The name of Mazatlan comes, etymologically speaking, from the Nahuatl language: 'Mazatl', which means 'place of deer'. It is located in the south part of the State of Sinaloa, less than half a degree from the Tropic of Cancer. It limits to the north with the Municipality of San Ignacio and the State of Durango; to the east, with the Municipality of Concordia; to the south, with the Municipality of Rosario and the Pacific Ocean, and to the west with the Pacific Ocean. Its altitude varies from the sea level up to 1,900 meters in its highest cliffs.

The first dwellers inhabiting the region were migrating native tribes, which found their food through deer hunting and fishing. Later, on May 14th 1531, Nuño Beltran de Guzman got there. The dominant attitude of the conqueror and his companions caused uneasiness among the natives of the region, originating a battle won by the Spaniards. English people such as Francis Drake and Thomas Cavendish sailed in its waters. At the beginning of the XVII century, they used the port as departing point for gold coins and some other valuable products, which were exploited in huge amounts from Rosario and Mazatlan, to export them to Spain.

Since the sixties, the city experienced a boom with the building of the hotel 'Playa Mazatlan', in the beach 'Gaviotas' (seagulls), starting the 'Golden Zone', an area that developed greatly during the three last decades. Along with the improvement and growth of the airlines, with a bigger airport and more modern, located 20 at minutes to the south of the city, Mazatlan flourished, turning into the most attractive place in the northwest, by the urban infrastructure and the beauty of its surroundings.

Among its main attractions, 'El Faro' (the lighthouse), located on the island of 'Cerro Creston', has a height of 157 meters above sea level, which allows a reach of more than 48 nautical miles, being considered as the highest natural lighthouse of the world.