The Pacific Coast of Mexico or West Coast of Mexico stretches along the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

s of western

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

at 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 conti ...

and its Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez).

Geography

Baja California Peninsula

On the western Baja California Peninsula coast, it extends from the border with the United States at Tijuana in the state of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, south to the tip of the Baja California Peninsula at Cabo San Lucas in the state of Baja California Sur. On the peninsula's eastern coast it extends from the head of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

to Cabo San Lucas.

Mainland

Along Mexico's western mainland its Pacific Coast extends from the head of the eastern Gulf of California near the

Colorado River Delta The Colorado River Delta is the region where the Colorado River flows into the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) in eastern Mexicali Municipality in the north of the state of Baja California in northwesternmost Mexico. The ...

in Sonora state to south of the gulf to the open Pacific, and then further south to the border with Guatemala in the state of Chiapas near Tapachula.

Settlements

Major Pacific coastal cities include Tijuana, Ensenada, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta,

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 ...

, and Salina Cruz.

Ports

Major ports along the Pacific Coast of Mexico included the Port of Ensenada, the Port of Lazaro Cardenas, the Port of Chiapas, and the Port of Manzanillo.

History

By the 8th century in the Acapulco Bay area, there was a small culture first be dominated by the Olmecs, then the

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan ( Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is known today as ...

, the Maya, and in 1486 by the Aztec Empire.Cabrera Guerrero, Martha Eugenia, 1990, Los pobladores prehispánicos de Acapulco, INAH, After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519−1521), the Pacific Coast of present-day Mexico was first seen by Europeans at

Acapulco Bay 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 b ...

. It occurred in either 1523 by explorers sent by Hernán Cortés via land, or in 1526 by Santiago Guevara via ship. The Augustinian friar and navigator Andrés de Urdaneta had discovered the return Spanish trade route (''tornaviaje'') from the colonial Philippines to the Pacific Coast of Mexico in 1865, using the Pacific's volta do mar. The

Manila-Acapulco Galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

s were Spanish trading ships that made round-trip sailing voyages annually across the Pacific Ocean, from the port of Acapulco in the Spanish colonial México to Manila in the Spanish East Indies and back. Both under the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. "Manila Galleons" is also used to refer to the trade route between colonial Acapulco and Manila, which lasted from 1565 to 1815.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific Coast Of Mexico Coasts of Mexico

Geography of Mesoamerica