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Cancun and Surrounding Areas
Cancún is a city in southeastern Mexico, located on the north- meaning either “promontory” or “point of grass”. In the years after
east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of the Spanish Conquest, much of the population died off or left as
Quintana Roo. It is a major world-renowned tourist destination, a result of disease, warfare, piracy, and famines, leaving only small
as well as being the seat of the municipality of Benito Juárez. The settlements on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island.[citation The name
city is located on the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the easternmost Cancún, The meaning of Cancún is unknown, and it is also un-
points in Mexico. Cancún is located just north of Mexico’s Carib- known whether the name is of Maya origin. If it is of Maya origin,
bean coast resort band known as the Riviera Maya. the island of possible translations include “Place/Seat/Throne of the Snake” or
Cancún was originally known to its Maya inhabitants as Nizuc, “Enchanted Snake”.
