Caste War of Yucatán
Part of the Mexican Indian Wars
Mayan territory, circa 1870.
Date 1847-1901 (skirmishes continued until 1933) Location Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico Result 1847–1883: Maya victory, Mayas achieve an independent state. 1884–1901: Mexican victory, Mexico recaptures the Yucatan.
Belligerents
Maya	Mexico
The war was declared over several times though hostile conflict between the Mexicans and Mayans continued until 1933.

The Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1901) began with the revolt of native Maya people of Yucatán, Mexico against the population of European descent, called Yucatecos, who held political and economic control of the region. A lengthy war ensued between the Yucateco forces in the north-west of the Yucatán and the independent Maya in the south-east. It officially ended with the occupation of the Maya capital of Chan Santa Cruz by the Mexican army in 1901, although skirmishes with villages and small settlements that refused to acknowledge Mexican control continued for more than a decade.

Background[link]

In Spanish colonial times, Yucatán (like most of New Spain) was under a legal caste system, with peninsulares (officials born in Spain) at the top, the criollos of Spanish descent in the next level, followed by the mestizo population, then the native hidalgos (descendants of the Pre-Columbian nobility who had collaborated with the Spanish conquest of Yucatán) and at the bottom were the other native indios.

Although Spanish peninsulares frequently left Mexico following the patriots victory, Yucatan's Spanish population largely remained and continued to exercise local rule. Although there had long been tensions between the peninsulares and criollos in the Yucatan as elsewhere, the two groups cooperated because they feared the potential power of the mestizos and the natives.

The indigenous population was particularly concentrated in the Campeche-Mérida region, known as the Camino real, because the majority of the peninsulares and criollos lived in that area. Mayas roughly outnumbered other groups by three to one throughout the Yucatan, but in the east this ratio was closer to five to one. The elites maintained the strictest discipline and control over the Maya population in the east. The Church, generally allied with the stronger classes, also had a preponderant role where the military organization was strongest.

During the Mexican War of Independence, the intelligentsia of Yucatán watched the events to the north, and following 1820 organized their own resistance to Spain, forming the Patriotic Confederation, which declared its own independence from Spain in 1821. The confederation subsequently joined the Mexican Empire that same year, then in 1823 became a part of the federal Mexican government as the Federated Republic of Yucatan. The government of the republic tended towards centralization, and several provinces revolted against it, including Guatemala in the south and Texas in the north. To bear the costs of the war against Texas, the government imposed a variety of taxes including raising importation duties on many items, and indeed put taxation of the movement of even local goods.

In response to this, on 2 May 1839, a federalist movement led by Santiago Imán created a rival government in Tizimín, which soon took over Valladolid, Espita, Izamal and, finally Mérida. To increase his strength, Imán appealed to the Maya population, providing them with arms for the first time since the conquest, and promised that he would give them land free of tribute and exploitation. These forces allowed him to prevail in battle, and in February 1840, he proclaimed Yucatan's return to a federal regime, then in 1841, an independent republic.

However, the Mexican government of Antonio López de Santa Anna, did not accept this independence and invaded Yucatán in 1842, establishing a blockade. Land invasion followed, but the Mexican forces were frustrated in their attempts to take either Campeche or Mérida,and thus withdrew to Tampico.

As Yucatán was struggling against Mexican authority, it was also divided into factions. One faction, based in Mérida, was led by Miguel Barbachano which leaned toward reintegration with Mexico, and the other faction, based in Campeche, was led by Santiago Méndez and feared reintegration would expose the region to attack by the United States, as the Mexican–American War loomed. By 1847, in fact, the Yucatan Republic had effectively two capitals in the two cities. At the same time, in their struggle against the central government, both leaders had integrated large numbers of Maya into their armies as soldiers. The Maya, having taken up the arms given them in the course of the war, decided not to set them down again.

War begins[link]

Oil of the Caste War, circa 1850

The War seemed rooted in the defense of communal lands against the expansion of private ownership, which was pronounced with the boom in the production of henequen, or agave which was an important industrial fiber used to make rope. After discovering the value of the plant, the wealthier Yucatecos started plantations, beginning in 1833, to cultivate in on a large scale. Not long after the henequen boom, a boom in sugar production led to more wealth. The sugar and henequen plantations encroached on Maya communal land, and Maya workers recruited to work on the plantations were mistreated and underpaid.^[1]

However, rebel leaders in their correspondence with British Honduras (Belize) were more often inclined to cite taxation as the immediate cause of the war. Jacinto Pat, for example, wrote in 1848 that "what we want is liberty and not oppression, because before we were subjugated with the many contributions and taxes that they imposed on us."^[2] Pac's companion, Cecilio Chi added in 1849, that promises made by the rebel Santiago Imán, that he was "liberating the Indians from the payment of contributions" as a reason for resisting the central government, but in fact he continued levying them.^[3]

