Yucatán (Spanish pronunciation: [ɟ͡ʝukatan] (About this soundlisten)), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán (Spanish: Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, comprises the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities, and its capital city is Merida.

It is located on the north part of the Yucatan Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest and Quintana Roo to the southeast, with the Gulf of Mexico off its north coast.

Before the arrival of Spaniards to the Yucatan Peninsula, the name of this region was Mayab. [12] In the Mayan language, "ma 'ya'ab" is translated as "a few". It was a very important region for the Mayan civilization, which reached the peak of its development here, where the Mayans founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek 'Balam and Ichcaanzihóo (also called T'ho), now Merida. [13]

After the Spanish conquest of Yucatan, the Peninsula was a single administrative and political entity, the Captaincy General of Yucatán. Following independence and the breakup of the Mexican Empire in 1823, the first Republic of Yucatán was proclaimed, which was then voluntarily annexed to the Federal Republic of United Mexican States on December 21, 1823. [3] On March 16, 1841, as a result of cultural and political conflicts around the federal pact, Yucatán declared its independence from Mexico. forming a second Republic of Yucatán. Eventually on July 14, 1848, Yucatan was forced to rejoin Mexico. In 1858, in the middle of the caste war, the state of Yucatan was divided for the first time, establishing Campeche as a separate state (officially in 1863). During the Porfiriato, in 1902, the state of Yucatan was divided again to form the Federal territory that later became the present state of Quintana Roo. [14]

Today, Yucatán is the safest state in Mexico [15] [16] and Mérida was awarded City of Peace in 2011. [17] [18]