Tecuala

Tecuala is both a municipality and a town in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 42,237 in a total area of 1,137 km² (2000) while the population of the town and municipal seat was 14,584 (2000). One of the longest beaches in the world, Playa Novillero, is located here.

"Tecuala" is the Castilian form of the Tecuallan word, which means "place of many wild animals".

The municipality of Tecuala is located in the northern part of the state of Nayarit, between parallels 22° 14', and 22° 34’ north latitude and meridians 105° 14’ and 105° 45’ west longitude. It is bounded in the north by the state of Sinaloa and the municipality of Acaponeta; in the south by the municipalities of Santiago Ixcuintla and Rosamorada, in the east by the municipality of Acaponeta and in the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Most of the land is flat and tending to mangrove swamps in the west, forming part of the national protected zone called Marismas Nacionales. The most important river is the Acaponeta, which flows into the Agua Brava lagoon.