Zihuatanejo (zix?wataneho) is the fourth-largest city in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Politically it belongs to the municipality of José Azueta in the western part of Guerrero, on the Pacific Coast, about 240 km (approximately 145 miles) northwest of Acapulco. The modern tourist resort of Ixtapa is 5 km away.

The name Zihuatanejo is from the Nahuatl "Cihuatlán", meaning "place of women" because it was a matriarchal society. In pre-Columbian times, a Tarascan leader with a title of Caltzontzin (that means: He who governs countless houses) frequented the area from the modern day Lake Pátzcuaro region. Legend has it that he constructed the rock barrier on Playa Las Gatas (named for the harmless whiskered sharks that used to be found there) to provide a sheltered swimming area and harbor for the women and children, though the town's official historian says this is a myth. Nevertheless, that barrier, whether man-made or natural, continues to protect the beach to this day. With the arrival of the Spanish, the name Cihuatlan was transformed first into Cihuatlán and then into Ciguatanejo. Zihuatanejo’s current name form has only been in use for the past couple of centuries.

The Spanish Conquistadores believed Cihuatlán to be a land to the northwest with beautiful Amazon women, gold, and precious gems, and perhaps another name for the Seven Cities of Cibola.