Acapulco de Juárez, commonly called Acapulco, is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, 380 kilometres south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico's history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruise lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resort city.
The city is one of Mexico's oldest beach resorts, coming into prominence in the 1940s through the 1960s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco was once a popular tourist resort, but due to a massive upsurge in gang violence and murder since 2014 it no longer attracts many foreign tourists, and most now only come from Mexico itself. It is both the sixth deadliest city in Mexico and the seventh-deadliest city in the world; the US government has warned its citizens not to travel there. In 2016 there were 918 murders, and the homicide rate was one of the highest in the world: 103 in every 100,000.