Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, 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 ...
, constitute the 32
federal entities of
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. It is divided into
11 municipalities and its capital city is
Chetumal.
Quintana Roo is located on the eastern part of the
Yucatán Peninsula and is bordered by the states of
Campeche to the west and
Yucatán to the northwest, and by the
Orange Walk and
Corozal districts of
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern 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 wa ...
, along with an offshore borderline with
Belize District to the south. As Mexico's easternmost state, Quintana Roo has a coastline to the east with the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
and to the north with the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...
. The state previously covered and shared a small border with
Guatemala in the southwest of the state. However, in 2013, Mexico's
Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation resolved the boundary dispute between Quintana Roo,
Campeche, and
Yucatán stemming from the creation of the
Calakmul municipality by Campeche in 1997, siding with Campeche and thereby benefiting Yucatán.
Quintana Roo is the home of the city of
Cancún, the islands of
Cozumel and
Isla Mujeres, and the towns of
Bacalar,
Playa del Carmen and
Akumal, as well as the ancient
Maya ruins of
Chacchoben
Chacchoben (chak-CHO-ben; Maya for "the place of red corn") is a Maya ruin approximately 110 mi (177 km) south of Tulum and 7 mi (11 km) from the village from which it derives its name.
History
Settlement by the Maya at th ...
,
Cobá,
Kohunlich,
Muyil,
Tulum,
Xel-Há, and
Xcaret. The
Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve is also located in the state. The statewide population is expanding at a rapid rate due to the construction of hotels and the demand for workers. Many migrants come from
Yucatán,
Campeche,
Tabasco, and
Veracruz. The state is frequently hit by severe
hurricanes due to its exposed location, the most recent and severe being
Hurricane Dean in 2007, which made landfall with sustained winds of , with gusts up to .
History
The area that makes up modern Quintana Roo was long part of Yucatán, sharing its history. With the
Caste War of Yucatán, which started in the 1840s, all non-natives were driven from the region. The independent
Maya nation of
Chan Santa Cruz was based on what is now the town of
Felipe Carrillo Puerto. For decades it maintained considerable independence, having separate trade and treaty relationships with British Honduras, now
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern 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 wa ...
.
Quintana Roo was made a territory of Mexico by decree of President
Porfirio Díaz on November 24, 1902. It was named after an early patriot of the Mexican Republic,
Andrés Quintana Roo. The Mexican army succeeded in defeating most of the Maya population of the region during the 1910s. In 1913 the area was again declared to be legally part of the state of Yucatán, but was again declared a separate territory in 1915. The territory of Quintana Roo was granted statehood within the United Mexican States on October 8, 1974.
In the last quarter of the 20th century and continuing into the 21st, Quintana Roo developed rapidly, with tourism being a driving force, notably with the development of
Cancún.
Archaeological findings
Ancient human remains have been discovered in a system of submerged caves and sinkholes in the
Tulum area of Quintana Roo. To date, a total of nine skeletons have been found in these caves, including one of the oldest human skeletons found on the American continent. In 2016, underwater archaeological exploration of a cave known as
Chan Hol found a skeleton of a female who lived in the region at least 9,900 years ago, during the
Paleo-Indian period. Dating revealed that the skeleton was probably about 30 years old at the time of death. According to craniometric measurements, the skull is believed to conform to the
mesocephalic pattern, like three other skulls found in
Tulum caves. Three different scars on the skull of the woman showed that she was hit with something hard and her skull bones were broken. Her skull also had crater-like deformations and tissue deformities that appeared to be caused by a bacterial relative of
syphilis.
According to study lead researcher Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, "It really looks as if this woman had a very hard time and an extremely unhappy end of her life. Obviously, this is speculative, but given the traumas and the pathological deformations on her skull, it appears a likely scenario that she may have been expelled from her group and was killed in the cave, or was left in the cave to die there”.
The skeleton found by the 2016 exploration was away from a site where a previous expedition found human remains known as Chan Hol 2. Although archaeologists assumed the 2016 expedition had re-discovered Chan Hol 2, Stinnesbeck concluded that the two skeletons represent different individuals.
