Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
, comprise the
Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in
20 municipalities and its capital city is
Tepic.
It is bordered by the states of
Sinaloa to the northwest,
Durango to the north,
Zacatecas to the northeast and
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
to the south. To the west, Nayarit has a significant share of coastline on the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, including the islands of
Marías and
Marietas. The beaches of
San Blas and the so-called "
Riviera Nayarit" are popular with tourists.
Besides tourism, the economy of the state is based mainly on agriculture and fishing. It is also one of two states where the
tarantula species ''
Brachypelma klaasi'' is found, the other being
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
.
Home to
Uto-Aztecan indigenous peoples such as the
Huichol and
Cora
Cora may refer to:
Science
* ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens
* ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies
* CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system
People
* Cora (name), a given name and surname
* Cora E. (born 1968), German hi ...
, the region was exposed to the ''
conquistadores'',
Hernán Cortés and
Nuño de Guzmán, in the 16th century. Spanish governance was made difficult by indigenous rebellions and by the inhospitable terrain of the Sierra del Nayar. The last independent Cora communities were subjugated in 1722.
The state's name recalls the Cora people's label for themselves: ''Náayerite'', commemorating Nayar, a resistance leader.
History
Radiocarbon dating estimate
Aztatlán colonization of the western Mexican coast – including parts of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco – as occurring as early as 900 AD, with some evidence suggesting it might have been as early as 520 AD. Encountered on the western coast by the Spanish invaders in 1500, the cultures were descended from these original Aztatlán settlements and other
Classic-stage cultures who had merged with them.
Hernán Cortés was the first known European to enter into the area now known as Nayarit, which he claimed for Spain as part of
Nueva Galicia. Under
Nuño de Guzmán, Spaniards took the region with considerable brutality, causing the indigenous inhabitants to revolt, in what was later referred to as the
Mixtón War. After almost two centuries of resistance, the last independent Cora communities were incorporated into Spanish administration by force in 1722. Then followed intense missionary efforts by
Jesuits to convert the indigenous.
In the colonial period, the port of
San Blas was one of the most important trade ports on the American Pacific coast.
Galleons transporting goods from Manila, the Philippines arrived here before the rise of the port of
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...
. Today, the town still boasts
colonial architecture from its heyday, such as the ''aduana'' (customs office), the ''contaduría'' (accounting offices) and the fortress that protected the port against pirates.
In Nayarit, the struggle for independence from Spain was initiated by the priest José María Mercado, who conquered Tepic and San Blas before being defeated and executed by Spanish royalists. In 1824, in the first constitution of the Mexican Republic, Nayarit was a part of
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
. In the mid-1800s Comanche Indians, from Texas and Oklahoma, attacked Tepic causing widespread destruction. During the second half of the 19th century, Nayarit was one of the most turbulent territories in Mexico. The population was in open revolt, demanding access to land.
Nayarit was one of the last territories admitted as a state of the Mexican federation, which occurred on May 1, 1917.
Geography
Nayarit covers , making it one of the smaller states in Mexico. Nayarit is located between latitude lines 23°05' north and 20°36' south and longitude lines 103°43' east and 105°46' west. Its terrain is broken up by the western ends of the
Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. Its highest mountains are:
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
,
Sanguangüey,
El Ceboruco
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...
,
Cumbre de Pajaritos
''Cumbre'' is a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae
Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separ ...
and
Picachos.
["Nayarit"]
in ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. 2012, Columbia University Press Nayarit has two volcanoes,
Ceboruco
Ceboruco is a dacitic stratovolcano located in Nayarit, Mexico, northwest of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The largest eruption, the Jala Plinian eruption, was around 930 AD ±200, VEI 6, releasing of tephra. The most recent and best d ...
and
Sangangüey. In the northeast are broad, tropical plains watered by the
Río Grande de Santiago, a continuation of the
Lerma River. The main state rivers are the
Río Grande de Santiago,
San Pedro Mezquital,
Acaponeta,
Ameca, and
Las Cañas. The Río Grande de Santiago is the largest river in Nayarit. The Santiago and its tributaries are of major importance for agricultural irrigation. The Ameca and the Las Cañas lie on the border between Nayarit and the states of
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
and
Sinaloa, respectively. Notable
lagoons in Nayarit include
Santa María del Oro,
San Pedro Lagunillas and
Agua Brava
Agua means water in Spanish.
Agua may also refer to:
Places
* ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia
* Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
.
Municipalities
Nayarit – as with all states of Mexico – is geographically divided into
municipalities ''(
municipios)'', creating twenty
municipalities in Nayarit:
Environment
Nayarit's natural vegetation varies with altitude. The coastal lowlands and river valleys were originally covered with tropical dry forest, with many trees that lose their leaves during the dry season. The
Sinaloan dry forests cover the northern coastal lowlands and extend up the valleys of the San Pedro Mezquital River and Río Grande de Santiago and its tributaries. The
Jalisco dry forests ecoregion covers coastal Nayarit south of
San Blas and the Islas Marías.
The
Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves
Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion of the Pacific coast of Mexico. The ' ("national marshes") stretches from Mazatlán, Sinaloa southwards to San Blas, Nayarit.
Geography
The Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangro ...
, a network of coastal lagoons and tidal mangrove forests, extend along the state's northern coast and into adjacent Sinaloa. The mangroves are home to abundant wildlife, including migratory and resident waterbirds.
