Coatzacoalcos (; formerly known as Puerto México; ; Zapotec: ; Popoluca: ''Puertu'') is a major

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

city in the southern part of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the

Bay of Campeche The Bay of Campeche (), or Campeche Sound, is a bight in the southern area of the Gulf of Mexico, forming the north side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. It is surrounded on three sides by the Mexican states of Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz. The ...

, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the municipal seat of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of the same name. The city had a 2020 census population of 212,540, making it the third-largest city in the state after

and

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...

. The municipality covers a surface area of and reported a population of 310,698 persons. The municipality population in 2015 was 319,187 a decrease of 9% over 2020.Censo Coatzacoalcos 2020
CEEIG

Etymology

Coatzacoalcos comes from a

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

word meaning "site of the Snake" or "where the snake hides." According to the legend, this is where the god Quetzalcoatl made his final journey to the sea in around 999 and he made his promise to return.

History

Coatzacoalcos sits within the

Olmec heartland The Olmec heartland is the southern portion of Mexico's Gulf Coast of Mexico, Gulf Coast region between the Tuxtla mountains and the Olmec archaeological site of La Venta, extending roughly 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico coastline ...

. Excavations in 2008 for a tunnel under the Coatzacoalcos River indicate a substantial pre-Hispanic population. By the time of the Spanish arrival the area was under Mayan influence. In 1522,

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

ordered

Gonzalo de Sandoval Gonzalo de Sandoval (1497 – late 1528) was a Spanish conquistador in New Spain (Mexico)Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, and briefly co-governor of the colony while Hernán Cortés was away from the capital ...

to fund a settlement near Guazacualco. Sandoval named it Villa del Espíritu Santo. San Martín Tuxtla is an active volcano lying northwest of Coatzcoalcos in the

Sierra de los Tuxtlas The Sierra de Los Tuxtlas (Tuxtlas Mountains) are a volcanic belt and mountain range along the southeastern Veracruz Gulf of Mexico, Gulf coast in Eastern Mexico. The Biósfera Los Tuxtlas, Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (Biósfera Los Tuxtlas) in ...

. It erupted in 1664, in May 1793 with large ash falls and lava flows, and most recently in 1796. The town was elevated to the category of port in 1825 and the name was changed to Coatzacoalcos. The municipality of Coatzacoalcos was established 22 December 1881, with the town as its seat. In 1900 the town name was changed to Puerto México. In 1911 it was elevated to city, and in 1936 the name was changed to the current Coatzacoalcos. On 23 July 1940, Coatzacoalcos welcomed refugees from the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

who sought asylum in Mexico after travelling across the Atlantic aboard the SS ''Santo Domingo''. In 1959, the city suffered damage from an 6.4

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. Coatzacoalcos became a very important crossroads during the oil boom of the 1970s, connecting the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the C ...

and oil fields in

Campeche Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...

to the rest of Mexico and to the port of

Salina Cruz Salina Cruz is a major seaport on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the List of states of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the state's fourth-largest city and is the municipal seat of the Municipalities of Oaxaca, municipality of the sa ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

on the Pacific coast.

Geography and climate

The city is located at where the Coatzacoalcos River

debouch In hydrology, a debouch (or debouche) is a place where runoff from a small, confined space discharges into a larger, broader body of water. The word is derived from the French verb ''déboucher'' (), which means "to unblock, to clear". The ter ...

es into the

. Overland it is connected by road and rail to the Pacific Ocean about away. This location has prompted plans for an interoceanic waterway across the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the T ...

, or for a much expanded railroad system, for over a century. In the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

the climate is classified as Am for a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

. A typical year sees more than of rainfall. Lying on the Gulf of Mexico, Coatzacoalcos has been struck by several hurricanes and tropical storms such as Hurricane Diana in August 1990,

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...

in November 1998, Tropical Storm Larry in October 2003,

Hurricane Stan Hurricane Stan was the deadliest tropical cyclone of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. A relatively weak system that affected areas of Central America and Mexico in early October 2005, Stan was the eighteenth named storm and eleventh hurric ...

in October 2005,

Hurricane Dean Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense North Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, 2005 season, and is tied with Hurricane Mit ...

in August 2007,

Tropical Storm Marco The name Marco has been used for four tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. * Tropical Storm Marco (1990), hugged west coast of Florida, making landfall as a tropical depression, causing heavy rain and moderate damage * Hurricane Marco (1996), ...

in October 2008, Tropical Storm Hermine in early September 2010,

Hurricane Karl Hurricane Karl was the most destructive tropical cyclone on record to strike the Political divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Veracruz. The eleventh tropical storm, sixth hurricane, and fifth and final major hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hu ...

in mid September 2010, Tropical Storm Matthew in late September 2010,

Hurricane Richard Hurricane Richard was a damaging tropical cyclone that affected areas of Central America in October 2010. It developed on October 20 from an Low-pressure area, area of low pressure that had stalled in the Caribbean Sea. The system moved ...

in October 2010 and Hurricane Agatha in late May 2022. The winter months are cooler and drier than the summer months. Occasionally, cold high pressure cells from North America drift south across the Gulf of Mexico and drive strong Tehuano winds across the Isthmus, with very strong wind concentration taking place in Chivela Pass in Oaxaca.

