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Campeche is the name of both a state in Mexico and its capital city. This article is about the state. Location
Campeche is bordered by the Mexican states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west. To the south it is bordered by the Petén department of Guatemala and to the west by the Gulf of Mexico. The area of Campeche is 56,798 km² (about 21,924 square miles). In addition to the city of Campeche, the state of Campeche includes the cities of Champotón, Ciudad del Carmen, and Escárcega, the towns of Bolonchén, Calkiní, Dzitbalché, Hecelchakán, Hopelchén, Lerma, Tenabo, and Sabancuy, and many ruins of the Maya civilization such as Becán, Calakmul, Silvituc, Dzibilnocac, Edzna, Hocchob, Holactún, Rio Bec, Uxul, Xicalango, Xpuhil, and Xtampak. Campeche is Spanish for "logwood". Campeche is a city of Mexico located at 19.85° N 90.53° W, on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The city's population estimate for 2002 was 230,910 people. The city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistadores as San Francisco de Campeche atop the preexisting Maya city of Canpech or Kimpech. The Pre-Columbian city was described as having 3,000 houses and various monuments, of which little trace remains. The city retains many of the old colonial Spanish city walls and fortifications which protected the city (not always successfully) from pirates and buccaneers. The state of preservation and quality of its architecture earned it the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Originally, the Spaniards lived inside the walled city, while the natives lived in the surrounding barrios of San Francisco, Guadalupe and San Román. These barrios still retain their original churches; the one in Guadalupe is almost 500 years old. This article is licensed under the
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