Yucatan Peninsula - Yucatan Peninsula (English spelling)

Japanese: ユカタン半島 - ユカタンはんとう（英語表記）Península de Yucatán

A peninsula that juts out northeast from the northern coast of the isthmus that connects the North and South American continents. It separates the Gulf of Mexico to the west from the Caribbean Sea to the east, and its northeastern end faces the Yucatan Channel. It is about 600 km long and 300 km wide. Most of it is Mexican, but the southeastern part belongs to Guatemala and Belize. Almost the entire area is made up of coral and porous limestone covered with a thin, dry soil, forming a low plateau that gradually rises toward the south. Most of the precipitation is groundwater, and there is little surface runoff, but natural wells called cenotes have been formed where the limestone has dissolved due to precipitation. The northwestern part is hot and dry, but it becomes warmer and more humid toward the south and east, and the vegetation changes from sparse shrub forest to forests of mahogany, sapodilla (an evergreen tall tree of the Sapotaceae family), and logwood. It was called Mayapan from ancient times and was a place where Mayan civilization flourished, but it became a Spanish colony in the mid-16th century. However, it was a remote area within the viceroyalty and had little importance throughout the colonial period. When the Spaniards first arrived in the early 16th century, some of the Mayan cities were already in ruins, but Mayans still lived in Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Tulum, etc. These Mayan-centered Indians resisted Spanish rule for a long time and now live mainly in the eastern state of Quintana Roo. The main industry is agriculture, with corn, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, coffee, and henequen (a fiber plant). Other activities include forestry, chicle (a chewing gum ingredient extracted from sapodilla, etc.) production, and hammock manufacturing, and oil has been discovered in several places. There are also many Mayan ruins, and the coast has many good places for fishing and swimming, and tourism has developed in recent years. Railways and highways run along the northwest coast, passing through Campeche, Mérida, and other areas, and there is a trans-peninsula road that runs to Chetumal on the east coast.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

南北アメリカ大陸を結ぶ地峡部の北岸から北東方向へ突出している半島。西のメキシコ湾と東のカリブ海を分け，北東端はユカタン海峡に面する。長さ約 600km，幅約 300km。大部分はメキシコ領であるが，南東部はグアテマラとベリーズに属する。ほぼ全域が乾燥した薄い土壌におおわれるさんご質および多孔質の石灰岩から成り，南に向って次第に高まる低い台地を形成。降水は大部分地下水となり，表面流は少いが，降水により石灰岩が溶けたところにセノーテと呼ばれる天然の井戸ができている。北西部は高温で乾燥しているが，南および東へ向うにつれてより温潤となり，植生も低木疎林からマホガニー，サポジラ (アカテツ科の常緑高木) ，ロッグウッドなどの森林に変る。古くからマヤパンと呼ばれ，マヤ文明の繁栄した地であるが，16世紀なかば以降スペインの植民地となった。しかし副王領のなかでは遠隔の僻地にあたり，その後植民地時代を通じてほとんど重要性をもたなかった。 16世紀前半スペイン人が初めてやってきた頃にはマヤ族の都市の一部はすでに廃虚となっていたが，チチェン・イツァ，ウシュマル，トゥルムなどにはまだマヤ族が住んでおり，これらマヤ族を中心としたインディオはその後長くスペイン支配に抵抗，現在東部のキンタナロー州を中心に住む。主産業は農業で，トウモロコシ，サトウキビ，タバコ，ワタ，コーヒー，ヘネケン (繊維植物) などを栽培。ほかに林業，チクル (サポジラなどから採取するチューインガムの原料) 生産，ハンモック製造なども行われ，数ヵ所で石油が発見されている。また多数のマヤ遺跡があるほか，沿岸には魚釣り，海水浴の適地が多く，近年観光業が発展。北西岸沿いにカンペチェ，メリダなどを経て鉄道と幹線道路が通り，東岸のチェトゥマルにいたる半島横断道路がある。

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