Costa Grande of Guerrero
Costa Grande of Guerrero is a sociopolitical region located in the Mexican state of Guerrero, along the Pacific Coast. It makes up 325 km (202 mi) of Guerrero’s approximately 500 km (311 mi) coastline, extending from the Michoacán border to the Acapulco area, wedged between the Sierra Madre del Sur and the Pacific Ocean. Acapulco is often considered part of the Costa Grande; however, the government of the state classifies the area around the city as a separate region. The Costa Grande roughly correlates to the Cihuatlán province of the Aztec Empire, which was conquered between 1497 and 1504. Before, this much of the area belonged to a dominion under the control of the Cuitlatecs, but efforts by both the Purépecha Empire and Aztec Empire to expand into this area in the 15th century brought this to an end. Before the colonial period, the area had always been sparsely populated with widely dispersed settlements. The arrival of the Aztecs caused many to flee and the later arrival of the Spanish had the same effect. For this reason, there are few archeological remains; however, recent work especially at La Soledad de Maciel has indicated that the cultures here are more important than previously thought. Today, the area economically is heavily dependent on agriculture, livestock, fishing and forestry, with only Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa with significantly developed infrastructure for tourism. The rest of the coast has been developed spottily, despite some government efforts to promote the area.
The Costa Grande is one of seven sociopolitical regions of the state of Guerrero and part of one of three environmental regions. Environmentally, the state is divided into La Montaña (The Mountain) region in the north, the Tierra Caliente (Hot Land) in the west and La Costa (The Coast). La Costa includes the approximately 500 km (311 mi) of coastline that the state has which roughly extends from northwest to southeast. This coastline is then divided into La Costa Grande and La Costa Chica (Small Coast), roughly divided by the Acapulco Bay. Acapulco is often considered to be part of the Costa Grande; however, the government of Guerrero officially considers the area around the city of Acapulco to be a separate region. The Costa Grande covers most of the Guerrero coast, extending 325 km (202 mi) from the Balsas River on the Michoacán border, southeast to Acapulco. Starting from Michoacán, the Costa Grande extends from the Balsas delta south to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. It then moves east to the Morro de Papanoa. From here southeast to Acapulco Bay, there is almost uninterrupted beach. Compared to other areas of the state, most of the Costa Grande is fertile, relatively flat land. The Costa Grande is politically divided into seven municipalities Atoyac de Álvarez, Coyuca de Benítez, José Azueta, La Unión, Petatlán, Benito Juárez/San Jerónimo, Coahuayutla de José María Izazaga and Tecpán de Galeana with an overall territory of 2,500 km2 (965 sq mi).
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