North America
Mexico
Yucatán & the South

Yucatán

Yucatán is a state in the north western part of the , with its coastline facing the Gulf of Mexico. To the east is the state of , home of Cancun and Cozumel; is to the south.
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Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Chichen Itza and Mérida.

Photo: Javier Losa, CC BY 2.0.
Chichén Itzá is the largest of the archaeological cities of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the of . It is one of Mexico's most visited tourist destinations.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.
A short distance — yet seemingly a world away — from the rowdy, touristy beach resorts of and that make up the Yucatán of cliché, is the cultural center of southern Mexico, boasting a panoply of excellent museums and attractions, a vibrant street life, and a wealth of historic colonial-era architecture that's second only to on the national scene.

Photo: Adam63, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an archeological site in the state of Yucatan in , and a UNESCO World Heritage List site. It is one of the best restored and maintained ruins in the Yucatan.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Valladolid and Mayapan.

Photo: Xe3osc, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small city of 56,000 people in the state of Yucatán that is about a 45-minute drive from the east entrance of Chichén Itzá. It offers an alternative base for visiting the ruins, while having its own charms as well – although further from the ruins than the town of Piste, is less tourist-oriented and has more historic charm.

Photo: SiMeCaIS, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is an archaeological site in Yucatán, . It was a fairly large city, built after the demise of , and it took on the mantle of being the most powerful and influential Mayan city in the Yucatán.

Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0.
is an island in the Mexican Caribbean Sea, 13 km off of the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, near . has an enticing small-town vibe and is one of Mexico's designated .

Photo: lehnin78, CC BY 2.0.
is a city in the state of Yucatán, , on the Gulf of Mexico on the northwest coast of the . The city was founded in 1811 as a port for exporting sisal fiber from the Yucatán haciendas.

Photo: Misael Lavadores, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small coastal town on the Gulf of Mexico in northern Yucatán. Often described as a fishing village, the town derives most of its income from tourism.

Photo: holachetumal, CC BY 3.0.
is a small city in Yucatán, about 70 km east of the capital, Mérida. It has deep roots in the Mayan and Spanish colonial past, with impressive historic architecture. By local tradition, most buildings are painted yellow.

Photo: Addicted04, CC0.
is a small town in Yucatán, . It is a transportation hub whose bus station links first-class bus routes from Cancun and Merida to the second-class buses servicing small coastal communities that draw naturalists as well as budget travelers, and active travelers wanting to learn kiteboarding or surfing.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a small Mayan town in the core of Yucatán, , about 100 km south of the state capital, . Mani is one of Mexico's designated . It is a small town with about 4100 residents and a colorful history.

is a Maya archaeological site in Yucatán, . The site is one of several stylistically similar sites on an official tourist itinerary known as the Ruta Puuc.

Photo: Lmbuga, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Ekʼ Balam is a Yucatec-Maya archaeological site within the municipality of Temozón, Yucatán, . It lies in the Northern Maya lowlands, 25 kilometres north of and 56 kilometres northeast of .

Photo: Bruno Rijsman, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a small-town port on the Gulf of Mexico in northwest Yucatán. It is a very small town of about 1,800 persons but with a location close to the state capital, draws large weekend and day-trip crowds.

Photo: Ovedc, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico coast in the western part of Yucatán, . The small town of 8,400 people is completely surrounded by the Ría Biosphere Reserve, a large protected natural area that is home to more than 200 species of bird including tens of thousands of pink flamingos.

Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a small coastal town of just over 20,000 people in northern Yucatán. It is famous as the origen of huevos motulenos, a regional breakfast that is popular throughout the Yucatan Peninsula. is one of Mexico's designated .

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a village located 55 kilometers south- east of in the state of Yucatan. The town is within the Reserva Estatal Geohidrológica Anillo de Cenotes. The area has many cenotes and makes a perfect day trip from Mérida.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a small town in the southern part of Yucatán. It is a Mayan community in an area of dense tropical jungle. Travelers will enjoy the colonial historic town center, an abundance of biodiversity, caving, hiking and exploring 1,000 year old Mayan archaeological sites.

Photo: nsp74, CC BY-SA 2.0.
is a traditionally Mayan small town in the eastern part of Yucatán in southeast . The town is designated as one of Mexico's .

