Solidaridad is home to the Maya archaeological site of Xcaret.[2]
Geography
The municipality has some small but rich continental sites including the ecotourism park of Xcaret. Prior to the creation of the Municipality of Tulum, the municipality was situated between latitudes 20° 45' and 19° 46' north and longitudes 86° 57' and 88° 05' west, and had an area of 4,245.67 square kilometres (1,639.26 sq mi). Today, it borders the municipalities of Benito Juárez and Lázaro Cárdenas to the north and Tulum to the south; and is separated in most places from its neighboring municipality to the east (Cozumel) by a stretch of the Caribbean Sea known as the Cozumel Channel.
The ecotourism park of Xel-Ha and the Calicalimestone quarry are not part of Solidaridad as they belong to the neighboring municipality of Cozumel. These are the only two mainland locations for the municipality of Cozumel with sizes of 90 hectares (220 acres) and 11.9 hectares (29 acres) respectively. All of the limestone from Calica is exported to the US, and the quarry has its own docks and also serves visiting cruise ships.[2]
Orography and hydrography
Like most of the Yucatan Peninsula, Solidaridad is almost entirely flat with a gentle slope towards the sea, so from west to east, most of the area never reaches an altitude above 25 metres (82 ft) above sea level.
Like the rest of the peninsula's surface the land has a limestone base that does not allow the formation of surface water flows such as rivers and streams, the water instead form flows in underground rivers that sometimes rise to the surface in the cenotes. Lakes and cenotes are the major water bodies of the municipality.
Communities
The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:[3]
Solidaridad is one of the youngest municipalities in the country: it was formed on July 28, 1993, by decree of the State Congress during the administration of Mario Villanueva Madrid. At this time the municipality of Cozumel was split into two, with the mainland section constituting the new municipality of Solidaridad.
On March 13, 2008, Solidaridad was split in two when the new Municipality of Tulum was formed, as a result its land area and population were adjusted.[4]
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1995
28,747
—
2000
63,752
+17.27%
2005
135,512
+16.28%
2010
159,310
+3.29%
Source: INEGI Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía[5]