Due to their distinctive features, study co-researcher Samuel Rennie suggest the existence of at least two morphologically diverse groups of people living separately in
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
during the transition from
Pleistocene to
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
.
Geography
Climate
According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
, much of the state has a
tropical wet and dry climate (''Aw'') while the island of
Cozumel has a
tropical monsoon climate (''Am'').
The mean annual temperature is .
The hottest months are April and August, in which the average high is , while January is the coldest month with an average low of .
[ Extreme temperatures can range from a low of in the coldest months to in the hottest months.][ Quintana Roo averages of precipitation per year, which falls throughout the year, though June to October are the wetter months.][ Hurricanes can occasionally hit the coastal areas during the hurricane season, particularly from September to November.][ 2020 was a historic year for hurricanes in Quintana Roo, with a record-breaking 31 tropical systems formed, of which four affected the state.]
Flora and fauna
Demographics
Municipalities
The State of Quintana Roo is divided into 11 municipalities ( es, municipios), each headed by a municipal president:
* Bacalar
* Benito Juarez
* Othón P. Blanco
* Puerto Morelos
* Cozumel
* Felipe Carrillo Puerto
* Isla Mujeres
* Solidaridad
* Tulum
* José María Morelos
* Lázaro Cárdenas
Tourism
Tourism
Quintana Roo's tourist boom began in the 1970s.[Anderson, E. N. and Felix Medina Tzuc. 2005. Animals and the Maya in Southeast Mexico. University of Arizona Press. Tucson, Arizona.] Tourism resulted in the development of coastal hotels and resorts, in addition to ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...
inland and in coastal regions, which have increased the development of the region as well as the gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
.[Daltabuit, Magali and Oriol Pi-Sunyer. 1990. Tourism Development in Quintana Roo, Mexico. ''Cultural Survival Quarterly'' 14.2, 9-13.] Quintana Roo ranks sixth among Mexican states according to the United Nations Human Development index (HDI).[''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 2008. "Quintana Roo". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9062295. Retrieved February 21, 2008.]
The Riviera Maya is located along the Caribbean coastline, including Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Akumal and Cozumel.
There are a number of Mayan archeological sites in Quintana Roo, including Chacchoben
Chacchoben (chak-CHO-ben; Maya for "the place of red corn") is a Maya ruin approximately 110 mi (177 km) south of Tulum and 7 mi (11 km) from the village from which it derives its name.
History
Settlement by the Maya at th ...
, Coba, Kohunlich, Muyil, San Gervasio, Tulum, Xcaret, Xelha, and Yo'okop.
Biotic situation of the Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula is one of the most forested areas of the world in terms of biotic mass per hectare. However, anthropological, biological and governmental experts have determined that Quintana Roo is 'facing a faunal crisis'. Many medium to large game animals are disappearing due to hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/ a ...
and habitat loss. While its population is relatively small, Quintana Roo is experiencing both a population influx and an increase in tourism. This only increases the pressure on the plants and animals native to the area.
Ecosystems and animals
There are four generalized ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s in Quintana Roo— tropical forests, or jungle; savanna, mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
forests, and coral reefs
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
. One of the byproducts of traditional and large-scale agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...
is the creation of additional habitats, such as second growth forests and fields/pastures
Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or ...
.[Villa Rojas, Alfonso. 1945. The Maya
of East Central Quintana Roo. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication 559. Washington D.C.] Tourism has caused Quintana Roo to become famous around the world in the last thirty or so years for its beaches, coastline, and cenote sinkholes. Biological experts consider the coastline of Quintana Roo one of the best manatee habitats worldwide.[Schlesinger, Victoria. 2001. ''Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide''. University of Texas Press. Austin, Texas.] Queen conchs are also noted for their inhabitation of coastal territory. The wide variety of biotic organisms such as these has decreased drastically in the last fifteen years.[Juarez, Ana M. 2002. "Ecological Degradation, Global Tourism, and Inequality: Maya Interpretations of the Changing Environment in Quintana Roo, Mexico. ''Human Organization'' 61.2, 113-124.]
Avifauna
Also affected by the loss of habitat due to both agriculture and development, birds
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 ...
are one of the region's most varied animal assets. Hundreds of species reside in Quintana Roo permanently, with hundreds of others either wintering there or using it as a stopover on the long journey into South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...
. As a result, many birders come to the area annually in search of the rare and unexpected.
Impact
Many blame the environmental damage in Quintana Roo on either the regional government or outside investors. However, resorts and hotels in Quintana Roo have created jobs and increased economic activity, which in turn has resulted in growth.
Projections for the tourism economy of Quintana Roo were exceedingly optimistic. It houses multiple tourist attractions from the Maya ruins to the lush forests and beautiful beaches. However, the long-term effects were not foreseen. The effect on the local environment was not properly considered. Economic stresses of development and population were virtually ignored. The effect on the native population was not properly considered. The 'economic
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...
marginalization
Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. It is used across disciplin ...
' of the Maya has had drastic effects on their sense of place and identity.
Education
Universities
*Instituto Tecnológico de Cancún, Cancún
*Instituto Tecnológico de Chetumal, Chetumal
* University of Quintana Roo, Chetumal
* Intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo, José María Morelos
*Universidad Anáhuac Cancún
The Anáhuac Cancún University belongs to the Anahuac University Network, affiliated with the Anahuac University Network (RUA), the international education system of the Legion of Christ, in 18 countries and serving over 100,000 students from ...
, Cancún
*Universidad del Caribe
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
...
, Cancún
*Universidad Tecnológica de la Riviera Maya
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
...
, Playa del Carmen
*Universidad La Salle Cancún, Cancún
*Universidad TecMilenio, Cancún
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 Quintana Roo include: ''Diario de Quintana Roo'', ''Diario Respuesta'', ''El Periódico de Quintana Roo'', ''El Quintanarroense'', ''Novedades de Quintana Roo'', and ''Por Esto!''
Sports
Soccer club Atlante F.C. was founded in 1916 in 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 ...
and moved to Cancun in 2007 due to poor attendance. During its years in Mexico City, the team played in Liga MX, Mexico’s premier pro soccer league. In June 2020, a possible move of Atlante F.C. began to be speculated. On June 26, the relocation of that club to 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 ...
became official. The same day, however, the relocation of Cafetaleros de Chiapas was announced, moving to Cancún and rebranding as Cancún F.C.
Cancún Futbol Club is a Mexican professional football club based in Cancún, Quintana Roo currently playing in Liga de Expansión MX. The club was established in June 2020 after the Cafetaleros de Chiapas franchise announced that it would be mo ...
They play in the Mexican second division Liga de Expansión MX at Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo.
In addition to soccer, the city has a professional baseball team, known as the Quintana Roo Tigers. After playing the 1955–2001 seasons in Mexico City and the 2002–2005 seasons in Puebla, the Tigers have been playing baseball with a home field at the Estadio de Béisbol Beto Ávila in Cancún since the 2006 season. The Tigers made it to the Mexican League series of baseball (analogous to MLB’s World Series) in 2009, but lost to the Saraperos de Saltillo 4 games to 2.
Time zone
On February 1, 2015, Quintana Roo officially adopted a new time zone, Southeastern, which is five hours behind Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time or UTC is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about one second of mean solar time (such as UT1) at 0° longitude (at the IERS Reference Meridian as the currently ...
( UTC−05:00). Quintana Roo does not observe daylight savings time, so Southeastern Time is constant throughout the year (that is, it does not shift forward in the spring and back in the fall). Southeastern Time (ST) is the same as Eastern Standard Time (EST) and Central Daylight Time (CDT). This means that in the winter, Quintana Roo has the same time as regions observing EST, such as the eastern U.S., eastern Canada, Cuba, and Jamaica; and in the summer, Quintana Roo has the same time as regions observing CDT, such as central Mexico.
Quintana Roo changed to Southeastern Time for economic reasons, including:
* Allowing tourists in areas such as Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen to spend more time (and money) at beaches, restaurants, historic sites, and other venues.
* Reducing electricity usage by hotels, restaurants, and other facilities.
Before Quintana Roo adopted the Southeastern time zone (officially referred to as ''zona sureste'' in Mexico), it had been part of the Central time zone (''zona centro'').
Notes
References
*Dumond, Don E.1985 The Talking Crosses of Yucatán: A New Look at their History. ''Ethnohistory'' 32(4):291–308.
