Santa María Huatulco is a town and

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' ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

in south-western

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is part of the

Pochutla District Pochutla District is located in the east of the Costa Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico and the southernmost district in Oaxaca. The primary city is San Pedro Pochutla. Municipalities The district includes the following municipalities: * Ca ...

in the east of the

Costa Region The Costa Region or Costa Chica lies on the Pacific coast of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, south of the more mountainous Sierra Sur inland from the coast. It includes the districts of Jamiltepec, Juquila and Pochutla. Climate The region has a ...

. The meaning of Huatulco, or Guatulco Coatulco is, "where they worship the tree", referring to an ancient legend.

History

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

conquered the town of Huatulco on 8 January 1539.

Demographics

As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 33,194 of which 1,119 spoke an indigenous language. The population includes many migrants from other areas drawn by the tourist business. Economic activities by numbers employed included tourism (40%), cultivation of coffee (30%), fishery (20%) and animal husbandry (10%).

Economy

Tourism development is concentrated in the communities of Santa Cruz, La Crucecita and Tangolunda, with nine bays (Santa Cruz, Chahue, Tangolunda, Conejos, Chacahual, Cacaluta, San Agustín, El Órgano and Maguey) and 36 beaches, as well as ecological reserves that contain diverse nesting birds and reptiles. The municipality is the home of

Huatulco National Park Huatulco National Park, also known as Bahias de Huatulco National Park is a national park of Oaxaca, Mexico. It was initially declared a protected area and later decreed as a National Park on July 24, 1998. Located in the Municipality of Santa Ma ...

. The area is served by

Bahías de Huatulco International Airport Huatulco International Airport () is an international airport located in Santa María Huatulco, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The airport manages both domestic and international air traffic for the southern and southeastern Pacific coast of ...

Geography

The municipality covers an area of 579.22 km² at an average of 220 meters above sea level. The Magdalena and Cruz rivers combine in the municipality to form the Huatulco river. Its ecosystem is lowland deciduous and includes mahogany, cedar, cashew and many other species of tree. Wildlife includes squirrel, opossum, skunk, raccoon, coati, ringtail, armadillos, ocelots and white-tailed deer.

Climate

Huatulco has a borderline

tropical wet and dry climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw''/''BSh''), featuring stable, hot temperatures all year round, with two marked seasons, a dry season from November through May, and a wet season from June through October. UV radiation levels are high all year round, ranging from 8 in December to 11+ between March and September. Heat and humidity are very high all year round. The temperature of the sea is quite stable, with lows of in January, and a high of between June and August.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Huatulco Municipalities of Oaxaca