Compostela is the name of both a municipality and of a town in it that serves as the seat; both are in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The municipality had 77,436 in 2020 and the seat 20,322. It has a total area of 1,848 km2 (713.5 sq mi).
Etymology The name was given in honor of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain; tradition says that "Compostela" comes from Latin campus stellae, "field of stars" (another theory makes it come from composita tella or even compositella).
Geography Compostela is located on the south coast of the state and is bounded in the north by San Blas and Xalisco; in the south by Bahía de Banderas and the state of Jalisco; in the east by Santa María del Oro, San Pedro Lagunillas and the state of Jalisco; in the west by the Pacific Ocean.
The largest settlements in the municipality are: Compostela (15,991 inhabitants in 2000), Las Varas (12,403), La Peñita de Jaltemba (7,062), Zacualpan (4,468), and Colonia Paraíso Escondido (2,069).
The climate is tempered by elevation, with rains from July to September. The hottest months are April and May. The average annual rainfall is 968.5 mm. The average annual temperature is 22.9 °C.
Economy The economy is heavily based on agriculture. The main crops are tobacco, corn, beans, coffee, sorghum, and mangoes. There were around 50,000 head of cattle in 1995. There were several small gold and silver mines. In manufacturing the main products were cigars, mango packing, rice shelling, soap factories, cattle feed, furniture, and food and drink.
Tourism This is a region that attracts a considerable number of local and foreign visitors due to the natural landscape, beaches, historical sites and the international fishing competitions.
Around Las Varas in the direction of the south there are beaches in the zone called Costa Alegre, among which should be mentioned: Chacala and Chacalilla, La Peñita de Jaltemba, Rincón de Guayabitos, Los Ayala, El Monteón, and Playa Platanitos, as well as the islands in the bay of Jaltemba, with a good infrastructure of services.
Government Municipal presidents Municipal president Term Political party NotesPetronilo Díaz Ponce1917Manuel Pimienta Hernández1918Rafael Dávila1919José Ma. Regalado Larios1920–1921Fernando Romero Paredes1922–1923Gustavo Luna Plata1924Pedro Ibarra Trujillo1925Gustavo Luna Plata1926Rafael Ibarra Trujillo1927Alberto Rodríguez Rocha1928Rafael Ibarra Trujillo1929Narciso Piña1930PNR Gustavo B. Maciel1931PNR Apolonio Aguirre Delgado1931PNR Jorge Olimón Colio1932–1933PNR Juan Manuel Larios1934PNR Guillermo Flores Abena1935PNR Joaquín Betancourt1935PNR Jesús Puga Flores1936PNR Alfonso Ocegueda Carrillo1937–1938PNR Isidro Mora Piña1938PRM Alfonso Rodríguez Aguirre1939–1940PRM Reyes Orozco Villa1941PRM Pedro Arciniega Álvarez1941–1942PRM Eduardo Arcadia Mediana1943–1944PRM Martiniano Trejo González1945–1948PRM PRI Fernando Ulloa González1949–1951PRI Martiniano Trejo González1952–1954PRI Juan Gradilla Vidriales1955–1958PRI Salvador Gutiérrez Contreras1958–1960PRI Manuel Gradilla Muñoz1961–1963PRI Indalencio Esparza1963PRI Acting municipal presidentRaymundo Zavala Sánchez1964–1966PRI Rafael Machuca Medina1967–1969PRI Juan Hernández García1969–1971PRI Javier Ayón Uribe1970–1972PRI Ángel Ocegueda Cuevas1973–1975PRI Juan Manuel Inda Vallejo1976–1978PRI Nicolás Aguirre Anzaldo1978–1979PRI Enrique Medina Lomelí1979–1981PRI Alejandro González Sánchez1981–1982PRI Ramón Pimienta Aguirre1982–1984PRI Arnulfo Peña Banda1984–1987PRI Heriberto Conde Valdés1987–1990PRI Macario Aguayo Durán1990–1992PRI José Luis Flores de los Ángeles1992–1993PRI Baltazar Cruz Dueñas1993–1996PRI Andrés Villaseñor Salazar 17-09-1996–16-09-1999PRI Juan Aguirre Chávez17-09-1999–16-09-2002PRI Alicia Monroy Lizola17-09-2002–16-09-2005PRI Marco Antonio Moreno Venegas17-09-2005–16-09-2008PRI Héctor López Santiago17-09-2008–16-09-2011PRI Panal Coalition "For the Nayarit We All Want"Pablo Pimienta Márquez17-09-2011–16-09-2014PAN Alicia Monroy Lizola17-09-2014–16-09-2017PRI Panal PVEM Coalition "For the Good of All"17-09-2017–27-03-2018 PAN PRD PT PRS Coalition "Together for You". She was elected constitutional municipal president of Compostela. Applied for a temporary leave to run in the federal elections of Sunday 1 July 2018 towards a seat for Nayarit in the Senate of the Republic, which she gotKenia Elizeth Núñez Delgado28-03-2018–06-12-2018PAN PRD PT PRS Coalition "Together for You". Acting municipal presidentGloria Núñez Sánchez07-12-2018–14-03-2019PAN PRD PT PRS Coalition "Together for You". She returned from the Senate to the Municipal Presidency of Compostela. Again applied for a temporary leave from the Municipal Presidency, this time in a definitive way, to go back to occupy her seat in the SenateKenia Elizeth Núñez Delgado22-03-2019–16-09-2021PAN PRD PT PRS Coalition "Together for You". Acting municipal president for the second timeRomina Chang Aguilar17-09-2021–16-09-2024PT PVEM Panal Morena Gustavo Alfonso Ayón Aguirre17-09-2024–Morena PVEM PT Force for Mexico Coalition "Sigamos Haciendo Historia" (Let's Keep Making History)
References
Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México (Spanish)
External links Portal de Carrillo Puerto Nayarit(Spanish) m.net/ Portal de Las Varas (Spanish) Portal de Rincón de Guayabitos (Spanish) Portal de la ciudad compostela Nayarit mexico. (Spanish)