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YUCATAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 943 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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YUCATAN , a See also:

peninsula of Central See also:America forming the S.E. extremity of the See also:republic of See also:Mexico and including the states of See also:Campeche and Yucatan and the territory of See also:Quintana Roo. Small parts of See also:British See also:Honduras and See also:Guatemala are also included in it. The natural boundary of the peninsula on the S. is formed in See also:part by the ridges extending across N. Guatemala, the See also:line terminating E. at the See also:lower part of Chetumal See also:Bay, and W. at See also:Laguna de Terminos. From this See also:base the See also:land extends N. between the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean See also:Sea in nearly rectangular See also:form for about 280 m., with about the same extreme width in See also:longitude. It has a mean breadth of about 200 m., a See also:coast-line of 700 M. and an See also:area of about 55,400 sq.m. The coast on the N. and W. is See also:low, sandy and semi-barren, and is made dangerous by the Campeche See also:banks, a northward See also:extension of the peninsula, covered with shifting sands. The See also:outer See also:shore-line on the N. for nearly zoo m. consists of a narrow See also:strip of low See also:sand See also:dunes, within which is a broad channel terminating to the E. in a large See also:lagoon. There are a number of openings through the outer See also:bank and several small towns or ports have been built upon it. The E. coast consists of bluffs, indented with bays and bordered by several islands, the larger ones being Cozumel (where See also:Cortes first landed), Cancum, Mujeres and Contoy. There is more vegetation on this coast, and the bays of Chetumal, Espiritu Santo, Ascencion and See also:San See also:Miguel (on Cozumel See also:Island) afford See also:good See also:protection for See also:shipping. It is, however, sparsely settled and has little See also:commerce.

The peninsula is almost wholly composed of a See also:

bed of coralline and porous See also:limestone rocks, forming a low tableland, which rises gradually toward the S. until it is merged in the See also:great Central See also:American See also:plateau. It is covered with a layer of thin, dry See also:soil, through the slow weathering of the See also:coral rocks. The See also:surface is not so level and monotonous as it appears on many maps; for, although there are scarcely any See also:running streams, it is diversified by a few lakes, of which Bacalar and Chichankanab are the largest, as well as by low isolated hills and ridges in the W., and in the E. by the Sierra Alta, a range of moderate See also:elevation traversing the whole peninsula from Catoche Point S. to the neighbourhood of See also:Lake Peteu in Guatemala. The culminating points of the W. ridges do not exceed 900 ft., and some authorities estimate it at 500 ft. The See also:climate of Yucatan is hot and dry; the Gulf Stream, which sweeps by its N. shores, adds to its naturally high temperature, and the See also:absence of high mountainous ridges to intercept the moisture-bearing clouds from the See also:Atlantic gives it a limited rainfall. The temperature ranges from 75° to 98° F. in the shade, but the See also:heat is modified by cool sea winds which prevail See also:day and See also:night throughout the greater part of the See also:year. The See also:atmosphere is also purified by the fierce ternporales, or " northers," which occasionally sweep down over the Gulf and across this open region. The dry See also:season lasts from See also:October to May, the hottest months appear to be in See also:March and See also:April, when the heat is increased by the burning of the See also:corn and heneauen See also:fields. The rains are quickly absorbed by the See also:light porous soil and leave only temporary effects on the surface, where arboreal growth is stunted and See also:grasses are commonly thin and harsh. For the most part the climate of Yucatan is healthy, though enervating. There are undrained, swampy districts in Campeche, in the vicinity of the Terminos Lagoon, where malarial diseases are prevalent, and the same conditions prevail along the coast where See also:mangrove swamps are found. Yellow See also:fever epidemics are See also:common on the Campeche coast, and sometimes appear at Progreso and See also:Merida.

The sites of some of the old See also:

Maya cities are also considered dangerous at certain seasons. All the N. districts, as well as the greater part of the Sierra Alta, are destitute of large trees; but the coast-lands on both sides towards See also:Tabasco and British Honduras enjoy a sufficient rainfall to support forests containing the See also:mahogany See also:tree, several valuable See also:cabinet See also:woods, See also:vanilla, See also:logwood and other dye-woods. Logwood forests fringe all the lagoons and many parts of the seaboard, which are flooded during the See also:rainy season. The See also:chief cultivated See also:plants are See also:maize, the See also:sugar-See also:cane, See also:tobacco, See also:cotton, See also:coffee and especially henequen, the so-called " Sisal See also:hemp," which is a strong, coarse fibre obtained from the leaves of the See also:Agave rigida, See also:var. elongata. It requires very little moisture, grows luxuriantly on the thin calcareous soil of Yucatan and is cultivated almost exclusively by the large landowners. It is used chiefly in the manufacture of coarse See also:sack-See also:cloth, cordage and hammocks, and is exported in large quantities. The labour needed in this See also:industry is supplied by See also:Indian peons, who live in a See also:state of semi-See also:servitude and are paid barely enough to sustain See also:life. See also:History and Antiquities.—The See also:modern history of Yucatan begins with the expedition of Francisco Hernandez de See also:Cordova, a See also:Spanish adventurer settled in See also:Cuba, who discovered the E. coast of Yucatan in See also:February 1517, when on a slave-See also:hunting expedition. He followed the coast See also:round to Campeche, but was unable to penetrate the interior. In 1518 Juan de Grijalva followed the same ccast, but added nothing to the See also:information sought by the See also:governor of Cuba. In 1519 a third expedition, under Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, came into collision with the natives of the island of Cozumel. In 1525 the inland part, of the peninsula was traversed by Cortes during an expedition to Honduras.

The See also:

conquest of the peninsula was undertaken in 1527 by Francisco de Montejo, who en-countered a more vigorous opposition than Cortes had on the high plateau of See also:Anahuac. In 1549 Montejo had succeeded in establishing Spanish See also:rule over barely one-See also:half of the peninsula, and it was never extended further. The Spaniards found here the remains of a high aboriginal See also:civilization which had already entered upon decline. There were deserted cities falling into ruins, and others, like Chichen-See also:itza, Uxmal and Tuloom, which were still inhabited by remnants of their former Maya populations. The Mayas have See also:left no See also:record of their institutions or of the causes of their decline, beyond what may be deduced from their ruined structures. The number and extent of these ruins (temples, palaces, See also:ball courts, See also:market-places, &c.) indicate large towns in the midst of thickly settled, productive districts, for there were then, so far as can be determined, no means of supporting large See also:urban populations through commercial exchanges. The exhaustion of the soil in the vicinity of towns, or epidemics brought on by insanitary habits, might easily cause depopulation in so hot a climate. Other remains which See also:bear See also:witness to the civilization of the Mayas are the paved highways and the artificial reservoirs (aguadas) designed for the preservation of See also:water for towns through the See also:long dry season. These aguadas were huge basins, paved and cemented, with underground cisterns, also lined with See also:stone and See also:cement, which may have been used for the protection of water against heat when the See also:principal See also:supply had become exhausted. The great problem in all the Maya settlements of Yucatan was that of securing and preserving a water supply for the dryseason. Some of their towns were built near large under-ground reservoirs, called cenotes, that afforded a perennial supply. Since the Spanish conquest, the Mayas have clung to the semi-barren, open plains of the peninsula, and have more than once revolted.

They seceded in 1839 and maintained their See also:

independence until 1843. In 1847 another revolt followed, and the See also:Indians were practically See also:independent through-out the greater part of the peninsula until near the beginning of the See also:Diaz See also:administration. In 1910 there was another revolt with some initial successes, such as the See also:capture of See also:Valladolid, but then the Indians withdrew to the unknown fastnesses of Quintana Roo. The Mexican STATE OF YUCATAN is bounded N. by the Gulf of Mexico, E. and S. by the territory of Quintana Roo, S. and W. by the state of Campeche. Pop. (1900) about 306,000. The See also:railways include the three lines of the See also:United Railways of Yucatan (373 m.), and a line from Merida to See also:Peto (145 M.). The See also:capital is Merida, and its principal towns, inhabited almost exclusively by Indians and mestizos, are Valladolid, Acanceh, Tekax, Motul, Temax, Espita, Maxcanti, Hunucma, Tixkokob, Peto and Progreso, the See also:port of Merida. Quintana Roo was separated from the state of Yucatan in 1902 and received a territorial See also:government under the immediate supervision of the See also:national executive. It comprises the sparsely settled districts along the E. coast of the peninsula, and the wooded sections of the S., which have not been thoroughly explored. Its See also:population is estimated at 3000, but as its inhabitants never submitted to Spanish and Mexican rule, and have maintained their independence against overwhelming odds for almost four centuries, this estimate should be accepted as a conjecture. Little is known of the See also:wild tribes of the territory.

End of Article: YUCATAN

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