Economy

The city's industry is dominated by the

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...

sector. Four big industrial petrochemical complexes are located near the city (Pajaritos, Cosoleacaque, Morelos and Cangrejera) making it one of the most important concentrations of its kind in the world. The state-owned

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexico, Mexican State ownership, state-owned Petroleum industry, petroleum corporation managed and operated by the government of Mexico, ...

Petroquímica subsidiary is headquartered in Coatzacoalcos and 85% of its production is concentrated there.

Demographics

In 2020, the municipality reported a population of 310,698 inhabitants, 212,540 residing in the municipal seat,. which makes it the 3th largest in the state after

and

. Other townships include Olmec City (24,085 hab.), Allende (23,351 hab.), Villa San Martín (15,659 hab.) and Puerto Esmeralda (9,585 hab.). Coatzacoalcos is the seat of a Metropolitan Area, which together with the municipalities of Ixhuatlán del Sureste and Nanchital de Lázaro Cárdenas del Río had a population of 354,606 in 2020.

Education

The

Universidad Veracruzana Veracruzana University () is a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the southeast region of México. Its academic organization is a structure ...

maintains a branch campus and library in Coatzacoalcos. Also, TecNM has a campus in the city.

Sports

The Tiburones Rojos de Coatzacoalcos (Red Sharks) played in the

Primera División A Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

until December 2008 when they moved to

Orizaba Orizaba (, Otomi: ) is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a ...

to become part of a reformed Albinegros de Orizaba. The Delfines de Coatzacoalcos (Dolphins) play in the Estadio Rafael Hernández Ochoa, which was built in 1980. The Universidad Istmo Americana F.C. plays in the

Tercera División de México Liga TDP is a professional association football league in Mexico and the fourth level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Tercera División de México (1967–2017). It has 223 participating clubs, divided into 17 regional gro ...

and is based in Coatzacoalcos.

Transportation

Coatzacoalcos has been a transportation hub for hundreds of years. It is connected via air, water, road, and rail to the surrounding region and the rest of the world. The Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos National Airport is away in Cosoleacaque and has been an international airport since August 2006. The Port of Coatzacoalcos (Puerto México) is an international port of entry that provides transhipment of oil and petrochemicals. After an upgrade to the railway along the Tehuantepec Route was opened in 1907 by

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

the port saw an increase of shipping via the

, particularly from the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. The port saw a decrease in traffic after the opening of the Panama Canal from 1914 on, but traffic has started to build up since the oil boom of the 1970s. The railway is now known as the Ferrocarril Transístmico ("Trans-Isthmic Railroad"). The CG Railway operates

train ferries A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to t ...

between the Port of Coatzacoalcos and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

Port of Mobile The Port of Mobile is a deep-water port in Mobile, Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, United States. It is the only deep-water port in Alabama. It was ranked by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as the 9th largest port by tonnage in the nation d ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Ferrosur also provides rail service in and out of Coatzacoalcos as far southeast as Las Choapas, to the north and west to Veracruz and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, as well as to the south over the Tehuantepec route now owned by Ferrocarril Transístmico from Medias Aguas to Salina Cruz in the state of

. Mexican Federal Highway 180 follows the southern shore of the Bay of Campeche through Coatzacoalcos to the

. Highway 180 and a rail line to Allende have been carried over the Coatzacoalcos River via the 1910 built ''Coatza I'' bridge for more than a century. A second cable stayed bridge known as ''Coatza II'' or ''Antonio Dovalí Jaime'' was built to the south to carry more road traffic over the river. It was constructed starting in 1979 and was opened by President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado on 17 October 1984. ''Coatza II'' has a center span of and an overall length of . A ferry operates between the city of Coatzacoalcos and Allende, which in 2017 was supplemented by a underwater tunnel that carries four lanes of traffic. Coatzacoalcos is also the northern terminus of Mexican Federal Highway 185, which links it with the Pacific Ocean at

, on the other side of the

Notable people

Coatzacoalcos is the birthplace of actress

Salma Hayek Salma Valgarma Hayek Pinault ( , ; ; born September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa (1989 TV series), Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well a ...

; journalist María Antonieta Collins; and footballers Sergio Ramirez, who played for

FC Ararat Yerevan Football Club Ararat Yerevan (), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenia, Armenian professional Association football, football club based in Yerevan that plays in the Armenian Premier League. Since 1999 the club has been owned by the Sw ...

, in the

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

and José Arturo Rivas, who played for the Tigres de la UANL, in the

Primera División de México Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

. Also, Silviano Delgado Valladolid, who was part of Mexico's National Squad during Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games and played for Toluca F.C., Puebla F.C., Morelia F.C.

Twin towns – sister cities

* Rizhao, China * San Fernando, Philippines

References

Sources

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Veracruz
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

Coatzacoalcos municipal government
Official website (in Spanish) *
Municipal Official Information

The Society of Coatzacoalcos

Videos of Coatzacoalcos
{{Authority control Populated places in Veracruz Cities in Mexico Port cities and towns of the Mexican Gulf Coast Ports of the Gulf of Mexico Populated places established in 1522 1522 establishments in New Spain 1520s establishments in Mexico Populated coastal places in Mexico Municipality seats in Veracruz