City (pop., 2000: 397,191) and island resort, southeastern Mexico.
The city, on the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula , is a service town for the resort on Cancún Island (13 mi [21 km] long), which is connected by a causeway to the city. Originally settled by Maya Indians, the area was first described by John Lloyd Stephens in his Incidents of Travel in Yucatán (1843). Cancún remained a fishing village until 1970, when the area was selected as a suitable site for a resort. The plan proved hugely successful; today Cancún is Mexico's busiest resort.