Photo: Isabel A01706197, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Río Lagartos is a coastal town in the northeast of Yucatan. It is a relaxing, quiet town that aside from its beaches and seafood restaurants, is world famous for its population of tens of thousands of pink flamingos who breed in the adjacent Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0.
is a village of 3,700 people in the state of Yucatán, in the north of Mexico's . It is famed for three beautiful cenotes, and is a destination along the Yucatán's Ruta de los Cenotes…

Photo: Misael Lavadores, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small city in the western part of the state of Yucatán in southern Mexico. It is a town with colonial charm and a large Maya population. Several Mayan archaeological sites, large and small, are within easy day-trip distance from Maxcanu.
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Yucatán

Latitude of center
20.6846° or 20° 41′ 5″ north
Longitude of center
-88.8756° or 88° 52′ 32″ west
Population
2,320,000
Elevation
30 metres (98 feet)
Abbreviation
“YUC”
Open­Street­Map ID
node 2160053458
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­state
Geo­Names ID
3514211
Wiki­data ID
Q60176
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 Yucatán from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Afrikaans to Yue Chinese—“Yucatán” goes by many names.
  • Afrikaans: “Yucatán”
  • Arabic: “ولاية يوكاتان”
  • Arabic: “ولايه يوكاتان”
  • Aragonese: “Estato de Yucatán”
  • Aragonese: “Estau de Yucatán”
  • Armenian: “Յուկատան նահանգ”
  • Armenian: “Յուկատան”
  • Asturian: “Yucatán”
  • Aymara: “Yucatán Istadu”
  • Balinese: “Yucatán”
  • Banjar: “Yucatán”
  • Basque: “Yucatan”
  • Basque: “Yucatán”
  • Basque: “Yukatan”
  • Belarusian: “Штат Юкатан”
  • Belarusian: “Юкатан”
  • Bengali: “ইয়ুকাতান”
  • Breton: “Yucatan”
  • Breton: “Yucatán”
  • Breton: “Yukatan”
  • Bulgarian: “Юкатан”
  • Catalan: “Estat de Yucatán”
  • Catalan: “Yucatan”
  • Catalan: “Yucatán”
  • Catalan: “Yucatàn”
  • Cebuano: “Estado de Yucatán”
  • Chechen: “Юкатан (штат)”
  • Chechen: “Юкатан”
  • Cherokee: “ᏳᎧᏔᏂ”
  • Cheyenne: “Yucatán”
  • Chinese: “Yucatán Chiu”
  • Chinese: “尤卡坦州”
  • Chinese: “猶加敦”
  • Cornish: “Yucatán”
  • Croatian: “Yucatán”
  • Czech: “Yucatán”
  • Danish: “Yucatán”
  • Dutch: “Yucatán”
  • Esperanto: “Jukatanio”
  • Esperanto: “MX-YUC”
  • Estonian: “Yucatan”
  • Estonian: “Yucatán”
  • Estonian: “Yucatani osariik”
  • Estonian: “Yucatáni osariik”
  • Finnish: “Jukatan”
  • Finnish: “Yucatan”
  • Finnish: “Yucatán”
  • French: “Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán”
  • French: “État de Yucatán”
  • French: “MX-YUC”
  • French: “Yucatan”
  • French: “Yucatán”
  • Galician: “Estado do Iucatán”
  • Galician: “Iucatán”
  • Georgian: “იუკატანი”
  • Georgian: “იუკატანის შტატი”
  • German: “Jukatan”
  • German: “MX-YUC”
  • German: “Provinz Yucatan”
  • German: “Provinz Yukatan”
  • German: “Yucatan (Bundesstaat)”
  • German: “Yucatan”
  • German: “Yucatán”
  • German: “Yukatan (Bundesstaat)”
  • German: “Yukatan”
  • Greek: “Γιουκατάν”
  • Gujarati: “યુકાટન”
  • Haitian: “Yucatán”
  • Hebrew: “יוקטן”
  • Hindi: “युकाटन”
  • Hungarian: “Yucatán”
  • Icelandic: “Yucatán”
  • Iloko: “Yucatán”
  • Indonesian: “Yucatan”
  • Indonesian: “Yucatán”
  • Interlingua: “Yucatán”
  • Irish: “Yucatán”
  • Italian: “Yucatan”
  • Italian: “Yucatán”
  • Italian: “Yucatàn”
  • Japanese: “ユカタン”
  • Japanese: “ユカタン州”
  • Kannada: “ಯುಕಾಟಾನ್”
  • Korean: “유카탄주”
  • Ladino: “Yukatan”
  • Latin: “Iucatan”
  • Latin: “Iucatana”
