The name "Chiapas" comes from the word “Chiapan” or “Tepechiapan, a designation for the ancient indigenous Chiapaneca population. The word means “Cerro de la Chia” or “Water under the Hill”. The conquerors, upon founding two cities in the region, Chiapa de los Indios and Chiapa de los Españoles, both adopted the name "Province of Chiapas", but its history is even older. Chiapas is in the southeast of Mexico; bordering the state of Tabasco to its North, to its West are Veracruz and Oaxaca, to its South the Pacific Ocean and to its East the Republic of Guatemala. It is the eighth largest state in the Mexican Republic, representing 3.8% of the country's surface area or 74,415 km2.

It is made up of 122 municipalities distributed in 15 regions: Metropolitan, Valles Zoque, Mezcalapa, De los Llanos, Altos Tsotsil-Tseltal, Frailesca, De Los Bosques, Norte, Istmo-Costa, Soconusco, Sierra Mariscal, Selva Lacandona, Maya, Tulijá Tseltal Chol and Comiteca Tojolabal Plateau. Chiapas has its own anthem, a poetic-musical composition, a regional civic song of deep popular and pacifist sentiment, which the people of Chiapas sing since 1913 with civic and patriotic fervor, a song of love and hope, union and work.

The main economic sectors of Chiapas are mining and agriculture. Coffee, bananas and coconuts are the products that are most harvested in the fertile plain of Soconusco. Corn is also grown almost everywhere. Hydroelectricity is a great source of income in Chiapas. Some gigantic dams take advantage of the power of the Grijalva River, which flows in the center of the state. Recently, the tourism industry has gained strength. Some of the most impressive archaeological sites in the Mayan world are in Chiapas, which has made it a priority destination for people interested in the Mayan world. Chiapas, is a state of Mayan heritage, which offers visitors the mysterious and magical archaeological sites of Palenque, Bonampak or Yaxchilán, located in the Lacandona Jungle. Beautiful colonial cities such as San Cristóbal, Comitán de Domínguez and Chiapa de Corzo, rich in monuments and cathedrals such as the Temple of Santo Domingo de Guzmán or the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de las Casas. Its ecological reserves such as the Sumidero Canyon National Park; the imposing Lacandon Jungle; and the Montebello Lakes, with their multicolored lagoons offer spectacular natural environments. Chiapas is also famous for its lively and colorful festivals, one of the most impressive being the Fiesta Grande de Chiapa de Corzo, where you can see the "Parachicos". This celebration takes place in the month of January.

The state of Chiapas is one of the most biodiverse in the country. Next to the border with Guatemala is the Selva Lacandona, which in its almost one million hectares of forest is home to 20% of Mexican species. In the state there are about 3,000 species of plants, including peanuts, mahogany, red cedar, ceiba, cypress, oak, ash, guacimo, guapaque, laurel, mangrove, mesquite, grasslands, pine, quebracho and flying.

There is also a great variety of animal life, especially birds and reptiles. Among the fauna there are aquatic birds, boas, crocodiles (including the swamp crocodile - an endemic species), wild boars, lions, monkeys, porcupines, howlers, tepezcuintles, opossums, turtles, white-tailed deer, yellow-necked toucans and the jaguar. which is the largest feline in America and the third in the world.

Its natural tourist attractions are majestic and diverse: from remarkable remains of the Mayan world to impressive landscapes, lakes and waterfalls. Chiapas makes a very beautiful postcard from whichever side you look at it. You will find the most spectacular landscapes on this side of the world. Magnificent waterfalls, lakes of various shades and mighty rivers adorn the countryside. It is also said that this state has the highest concentration of animal species in North America, many of which can be seen at the Tuxtla Gutiérrez “Miguel Álvarez del Toro” zoo.

It also has colonial cities, with their mixture of cultures that allude to the history of colonization; sun and beaches on the Pacific Ocean, which offer a rustic, private and quiet environment; adventure tourism, benefiting from mountains to mighty waterfalls to practice extreme sports; and archaeological zones, where there are beautiful constructions of the surprising Mayan culture that have achieved global prominence.

Chiapas is distinguished by its production of amber, which is a fossil resin, product of trees of a legume Hymeneacourbail L. (Guapinol). Large forests exuded this sticky fluid (resin), which hardened in contact with the air and transformed into amber dating back 30 million years. Amber is the only precious and semi-precious stone of vegetable origin, if we exclude diamonds formed from graphite. In America it can only be found in Chiapas, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

Chiapas amber is internationally recognized for its quality, distinguishing itself above all for its Reddish color, known as "Red Chiapas", and also for its less common White Amber. The extraction and work are carried out in an artisanal way, which is why on November 15, 2000, the general declaration of protection of the denomination of origin “ÁMBAR DE CHIAPAS” was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation. Around 292 kilos are extracted per month, which is equivalent to 90% of the country's total extraction. There is an Amber Museum in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas.

Chiapas is also the land of famous writers, such as the poet Jaime Sabines, Rosario Castellanos and Joaquín Vázquez Aguilar. With marimba music, the aroma of coffee, and great gastronomic variety, Chiapas invites explorers and culture lovers to enjoy this magical territory.