*Freidel, David., Schele, Linda., et al. ''1993 Maya Cosmos: Three thousand years on the Shaman's Path''. New York: W. Morrow
*Harrison, Peter D. 1985 Some Aspects of Preconquest Settlement in Southern Quintana Roo, Mexico. ''Lowland Maya Settlement Patterns'' edited by Wendy Ashmore Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, A School of American Research Book.
*Villa Rojas, Alfonso. 1945 ''The Maya of East Central Quintana Roo: The Pagan-Christian Religious Complex''. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution.
Further reading
*Anderson, E. N. and Felix Medina Tzuc. ''Animals and the Maya in Southeast Mexico''. University of Arizona Press. Tucson, Arizona. 2005.
*Brannon, Jeffery T. and Gilbert M. Joseph. Eds. 1991 ''Land, labor & capital in modern Yucatán: essays in regional history and political economy''. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
*Barton Bray, David, Marcelo Carreon, Leticia Merino, and Victoria Santos. "On the Road to Sustainable Forestry: The Maya of Quintana Roo are Striving to Combine Economic Efficiency, Ecological Sustainability, and a Democratic Society." ''Cultural Survival Quarterly'' 17.1, 38–41. 1993.
*Daltabuit, Magali and Oriol Pi-Sunyer. 1990. Tourism Development in Quintana Roo, Mexico. ''Cultural Survival Quarterly'' 14.2, 9-13.
Cultural Survival
*Dumond, Don E. 1997 ''The Machete and the Cross. Campesino Rebellion in Yucatán''. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.
*''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 2008. '
Quintana Roo
''. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Accessed 2008-02-21.
*Forero, Oscar A. and Michael R. Redclift. "The Role of the Mexican State in the Development of Chicle Extraction in Yucatán, and the Continuing Importance of Coyotaje." ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 38.1, 65–93. 2006.
*Gabbert, Wolfgang. ''Becoming Maya—Ethnicity and Social Inequality in Yucatán Since 1500''. University of Arizona Press. Tucson, Arizona. 2004.
*Hervik, Peter. ''Mayan People Within and Beyond Boundaries—Social Categories and Lived Identity in Yucatán''. Harwood Academic Publishers. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 1999.
*Jones, Grant D. ''Maya Resistance to Spanish Rule—Time and History on a Colonial Frontier''. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 1989.
*Juarez, Ana M. 2002. "Ecological Degradation, Global Tourism, and Inequality: Maya Interpretations of the Changing Environment in Quintana Roo, Mexico". ''Human Organization'' 61.2, 113–124.
*Morely, Sylvanus Griswold. ''The Ancient Maya''. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. 1947.
*Morely, Sylvanus Griswold and George W. Brainerd. ''The Ancient Maya'', 3rd ed. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. 1956.
*Pi-Sunyer, Oriol and R. Brooke Thomas. 1997. Tourism, Environmentalism, and Cultural Survival in Quintana Roo. "In" ''Life and Death Matters: Human Rights at the End of the Millennium''. Barbara R. Johnston, ed. p. 187-212. Walnut Creek, California. Altamira Press.
*Roys, Ralph L. The Political Geography of the Yucatán Maya. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 613. Washington, D. C. 1957.
*Rugeley, Terry. 2004 "Yaxcabá and the caste war of Yucatán: An Archaeological Perspective" ''In'' Alexander, Rani T. ed. ''Yaxcabá and the caste war of Yucatán'' Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press
*Schlesinger, Victoria. ''Animals and Plants of the Ancient Maya: A Guide''. University of Texas Press. Austin, Texas. 2001.
*Sharer, Robert J. ''The Ancient Maya'', 4th ed. Stanford University Press. Stanford, California. 1983.
*Villa Rojas, Alfonso. The Maya of East Central Quintana Roo. Carnegie Institute of Washington Publication 559. Washington, D. C. 1945.
*Young, Peter A, ed. ''Secrets of the Maya''. Hatherleigh Press. Long Island City, New York. 2003
Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
External links
*
Quintana Roo State Government official website
{{Authority control
States of Mexico
Yucatán Peninsula
1974 establishments in Mexico
States and territories established in 1974