Mazatlan is a city in the Mexican State of Sinaloa. It is located on the Pacific coast, just across from the southernmost tip of the Baja California peninsula.

Mazatlan is a Nahuatl word meaning "place of the deer." The city was founded in the 1820s. By the mid-1800s a large group of immigrants had arrived from Germany. These new citizens developed Mazatlan into a thriving commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. It served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. The German immigrants also influenced the music, Banda, which is an alteration of Bavarian folk music.
Mazatlan, with a population of 352,471 (city) and 403,888 (municipality) as of the 2005 census, is the second-largest city in the state of Sinaloa (after Culiacan) and Mexico's largest commercial port. It is also a growing Real Estate hot-bed and a popular tourist destination, its beaches lined with resort hotels.

Every year, “Carnaval” is celebrated during the week before Ash Wednesday. There are many festivities, including the election of a Queen, huge parades, and balls. Mazatlan is home to the second largest Carnival (Mardi Gras) in the world, surpassed only by the celebration held in Rio de Janeiro (Wikipedia.org). For more information about the history of Mazatlan, please visit Wikipedia or GoMazatlan.com.