<P> The Yucatán Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya Lowlands (although the Maya culture extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula, through present Guatemala and into Honduras and highland Chiapas), and was the center of the Mayan civilization . There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout the peninsula; some of the better - known are Chichen Itza, Tulum and Uxmal . Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there . </P> <P> The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of the nation of Belize; and Guatemala's northern El Petén Department . </P> <P> In the late historic and early modern eras, the Yucatán Peninsula was largely a cattle ranching, logging, chicle and henequen production area . Since the 1970s (and the fall of the world henequen and chicle markets due to the advent of synthetic substitutes), the Yucatán Peninsula has reoriented its economy towards tourism, especially in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo . Once a small fishing village, Cancún in the northeast of the peninsula has grown into a thriving city . The Riviera Maya, which stretches along the east coast of the peninsula between Cancún and Tulum, houses over 50,000 beds . The best - known locations are the former fishing town of Playa del Carmen, the ecological parks Xcaret and Xel - Há and the Maya ruins of Tulum and Coba . </P> <P> The peninsula is the exposed portion of the larger Yucatán Platform, all of which is composed of carbonate and soluble rocks, being mostly limestone although dolomite and evaporites are also present at various depths . The whole of the Yucatán Peninsula is an unconfined flat lying karst landscape . Sinkholes, known locally as cenotes, are widespread in the northern lowlands . </P>

The yucatan peninsula was home to the civilization of the maya