In June 1847, Méndez learned that a large force of armed Mayas and supplies had gathered at the Culumpich,a property owned by Jacinto Pat, the Maya batab (leader), near Valladolid. Fearing revolt, Mendez arrested Manuel Antonio Ay, the principal Maya leader of Chichimilá, accused of planning a revolt, and executed him at the town square of Valladolid. Furthermore, Méndez searching for other insurgents burned the town of Tepich and repressed its residents. In the following months, several Maya towns were sacked and many people arbitrarily killed. In his letter of 1849, Cecilio Chi noted that Santiago Mendez had come to "put every Indian, big and little, to death" but that the Maya had responded to some degree, in kind, writing "it has pleased God and good fortune that a much greater portion of them [whites] than of the Indians [have died].^[4]

Cecilio Chi, the Maya leader of Tepich, along with Jacinto Pat attacked Tepich on 30 July 1847, in reaction to the indiscriminate massacre of Mayas, Chi ordered that all the non-Maya population be killed. By spring of 1848, the Maya forces had taken over most of the Yucatán, with the exception of the walled cities of Campeche and Mérida and the south-west coast, with Yucatecan troops holding the road from Mérida to the port of Sisal. The Yucatecan governor Miguel Barbachano had prepared a decree for the evacuation of Mérida, but was apparently delayed in publishing it by the lack of suitable paper in the besieged capital. The decree became unnecessary when the republican troops suddenly broke the siege and took the offensive with major advances.

Historians disagree on the reason for this defeat. According to some, the majority of the Maya troops, not realizing the unique strategic advantage of their situation, had left the lines to plant their crops, planning to return after planting. It is said that the appearance of flying ants swarming after heavy rains was the traditional signal to start planting for the Maya rebels, leading them, in this instance, to abandon the battle. Others argue that the Maya had not laid up enough supplies for the campaign, and were unable to feed their forces any longer, and their break up was in fact a search for food.

Governor Barbachano sought allies anywhere he could find them, in Cuba (for Spain), Jamaica (for England) and the United States, but none of these foreign powers would intervene, although the matter was taken seriously enough in the United States to be debated in Congress. Subsequently, therefore, he turned to Mexico, and accepted a return to Mexican authority. Yucatán was officially reunited with Mexico on 17 August 1848. Yucateco forces rallied, aided by fresh guns, money, and troops from Mexico, and pushed back the Maya from more than half of the state. By 1850 the Maya occupied two distinct regions in the southeast.

In the 1850s a stalemate developed, with the Yucatecan government in control of the northwest, and the Maya in control of the southeast, with a sparsely populated jungle frontier in between.

In 1850, the Maya of the southeast were inspired to continue the struggle by the apparition of the "Talking Cross". This apparition, believed to be a way in which God communicated with the Maya, dictated that the War continue. Chan Santa Cruz, or Small Holy Cross became the religious and political center of the Maya resistance and the rebellion came to be infused with religious significance. Chan Santa Cruz also became the name of the largest of the independent Maya states, as well as the name of the capital town which is now the city of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo. The followers of the Cross were known as the "Cruzob".

The government of Yucatán first declared the war over in 1855, but hopes for peace were premature. There were regular skirmishes, and occasional deadly major assaults into each other's territory, by both sides. The United Kingdom recognized the Chan Santa Cruz Maya as a "de facto" independent nation, in part because of the major trade between Chan Santa Cruz and British Honduras, now the present day Belize.

Maya independence[link]

The Chan Santa Cruz state, stretching from north of Tulum to the Belize border and a considerable distance inland, was the largest of the independent Maya communities of the era but not the only one. When Jose Maria Echeverria, a sergeant in the army taken captive by the Maya, resided in the town in 1851–53, it had about 200 Maya and 200 whites, all well armed and apparently fighting together, with the whites under their own commander, a man "of reddish complexion". They also had several outlying communities under their control, one contained about 100 people the others unknown numbers.^[5] An English visitor in 1858 thought they had 1,500 fighting men in all. He noted that the Santa Cruz went with them and that priests of it were prominent.^[6]

The Ixcanha Maya community had a population of some 1,000 people who refused the Cruzob's break with traditional Catholicism. In the years of stalemate, Ixcanha agreed to nominal recognition of Mexico in exchange for some guns to defend themselves from Cruzob raids and the promise that the Mexican government would leave them alone. As Chan Santa Cruz was more of a worry, the Mexicans let Ixcanha govern itself through 1894.

