Nayarit In Mexico (location Map Scheme)
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Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, comprise the Federal Entities of
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is
Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexico, Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above ...
. It is bordered by the states of
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
to the northwest,
Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
to the north,
Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...
to the northeast and
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
to the south. To the west, Nayarit has a significant share of coastline on the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, including the islands of Marías and Marietas. The beaches of San Blas and the so-called "
Riviera Nayarit The Riviera Nayarit () is a nearly stretch of coastline in Mexico between the historic port of San Blas, Nayarit, to where the Ameca River empties into Banderas Bay, Nuevo Vallarta. Riviera Nayarit was named to promote the coastline of Nayarit ...
" are popular with tourists and
snowbirds Snowbird may refer to: Places * Snowbird, Utah, an unincorporated area and associated ski resort in the United States * Snowbird Lake, a lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada * Snowbird Glacier, a hanging alpine glacier in the Talkeetna Moun ...
. Besides tourism, the economy of the state is based mainly on agriculture and fishing. It is also one of two states where the
tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...
species ''
Brachypelma klaasi ''Brachypelma klaasi'' (also known as the Mexican pink tarantula) is a tarantula endemic to Mexico and it is the rarest of the genus '' Brachypelma''. Appearance The setae of this species have a uniformly rusty appearance. The coloration is ver ...
'' is found, the other being
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
. Home to
Uto-Aztecan The Uto-Aztecan languages are a family of native American languages, consisting of over thirty languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found almost entirely in the Western United States and Mexico. The name of the language family reflects the common ...
indigenous peoples such as the
Huichol The Huichol () or Wixárika () are an Indigenous people of Mexico living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, with considerable communities in the United States, in the states of Califo ...
and
Cora Cora may refer to: Science * ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens * ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies * CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system People * Cora (name), a given name and surname * Cora E. (born 1968), German h ...
, the region was exposed to the ''
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
es''
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
and
Nuño de Guzmán Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco (province), Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the ...
in the 16th century. Spanish governance was made difficult by indigenous rebellions and by the inhospitable terrain of the Sierra del Nayar. The last independent Cora communities were subjugated in 1722. The state's name recalls the Cora people's label for themselves: ''Náayerite'', commemorating Nayar, a resistance leader.


History

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
estimate Aztatlán colonization of the western Mexican coast – including parts of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco – as occurring as early as 900 AD, with some evidence suggesting it might have been as early as 520 AD. Encountered on the western coast by the Spanish invaders in 1500, the cultures were descended from these original Aztatlán settlements and other Classic-stage cultures who had merged with them.
Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...
was the first known European to enter into the area now known as Nayarit, which he claimed for Spain as part of
Nueva Galicia Nuevo Reino de Galicia (New Kingdom of Galicia; ) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia''), known in Nahuatl as Chimalhuacán (‘the land of shield bearers’), was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It w ...
. Under
Nuño de Guzmán Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco (province), Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the ...
, Spaniards took the region with considerable brutality, causing the indigenous inhabitants to revolt, in what was later referred to as the
Mixtón War The Mixtón War (1540–1542) was an uprisng by Caxcan people aimed at pushing the Spanish conquistadors out of northwestern Mexico and bringing the area back under indigenous control. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which s ...
. After almost two centuries of resistance, the last independent Cora communities were incorporated into Spanish administration by force in 1722. Then followed intense missionary efforts by
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
s to convert the indigenous. In the colonial period, the port of San Blas was one of the most important trade ports on the American Pacific coast.
Galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europe, Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels dr ...
s transporting goods from Manila, the Philippines arrived here before the rise of the port of
Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...
. Today, the town still boasts
colonial architecture Colonial architecture is a hybrid architectural style that arose as colonists combined architectural styles from their country of origin with design characteristics of the settled country. Colonists frequently built houses and buildings in a sty ...
from its heyday, such as the ''aduana'' (customs office), the ''contaduría'' (accounting offices) and the fortress that protected the port against pirates. In Nayarit, the struggle for independence from Spain was initiated by the priest José María Mercado, who conquered Tepic and San Blas before being defeated and executed by Spanish royalists. In 1824, in the first constitution of the Mexican Republic, Nayarit was a part of
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
. In the mid-1800s Comanche Indians, from Texas and Oklahoma, attacked Tepic causing widespread destruction. During the second half of the 19th century, Nayarit was one of the most turbulent territories in Mexico. The population was in open revolt, demanding access to land. Nayarit was one of the last territories admitted as a state of the Mexican federation, which occurred on May 1, 1917.


