The Pantepec River is a river of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

that belongs to the Tuxpan River basin, on the Gulf of Mexico slope. The Pantepec River is considered the upper course of the Tuxpan River. The Pantepec River begins in the mountains of the state of

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

, it crosses the Sierra Norte de Puebla, enters the state of

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

and goes down to the Gulf Coastal Plain in the state of

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 ...

. After converging with the

Vinazco River The Vinazco River is a river of Mexico. See also *List of rivers of Mexico References

* *The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984. *Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993. Rivers of Mexico {{Mexico-river-stub ...

, it becomes known as Tuxpan, and ends up flowing into the Gulf of Mexico at the municipality of

Tuxpan Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 78,523 and of the municipality was 134,394 inhabitants, according to the INEGI census o ...

, Veracruz. The river is about 130 kilometers long. It is formed by the springs of the eastern slope of the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

, and along its course towards the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

it receives the waters of numerous tributaries in the Sierra Norte of Puebla. Due to the great rainfall in this river basin, during the rainy season it usually suffers floods, some of which have caused great social disasters. In October 1999, the Pantepec River swept away several houses in the municipality of Huehuetla, Hidalgo, and 254 people in the state of Puebla. When the Pantepec overflows, the soft soils of the Sierra Norte break away from the mountain slopes, and this endangers its inhabitants, especially between the months of June and October, when the rains are highest in the region.

References

*Atlas of Mexico, 1975 (https://www.webcitation.org/689BebJNR?url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_mexico/river_basins.jpg). *The Prentice Hall American World Atlas, 1984. *Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993. Rivers of Mexico {{Mexico-river-stub