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

The design of tapered pillars was inspired by the Palace of the Governors at Uxmal, a Maya ruin on Yucatán Peninsula dating from AD 800.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 14, 2025

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

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2024

Sixty-six million years ago, give or take a few centuries, an asteroid about the size of Manhattan Island slammed into Earth near what we now call the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin