Yucatán

American  

[yoo-kuh-tan, yoo-kah-tahn] / ˌyu kəˈtæn, ˌyu kɑˈtɑn /

Also Yucatan

noun

1. a peninsula in SE Mexico and N Central America comprising parts of SE Mexico, N Guatemala, and Belize.

2. a state in SE Mexico, in N Yucatán Peninsula. 14,868 sq. mi. (38,510 sq. km). Mérida.

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Yucatán British  

/ jukaˈtan, ˌjuːkəˈtɑːn /

noun

1. a state of SE Mexico, occupying the N part of the Yucatán peninsula. Capital: Mérida. Pop: 1 655 707 (2000). Area: 39 340 sq km (15 186 sq miles)

2. a peninsula of Central America between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, including the Mexican states of Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo, and part of Belize: a centre of Mayan civilization from about 100 _bc to the 18th century. Area: about 181 300 sq km (70 000 sq miles)

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Yucatán Cultural  

1. Peninsula mostly in southeastern Mexico, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico.

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It is the location of many Mayan ruins.

Example Sentences

To say that our picture of the Mayan civilization—an interlocking network of kingdoms occupying the Yucatán Peninsula and swaths of present-day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador from roughly 1000 B.C. to A.D.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

This stands in contrast to famous sites like the Chicxulub crater near Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, which is directly linked to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

From Science Daily • Dec. 19, 2025

I had the blessing of traveling to Yaxunah in Yucatán, México, to meet a special group of indigenous women that defied their society, culture and history, just by picking a softball and running bases barefooted.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2024

Tropical Storm Helene is strengthening in the Caribbean as it heads towards Mexico's Yucatán peninsula.

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2024

Since that day, I’ve left my footprints in many lands: the frozen wastelands of the Arctic, the bush country of Old Mexico, and the steaming jungles of Yucatán.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls