NIE ACTIVITY
GEOGRAPHY Connections
This yearlong series is presented in collaboration with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance. For more information about NIE visit www.courantnie.com or call 241-3144.
YUCUTAN
Kevin Spedding
University of New Haven
City View
Have you ever wanted to go rock
climbing, scuba diving, snorkeling, or
explore an ancient city? These are
all exciting and interesting activities
on their own, but did you know that
there is one place where you can
do all of these things at the same
time? Yes, in the Yucatan Peninsula
of Mexico. The Yucatan Peninsula
juts out from the southern end of
Mexico and extends northeast into
the Caribbean Sea. The southern
section of the peninsula is bordered
by Belize and Guatemala. The
northeastern portion of the peninsula
forms the southern boundary of the
Gulf of Mexico. Because the Yucatan
Peninsula lies only 19 degrees north
of the equator, it has a climate that
is pleasant all year round. There
have been many resort communities
constructed there, making it a very
popular tourist destination. However,
these resorts aren’t the only things
that draw tourists. There are beautiful
tropical rain forests, Mayan ruins, and
the wonders of cenotes (sé-nō-tās).
A cenote is a really large sinkhole
that has formed over millions of
years in the limestone of the Yucatan
Peninsula.
TAKE 5
Location: – The geographic center of the Yucatan
Peninsula is located at 19˚ 30’ N and 89˚ 0’ W.
Merida is the largest city in the Yucatan Peninsula
with a population of 734,153. The size of the
Peninsula is 14,827 sq. miles.
Place – It juts from the southern end of Mexico
northward into the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico. It is bordered on the south by Belize and
Guatemala.
Human-Environment Interaction – The Ría Celestún
biosphere reserve is home to thousands of pink
flamingos. The reserve is comprised of 146,000
acres set aside as a protected area for flamingos and
over 300 other species of birds. It is also home to
one of the largest areas of mangroves in the Gulf of
Mexico. During the winter months as many as 30,000
flamingos can be observed there.
Movement – The best way to get around the
Peninsula for trips of any distance is by car. Across
the northern section is the four lane highway
180. The southern part of the Peninsula is still
sparsely populated and the communities are spread
throughout dense forest.
Region – The Yucatan Peninsula is split into three
states. Campeche on the west, Yucatan in the north
and center, and Quintana Roo on the east coast. The
climate is tropical and tourism is a major part of its
economy.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Yucatan peninsula is composed of a large
formation of limestone. That’s why there are over
3000 cenotes in the Yucatan. As rainwater mixes
with oxygen it forms a weak acid known as carbonic
acid. That acid has seeped into the limestone and worn
away portions of it over millions of years. After a while
so much of the limestone is worn away that the limestone collapses leaving a large sink hole.
The Mayans began as hunter gatherers and established their settlements in the Yucatan
around 2500 BC, that’s just about 4500 years ago. There are about 2600 Mayan ruins in
the Yucatan and about twenty sites have been restored and are open to the public. The most
often visited is the ruin at Chichén-Itzá. About 3000 years ago the Toltec people moved into
the area and their influence is seen in the architecture of the Chichén-Itzá ruins.
The Yucatan Peninsula is home to many interesting creatures such as the nine-banded
armadillo, the rainbow-billed toucan, parrots, kinkajous, and the northern tamandua, a large
anteater. The jaguar once roamed all over the Peninsula but has become an endangered
species.
Chocolate was very precious to the Mayans. Around the year 600 the Mayans migrated north
and started some of the earliest known cocoa plantations in the Yucatan Peninsula. The elite
members of the Mayan society enjoyed a chocolate drink made from ground cocoa and
water.
The Rio Lagartos National Wildlife Refuge holds the largest flamingo refuge in North America.
The 118,000 acre park was established in 1979 and hosts thousands of flamingos, about 200
other bird species, and a large population of sea turtles and jaguars.
MAP IT!
Using an atlas, or an online site such as worldatlas.
com label the following major cities and Mayan ruin
sites on the map of the Yucatan Peninsula
Merida Chetumal Cozumel Cancún Dzibilchaltin
Oxkintoc Kabah Sayil Labna Xlapak
Edzna Muyil Tulum Coba Ek Balam
Ake Chichen Itza
Community Connections
Chíchén Itzá and the Pyramid of Kukulcán were recently named as part of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Can
you name some others and where they are located?
Until the middle of the 1900s the Yucatan Peninsula’s only means of contact to the outside world was through sea travel.
The Peninsula wasn’t connected to the rest of Mexico by rail until the 1950s, and by highway a decade later. Can you
compare that to the expansion of the rail and highway system in the United States?
Curricular Connections
CCSS.ELA – Literacy.R1.5.2, CCSS.ELA – Literacy.R1.5.3
Resources:
www.yucatantoday.com
www.worldatlas.com
www.studyspanish.com
www.history.com