Minatitlán is a city in southeastern

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

in the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

region of the state and 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 Te ...

. In 2010 the greater metropolitan area had a population of 356,020. The municipality covers an area of and includes many small outlying

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

. 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 () 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 Campeche, on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast. The city serves as the munic ...

. 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. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...

) a 1906

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

that was the first such facility built in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. 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, Colima in the state of

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and ...

, 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 Cosoleacaque is a municipality in the south-east zone of the State of Veracruz, Mexico. It is located about from the state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of . It is located at . Cosoleacaque borders to the north on Coatzacoalcos and Pajapan, to ...

, serves Minatitlán.DIRECTORIO DE OFICINAS DE VENTAS
." Aeromar. 4/7. Retrieved on December 27, 2010.

Mexican Federal Highways Federal Highways ( es, Carretera Federal), are a series of highways that connect with roads from foreign countries; link two or more states of the Federation; and are wholly or mostly built by the Federation with federal funds or through federal ...

145D,

150 150 may refer to: *150 (number), a natural number *AD 150, a year in the 2nd century AD *150 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC *150 Regiment RLC *Combined Task Force 150 See also * List of highways numbered 150 The following highways are numbered ...

, 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 The Coatzacoalcos is a large river that feeds mainly the south part of the state of Veracruz; it originates in the Sierra de Niltepec and crosses the state of Oaxaca in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, flowing for toward the Gulf of M ...

. It was constructed starting in 1979 and was opened by president

Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...

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 League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. The Gavilanes de Minatitlán (Minatitlán Hawks) play in the

Veracruz Winter League The Veracruz Winter League (Spanish: Liga Invernal Veracruzana de Béisbol Profesional) is a professional baseball winter league, representing the Mexican state of Veracruz, taking place between the months of October and January. It is currently ...

. Both teams' homefield is the Parque 18 de marzo de 1938.

Notable people

* Actress

Blanca Estela Pavón María Blanca Estela Pavón Vasconcelos (February 21, 1926 – September 26, 1949) was a Mexican film actress and singer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. She appeared in many classic films of the 1940s as a young woman. Her career peaked ...

was born in Minatitlán in 1926. * Artist

Francisco Toledo Francisco Benjamín López Toledo (17 July 1940 – 5 September 2019) was a Mexican Zapotec painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. In a career that spanned seven decades, Toledo produced thousands of works of art and became widely regarded a ...

attended school in Minatitlán in the 1940s.

Climate

References

External links

Lomas de Tacojalpa Archaeological Site

International Airport Minatitlán

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 Populated coastal places in Mexico