Calakmul is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

, situated in the central part of the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

History

The municipality was created on 31 December 1996, from part of the territory of Champotón. On 19 June 1998, the State Congress enacted legislation creating the new municipality of Candelaria as of 1 July of that year, and Calakmul lost 24% of its population and a portion of its territory.

Geography

The

of Calakmul borders to the east with

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...

(municipalities of

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming it ...

Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11, ...

, and Othón P. Blanco) and

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

(

Orange Walk District Orange Walk is a Districts of Belize, district in the northwest of the nation of Belize, with its district capital in Orange Walk Town. Demographics Main settlements The Orange Walk District, with an area of 1,829 square miles (4,636 square km), ...

); to the south with

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

(

Petén Department Petén (from the Itza' language, Itz'a, , 'Great Island') is a Departments of Guatemala, department of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest by area at it accounts for about one third o ...

); and to the north and west with other municipalities in Campeche ( Candelaria, Champotón,

Escárcega Escárcega () is a small city in the Mexican state of Campeche, located at in the central part of the state. As of 2010, the city of Escárcega had a population of 29,477. The city serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding muni ...

and Hopelchén). It covers 13,839.11 km² (5,343.31 sq mi), accounting for 24.34% of the state's total surface area, and is the 10th-largest municipality in area in the country.

Demographics

The 2020 census reported a population of 31,714. The languages spoken in Calakmul include

Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya ( ; referred to by its speakers as or ) is a Mayan languages, Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including part of northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Fra ...

, Ch'ol, Chontal,

Tzotzil The Tzotzil are an Indigenous Maya people of the central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. As cited by Alfredo López Austin (1997), p. 133, 148 and following. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzotzil pop ...

, and others. The municipal seat is the town of

Xpujil Xpujil () is a town in the Mexican state of Campeche. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Calakmul. As of 2010, Xpujil had a population of 3,984. Xpujil is located in the south-east of the state, close to the bord ...

, a small settlement of 5,729 inhabitants located on Federal Highway 186 as it crosses the base of the peninsula from Escárcega, Campeche, to Chetumal, Quintana Roo. Apart from Xpujil other localities includes Constitución (1,386 hab.), Zoh-Laguna (1,144 hab.), Pablo García (832 hab.), Nuevo Conhúas (757 hab.) and Ingeniero Ricardo Payro Jene (695 hab.) .

Heritage

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

archaeological sites in the municipality include:

Calakmul Calakmul (; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya civilization, Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul w ...

, Becán, Chicanna,

El Hormiguero (; Spanish for "The Anthill") is a Spanish television program with a live audience focusing on comedy, science, and guest interviews airing since September 2006. It is hosted and produced by screenwriter Pablo Motos. The show aired on Spain' ...

Río Bec Río Bec is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located in what is now southern portion of the Mexican state of Campeche. The name also refers to an architectural style (Río Bec Style) that first appeared at Río Bec and subsequently sprea ...

and Xpuhil. The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve also covers much of its southern portion.

References

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática

Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

Ayuntamiento de Calakmul
Official website
Municipio de Calakmul
from official Campeche state government website {{Authority control Municipalities of Campeche