Which Mexican peninsula contains the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá?

The Yucatán Peninsula contains the ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá.

It projects northeast from Central America between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The peninsula is shared by the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo, plus northern Belize and part of Guatemala.

Much of the peninsula consists of porous limestone. Instead of many surface rivers, rainwater commonly sinks underground and forms cenotes, natural sinkholes that were important water sources for Maya communities. Chichén Itzá’s famous pyramid, El Castillo, is one of the region’s best-known monuments.

The Yucatán Peninsula is also associated with the Chicxulub impact crater, buried beneath the northwest coast. The asteroid impact about 66 million years ago is strongly linked to the mass extinction that ended the non-avian dinosaurs.