Another important group was the Icaiche Maya, in the jungles of the lower center of the peninsula, who in the 1860s battled against the Mexicans, the Cruzob, and made raids and invasions against British Honduras as well, under their leader Marcos Canul. Canul's forces occupied Corozal Town in 1870 and attacked Orange Walk Town on 1 September 1872. The British mounted a retaliatory raid, including in their weaponry incendiary rockets which set the houses of Icaiche on fire from a good distance away, to the awe of Icaiche's residents. Canul was deposed and the new Icaiche leaders promised respect and friendship with the British. They soon made an agreement with Mexico similar to that of Ixcanha.

Negotiations in 1883 led to a treaty signed on January 11, 1884 in Belize City by a Chan Santa Cruz general and the vice-Governor of Yucatán recognizing Mexican sovereignty over Chan Santa Cruz in exchange for Mexican recognition of Chan Santa Cruz leader Crescencio Poot as Governor of the State of Chan Santa Cruz, but the following year there was a coup d'état in Chan Santa Cruz, and the treaty was declared cancelled.

End of the war[link]

In 1893 the United Kingdom was enjoying good relations with Mexico's Porfirio Díaz administration, and British investment in Mexico had become of much greater economic importance than the trade between the Cruzob and Belize. The UK signed a treaty with Mexico recognizing Mexican sovereignty over the region, formalizing the border between Mexico and British Honduras, and closing their colony's border to trade with the Chan Santa Cruz "rebels". As Belize merchants were Chan Santa Cruz's main source of gunpowder, this was a serious blow for the independent Maya.

The Mexican army had twice before managed to fight its way to the town of Chan Santa Cruz in previous decades, but was driven back both times. In 1901 Mexican general Ignacio Bravo led his troops to the town to stay, occupying with a large force and over the next years subduing surrounding villages. Bravo telegraphed the news that the war was over on 5 May (the Cinco de Mayo) that year. While this is the date most frequently given for the end of the war, fighting continued, although on a smaller scale. With their capital lost, the Cruzob split into smaller groups, often hiding in small hamlets in the jungle, and their numbers were seriously lessened by the epidemics of measles and smallpox that came with General Bravo's troops.

The Chan Santa Cruz Maya, under the influence of the persistent Talking Cross Cult, remained actively hostile well into the Twentieth Century. For many years, any non-Maya who entered the jungles of what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo would have been killed. The combination of new economic factors such as the appearance of the Wrigley Company's chicle hunters and the political and social changes resulting from the Mexican Revolution eventually reduced the hatred and hostility. In one form or another, war and armed struggle had continued for more than 50 years and an estimated 40,000 – 50,000 people had died in the hostilities.

The war was officially declared over for the final time in September 1915 by General Salvador Alvarado. General Alvarado, sent by the revolutionary government in Mexico City to restore order in Yucatán, implemented reforms which more or less eliminated the conflicts that had been the cause of the wars.

Although the war had been declared over many times before in previous decades, records show that the last time the Mexican army considered it necessary to take by force one of the area's villages which had never recognized Mexican law was in April 1933, when five Maya and two Mexican soldiers died in the battle for the village of Dzula – the last skirmish of a conflict lasting over 85 years.

See also[link]

• Chan Santa Cruz
• Justo Sierra O'Reilly
• List of wars involving Mexico

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Don E. Dumond, The Machete and the Cross: Campesino Rebellion in Yucatan(University of Nebraska Press, 1997).
• Nelson Reed, The Caste War of Yucatan (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 1964.)
• Terry Rugeley, Yucatan's Maya Peasantry and the Origins of the Caste War (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996).
• Terry Rugeley, ed., Maya Wars: Ethnographic Accounts from Nineteenth-Century Yucatan(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001).
• Paul Sullivan, Xuxub Must Die: The Lost Histories of a Murder on the Yucatan (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004).

External links[link]

• Tales From The Yucatan: The Caste War of the Yucatan
• The Caste War, the Church of the Speaking Cross, and the Cruzob Maya – by Jeanine Kitchel
• The Caste Wars of the Yucatan and Northern Belize
• In Search of the Talking Cross of Chan Santa Cruz

Yucatán
—  State  —
Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán
Seal
Nickname(s): La Hermana República de Yucatán (The sister republic of Yucatán)[1][2]
State of Yucatán within Mexico
Coordinates: 20°50′0″N 89°0′0″W / 20.833333°N 89°W / 20.833333; -89Coordinates: 20°50′0″N 89°0′0″W / 20.833333°N 89°W / 20.833333; -89
Country	Mexico
Capital	Mérida
Municipalities	106
Admission	December 23, 1823[3][4]
Order	8th[a]
Government
• Governor	Ivonne Ortega Pacheco
• Senators[5]	Beatriz Zavala Peniche Alfredo Rodríguez Cleominio Zoreda
• Deputies[6]	Federal Deputies • Efrain Aguilar Gongora • Enrique Castillo Ruz • Felipe Cervera • Jorge Carlos Ramirez • Eric Rubio Bartell • Rolando Zapata Bello • Rosa Adriana Diaz Lizama • Yolanda Valencia Vales • Daniel Avila Ruiz • Liborio Vidal Aguilar
Area[7]
• Total	39,612 km2 (15,294 sq mi)
	Ranked 20th
Highest elevation[8]	210 m (690 ft)
Population (2010)[9]
• Total	1,955,577
• Rank	21st
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
• Density rank	17th
Demonym	Yucateco (a)
Time zone	CST (UTC−6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC−5)
Postal code	97
Area code	Area codes • 969 • 985 • 986 • 988 • 991 • 997 • 999
ISO 3166 code	MX-YUC
HDI	0.821 high Ranked 20th
GDP	US$ 9,191,180.625 th[b]
Website	Official Web Site
^ a. Joined to the federation under the name of Federated Republic of Yucatán, included the modern states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo. ^ b. The state's GDP was 117,647,112 thousand of pesos in 2008,[9] amount corresponding to 9,191,180.625 thousand of dollars, being a dollar worth 12.80 pesos (value of June 3, 2010).[10]

Yucatán (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝukaˈtan]), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida.

It is located in Southeastern Mexico, on the north part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest, Quintana Roo to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico lies off its north coast.

Before the arrival of Spaniards to the Yucatán Peninsula, the name of this region was el Mayab.^[11] In 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 on this place, where they founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek' Balam and Ichcaanzihóo (also called T'Hó), now Mérida.^[12]

After the Spanish conquest, Yucatán 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 then was voluntarily annexed to the Federal Republic of United Mexican States on December 21, 1823.^[3] Later on March 16, 1841, as result of cultural and political conflicts around the federal pact, Yucatán declared independence from Mexico to form a second Republic of Yucatán, but eventually on July 14, 1848, Yucatán was definitely rejoined to Mexico. In 1858, in the middle of the caste war, the state of Yucatan was divided for the first time, establishing Campeche as 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.^[13]

Today, Yucatán is the safest state in Mexico^[14][15] and Mérida was awarded City of Peace in 2011.^[16][17]

Toponymy[link]

The name Yucatán, also assigned to the peninsula, came from early explorations of the Conquistadors from Europe. There are reliable versions that the name was result from confusion between the Mayan inhabitants and the first Spanish explorers around 1517:

• According to one of them, was the answer of a Mayan indigenous to the question of a Spanish explorer, since he wanted to know the name of the region. The Mayan probably replied Ma'anaatik ka t'ann which means Maya language I do not understand your speech or I do not understand you.

• It is also said that the Spaniards gave the name of Yucatán to the region, because the Mayan answered their questions with the phrase uh yu ka t'ann, in Mayan language means hear how they talk.

Probably the first narrator's of "I do not understand" version was the friar Toribio de Benavente, in his book Historia de los indios de la Nueva España (History of the Indians of New Spain) says:

Another version is from Bernal Díaz del Castillo. In his book Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (True History of the Conquest of New Spain), he says Yucatá means "land of yucas",^[19] a plant that was cultivated by the Maya and was an important food source for them.^[20]

History[link]

The written history of Yucatán begins after the Spanish conquest. In the distant past, 65 million years ago, a meteorite fell causing a global catastrophe that wiped out dinosaurs, along with other species on earth and formed the Chicxulub crater.^[21]

Prehispanic era[link]

Temple of Kukulcan in Chichén Itzá, locally called "El Castillo".

The origin of the first settlements has not been scientifically confirmed, although the presence of first humans in the area dates from the late Pleistocene or ice age (about 10,000 – 12,000 years), according to the findings in the Loltún caves and caverns of Tulum (Women of the Palms).^[22]

The first Maya moved to the Peninsula circa 250 CE, from the Petén (today northern Guatemala), to settle the southeastern peninsula in the modern Bacalar, Quintana Roo.^[23][24] In 525, the Chanés (Mayan tribe that preceded the Itza), moved to the east of the peninsula, founding Chichén Itzá, Izamal, Motul, Ek' Balam, Ichcaanzihó (modern Mérida) and Champotón^{[disambiguation needed ]}. Later, Tutul xiúes, Toltec descent, who came from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, settled in the region causing displacement of the Itza and Cocomes —a diversified branch of Itzá—, and finally, after years and many battles, was formed Mayapán League (composed of the Itza, the Xiús and Cocomes), that eventually disintegrated circa 1194,^[25] giving way to a period of anarchy and fragmentation into small domains which the Spanish conquistadors found in 16th century.^[26]

