Nayarit facts for kids

The flag of Nayarit

Nayarit, officially known as the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, make up Mexico. It is divided into 20 municipalities, and its capital city is Tepic.

Nayarit is bordered by the states of Sinaloa to the northwest, Durango to the north, Zacatecas to the northeast, and Jalisco to the south. To the west, Nayarit has a long coastline along the Pacific Ocean. This includes the beautiful Marías and Marietas islands. The beaches of San Blas and the famous "Riviera Nayarit" are very popular with tourists. Besides tourism, the state's economy mainly relies on farming and fishing.

This region was once home to Uto-Aztecan native peoples like the Huichol and Cora. In the 16th century, Spanish explorers like Hernán Cortés and Nuño de Guzmán arrived. Spanish rule was difficult because native people often rebelled, and the Sierra del Nayar mountains made the land hard to control. The last independent Cora communities were taken over by force in 1722. The state's name, Nayarit, comes from the Cora people's own name for themselves, Náayerite, honoring a resistance leader named Nayar.

A Look at Nayarit's Past

A map of Nayarit before the Spanish arrived in Mexico

The old accounting offices in San Blas during colonial times

Scientists use Radiocarbon dating to guess when people first settled the western Mexican coast, including parts of Sinaloa, Nayarit, and Jalisco. This might have happened as early as 900 AD, or even 520 AD. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, the cultures they found on the western coast were descendants of these early settlements.

Hernán Cortés was the first European known to enter the area we now call Nayarit. He claimed it for Spain as part of a larger region called Nueva Galicia. Later, under Nuño de Guzmán, the Spanish took control of the region with great force. This led to native people revolting in what was known as the Mixtón War. After almost 200 years of fighting, the last independent Cora communities were finally brought under Spanish rule in 1722. After this, Jesuit missionaries worked hard to convert the native people to Christianity.

During the time of Spanish rule, the port of San Blas was one of the most important trading ports on the Pacific coast of the Americas. Large ships called Galleons, carrying goods from Manila in the Philippines, would arrive here. This was before the port of Acapulco became more important. Today, the town still has beautiful colonial buildings from its busy past. These include the customs office, accounting offices, and a fortress that protected the port from pirates.

In Nayarit, the fight for independence from Spain began with a priest named José María Mercado. He took control of Tepic and San Blas but was later defeated and executed by Spanish loyalists. In 1824, when Mexico's first constitution was written, Nayarit was part of the state of Jalisco. During the second half of the 1800s, Nayarit was a very troubled area in Mexico. The people were often rebelling, demanding access to land. Nayarit was one of the last areas to become a full state of the Mexican federation. This finally happened on May 1, 1917.

Exploring Nayarit's Geography

Sayulita on Nayarit's Pacific coast. This former fishing village is now a popular tourist spot, part of the "Riviera Nayarita".

Nayarit covers about 27,815 square kilometers (10,739 square miles), making it one of Mexico's smaller states. It is located between specific latitude and longitude lines. The land is broken up by the western parts of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. Some of its highest mountains are San Juan, Sanguangüey, El Ceboruco, Cumbre de Pajaritos, and Picachos. Nayarit also has two volcanoes, Ceboruco and Sangangüey.

In the northeast, there are wide, tropical plains. These plains are watered by the Río Grande de Santiago, which is a continuation of the Lerma River. The main rivers in the state are the Río Grande de Santiago, San Pedro, Acaponeta, Ameca, and Las Cañas. The Río Grande de Santiago is the largest river in Nayarit. The Santiago River and its smaller rivers are very important for watering farms. The Ameca and Las Cañas rivers are located on the borders between Nayarit and the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa. Important lagoons in Nayarit include Santa María del Oro, San Pedro Lagunillas, and Agua Brava.

Nayarit's Municipalities

The state capital, Tepic, seen from the Cerro de la Cruz. Tepic is home to about 340,000 people.

Like all states in Mexico, Nayarit is divided into smaller areas called municipalities (or municipios). There are twenty municipalities in Nayarit:

Nayarit's Environment and Wildlife

Nayarit has hundreds of miles of rainforest in its mountains. Its wildlife includes many bird species, such as the lilac-crowned amazon and the Mexican woodnymph. There are also 119 different types of mammals. These include white-tailed deer, collared peccary (a type of wild pig), caymans (like small alligators), armadillos, and wild cats. Some of these wild cats are the jaguarundi and the ocelot.

Sadly, much of the rainforest has been cut down, especially around the Santa María del Oro region. Protecting and saving Nayarit's rainforest and its amazing wildlife is extremely important.

The Islas Marías islands were named a Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2010. This means they are a special place protected to help nature thrive.

Amazing Plants and Animals of Nayarit

Flora and Fauna of Nayarit
Puma yagouaroundi, eyra cat	Micrurus, coral snake	Centruroides suffusus, bark scorpion	Aquila chrysaetos, golden eagle	Zenaida macroura, mourning dove
Amazona finschi, lilac-crowned amazon	Crotalus basiliscus, green rattler	Odocoileus hemionus, mule deer	Canis latrans, coyote	Falco peregrinus, peregrine
Agave tequilana, tequila agave	Opuntia ficus-indica, cactus pear	Echinocactus grusonii, golden barrel cactus	Cylindropuntia imbricata, cane cholla	Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine

Images for kids

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  The ancient ruins of Los Toriles

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  A shrimp fisherman on the coast of Nayarit

See also

In Spanish: Nayarit para niños