Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the thirty-one states that, together with Mexico City, make up Mexico. Its capital and most populous city is Tepic. It is divided into twenty municipalities.

It is located in the west of the country, bordering Sinaloa and Durango to the north, Zacatecas to the east, Jalisco to the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west, where it also has the Marías Islands, Isabel Island, Tres Marietas and Farallón La Peña. With 1,181,050 inhabitants in 2015, it is the fourth least populated state —ahead of Campeche, Baja California Sur and Colima—, with 27,815 km², the ninth smallest —ahead of Tabasco, State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Colima, Aguascalientes, Morelos and Tlaxcala— and with 39.01 inhab/km², the ninth least densely populated, ahead of Quintana Roo, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Sonora, Campeche, Chihuahua, Durango and Baja California Sur.

It was founded on January 26, 1917 after the Territory of Tepic was elevated in status, which in turn had been founded on December 12, 1884 after it was erected with territory from Jalisco.

The capital is located in the province of Vallarta, in the state of Baja California, in the state of Baja California Sur.