Exploration by Conquistadors[link]

In 1513, Juan Ponce de León had already conquered the island of Borinquén (now Puerto Rico) and had discovered Florida.^[27] Antón de Alaminos, who was with Ponce de León on this latest discovery, suspected that in west of Cuba they could find new land. Under their influence, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, supported by the governor of Cuba, organized an expedition commanded by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to explore the west seas of the island.^[28]

This expedition sailed from port of Ajaruco on February 8, 1517, to La Habana and after circling the island and sailing south west by what is now known as the Yucatán Channel, the expedition made landfall at the Yucatán Peninsula on March 1. There are discrepancies about where the first explorers arrived. Some say it was in Isla Mujeres. Bernal Díaz del Castillo places it at Cabo Catoche where they saw a great city which they named the «Gran Cairo».^[29]

Spanish Conquest[link]

Francisco de Montejo y León.

The conquest of Yucatan was completed two decades after the conquest of Mexico; by Francisco de Montejo "el Adelantado", his son Francisco de Montejo y León "el Mozo" and his nephew, Francisco de Montejo "el Sobrino". El Adelantado was in the expedition of Juan de Grijalva and was with Hernán Cortés in the third expedition that eventually became the Conquest of Mexico.^[30] He was subsequently appointed for the conquest of the maya of Yucatán, but failed in his first attempt in 1527–28. In 1529 he was appointed Governor of Tabasco, with the order to pacify Tabasco and conquer Yucatán and Cozumel.

From Tabasco, Montejo led a new campaign to Yucatán by western (1531–35) and failed again in his attempt. Circa 1535, after many bloody battles with the natives, he reached the complete pacification of the Province of Tabasco and began planning his new foray to Yucatán.

El Adelantado was appointed governor of Honduras and then of Chiapas. Therefore, he gave his son "El Mozo", the mission to consummate the conquest of Yucatán. Francisco de Montejo y León "el Mozo" founded the cities of San Francisco de Campeche on October 4, 1540, and Mérida on January 6, 1542 (in honor of Mérida, Extremadura). The city of Merida was founded over the ruins of the Mayan city of Ichkanzihóo (T'hó) and were used for the new buildings, the stones of old Mayan pyramids. Later, government powers were changed from Santa María de la Victoria, Tabasco, to Mérida on June 11, 1542.^[31] The newly founded Mérida was besieged by the Mayan troops of Nachi Cocom (overlord or 'Halach uinik' in Mayan language). It was a definitive battle for the Conquest of Yucatán. With that victory, the Spaniards consolidated their domain on the west of the peninsula.

Francisco de Montejo "El Adelantado" appointed his nephew, Francisco de Montejo "el Sobrino", the conquest of the eastern Yucatán, which was achieved after many bloody battles, ending with the foundation of the city of Valladolid on May 28, 1543.

Canek rebellion, during the colonial Yucatán[link]

Oppressive policies of inequality and prejudice were imposed on the native Mayans by the Spanish colonial government. In November 1761, Jacinto Canek, a Mayan from the town of Cisteil (now located in Yaxcabá Municipality), led an armed uprising against the government, which was quickly put down. Captured insurgents were taken to Mérida, where they were tried and tortured. As a warning to the population against rebellion, Cisteil was burned and covered with salt.

This abortive rebellion was not of great consequence to the colonial regime, but it marked the history of the peninsula and clearly delineated anti-colonial tensions in the region. The uprising was a precursor to the social upheaval that would explode less than a century later, as the Caste War. The Canek rebellion is remembered today as a symbol of the racial and social conflict that predominated for centuries in the Spanish colonies.

Yucatán in independent Mexico[link]

Yucatán in Mexico, 1825.

Because of its geographical remoteness from the center of New Spain, especially from Mexico City, Yucatán was not militarily affected by the Mexican War of Independence, but the war influenced the enlightened people of Yucatán. In 1820 Lorenzo de Zavala, member of Sanjuanistas (a group of creoles who met at the church of San Juan in downtown Mérida), created the Patriotic Confederation, which eventually divided into two groups: the supporters of the Spanish government under the Cádiz Constitution and another led by Zavala, which sought outright independence from Spain. Mariano Carrillo Albornoz then Governor of Yucatán, sent Zavala and Manuel García Sosa as deputies of the Cádiz Cortes to Madrid, while the other liberals were imprisoned. While this was happening in Yucatán, the Plan of Iguala was proclaimed in the current state of Guerrero (at that time part of the Intendency of Mexico).

