Chetumal

At the invitation of founder Othon P. Blanco, the early town was populated by settlers from Belize (including Caste War refugees and Englishmen).The first step in combating them was to prevent the trafficking of arms from Belize and to assert Mexican sovereignty at that end of the territory, so it was decided to build a fort and customs section at the point where the Hondo River feeds into Chetumal Bay, which they named Payo Obispo in honor of Payo Enríquez de Rivera, who as bishop of Guatemala had visited the region in the 1660s.Finally, Othón P. Blanco officially founded the new town, on 5 May 1898, with neighbors from Corozal and other parts of the peninsula and gave it the name Payo Obispo', as the region was already known.Payo Obispo was in the beginning a small border town, mainly dedicated to border surveillance and whose economic activities were concentrated on the exploitation of jungle resources such as Manilkara zapota and chicle, communication with the interior was only by sea, to the port of Vigía Chico, where a railway linked with the capital of the territory, Santa Cruz de Bravo, or further north Cozumel or Progress.The houses were woodland Caribbean English style, as in Belize or Jamaica, built above ground level and painted brightly and with wooden latticework on the windows.The final development of Payo Obispo occurred when the governor of Yucatan, Salvador Alvarado decided to return to the Maya the city of Santa Cruz de Bravo, which at that time belonged to Yucatan after the suppression of the Territory of Quintana Roo and that by being 1915 the capital was moved accordingly to Payo Obispo, thereby increasing population and economic activity, as government units were established in the population.Since it is the location of all of the state's central offices, there is a large population of government employees whose consumption of local goods and services injects additional revenue into the Chetumal economy.As Capital of the state, Chetumal receives a good share of the foreign currencies brought in by the considerable floating population composed of European, Asian and North American tourists.
Chetumal has become known for its traditional wood buildings, few of which survive.
Hurricane Janet caused widespread damage in Chetumal
Along Boulevard Bahia, Chetumal
Front of the palace of the Governor of the state of Quintana Roo in Chetumal
Museum of the Mayan Culture
Displayed copy of the Maya Codice in Chetumal, since 2006
Chetumal ProvinceSanta Rita, CorozalYucatec MayaMexicoQuintana RooMunicipalityOthón P. BlancoDemonymTime zoneUTC−5Area code(s)Yucatán PeninsulaMunicipality of Othón P. BlancoChetumal BayRío HondoBelizeBelize CityChetumal International Airporttropical cyclonesHurricane JanetHurricane DeanCategory 5 stormslandfallPre-ColumbianSanta RitaMaya state of the same nameSpanish conquest of YucatánMaya state of ChetumalindigenousMaya peopleCaste War of YucatánCorozal TownOthon P. BlancoEnglishmenhurricanesPorfirio DíazRio HondoPayo Enríquez de RiverapontoonNew OrleansProgresoYucatanCozumelmangroveBacalarArchbishop of MexicoViceroy of New SpainGuatemalaManilkara zapotachicleVigía ChicoSanta Cruz de BravoProgressJamaicacisternsSalvador AlvaradoMexican RevolutionCampecheLázaro CárdenasrubberJavier Rojo GómezLuis Echeverría Álvareztropical savanna climateKöppenprecipitationrelative humiditysunshine hoursDeutscher WetterdienstLexicoOxford University PressCollins English DictionaryHarperCollinsMerriam-Webster.com DictionaryReuters CanadaMunicipalitiesBenito JuárezCancúnSan Miguel de CozumelFelipe Carrillo PuertoIsla MujeresJosé María MorelosKantunilkínPuerto MorelosSolidaridadPlaya del CarmenSistema Dos OjosSistema Nohoch Nah ChichSistema Ox Bel HaSistema Sac ActunIsla ContoyIsla HolboxChacchobenKohunlichSan GervasioXcaretYo'okopArrecifes de Cozumel National ParkBanco ChinchorroAkumalMahahualPunta AllenPunta SurRiviera MayaSian KaʼanXcalakYum BalamMexican stateAguascalientesMexicaliBaja CaliforniaLa PazBaja California SurTuxtla GutiérrezChiapasChihuahuaSaltilloCoahuilaColimaMexico CityDurangoGuanajuatoChilpancingoGuerreroPachucaHidalgoGuadalajaraJaliscoTolucaState of MexicoMoreliaMichoacánCuernavacaMorelosNayaritMonterreyNuevo LeónOaxacaPueblaQuerétaroSan Luis PotosíCuliacánSinaloaHermosilloSonoraVillahermosaTabascoCiudad VictoriaTamaulipasTlaxcalaXalapaVeracruzMéridaYucatánZacatecas