Cancun Travel Guide
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About Cancun
Cancún is the most populous city in the state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico, on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito Juárez. The city is situated on the Caribbean Sea and is one of Mexico's easternmost points. Cancún is located just north of Mexico's Caribbean coast resort area known as the Riviera Maya. It encompasses the Hotel Zone, which is the main area for tourism. == Etymology and coat of arms == According to early Spanish sources, the island of Cancún was originally known to its Maya inhabitants as Nizuc (Yucatec Maya: niʔ suʔuk), meaning either 'promontory' or 'point of grass'. The name Cancún, Cancum or Cankun first appears on 18th-century maps. In older English-language documents, the city's name is sometimes spelled Cancoon, an attempt to convey the sound of the name. Cancún is derived from the Mayan name kàan kun, composed of kàan 'snake' and the verb kum ~ kun 'to swell, overfill'. Two translations have been suggested: the first is 'nest of snakes' and the second, less accepted one is 'place of the golden snake'.
Cancun fun facts
- Cancún's original developers were a Florida pizza chain owner and a Cuban-American businessman who turned a mosquito-infested swamp into a tourism empire in just 18 months.
- Cancún sits on a 23km barrier island called Isla Cancún, which was virtually uninhabited before 1970.
- The name 'Cancún' comes from the Mayan word 'kanzakluum' meaning 'snake of gold'.
- Cancún's Zona Hotelera has more hotel rooms than any other Mexican city.