Campeche

Campeche is the name of a state in Mexico, as well as the capital city of that state.

The City of Campeche

The city of Campeche is located at latitude 19.85°N , longitude 90.53°W, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population estimate for 2002 was 230,910 people.

The city of Campeche was founded in 1540 by Spanish Conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the preexisting Maya city of Canpech or Kimpech. The Pre-Columbian city was described as having 3,000 houses and various monuments, of which little trace remains.

The city retains many of the old colonial Spanish city walls and fortifications which protected the city (not always successfully) from pirates and buccaneers. The state of preservation and quality of its architecture earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

Campeche was the principal port of Yucatán until the mid 19th century, when it was overtaken by Sisal and then Progreso. It was historically the second largest and most important city in the Peninsula (after Mérida) until the end of the 20th century and the increased development in Quintana Roo. In the 1840s the city had a population of about 21,000.

The State of Campeche

The state of Campeche was long a part of Yucatán and shared its history through the mid 19th century. Campeche broke away from Yucatán and became a separate state of the United Mexican States on August 7, 1857. Campeche is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west. To the south it is bordered by the Petén department of Guatemala, to the south east by Belize, and to the west by the Gulf of Mexico. The area of Campeche is 56,798 km² (about 21,924 square miles). The population of Campeche state according to the 1998 census was 708,041 people.

ISO 3166-2 is MX-CAM.

In addition to the City of Campeche, the State of Campeche includes the cities of Champotón, Ciudad del Carmen, and Escárcega, the towns of Bolonchen, Calkiní, Dzitbalché, Hecelchakan, Hopelchen, Lerma, Tenabo, and Sabancuy, and many ruins of the Maya civilization such as Becan, Calacmul, Civiltuk, Dzibilnocac, Etzna, Hochob, Holactun, Rio Bec, Uxul, Xicalango, Xpuhil, and Xtampak.

The state is divided into eleven municipalities (municipios): Campeche, Carmen, Candelaria, Escárcega, Calkiní, Calakmul, Champotón, Hecelchakán, Hopelchen, Palizada, and Tenabo.

Campeche
Map from the 1910s