Geography

Nayarit covers , making it one of the smaller states in Mexico. Nayarit is located between latitude lines 23°05' north and 20°36' south and longitude lines 103°43' east and 105°46' west. Its terrain is broken up by the western ends of the
Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...
mountains. Its highest mountains are:
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
, Sanguangüey, El Ceboruco, Cumbre de Pajaritos and Picachos."Nayarit"
in ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. 2012, Columbia University Press
Nayarit has two volcanoes,
Ceboruco Ceboruco is a dacitic stratovolcano located in Nayarit, Mexico, northwest of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The largest eruption, the Jala Plinian eruption, was around 930 AD ±200, VEI 6, releasing of tephra. The most recent and best ...
and
Sangangüey Sangangüey is an eroded stratovolcano standing 2340 meters tall in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of Mexico. The volcano is located immediately southeast of Tepic in the state of Nayarit in Mexico. There has been no confirmed historical eruptio ...
. In the northeast are broad, tropical plains watered by the
Río Grande de Santiago The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the longest rivers in Mexic ...
, a continuation of the
Lerma River The Lerma River () is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near Guadalajara, ...
. The main state rivers are the
Río Grande de Santiago The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the longest rivers in Mexic ...
, San Pedro Mezquital,
Acaponeta Acaponeta is both a municipality and a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The town is located at the geographical coordinates of . The population of the municipality was 34,665 in the 2005 census, living in a total area of ...
, Ameca, and Las Cañas. The Río Grande de Santiago is the largest river in Nayarit. The Santiago and its tributaries are of major importance for agricultural irrigation. The Ameca and the Las Cañas lie on the border between Nayarit and the states of
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
and
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
, respectively. Notable
lagoons A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
in Nayarit include Santa María del Oro,
San Pedro Lagunillas San Pedro Lagunillas is both a municipality and the municipal seat of the same in the Mexican state of Nayarit, being the least populous municipality in Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 7,155 (2005) in a total area of 520 square ...
and Agua Brava.


Municipalities

Nayarit – as with all states of Mexico – is geographically divided into
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
''(
municipios A ' () or ' () is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as "municipality." It comes from ''mūnicipium'' (), meaning a township. In English, a municipality often is defined ...
)'', creating twenty municipalities in Nayarit:


Environment

Nayarit's natural vegetation varies with altitude; coastal lowlands and river valleys were, historically, covered with tropical dry forest, containing many native deciduous trees that lost their leaves during the dry seasons. The
Sinaloan dry forests The Sinaloan dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western Mexico. It is the northernmost ecoregion of the Neotropical realm. Geography The ecoregion covers an area of approximately The dry forests lie in the coastal pla ...
now cover the northern coastal lowlands, and extend up the valleys of the
San Pedro Mezquital River The San Pedro Mezquital River () is a river of Nayarit, Mexico. The river originates in the Sierra Madre Occidental, and flows through Durango and Nayarit states to empty into the Pacific Ocean in Marismas Nacionales Biosphere Reserve.Gonzál ...
and the
Río Grande de Santiago The Río Grande de Santiago, or Santiago River, is a river in western Mexico. It flows westwards from Lake Chapala via Ocotlán through the states of Jalisco and Nayarit to empty into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the longest rivers in Mexic ...
and its tributaries. The
Jalisco dry forests The Jalisco dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in southwestern Mexico. Geography The Jalisco dry forests occupy the coastal lowlands and foothills of Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, and Michoacán states. The ecoregion mostly ...
ecoregion covers coastal Nayarit south of San Blas and the Islas Marías. The
Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion of the Pacific coast of Mexico. The ' ("national marshes") stretches from Mazatlán, Sinaloa southwards to San Blas, Nayarit. Geography The Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangro ...
, a network of coastal Pacific lagoons and tidal mangrove forests, extend along the state's northern coast and into adjacent Sinaloa state. The mangroves are home to abundant wildlife, including migratory and resident waterbirds. The mountains are home to pine–oak forests, which vary in density with elevation. Oak forests and woodlands tend to grow at lower elevations, interspersed with smaller areas of humid cloud forest in areas of higher rainfall. The highest elevations contain forests of conifers, pines and oak. Nayarit also contains hundreds of miles of rainforest in the Sierra. Its wildlife includes hundreds of
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
species, both resident and breeding/migratory populations, including parrots, like the
lilac-crowned amazon The lilac-crowned amazon (''Amazona finschi''), also known as lilac-crowned parrot, Finsch's parrot or Finsch's amazon, is a parrot endemic to the Pacific slopes of Mexico. Also known as Finsch's amazon, it is characterised by green plumage, a ma ...
(''Amazona finschi'') and numerous hummingbirds, such as the
Mexican woodnymph The Mexican woodnymph (''Eupherusa ridgwayi'') is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae endemic to western Mexico. It lives in subtropical or tropical moist lowland/foothill forest and plantations, feeding on flower nectar and insec ...
(''Thalurania ridgwayi''). There are also 119 registered species of mammals, including
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...
(''Odocoileus virginianus''),
collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a peccary, a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Peccary, Tayassuidae found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the gen ...
(''Dicotyles tajacu''),
brocket deer Brockets or brocket deer are the species of deer in the genus ''Mazama''. They are medium to small in size, and are found in the Yucatán Peninsula, Central and South America, and the island of Trinidad. Most species are primarily found in fores ...
(''Mazama americana''), several types of
armadillo Armadillos () are New World placental mammals in the order (biology), order Cingulata. They form part of the superorder Xenarthra, along with the anteaters and sloths. 21 extant species of armadillo have been described, some of which are dis ...
,
coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
, wild felines such as puma (''Felis concolor''),
jaguarundi The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi''; or ) is a wild felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central America, Central and South America east of the Andes. T ...
(''Puma yagouarundi''),
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
or ''lince rojo'',
ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...
(''Felis pardalis'') and many more species. Historically, the
Mexican wolf The Mexican wolf (''Canis lupus baileyi''), also known as the ''lobo mexicano'' (or, simply, ''lobo'') is a subspecies of gray wolf (''C. lupus'') native to eastern and southeastern Arizona and western and southern New Mexico (in the United Sta ...
,
Mexican grizzly bear The Mexican grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis'', formerly ''Ursus arctos nelsoni'') is an extinct population of the grizzly bear in the Southwestern United States and Mexico. The specimen later designated the holotype of ''U. a. nelsoni'' ...
and
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
would have been present in the region, as well, though the bears are now extinct; the Mexican wolf and jaguar survive today only in a few fragmented locations, due to decades of hunting and human encroachment on their habitats.Pulido Pérez, R. (1995). Diagnostico de la fauna silvestre en el estado de Nayarit/. Most of the rain forest has been exploited, especially around the region of Santa María del Oro. The conservation and protection of the rain forest and wildlife of Nayarit is an issue of crucial importance. The
Islas Marías The Islas Marías ("Mary Islands") make up an archipelago in Mexico, consisting of four islands. They are located in the Pacific Ocean, some off the coast of the state of Nayarit and about southeast of the tip of Baja California. They are part ...
were designated as the Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
in 2010.


Flora and fauna


Education

* Instituto Tecnológico de Tepic * Universidad Autónoma de Nayarit * Universidad Tecnólogica de Nayarit * Universidad Tecnólogica de la Costa * Escuela Normal Superior de Nayarit: a normal school (for teachers) * Universidad Vizcaya de Las Americas *Escuela Secundaria Técnica No. 51 (Emilio M. Gonzalez)


Demographics


Largest cities

Nayarit is Mexico's twenty-ninth most populous state. According to the census of 2020, the state had a population of 1,235,456 and its population density was 39/km2.


Indigenous groups

Nayarit is the home to four indigenous groups: the Wixaritari (Huichol), the Naayeri (Cora), the Odam (Tepehuan) and the
Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...
-speaking Mexicaneros. The indigenous groups mostly inhabit the Nayar highlands, but are also frequently encountered in Tepic and on the Pacific coast, where they have also established colonies. They are known for their crafts and artwork which they sell. About five percent of the state population speaks an indigenous language.