  • Latin: “Iucatania”
  • Latin: “Yucatania”
  • Latin: “Yucatanis”
  • Latin: “Yucatanium”
  • Latvian: “Jukatana”
  • Lithuanian: “Jukatanas”
  • Lithuanian: “Jukatano valstija”
  • Macedonian: “Јукатан”
  • Malagasy: “Yucatán”
  • Malay: “Yucatán”
  • Marathi: “युकातन”
  • Marathi: “युकातान”
  • Mazanderani: “یوکاتان”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Yucatán Chiu”
  • Northern Frisian: “Yucatán (Bundesstoot)”
  • Northern Frisian: “Yucatán”
  • Northern Luri: “یوکاتان”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Yucatán”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Yucatan”
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: “Yucatán”
  • Norwegian: “Yucatán”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Yucatan”
  • Occitan (post 1500): “Yucatán”
  • Ossetian: “Юкатан (штат)”
  • Ossetian: “Юкатан”
  • Pampanga: “Yucatán”
  • Panjabi: “ਯੁਕਾਤਾਨ”
  • Papiamento: “Yucatan”
  • Persian: “یوکاتان”
  • Piemontese: “Yucatán”
  • Polish: “Jukatan”
  • Portuguese: “Estado de Iucatã”
  • Portuguese: “Estado de Iucatão”
  • Portuguese: “Estado de Yucatán”
  • Portuguese: “Iucatã”
  • Portuguese: “Iucatão”
  • Portuguese: “Yucatán”
  • Pushto: “یوکاتان”
  • Quechua: “Yucatán suyu”
  • Romanian: “Yucatan”
  • Romanian: “Yucatán”
  • Romansh: “Yucatan”
  • Romansh: “Yucatán”
  • Russian: “Свободный и Суверенный Штат Юкатан”
  • Russian: “Юкатан (штат)”
  • Russian: “Юкатан”
  • Sardinian: “Ghiucatánu”
  • Sardinian: “Yucatán”
  • Scots: “Yucatan”
  • Scots: “Yucatán”
  • Serbian: “Estado de Yucatán”
  • Serbian: “Држава Јукатан”
  • Serbian: “Јукатан”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Država Jukatan”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Država Yucatan”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Država Yucatán”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Jukatan”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Yucatan”
  • Serbo-Croatian: “Yucatán”
  • Sinhala: “යුකටාන්”
  • Sinhala: “යුකැටන් ප්‍රාන්තය, මෙක්සිකෝව”
  • Slovak: “Yucatán”
  • Slovenian: “Jukatan”
  • Slovenian: “MX-YUC”
  • Slovenian: “Yucatán”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Yucatan”
  • Spanish: “Estado de Yucatán”
  • Spanish: “Provincia de Yucatan”
  • Spanish: “Provincia de Yucatán”
  • Spanish: “Yucatan”
  • Spanish: “Yucatán”
  • Swahili: “Yucatán”
  • Swedish: “Yucatán”
  • Tagalog: “Yucatan”
  • Tagalog: “Yucatán”
  • Tagalog: “Yukatan”
  • Tajik: “Иёлати Юкатан”
  • Tamil: “யுகேடன்”
  • Tatar: “Юкатан (штат)”
  • Tatar: “Юкатан”
  • Telugu: “యూకాటన్”
  • Thai: “Yucatán”
  • Thai: “รัฐยูกาตัน”
  • Thai: “รัฐยูกาตาน”
  • Tumbuka: “Yucatán”
  • Turkish: “Yucatan”
  • Turkish: “Yucatán”
  • Ukrainian: “Юкатан”
  • Urdu: “یوکاتان”
  • Urdu: “یوکتان”
  • Uzbek: “Yukatan”
  • Venetian: “Yucatán”
  • Vietnamese: “Yucatán”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Yucatan”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Yucatán”
  • Welsh: “Yucatán”
  • Western Frisian: “Jûkatan”
  • Western Frisian: “Yucatán”
  • Western Panjabi: “جزیرہ نما یوکاتان”
  • Western Panjabi: “حزیریورگا یوکاتان”
  • Wu Chinese: “尤卡坦州”
  • Yue Chinese: “尤卡坦州”
  • “Mahkawtok Tlahtohkayotl tlen Yokatan”
  • “Mahkawtok Tlatilantli tlen Yokatan”
  • “Yokatan”
  • “Yokatan Tlahtohkayotl”
  • “Yokatan Tlatilantli”

Yucatán and the South: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Cancún, Campeche, Palenque, and Chetumal.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
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 “Yucatán”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.