Cozumel is Mexico’s largest island, measuring approximately 14 km wide and 53 km long, located 19 km east of the Yucatán Peninsula in the western Caribbean Sea. Renowned as one of Mexico’s premier resorts, Cozumel has gained worldwide fame for its spectacular underwater landscapes and for hosting the second largest coral reef system in the world, which stretches over 700 km.
Since ancient times, the island was considered sacred by local Indigenous peoples and was known as Ah-Cuzamil-Peten, meaning "Swallow Island." Women would journey here to worship the Goddess of Fertility, consort to the Sun God. The island is home to around 40 archaeological sites and pyramids, relics of its rich past. According to legend, the northern tip of Cozumel was inhabited by the only soothsayers and seers in the entire Mayan civilization.
The name comes from the Mayan language and can be translated as Island of Swallows. The municipality has an area of 647.33 km², which is 1.27% of the total area of the state. As it is located on an island, it has no physical boundaries with other municipalities in the state, but there are maritime connections with the municipalities of Solidaridad, Tulum and Benito Juárez. It is washed by the Caribbean Sea.