On September 15, 1821, in the Hall of Councils of the City of Merida, Yucatán declares its independence from Spain,^[32] almost immediately, Governor Juan María Echeverri sent two representatives to negotiate the incorporation of Yucatán to the Mexican Empire. The incorporation to the Mexican Empire was on November 2, 1821.^[33]

Republic of Yucatán[link]

The Mexican Empire was quickly overthrown under the Plan of Casa Mata, the provinces of the empire became independent states. The first Republic of Yucatán, declared on May 29, 1823, joined the Federal Republic of the United Mexican States as the Federated Republic of Yucatán on December 23, 1823.^[34][35]

The second Republic of Yucatán^[a] emerged when the federal pact signed by Yucatán and endorsed in the Constitution of Yucatán of 1825 was broken by the centralist government of Mexico since 1835. In 1841 state of Tabasco decree its separation from Mexico and Miguel Barbachano, then governor of Yucatán, sent a commission headed by Justo Sierra O'Reilly to meet with Tabasco authorities to propose the creation of an independent federal republic from Mexico, formed by the 2 states, the idea failed because Tabasco rejoined to Mexico in 1842.

On August 22, 1846, Mexican interim president José Mariano Salas restored the 1824 constitution and the federalism. Two years later, during the government of president José Joaquín de Herrera, Miguel Barbachano ordered the reinstatement of Yucatán to Mexico under the Constitution of Yucatán of 1825. A decisive factor for the reinstatement was the Caste War, which forced Yucatán to seek outside help. In 1852 due to internal struggles between opposing political factions, was created the Territory of Campeche. On April 29, 1863, during the government of Benito Juárez, Campeche gained its current status as an independent state.^[36]

Flag of Yucatán[link]

Flag of the Republic of Yucatán, civil insignia of the Yucatecan without legal recognition.

The flag of Yucatán was raised on March 16, 1841. The period of the Republic of Yucatán was the only one in which the banner was officially used by the authorities of Yucatán.

Rodolfo Menéndez de la Peña, historian, describes the flag of Yucatán:

The flag doesn't have official recognition in the state, however, it has a strong recognition among the people of the state.^[37][38] De facto state flag, in any case, according to a convention led by former president Ernesto Zedillo, is a white flag with the shield of the state in the middle.

Caste War[link]

The Caste War of Yucatán was a conflict that lasted from 1847 to 1901. It began with the revolt of native Maya people led by Maya chiefs Jacinto Pat and Cecilio Chi, against the population of European descent called "Yucatecos", who had political and economic control. A lengthy war ensued between the Yucateco forces in the north-west of the Yucatán and the independent Maya in the south-east. It officially ended with the occupation of the Maya capital of Chan Santa Cruz by the Mexican army in 1901, although skirmishes with villages and small settlements that refused to acknowledge Mexican control continued for over another decade.

Because of the conflict, on November 24, 1902, Yucatán had a second territorial division when Porfirio Díaz decreed the creation of the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo,^[39] with capital in the port of Payo Obispo (today Chetumal). In little more than half a century, Yucatán lost more than two thirds of its original territory.

The henequen industry[link]

Agave fourcroydes, commonly known as henequén in Yucatán, sisal elsewhere and ki in Maya language.

In the late 19th century, the henequen industry grew to unprecedented power in the Yucatan. The henequen grown in the Yucatan was used around the world for rope and twine, and became known as sisal rope, named after the seaside town of Sisal, from where the rope was shipped. Today Sisal is a sleepy fishing village, being rediscovered by locals and visitors as a beach location for vacation homes. The henequen industry provided financial autonomy to the isolated Yucatán. The fiber of Henequén plant (known as sosquil (maya: sos kí)) was manufactured into twine and rope, used in riggings, string, sacks, rugs, and many other items. It became the chief export item of the Yucatán, making many local families very wealthy. That wealth is today evident in the architecture of the colonial city of Mérida, as well as in the more than 150 haciendas that are spread throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.

Hundreds of prosperous haciendas abounded in the state until the advent of synthetic products after World War II, the cultivation of Henequén in other parts of the world and the self-serving actions of some of the leading henequen-growing families led to the gradual decline of the Yucatan's monopoly on the industry.

The incredible influx of wealth during that period from the henequn industry focused mainly on Merida, the capital of Yucatan State. It allowed the city of Mérida to install street lights and a tram system even before Mexico City. It is said that in the early 20th century, the city had the largest number of millionaires per capita in the world. Today, Paseo de Montejo (inspired by the Parisian avenue Champs-Élysées), is lined with the elegant houses built during that time. These houses are mostly now renovated and serve as everything from private homes to banks, hotels and restaurants. Many of the haciendas today^[40] have also been renovated and now serve as private homes, event venues and upscale luxury hotels.

Late 20th century[link]

Until the mid-20th century most of Yucatán's contact with the outside world was by sea; trade with the USA and Cuba, as well as Europe and other Caribbean islands, was more significant than that with the rest of Mexico. In the 1950s Yucatán was linked to the rest of Mexico by railway, followed by highway in the 1960s, ending the region's comparative isolation. Today Yucatán still demonstrates a unique culture from the rest of Mexico, including its own style of food.

Commercial jet airplanes began arriving in Mérida in the 1960s, and additional international airports were built first in Cozumel and then in the new planned resort community of Cancún in the 1980s, making tourism a major force in the economy of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The first Maya governor of Yucatán, Francisco Luna Kan, was elected in 1976.

Today, the Yucatán Peninsula is a major tourism destination, as well as home to one of the largest indigenous populations in Mexico, the Maya people.

Geography[link]

The State of Yucatán is located on the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the states of Campeche to the southwest, Quintana Roo to the east and southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west. As a whole, the state is extremely flat with little or no topographic variation, with the exception of the Puuc hills, located in the southern portion of the state.

Flora and fauna of Yucatán
Campylorhynchus yucatanicus	Odocoileus virginianus	Eretmochelys imbricata	Phoenicopterus ruber	Cairina moschata
Panthera onca	Meleagris ocellata	Tayassu pecari	Leopardus pardalis	Boa constrictor
Ceiba pentandra	Enterolobium cyclocarpum	Aloe vera	Cylindropuntia imbricata	Bixa orellana
Crocodylus moreletii	Alouatta pigra	Crotalus simus	Pristis pectinata	Ctenosaura similis

Government and politics[link]

The Constitution of the State of Yucatán provides that the government of Yucatán, like the government of every other state in Mexico, consists of three powers: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

Executive power rests in the governor of Yucatán, who is directly elected by the citizens, using a secret ballot, to a six-year term with no possibility of reelection. Legislative power rests in the Congress of Yucatán which is a unicameral legislature composed of 25 deputies. Judicial power is invested in the Superior Court of Justice of Yucatán.

The most recent local election in Yucatán was held on May 20, 2007. (See main article: Yucatán state election, 2007.)

Tourism in Yucatán
Chichen Itza	Uxmal	Dzibilchaltun	Ek' Balam	Kabah
Mérida	Tizimín	Valladolid	Progreso	Izamal
Loltun, Oxkutzcab	Bolón-Chohol, Cuzamá	Dzitnup, Valladolid	Ik Kil, Kaua	Sacred Cenote, Chichen Itza

Municipalities[link]

The State of Yucatán is divided into 108 municipalities, each headed by a municipal president (mayor). Usually municipalities are named after the city that serves as municipal seat; e.g. the municipal seat of the Municipality of Mérida is the City of Mérida.

Demography[link]

Major cities and towns[link]

Mérida Kanasín	Num.	Ciudad	Municipio	Pob.	Num.	Ciudad	Municipio	Pob.	Motul Ticul
	1	Mérida	Mérida Municipality	734.153	7	Umán	Umán Municipality	29.135
	2	Kanasín	Kanasín Municipality	50.357	8	Tekax	Tekax Municipality	23.524
	3	Valladolid	Valladolid Municipality	45.868	9	Hunucmá	Hunucmá Municipality	22.800
	4	Tizimín	Tizimín Municipality	44.151	10	Motul	Motul Municipality	21.508
	5	Progreso	Progreso Municipality	35.519	11	Oxkutzcab	Oxkutzcab Municipality	21.341
	6	Ticul	Ticul Municipality	31.147	12	Peto	Peto Municipality	18.177
Source: INEGI[41]

Languages[link]

The most widespread indigenous language of Yucatán is Yucatec Maya, spoken natively by approximately 800,000 people in Yucatán and adjacent Quintana Roo and Campeche, especially in rural areas. The Spanish spoken in Yucatán is easily identifiable due to lexical and some phonological borrowing from Mayan. The Mayan language is very melodic, full of sounds (like the sound represented by "sh" in English, designated with "x" in Mayan).^[42] The Spanish of the region employs many words of Mayan origin, such as purux ("fat"), tuch ("navel") and wixar ("urinate").

Food[link]

Yucatecan food is its own unique style and is very different from what most people would consider Mexican food. It includes influences from the local Mayan culture, as well as Caribbean, European (Spanish), (North) African, and Middle Eastern cultures, as well as influence from the cuisine of other parts of Mexico.

There are many regional dishes. Some of them are:

• Poc Chuc, a Mayan/Yucatecan version of barbecued pork.
• Salbutes and Panuchos. Salbutes are soft, cooked tortillas with lettuce, tomato, turkey, and avocado on top. Panuchos feature fried tortillas filled with black beans and topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado and pickled onions. Habanero chiles accompany most dishes, either in solid or puréed form, along with fresh limes and corn tortillas.
• Queso Relleno is a "gourmet" dish featuring ground pork inside of a carved Edam cheese ball served with tomato sauce and gravy.
• Pavo en Relleno Negro is turkey meat stew cooked with a black paste made from roasted chiles, a local version of the mole de guajalote found throughout Mexico. The meat soaked in the black soup is also served in tacos, sandwiches and even in panuchos or salbutes.
• Sopa de Lima A turkey, lime, and tortilla soup.
• Papadzules. Egg tacos covered in pumpkin seed sauce and tomatoes.
• Cochinita Pibil is a marinated pork dish and by far the most renowned of Yucatecan food.
• Xcatik, a type of chili.
• Pavo en Relleno Blanco is a turkey stew almost like Pavo en Relleno Negro.

Notes[link]

• ^a Usually when historians talk about of the Republic of Yucatán, they are talking about the second republic.

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	North America portal
	Latin America portal
	Mexico portal

• Caste War of Yucatán
• Cenote
• Chicxulub Crater
• Governor of Yucatán
• Municipalities of Yucatán
• Spanish conquest of Yucatán

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yucatán

• Picture from Space
• Relaciones de Yucatán
• French website about Yucatán
• English-language website about living, working and traveling in the Yucatán

v t e  State of Yucatan Mérida, Yucatán (capital) Topics Archaeological sites Geography Governors History People from Yucatán Universities Metros Mérida Larger cities Kanasín Valladolid Tizimín Progreso Ticul Umán Tekax Hunucmá Motul Oxkutzcab Peto Izamal Chemax Maxcanú Muna Espita Tixkokob Acanceh Smaller cities Akil Tzucacab Tekit Halachó Tecoh Dzidzantún Seyé Buctzotz Caucel Conkal Cacalchén Celestún Temax Temozón Homún Dzilam González Kinchil Teabo Sotuta Panabá Cholul Chichimilá Itzincab Hoctún X-Can Dzan Pisté Huhí Cansahcab Baca Chocholá Opichén Hocabá Maní Chicxulub Popolá Komchén Tetiz Sucilá Cuzamá Timucuy Ixil Kimbilá Kantunil Sacalum Tahmek Telchac Pueblo Tixpéhual Santa Elena Tahdziú Popolnáh Tixcacalcupul Chablecal Tekantó Cenotillo San José Tzal Dzemul Chelem Municipalities Abalá Acanceh Akil Baca Bokobá Buctzotz Cacalchén Calotmul Cansahcab Cantamayec Celestún Cenotillo Chacsinkín Chankom Chapab Chemax Chicxulub Pueblo Chichimilá Chikindzonot Chocholá Chumayel Conkal Cuncunul Cuzamá Dzan Dzemul Dzidzantún Dzilam de Bravo Dzilam González Dzitás Dzoncauich Espita Halachó Hocabá Hoctún Homún Huhí Hunucmá Ixil Izamal Kanasín Kantunil Kaua Kinchil Kopomá Mama Maní Maxcanú Mayapán Mérida Mocochá Motul Muna Muxupip Opichén Oxkutzcab Panabá Peto Progreso Quintana Roo Río Lagartos Sacalum Samahil Sanahcat San Felipe Santa Elena Seyé Sinanché Sotuta Sucilá Sudzal Suma Tahdziú Tahmek Teabo Tecoh Tekal de Venegas Tekantó Tekax Tekit Tekom Telchac Pueblo Telchac Puerto Temax Temozón Tepakán Tetiz Teya Ticul Timucuy Tinúm Tixcacalcupul Tixkokob Tixméhuac Tixpéhual Tizimín Tunkás Tzucacab Uayma Ucú Umán Valladolid Xocchel Yaxcabá Yaxkukul Yobaín

v t e States of Mexico States Aguascalientes Baja California Baja California Sur Campeche Chiapas Chihuahua Coahuila Colima Durango Guanajuato Guerrero Hidalgo Jalisco México Michoacán Morelos Nayarit Nuevo León Oaxaca Puebla Querétaro Quintana Roo San Luis Potosí Sinaloa Sonora Tabasco Tamaulipas Tlaxcala Veracruz Yucatán Zacatecas Federal District Mexico City