Nayarit

Nayarit (Spanish pronunciation:

Home to Uto-Aztecan indigenous peoples such as the Huichol and Cora, the region was exposed to the conquistadores Hernán Cortés and Nuño de Guzmán 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.^[8]

History

Radiocarbon dating 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.^[9][10]

In the colonial period, the port of San Blas was one of the most important trade ports on the American Pacific coast. Galleons transporting goods from Manila, the Philippines arrived here before the rise of the port of Acapulco.^{[citation needed]} Today, the town still boasts colonial architecture from its heyday, such as the aduana (customs office), the contaduría (accounting offices) and the fortress that protected the port against pirates.^{[citation needed]}

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. ^{[citation needed]} 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.^[14]

Nayarit was one of the last territories admitted as a state of the Mexican federation, which occurred on May 1, 1917.^[15]

Geography

Nayarit covers 27,815 square kilometers (10,739 sq mi), making it one of the smaller states in Mexico.

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 now cover the northern coastal lowlands, and extend up the valleys of the San Pedro Mezquital River and the Río Grande de Santiago and its tributaries.^[21] The Jalisco dry forests ecoregion covers coastal Nayarit south of San Blas and the Islas Marías.^[22]

The Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves, 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.^[23]

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.^[24]

Nayarit also contains hundreds of miles of rainforest in the Sierra. Its wildlife includes hundreds of

The Islas Marías were designated as the Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2010.^[27]

Flora and fauna

Flora and fauna of Nayarit
Puma yagouaroundi , eyra cat	Micrurus, coral snake	Centruroides suffusus, bark scorpion	Aquila chrysaetos , golden eagle	Zenaida macroura , mourning dove
Amazona finschi , lilac-crowned amazon	Crotalus basiliscus, green rattler	Odocoileus hemionus , mule deer	Canis latrans , coyote	Falco peregrinus , peregrine
Agave tequilana , tequila agave	Opuntia ficus-indica, cactus pear	Echinocactus grusonii , golden barrel cactus	Cylindropuntia imbricata, cane cholla	Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine

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

Largest cities or towns in Nayarit Source:[28]
	Rank		Municipality	Pop.
Tepic Xalisco	1	Tepic	Tepic	371,387	San Vicente San José del Valle
	2	Xalisco	Xalisco	48,170
	3	San Vicente	Bahía de Banderas	38,666
	4	San José del Valle	Bahía de Banderas	35,486
	5	Ixtlán del Río	Ixtlán del Río	24,477
	6	Mezcales	Bahía de Banderas	24,309
	7	Tuxpan	Tuxpan	22,013
	8	Compostela	Compostela	20,322
	9	Acaponeta	Acaponeta	19,976
	10	Santiago Ixcuintla	Santiago Ixcuintla	18,023

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

Nayarit is predominantly an agricultural state, and produces a large variety of crops such as

Beginning in the late 90's, Nayarit has become known as a producer of specialty Arabica coffee, regarded for its fine taste and high density beans grown in the volcanic soils of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Nayarit coffee is exported all over the world, including to the UK and Australia via the Grupo Terruño Nayarita farmers cooperative.^[31]

In recent years, Nayarit has worked to build its tourism sector, marketing the "

Newspapers 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.^[33][34]

See also

• Ixtlán del Rio (archaeological site)
• Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition

References

Further reading

• Adams, Richard E.W. (2005). Prehistoric Mesoamerica. University of Oklahoma Press.
  ISBN 9780806137025
  .
• Flores-Verdugo, F.J.; et al. (2000). "The Tropical Pacific Coast of Mexico". In U. Seeliger; B. Kjerfve (eds.). Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America. Springer.
  ISBN 9783540672289
  .
• Weigand, Phil C. (1992). "Central Mexico's Influences in Jalisco and Nayarit during the Classic Period". In Edward M. Schortman; Patricia A. Urban (eds.). Resources, Power, and Interregional Interaction. Springer.
  ISBN 9780306440687
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nayarit.

• Geographic data related to Nayarit at OpenStreetMap
• (In Spanish) Nayarit State Government
• (In Spanish) Breve Historia de Nayarit: Jean Meyer
• (In Spanish) Portal de Carrillo Puerto Nayarit, Mexico
• (In Spanish) Portal de Compostela Nayarit, Mexico