Economy

Nayarit is predominantly an agricultural state, and produces a large variety of crops such as
bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...
s,
sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
,
sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
,
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
,
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, rice, chiles,
peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
s,
melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...
s,
tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...
es,
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
, mangoes, bananas, and avocados. In addition to these crops, livestock and fishing are also central to the local economy. Approximately six percent of the land in Nayarit is pasture land, with the most common livestock being cattle, horses, pigs,
goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...
, and
sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
. Nayarit has 289 kilometers of coastline, which provides an abundance of fish and shellfish, including
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
, snapper,
sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...
, and
oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of Seawater, salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in Marine (ocean), marine or Brackish water, brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly Calcification, calcified, a ...
. There are over 75
cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...
related to the fishing industry alone in Nayarit. Much of the food produced in Nayarit is exported to the larger urban areas surrounding Mexico City and Guadalajara, and much of the agricultural labor is performed by
migrant laborers A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsid ...
. Although mining exists in Nayarit, it is mostly of non-
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
lic substances such as
limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
or
kaolin Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (). ...
. Beginning in the late 90's, Nayarit has become known as a producer of
specialty Specialty or speciality may refer to: * Deed, a contract in law * Index of speciality, a geometrical invariant * ''Speciality'' (album), an album by J-Pop singer Nami Tamaki * Specialty (medicine), a field within medicine * Specialty (dentistry), ...
Arabica coffee ''Coffea arabica'' (), also known as the Arabica coffee, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. It is believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is the dominant cultivar, represe ...
, regarded for its fine taste and high density beans grown in the volcanic soils of the
Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...
. Nayarit coffee is exported all over the world, including to the UK and Australia via the Grupo Terruño Nayarita farmers cooperative. In recent years, Nayarit has worked to build its tourism sector, marketing the "
Riviera Nayarit The Riviera Nayarit () is a nearly stretch of coastline in Mexico between the historic port of San Blas, Nayarit, to where the Ameca River empties into Banderas Bay, Nuevo Vallarta. Riviera Nayarit was named to promote the coastline of Nayarit ...
" as a safe, beautiful destination served by Puerto Vallarta International Airport. Popular resort towns include Bucerías,
Punta de Mita Punta Mita is a private peninsula that is home to the Four Seasons Punta Mita, St. Regis Punta Mita, Conrad Hilton, and 16 sub-communities. Punta Mita is located on the north end of Banderas Bay in the Mexican state of Nayarit, about north ...
,
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle ''La Cruz de Huanacaxtle'' ("The Cross of Huanacaxtle") is a Mexican fishing village situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the state of Nayarit. It is situated approximately 25 km from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco Jalisco, ...
, San Blas,
Santiago Ixcuintla Santiago de Ixcuintla is a municipality and a municipal seat in the western Mexico, Mexican state of Nayarit. The municipal population was 93,981 inhabitants (census of 2020) with the municipal seat having a population of 25,241. The area of the ...
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Sayulita Sayulita is a small town in Mexico along the Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the state of Nayarit and north of Banderas Bay. It has a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Etymology According to information collected by the hi ...
and
Tecuala Tecuala is both a municipality and a town in the Mexican state of Nayarit, on the Pacific coast. The population of the municipality was 42,237 in a total area of 1,137 km² (2000) while the population of the town and municipal seat was 14,584 ...
. However, some residents in these and other towns are concerned that the growth in the tourism industry might have harmful impacts on the community. Timeshare scams with links to the local Nayarit Mafia are quite common.


Media

Newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
of Nayarit include: ''El Periódico en que Nayarit Opina Día a Día'', ''El Semanario que refleja qué hay en Nayarit'', ''Matutino Gráfico'', ''Meridiano de Nayarit'', and ''Realidades.''


See also

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Ixtlán del Rio (archaeological site) Ixtlán del Rio is an archaeological site located in the Ixtlán del Rio municipality, on the south west region of the Mexican state of Nayarit. It is also known as "Los Toriles" and contains the only vestiges of the western cultures in Nayarit. ...
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Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to its south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE ...


Notes


References


Further reading

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External links

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Nayarit State Government
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Portal de Carrillo Puerto Nayarit, Mexico
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Portal de Compostela Nayarit, Mexico
{{Authority control States and territories established in 1917 States of Mexico