Carmen Municipality


Carmen is one of the 11 municipalities that make up the Mexican state of Campeche. It is situated at the south-west of the state, on and around the Laguna de Términos. The municipal seat and largest settlement is Ciudad del Carmen. As of 2015, the population was 248,303.
The name "Carmen" is in honour of 16 July, the feast of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, after the date in 1717 when Spanish colonial authorities finally expelled the pirates from the island now known as Isla del Carmen.

History and geography

The municipality of Carmen borders to the north with the Gulf of Mexico; to the west with the municipality of Palizada; and to the east with the municipalities of Champotón, Escárcega and Candelaria. It covers a total surface area of 9,720.09 km².

Demographics

As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 221,094.
The municipality had 1,886 localities, the largest of which were: Ciudad del Carmen, Sabancuy, Isla Aguada, Nuevo Progreso, San Antonio Cárdenas, Atasta, classified as urban, and Checubul, Chicbul, Colonia Emiliano Zapata, El Aguacatal, Mamantel , Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz , and Abelardo L. Rodríguez, classified as rural.
The 2005 census reported a population of 199,988 persons. Of these, 4,151 spoke one of 25 indigenous languages used in the municipality, predominantly Ch'ol and Yucatec Maya.