Yucatán

Yucatan is a state on the northern Yucatan Peninsula in southeastern Mexico, the heartland of the ancient and living Maya civilisation. Its capital is Merida, known as one of the safest and most charming cities in Mexico. With spectacular ruins, cenotes and a distinctive cuisine, it is a cultural treasure.

Yucatan is a flat limestone plain covered in low jungle, with no surface rivers but thousands of cenotes, natural sinkholes filled with groundwater, and a Gulf coastline of beaches and flamingo-filled lagoons. The climate is hot and tropical.

Yucatecan culture is deeply Maya, with the Maya language widely spoken, a unique regional cuisine featuring cochinita pibil, and lively traditions of music and dance. Merida is a hub of colonial architecture and the arts.

Home to the great Maya cities of Chichen Itza and Uxmal, the peninsula was conquered late by the Spanish and saw the 19th-century Caste War. Yucatan became a state of Mexico, retaining a strong, distinct identity.