The mountains are home to
pine–oak forests, which vary with elevation. Oak forests and woodlands grow at lower elevations, interspersed with smaller areas of humid cloud forest in areas of higher rainfall. Higher elevations are home to forests of pine and oak, with forests of pine and other conifers at the highest elevations.
Nayarit contains hundreds of miles of rain forest in the sierra. Its wildlife includes hundreds of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
species including the
lilac-crowned amazon (''Amazona finschi'') and
Mexican woodnymph
The Mexican woodnymph (''Eupherusa ridgwayi'') is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae endemic to western Mexico. It lives in subtropical or tropical moist lowland/foothill forest and plantations, feeding on flower nectar and in ...
(''Thalurania ridgwayi''). There are also 119 registered species of mammals, including
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
(''Odocoileus virginianus''),
collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu''), caymans, armadillos and wild felines such as
jaguarundi (''Puma yagouarundi'') and
ocelot (''Felis pardalis'') and many more.
[Pulido Pérez, R. (1995). Diagnostico de la fauna silvestre en el estado de Nayarit/.] Unfortunately, most of the rain forest has been exploited, especially around the region of
Santa María del Oro. The conservation and protection of the rain forest and wildlife of Nayarit is an issue of crucial importance.
The
Islas Marías were designated as the
Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve
The Islas Marías (or Mary's Island) Biosphere Reserve (established 2010) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located in the Islas Marías in the municipality (''municipio'') of San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. The reserve includes ecosystems with a great we ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
in 2010.
Flora and fauna
Education
*
Instituto Tecnológico de Tepic
*
Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit
The Autonomous University of Nayarit (in Spanish: ''Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit, UAN'') is a Mexican public university based in the city of Tepic, Nayarit, that offers secondary education in addition to undergraduate and graduate education ...
*
Universidad Tecnólogica de Nayarit
Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to:
Places
* Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico
* Universidad (Madrid)
Football clubs
* Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
...
*
Universidad Tecnólogica de la Costa
Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to:
Places
* Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico
* Universidad (Madrid)
Football clubs
* Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatema ...
*
Escuela Normal Superior de Nayarit: a
normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...
(for teachers)
*
Universidad Vizcaya de Las Americas
*Escuela Secundaria Técnica No. 51 (Emilio M. Gonzalez)
Demographics
Nayarit is Mexico's twenty-ninth most populous state. According to the census of 2020, the state had a population of 1,235,456 and its population density was 39/km
2.
Indigenous groups
Nayarit is the home to four indigenous groups: the
Wixaritari (Huichol), the
Naayeri (Cora), the
Odam (Tepehuan) and the
Nahuatl-speaking
Mexicaneros. The indigenous groups mostly inhabit the Nayar highlands, but are also frequently encountered in Tepic and on the Pacific coast, where they have also established colonies. They are known for their crafts and artwork which they sell. About five percent of the state population speaks an indigenous language.
Economy
Nayarit is predominantly an agricultural state, and produces a large variety of crops such as
beans,
sorghum,
sugar cane,
maize,
tobacco, rice, chiles,
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
s,
melons,
tomatoes,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
, mangoes, bananas, and avocados. In addition to these crops, livestock and fishing are also central to the local economy. Approximately six percent of the land in Nayarit is pasture land, with the most common livestock being cattle, horses, pigs,
goats, and
sheep. Nayarit has 289 kilometers of coastline, which provides an abundance of fish and shellfish, including
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
,
snapper,
sharks, and
oysters. There are over 75
cooperatives related to the fishing industry alone in Nayarit. Much of the food produced in Nayarit is exported to the larger urban areas surrounding Mexico City and Guadalajara, and much of the agricultural labor is performed by
migrant laborers
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
. Although mining exists in Nayarit, it is mostly of non-
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...
lic substances such as
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
or
kaolin.
Beginning in the late 90's, Nayarit has become known as a producer of
specialty Arabica coffee, regarded for its fine taste and high density beans grown in the volcanic soils of the
Sierra Madre Occidental. Nayarit coffee is exported all over the world, including to the UK and Australia via the Grupo Terruño Nayarita farmers cooperative.
In recent years, Nayarit has worked to build its tourism sector, marketing the "
Riviera Nayarit" as a safe, beautiful destination served by
Puerto Vallarta International Airport. Popular resort towns include
Bucerías,
Punta de Mita
Punta Mita is a private peninsula that is home to the Four Seasons Punta Mita, St. Regis Punta Mita, and 16 sub-communities. Punta Mita is located on the north end of Banderas Bay in the Mexican state of Nayarit, about north of Puerto Vallart ...
,
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
''La Cruz de Huanacaxtle'' ("The Cross of Huanacaxtle") is a Mexican fishing village situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the state of Nayarit. It is situated approximately 25 km from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
Jalisco (, ...
,
San Blas,
Santiago Ixcuintla,
Sayulita and
Tecuala. However, some residents in these and other towns are concerned that the growth in the tourism industry might have harmful impacts on the community.
Timeshare scams with links to the local
Nayarit Mafia are quite common.
Media
Newspapers
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...
of Nayarit include: ''El Periódico en que Nayarit Opina Día a Día'', ''El Semanario que refleja qué hay en Nayarit'', ''Matutino Gráfico'', ''Meridiano de Nayarit'', and ''Realidades.''
See also
*Ixtlán del Rio (archaeological site)
*Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Nayarit State Government*
*
Portal de Carrillo Puerto Nayarit, Mexico*
Portal de Compostela Nayarit, Mexico
{{Authority control
Nayarit,
States and territories established in 1917
States of Mexico