Acaponeta is both a municipality and a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The town is located at the geographical coordinates of (22°29′47″N105°21′34″W). The population of the municipality was 34,665 in the 2005 census, living in a total area of 1,667.7 km² (643.9 sq mi). The population of the municipal seat was 18,066, the fifth-largest community in the state (after Tepic, Xalisco, Ixtlán del Río, and Tuxpan). The Acaponeta River flows through the town.