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Quintana Roo Facts

Quintana Roo Facts
Quitana Roo is the southeast most of Mexico's states and was the second to the last of the thirty-one states to become a state. Quintana Roo became the thirtieth state on August 10, 1974 when it was elevated from territorial status to statehood. It had been a territory since 1902 and before that it was part of the state of Yucatan. Quintana Roo is nineteenth in size among all Mexican states and twenty-sixth in population, with about one and a half million people. The state acquired its unique name from a lawyer and notable Mexican freedom fighter, Andres Quintana Roo. Quintana Roo is known for its Mayan culture, both ancient and modern, which is a major tourist draw.
Interesting Quintana Roo Facts:
Quintana Roo's Caribbean Sea coastline is known as the Maya Riviera.
Tourism is by far the most important part of Quintana Roo's economy. In addition to ancient Maya archaeological sites open to tourists, the state boasts some of the best resorts in Mexico, including Cozumel, Cancun, and several others.
President Porfirio Diaz decreed Quintana Roo as a separate territory on November 24, 1902.
Quintana Roo is often erroneously said to be Mexico's newest state, but that honor goes to Baja California Sur. Although the two states were admitted to the United Mexican States on the same day, Baja California Sur was installed a few months after Quintana Roo.
Quintana Roo has a tropical climate with a 78°F average temperature. In January it can get into the 60sF, but rarely lower, while in the summer months it routinely gets into the upper 90sF.
Chetumal is the capital of Quintana Roo. It has a population of just over 150,000 people. Besides being the seat of the state government, Chetumal is also home to the Museum of Maya Culture.
The ethnic Maya people of Quintana Roo supported the rebels during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920).
Besides its beautiful beaches and archeological sites, more and more tourists are coming to Quintana Roo for ecotourism. Rain forests tours as well as snorkeling and deep sea diving excursions are plentiful in the state.
Quintana Roo is the only Mexican state in the Southeastern Standard Time Zone. Since it does not observe daylight saving time, it is in the same time zone as the Eastern Standard Time for half of the year and the Central Standard Time for the other half of the year.
Cancun was a small Maya fishing village until the 1970s, but by the late 1980s it had grown into Quintana Roo's largest city. Today its population is about 750,000 people.
Quintana Roo helps comprise the Yucatan Peninsula along with the states of Yucatan and Campeche and parts of the nations of Belize and Guatemala.
The state has four distinct ecosystems: ocean reefs, rain forests, savannah, and mangrove.
Approximately four million people flock to Quintana Roo's beaches every year. Most of the foreign visitors are from the United States and Canada, but a fair number also visit from Europe and southern South American nations such as Argentina.


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