Chichimilá Municipality

Chichimilá Municipality (In the Yucatec Maya Language: “hard to see or recognize”) is one of the 106 municipalities in the Mexican state of Yucatán containing (358.59 km²) of land and located roughly 170 km southeast of the city of Mérida.[2]

Chichimilá
Municipality
Region 6 Oriente #021
Chichimilá Location of the Municipality in Mexico
Coordinates: 20°37′51″N 88°13′02″W
Country	Mexico
State	Yucatán
Government
• Type	2012–2015[1]
• Municipal President	Joel Eduardo Rosado Tuz[2]
Area
• Total	358.59 km^2 (138.45 sq mi)
	[2]
Elevation [2]	26 m (85 ft)
Population  (2010[3])
• Total	7,952
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central Standard Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time)
INEGI Code	009
Major Airport	Merida (Manuel Crescencio Rejón) International Airport
IATA Code	MID
ICAO Code	MMMD

History

It is unknown which chieftainship the area was under prior to the arrival of the Spanish. After the conquest the area became part of the encomienda system with the records indicating Micaela Alcocer rented her encomienda to Manuel Argaís y Noguera and Juana de Argaís y Noguera.[2]

Yucatán declared its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821 and in 1825, the area was assigned to the Valladolid region. During the Caste War of Yucatán Manuel Antonio Ay, a local chieftain, was one of the main promoters of the rebellion by the indigenous people against the government. It was designated as its own municipality in 1875.[2]

Governance

The municipal president is elected for a three-year term. The town council has seven councilpersons, who serve as Secretary and councilors of urban development, education, health, beautification and trash disposal, public monuments and nomenclature.[4]

Communities

The head of the municipality is Chichimilá, Yucatán. There are 40 populated places in the municipality with the most important being Celtún, Chan-Xcail, Chay, Dzitox, Monte Verde, San Jose Cruz, San Pedro, Santa Cruz, and Villahermosa.[4][2] The significant populations are shown below:

Community	Population
Entire Municipality (2010)	7,952[3]
Celtún	140 in 2005[5]
Chan-Xcail	474 in 2005[6]
Chichimilá	4985 in 2005[7]
Dzitox	742 in 2005[8]
San Pedro	328 in 2005[9]
Villahermosa	150 in 2005[10]

Local festivals

Every year from the 1 to the 18 February the town holds a traditional village festival and in October, a celebration for its patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi.[2]

Tourist attractions

• Convent of the Assumption, built in the sixteenth century
• Cenote Aktun
• Cenote Chan mú ul
• Cenote Chan Pich
• Cenote Chay
• Cenote Chichimilá

References

1. "Presidentes Municipales" (in Spanish). Mérida, Mexico: PRI yucatan. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
2. "Municipios de Yucatán »Chichimilá" (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 July 2015.
3. "Mexico In Figures:Chichimilá, Yucatán". INEGI (in Spanish and English). Aguascalientes, México: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI). Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
4. "Chichimilá". inafed (in Spanish). Mérida, Mexico: Enciclopedia de Los Municipios y Delegaciones de México. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
5. "Celtún". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
6. "Chan-Xcail". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
7. "Chichimilá". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
8. "Dzitox". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
9. "San Pedro". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
10. "Villahermosa". PueblosAmerica (in Spanish). PueblosAmerica. 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2015.