampanga: “Michoacán”
  • Persian: “میچوآکان”
  • Persian: “میچواکان”
  • Piemontese: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Polish: “Michoacan”
  • Polish: “Michoacán”
  • Portuguese: “Estado de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Portuguese: “Estado de Michoacán”
  • Portuguese: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Portuguese: “Michoacán”
  • Quechua: “Michoacán suyu”
  • Romanian: “Michoacan”
  • Romanian: “Michoacán”
  • Romansh: “Michoacán”
  • Russian: “Мичоакан”
  • Sardinian: “Michoacán”
  • Sardinian: “Mitzacánu”
  • Scots: “Michoacan”
  • Scots: “Michoacán”
  • Serbian: “Michoacán”
  • Serbian: “Држава Микоакан”
  • Serbian: “Држава Мичоакан”
  • Serbian: “Мичоакан”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Michoacan”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Michoacán”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Mičoakan”
  • Sinhala: “මිචොආකෑන්”
  • Sinhala: “මිචෝආකන් ප්‍රාන්තය, මෙක්සිකෝව”
  • Slovak: “Michoacán”
  • Slovenian: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Slovenian: “Michoacan”
  • Slovenian: “Michoacán”
  • Slovenian: “MX-MIC”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Michoacan de Ocampo”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Michoacan”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Michoacán”
  • Spanish: “Michoacan de Ocampo”
  • Spanish: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Spanish: “Michoacan”
  • Spanish: “Michoacán”
  • Swahili: “Michoacán”
  • Swedish: “Michoacan de Ocampo”
  • Swedish: “Michoacán de Ocampo”
  • Swedish: “Michoacan”
  • Swedish: “Michoacán”
  • Tagalog: “Michoacan”
  • Tagalog: “Michoacán”
  • Tagalog: “Mitsoakan”
  • Tagalog: “Mitsouakan”
  • Tagalog: “Mitsowakan”
  • Tajik: “Иёлати Мичоакан де Окампо”
  • Tajik: “Мичоакан”
  • Tamil: “மிசோ கண்”
  • Tatar: “Мичоакан”
  • Telugu: “మిచోకాన్”
  • Thai: “รัฐมิโชอากัง”
  • Thai: “รัฐมิโชอากัน”
  • Tumbuka: “Michoacán”
  • Turkish: “Michoacán”
  • Ukrainian: “Мічоакан-де-Окампо”
  • Ukrainian: “Мічоакан”
  • Urdu: “میشواکان”
  • Uzbek: “Michoakan”
  • Uzbek: “Michoakande-Okampo”
  • Venetian: “Michoacán”
  • Vietnamese: “Michoacán”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Michoacan”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Michoacán”
  • Welsh: “Michoacan”
  • Welsh: “Michoacán”
  • Western Panjabi: “میچواکان”
  • Wu Chinese: “米却肯州”
  • Yue Chinese: “米卻肯州”
  • “Mahkawtok Tlahtohkayotl tlen Michwahkan”
  • “Mahkawtok Tlatilantli tlen Michwahkan”
  • “Michwahkan”
  • “Michwahkan Tlahtohkayotl”
  • “Michwahkan Tlatilantli”

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Michoacan”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.