Cancun

Cancun
Coordinates: 21 ° 10 ′  N , 86 ° 51 ′  W Cancun​ Cancun on the map of Quintana Roo
Basic data
Country	Mexico
State	Quintana Roo
Municipio	Benito Juarez
City foundation	April 20, 1970
Residents	722,800  (2014)
- in the metropolitan area	857.356
City insignia
Detailed data
surface	2107 km²
Population density	313.8 inhabitants / km 2
height	10  m
Post Code	77500-77539
prefix	(+52) 998
Time zone	UTC -5
City Presidency	Paul Carrillo de Cáceres
Website	www.cancun.gob.mx
View over Cancun
Hotel zone in Cancun
Ruins in Cancun

Cancún ( Spanish [ kaŋˈkun ]) is a city on the coast of the Yucatán peninsula and is located in the municipality of Benito Juárez in the northeast of the state of Quintana Roo in the southeastern part of Mexico .

Cancún is the center of the Riviera Maya tourist area and has around 630,000 inhabitants (as of 2010 census). The city is particularly known as a tourist destination because of its 23 kilometers of beach and received over 6 million visitors in 2016. The name can cún means “snake's nest ” or “snake pot ” in the Mayan language (the name is also often derived from “place of the golden snake”).

In 2016 the city was visited by 6.8 million foreign tourists. The city ranked 27th among the most visited cities in the world.

coat of arms

The coat of arms of Cancún is supposed to remind of the roots of the city, which lie in the Maya culture. The shape is based on the ring that served as a gate in the Maya pelota game. The colors blue, beige and red symbolize the sea, the sand and the sun, which are the three "elements" that made international tourism in this city important.

population

Population development of the city

year	population
1990	167.730
1995	297.183
2000	397.191
2005	526.701
2010	628.306
2014	722,800

Population development in the metropolitan area

year	population
1950	0
1960	0
1970	0
1980	34,000
1990	192,000
2000	438,000
2010	679,000
2017	857,000

Younger story

Cancún was until the early 1950s, one of the civilization largely untouched island of the Caribbean coast with a few fishing villages and pre-Columbian ruins of the Maya . The Mexican government decided in 1969, together with international private investors , to systematically build a holiday resort as a counterpoint to the successful Acapulco in order to stimulate tourism in the southeast of the country.

The planning draft for Cancún came from the architect Agustín Landa Verdugo . Given the geographic location found, a development analogous to that of Miami Beach in Florida was almost impossible. A dam was built to connect the narrow Cancun Spit with the mainland. The city also got an international airport ( IATA code : CUN), which is located in the southwest of the city. Cancun began to grow rapidly from the early 1970s. On the mainland, the many people who found their livelihood in tourism and the downstream service companies were accommodated in strictly geometric street cells, while new hotels were being built on the spit. In contrast to other Mexican cities, Cancun has neither a central square nor an old cathedral or other historical buildings.

Hotels of all categories and sizes are located in the approximately 20-kilometer-long Zona Hotelera hotel zone on the fine sandy beach. The hotel zone is supplemented by shopping, leisure and entertainment options, such as “La Isla”, which is reminiscent of Venice. The audience comes mainly from the USA and Canada , guests from Europe make up a stable, smaller group. Many young Americans come to spring break in particular , making Cancún a counterpart to the Mediterranean party centers Mallorca or Ibiza .

In 2003 the 5th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Cancún , and in 2004 Cancún hosted the 73rd General Assembly of the ICPO-Interpol . In 2005, Hurricane Wilma caused damage to Cancun on a scale never seen before. From November 29 to December 10, 2010, the 16th United Nations Climate Change Conference , COP 16, took place in Cancún .

Cancun today

Cancun lagoon

Today Cancún is a big city that has spread beyond the limited island to the nearby mainland, where the majority of the population now live. The Spit Island encloses the approximately 3000 hectare Nichupté lagoon in the north and east . On it is the tourist center of the city, the hotel zone. Most of Cancun's residents are non-native immigrants from almost all parts of the country, attracted by the relatively good income opportunities . There is no significant economic base in Cancun other than tourism and conference operations.

Hotels in Cancun

traffic

Road traffic

Cancún is connected to Mérida , Valladolid and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Chichén Itzá (all in the west) around 200 kilometers away via the Carretara 180 expressway . To the south, the main street Avenida Tulúm continues with Carretara 307 , which continues via Playa del Carmen and Tulúm to the capital Chetumal .

Long-distance bus transport

Long- distance buses from the companies ADO, ADO GL, Mayabus and Omnibus de México run from the Terminal de autobuses bus station to almost all major cities in the country.

Ferry traffic

There are regular ferry connections between Cancun and Isla Mujeres from Gran Puerto near the city center and three other ferry docks along the hotel zone.

Air traffic

Cancún also has an international airport, Cancún Airport , 17 km south of the city center. It ranks second in Mexico in terms of passenger numbers. Cancun Airport recorded 7.15 million passenger arrivals from January to July 2017.

education

Administration building of the Universidad del Caribe

There are four state universities in Cancún:

• Universidad del Caribe (Unicaribe)
• Universidad Tecnológica de Cancún (Utcancún)
• Instituto Tecnológico de Cancún
• Universidad Politécnica de Quintana Roo (UPQROO)

as well as a large number of private universities.

Sports

An international marathon and half marathon takes place every December along the hotel zone on the Cancun Spit, and in 2017 for the 33rd time. The CF Atlante football club has been based in Cancún since 2007 . Cancún was one of the venues for the 2010 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup .

Drug war

At the beginning of 2017, the drug war raging in large parts of Mexico also spread to Cancún. The city is a strategic hub for the drug cartels. Compared to last year, the murders increased 169% in the first months of the year. Most acts of violence, however, take place far away from the tourist strip. The US and Canada issued travel warnings. In August 2017, the head of a drug cartel that was involved in drug trafficking and extortion in Cancún and Playa del Carmen , a former police officer, was arrested by the Mexican police.

Climate table

Cancun
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     136   28 21st     46   29 21st     53   30th 22nd     38   32 23     88   33 24     138   33 25th     57   33 25th     110   34 25th     225   33 25th     221   31 24     132   30th 23     96   28 21st Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: CONAGUA

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Cancun Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 27.9 28.7 29.9 31.5 32.7 33.0 33.4 33.6 32.7 31.0 29.6 28.2 O 31 Min. Temperature (° C) 20.6 20.7 21.5 23.4 24.4 25.2 25.2 24.8 24.7 23.8 22.7 21.2 O 23.2 Precipitation ( mm ) 136.4 45.7 52.7 37.9 88.0 137.5 57.0 109.5 224.6 221.1 131.6 95.7 Σ 1,337.7 Rainy days ( d ) 10.5 5.4 5.4 4.1 6.6 11.1 8.8 10.0 14.0 16.3 12.4 10.6 Σ 115.2 Source: CONAGUA

sons and daughters of the town

• Miguel Sabah (* 1979), football player
• Ana Claudia Talancón (* 1980), actress
• Rodolfo Lopez (born 1983), boxer
• Alejandro Vela (* 1984), football player
• Carlos Vela (* 1989), football player
• Miguel Berchelt (* 1991), boxer

Town twinning

Cancun has partnerships with 16 cities:

city	country	since
Compton	United States, California
Granadilla de Abona	Spain	1998
Hangzhou	People's Republic of China	2008
Antigua	Guatemala	2002
Mar del Plata	Argentina	1987
mission	United States, Texas	2009
Oaxaca de Juarez	Mexico
Pharr	United States, Texas	2008
Puebla	Mexico
Punta del Este	Uruguay
Tlaquepaque	Mexico	2010
Sanya	People's Republic of China	2002
Taxco	Mexico	2009
Tijuana	Mexico	2003
Timișoara	Romania	2004
Valle de Bravo	Mexico	2010
Varadero	Cuba
Wichita	United States, Kansas	1975

Web links

Commons : Cancún  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• City website (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2016 will be a record year for Cancun visitors . The Yucatán Times, November 9, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
2. ↑ Cancun or Nido de Serpientes a 43 años de vida . Quintana Roo al día, April 22, 2013. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
3. ↑ Top 100 City Destination Ranking 2017 . In: EMI MRX Blog . January 26, 2017 ( euromonitor.com [accessed July 26, 2018]).
4. ↑ Mexico: States and Cities - Population Statistics in Maps and Tables. Retrieved July 26, 2018 . 
5. ↑ World Urbanization Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved July 23, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Like an angry monster trying to swallow us . FAZ, October 22, 2005. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
7. ↑ Estación de autobuses Cancún . Autobuses México. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
8. ↑ Actividades Aeroportuarias . Secretaría de Turismo. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
9. ↑ Universidades en Cancún Mextudia, accessed July 6, 2018 (sp.)
10. ↑ The drug war reaches the vacation paradise Cancun . Der Tagesspiegel, March 18, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
11. ^ Mexico Captures Cancun Drug Cartel Boss . Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, August 15, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
12. ↑ Instala gobierno de Benito Juárez Comité de Ciudades Hermanas. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 3, 2016 ; accessed on September 22, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.