Compostela is the name of both 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' ...

and of a town in it that serves as the seat; both are in the Mexican state of

Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...

. The municipality had 77,436 in 2020 and the seat 20,322. It has a total area of 1,848 km² (713.5 sq mi).

Etymology

The name was given in honor of

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

in Galicia, Spain; tradition says that "Compostela" comes from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''campus stellae'', "field of stars" (another theory makes it come from ''composita tella'' or even ''compositella'').

Geography

Compostela is located on the south coast of the state and is bounded in the north by San Blas and Xalisco; in the south by

Bahía de Banderas Bahía de Banderas (, Spanish language, Spanish for ''Bay of Flags'') is a bay on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, within the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit, being the westernmost municipality in Nayarit. It is also the name of an administrati ...

and the state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

; in the east by Santa María del Oro, San Pedro Lagunillas and the state of

; in the west by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The largest settlements in the municipality are: Compostela (15,991 inhabitants in 2000), Las Varas (12,403), La Peñita de Jaltemba (7,062), Zacualpan (4,468), and Colonia Paraíso Escondido (2,069). The climate is tempered by elevation, with rains from July to September. The hottest months are April and May. The average annual rainfall is 968.5 mm. The average annual temperature is 22.9 °C.

Economy

The economy is heavily based on agriculture. The main crops are tobacco, corn, beans, coffee, sorghum, and mangoes. There were around 50,000 head of cattle in 1995. There were several small gold and silver mines. In manufacturing the main products were cigars, mango packing, rice shelling, soap factories, cattle feed, furniture, and food and drink.

Tourism

This is a region that attracts a considerable number of local and foreign visitors due to the natural landscape, beaches, historical sites and the international fishing competitions. Around Las Varas in the direction of the south there are beaches in the zone called Costa Alegre, among which should be mentioned: Chacala and Chacalilla, La Peñita de Jaltemba, Rincón de Guayabitos, Los Ayala, El Monteón,and Playa Platanitos, as well as the islands in the bay of Jaltemba, with a good infrastructure of services.

Government

Municipal presidents

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 (Spanish)

External links

Portal de Carrillo Puerto Nayarit(Spanish)m.net/ Portal de Las Varas (Spanish)Portal de Rincón de Guayabitos (Spanish)Portal de la ciudad compostela Nayarit mexico. (Spanish)
{{Nayarit Populated places in Nayarit Municipalities of Nayarit Municipality seats in Nayarit