Minatitlán is a city in 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 ...

. It is located in the southeastern part of the state, in the Olmeca region, to the north of 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 ...

, along the Coatzacoalcos River. In 2010 the greater metropolitan area had a population of 356,020. Minatitlán is home to the ''Refinería Gral. Lázaro Cárdenas del Río'' (now named for President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

) a 1906

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

that was the first such facility built in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. The refinery underwent an expansion that started in 2003 to bring the capacity of the plant up to 240,000 barrels per day, up from its previous capacity of 185,000 barrels per day. It is a sister city of Minatitlán, in the state of

Colima Colima, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima, is among the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima is a small state of western Mexico on the cen ...

, on the other side of the country. The local economy is largely dependent on the oil industry and trade. The Feria del Café y Minería (Coffee and Mining Fair) is held each year in January.

Transportation

Minatitlán/Coatzacoalcos National Airport, located in Cosoleacaque, serves Minatitlán.DIRECTORIO DE OFICINAS DE VENTAS
." Aeromar. 4/7. Retrieved on December 27, 2010.

Mexican Federal Highways Federal Highways () are a series of highways in Mexico. These highways link Mexico's Administrative divisions of Mexico#Federal entities of Mexico, 32 federal entities with each other or with a neighboring country, and they are wholly or most ...

145D, 150, 172, 185 pass through Minatitlán. A cable stayed bridge known as ''Puente Coatza II'' or ''Puente Antonio Dovalí Jaime'' was built to carry Highway 150 over the Coatzacoalcos 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 . Minatitlan street

Sports

The Petroleros de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Oilers) play baseball in the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. The Gavilanes de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Hawks) play in the Veracruz Winter League. Both teams' homefield is the Parque 18 de marzo de 1938.

Notable people

* Actress Blanca Estela Pavón was born in Minatitlán in 1926. * Artist Francisco Toledo attended school in Minatitlán in the 1940s.

Geography

The city is located in the

Olmec The Olmecs () or Olmec were an early known major Mesoamerican civilization, flourishing in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco from roughly 1200 to 400 Before the Common Era, BCE during Mesoamerica's Mesoamerican chronolog ...

region of the state and the north of the

. The municipality covers an area of and includes many small outlying

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place (geography), place, set of Norm (social), norms, culture, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Ide ...

. Much of the city sits on reclaimed wetlands, and many new homes built on this reclaimed land have a tendency to sink up to several meters before settling. Much of the surrounding undeveloped land is marshy, especially towards the northeast direction of

Coatzacoalcos Coatzacoalcos (; formerly known as Puerto México; ; Zapotec: ; Popoluca: ''Puertu'') is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, mostly on the western side of the Coatzacoalcos River estuary, on the Bay of Ca ...

Climate

References

External links

Lomas de Tacojalpa Archaeological Site

Minatitlán International Airport

Minatitlán municipal government website

Veracruz
los Municipios de México {{DEFAULTSORT:Minatitlan, Veracruz Populated places in Veracruz Populated places established in 1826 1826 establishments in Mexico