Comitán


Comitán is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is the seat of government of the municipality of the same name.
It is located in the east-central part of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala at. The municipality has an area of 1,043.30 km². Its largest other community is the town of Villahermosa Yalumá.
Comitán is also a popular tourist destination, mostly for Mexican nationals, though some foreign visitors can also be seen. The town possesses colonial architecture, narrow avenues, and clean streets. The climate is cool most of the year, and can get quite chilly from October to March.

History

The old town was founded in a swamp by a group of Tzeltal people. The original name given by the local population was Balún Canán. As part of the Spanish colonization, the town of Comitan was founded in February 1528 and elevated to the city in 1556 by Dominican friars, belonging to the captaincy of Guatemala. It was later changed to Comitán de las Flores and, in 1915, to Comitán de Domínguez, after Dr. Belisario Domínguez, who gave a memorable speech in Congress against the dictator Victoriano Huerta for which he was murdered.

Climate

Demographics

As of 2010, the municipality had a total population of 141,013, up from 121,263 as of 2005.
As of 2010, the city of Comitán had a population of 97,537, up from 83,571 as of 2005. Other than the city of Comitán, the municipality had 340 localities, the largest of which were: Villahermosa Yalumá, San José Yocnajab, La Floresta, Los Riegos, Francisco Sarabia, Cash, Señor del Pozo, Zaragoza la Montaña, Efraín A. Gutiérrez, and Chacaljocom, classified as rural.

Nearby Attractions

Tourists in Comitán can see many ecotourism sights, including Mayan ruins, the Lagunas de Montebello, El Chiflon which is a series of waterfalls, Tenam Puente which is an archeological Mayan Cultural place, and others.
Comitán is approximately 2 hours away from San Cristobal by bus and approximately 3 hours away from Tuxtla. It is common for locals to travel 2 hours on the bus to see San Cristobal and then travel an additional hour in order to reach Tuxtla.