Bacalar

---

title: "Bacalar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-quintana-roo", "pueblos-mágicos", "municipality-seats-in-quintana-roo"] description: "Town in Quintana Roo, Mexico" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-quintana-roo" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacalar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Town in Quintana Roo, Mexico ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
image_skyline	Bacalar_Collage.jpg
caption	Left to right: San Felipe de Bacalar Fort · Kiosk · Natural cenote · San Joaquín parish · Monumental letters · View of Laguna de los Siete Colores
settlement_type	City and municipality
coordinates
map_caption	Bacalar in Quintana Roo
pushpin_map	Mexico Quintana Roo#Mexico
pushpin_label_position	above
pushpin_mapsize	200
pushpin_relief	1
dot_x
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Mexico
subdivision_type1	State
subdivision_name1	Quintana Roo
subdivision_type2	Municipality
subdivision_name2	Bacalar
seat_type	Municipal seat
seat
established_title	Founded
population_total	12572
population_as_of	2020
population_footnotes
postal_code_type	Postal code
blank1_name	Demonym
::

|official_name = |name = |other_name = |native_name = |nickname = |image_skyline = Bacalar_Collage.jpg |caption = Left to right: San Felipe de Bacalar Fort · Kiosk · Natural cenote · San Joaquín parish · Monumental letters · View of Laguna de los Siete Colores |settlement_type = City and municipality |coordinates = |image_map = |map_caption = Bacalar in Quintana Roo |mapsize = |pushpin_map = Mexico Quintana Roo#Mexico |pushpin_label_position =above |pushpin_mapsize =200 |pushpin_map_caption = |pushpin_relief = 1 |elevation_m = |total_type = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Mexico |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 =Quintana Roo |subdivision_type2 = Municipality |subdivision_name2 = Bacalar |seat_type = Municipal seat |seat = |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 = | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = |established_title = Founded |established_date = |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = |established_date3 = |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi = | population_total = 12572 | population_as_of = 2020 | population_blank1_title = | population_blank1 = | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_blank2_title = | population_blank2 = | population_density_blank1_km2 = | population_density_blank1_sq_mi = |motto = |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |city_logo = |citylogo_size = |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |elevation_point = |postal_code_type = Postal code |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = Demonym |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about 40 km north of Chetumal. In the 2010 census the city had a population of 11,084. At that time it was still part of Othón P. Blanco, and was its second-largest city (locality), after Chetumal.

Etymology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Bacalar_Vista.jpg" caption="Bacalar Lagoon seen from Bacalar"] ::

The name most likely derives from , (Sian Ka'an Bakhalal) meaning "surrounded by reeds", the name of the locality attested at the time of the 16th century arrival of the Spanish.

Lake Bacalar, a lagoon, is on the east side of the town.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Castillo_de_San_Felipe,_Bacalar,_Q.Roo.-_panoramio.jpg" caption="Fortress of San Felipe Bacalar"] ::

Bacalar was a city of the Maya civilization in Pre-Columbian times, and was founded in 415 A.D. with the name of "Sian Ka'an Bakhalal". It was the first city in the region that the Spanish Conquistadores succeeded in taking and holding, in 1543 (during the 1543–1544 Pachecos entrada). In 1545 Gaspar Pacheco established the Spanish town here with the name Salamanca de Bacalar with the help of Juan de la Cámara. The southern half of what is now Quintana Roo was governed from Bacalar, answerable to the Captain General of Yucatán in Mérida.

After pirates sacked the town in the 17th century, the Fortress de San Felipe Bacalar was completed in 1729, and may be visited today.

In 1848 Bacalar had a population of about 5,000. In 1848, during the Caste War of Yucatán, rebellious Chan Santa Cruz Maya conquered the town. It was retaken by the Mexicans in 1902.

Bacalar was named a "Pueblo Mágico" in 2006.

Between 2005 and 2010 so-called Russian Mennonites who speak German established a colony in Salamanca that had 967 inhabitants in 2010 and 1.175 in 2020. All inhabitants were Protestants and only one of those aged 15 and over was illiterate.

Transportation

Bacalar is also served by a station of the Tren Maya, which opened on October 6, 2024, alongside the Chetumal Airport railway station.

Additionally, the nearby and Chacchoben archeological sites are served by a separate Tren Maya station, called the ({{lang|es|Estación de Limones-Chacchoben

|header2=[[File:Picto29_Bacalar.png|25px]]Services at |line3=Tren Maya|left3=Chetumal Airport|right3=Limones/Chacchoben}}

References

References

1. [https://www.inegi.org.mx/app/cpv/2020/resultadosrapidos/?texto=Bacalar Cuántas habitantes tiene...]
2. link. (May 2, 2013)
3. [http://www.famsi.org/reports/96072/b/bak.htm Bak Halal], Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Bolles (1997), based on the ''Cordemex'' Mayan–Spanish dictionary (Barrera Vásquez ''et al.'', 1991).
4. [https://www.citypopulation.de/en/mexico/quintanaroo/bacalar/230100279__salamanca/ Salamanca in Bacalar (Quintana Roo)] at www.citypopulation.de
5. SIPSE.com. (7 June 2023). "Mara Lezama comparte cómo lucirá estación del Tren Maya en Chetumal".
6. (7 October 2024). "Chetumal Tren Maya station officially up and running".
7. (29 September 2024). "Llega el Tren Maya a Chetumal".
8. (12 September 2024). "El Heraldo de Tuxpan - Tren Maya: qué destinos del Mar Caribe puedes conocer".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::