Hecelchakán () is a city in the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

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Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

. The city is located some 70 km to the north of the state capital

. It is the seat of the Hecelchakán Municipality. As of 2010, the city of Hecelchakán had a population of 10,285. The name comes from the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popu ...

words ''helel'' (savanna) and ''chakan'' (rest). It is at an altitude of 10 m above sea level.

Climate

History

The city was founded close to a

cenote A cenote ( or ; ) is a natural pit, or sinkhole, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater. The regional term is specifically associated with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, where cenotes were commonly used for ...

by inhabitants of the former city of Xkalumkin, between the years 1500 and 1600. In this city some important historic events took place, such as the battle between Don Francisco de Paula Toro and the federalists, led by Don Felipe Montero, who was defeated. In 1840, the district of Hecelchakán included the towns of Pomuch, Pocboc, Tenabo, Tepakán, San Antonio Sahcabchén, Dzitbalché, Bécal, Nunkiní, and Calkiní. Around 1846, the district of Hecelchakán included three parishes: Hecelchakán, Calkiní and Bécal. On December 7, 1915, when decree no. 51 approved a new law of interior administration, Hecelchakán became one of the eight free municipalities of the new state of Campeche. That law came into effect on January 1, 1916. In 1957 Hecelchakán was given city status by

Governor of Campeche The governor of Campeche, officially Constitutional Governor of the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Campeche), is in charge the Executive branch of the State Government. Term Governors are elect ...

Alberto Trueba Urbina Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic ''Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albe ...

References

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

Encyclopedia for Mexican Municipalities (in Spanish)

External links

Ayuntamiento de Hecelchakán
Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecelchakan Populated places in Campeche Municipality seats in Campeche