Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, comprise the 32 Federal Entities 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 ...

. It is divided into 43 municipalities. Tamaulipas is bordered by the states of Nuevo León to the west, San Luis Potosí to the southwest, and

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 ...

to the southeast. To the north, it has a stretch of the U.S.–Mexico border with the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, and to the east it is bordered by the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an 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 the United ...

. In addition to the capital city,

Ciudad Victoria Ciudad Victoria () is the seat of the Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the northeast of Mexico at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It borders the municipality of Güémez to t ...

, the state's largest cities include

Reynosa Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of the state of Tamaulipas, in Mexico. It is also the municipal seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande in the international Reynosa–McAllen Me ...

, Matamoros,

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, United States. The 2010 census population of the city was 373,725. Nuevo Lar ...

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

, and Mante.

Etymology

The name Tamaulipas is derived from ''Tamaholipa'', a

Huastec Huastec can refer to either: *Huastec people, an indigenous group of Mexico *Huastec language (also called "Wasteko" and "Teenek"), spoken by the Huastec people * Huastec civilization The Huastec civilization (sometimes spelled Huaxtec or Wastek ...

term in which the ''tam-'' prefix signifies "place (where)". No scholarly agreement exists on the meaning of ''holipa'', but "high hills" is a common interpretation. Another explanation of the state name is that it is derived from ''Ta ma ho'lipam'' ("place where the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

prey").

History

The area known as Tamaulipas has been inhabited for at least 8,000 years. Several different cultures (north coastal, south coastal, lowlands, and mountains) have come and gone during that period. Tamaulipas was originally populated by the nomad

Chichimec Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajio region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that desc ...

and sedentary

, in addition to non-Chichimec hunter-gatherer and fishing tribes.

Spanish era

A gradual process was needed for Spain to subjugate the inhabitants of Tamaulipas in the 16th and 17th centuries. The first permanent

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

settlement in the area was

in 1554. Further settlement was done by

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

missionaries; widespread cattle and sheep ranching by the Spanish bolstered the area's economy while forcing native populations from their original lands. Repeated indigenous rebellions kept the area unstable and weakened colonial interest in the region. What is now Tamaulipas was first incorporated as a separate province of New Spain in 1746 with the name

Nuevo Santander Nuevo Santander (New Santander) was a region of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, covering the modern Mexican state of Tamaulipas and extending into modern-day southern Texas in the United States. A history of Texas, commissioned by the U.S. governm ...

. The local government capital during this time moved from Santander to San Carlos, and finally to Aguayo. The territory of this time spanned from the San Antonio River to the northeast to the Gulf of Mexico, then south to the

Pánuco River The Pánuco River ( es, Río Pánuco, ), also known as the ''Río de Canoas'', is a river in Mexico fed by several tributaries including the Moctezuma River and emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The river is approximately long and passes throu ...

near Tampico and west to the Sierra Madre Mountains. The area became a haven for rebellious Indians who fled there after increased Spanish settlements in Nuevo León and Coahuila. In 1784 Nuevo Santander (Tamaulipas) led by Escandón, annexed San Antonio de los Llanos and its dependencies on the Purificación lagoon together with a certain number of ranches on the right bank of the Río Grande that belonged to Nuevo León. New settlements were then founded and the line of towns along the Rio Grande would later be dubbed the “villas del norte,” or northern towns (Laredo, Revilla uerrero Mier, Camargo, and Reynosa) which were established as a key part of Escandón’s plan for the pacification and colonization of the province. These settlements, from Laredo to Reynosa, served as a defensive line for larger centers of population in the Mexican interior. Moreover, the villas functioned as a means to introduce Spanish “civilization” to the indigenous groups of the area. The Tamaulipas-Nuevo Leon border likely runs along old Mesquite Posts. In the mid-17th century, various Apache bands from the Southern Plains, after acquiring horses from Europeans in New Mexico, moved southeastward into the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...

, displacing the native hunting and gathering groups. One of these groups was known as Lipan (see Hodge 1907 Vol. I:769 for a confusing list of synonyms). After 1750, when most Apache groups of the Central Texas highlands were displaced by Comanche and moved into the coastal plain of southern Texas, the Europeans of the San Antonio area began referring to all Apache groups in southern Texas as Lipan or Lipan Apache. Many Indian groups of missions in southern Texas and northeastern Mexico had recently been displaced from their territory through the southward push by the Lipan Apaches and were still hostile toward Apaches, linking arms with the local Spanish authorities against their common foe. By 1790, Europeans turned their attention from the aboriginal groups and focused on containing the Apache invaders. In northeastern Coahuila and adjacent Texas, Spanish and Apache displacements created an unusual ethnic mix. Here, the local Indians mixed with displaced groups from Coahuila and Chihuahua and Texas. Some groups, to escape the pressure, combined and migrated north into the Central Texas highlands.

Independent Mexico

In 1824, after the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

from Spain, and the fall of the

Mexican Empire Mexican Empire may refer to: * First Mexican Empire, the regime under Agustín de Iturbide (Agustín I) from 1821 to 1823 * Second Mexican Empire The Second Mexican Empire (), officially the Mexican Empire (), was a constitutional monarchy est ...

, Tamaulipas was one of the 19 founder states of the new

United Mexican States 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 ...

. Slavery was formally abolished by the 1824 Constitution. During the fights between centralists and federalists that after independence, the successful Texas Revolution led to the creation of the Republic of Texas in 1836. The new republic claimed as part of its territory northern Tamaulipas. Political divisions of Mexico 1824 (location map scheme)

Political divisions of Mexico 1824 (location map scheme)

In 1840, it became a part of the short-lived

Republic of the Rio Grande The Republic of the Rio Grande ( es, República del Río Grande) was an independent nation that insurgents fighting against the Centralist Republic of Mexico sought to establish in northern Mexico. The Republic of the Rio Grande was one of a se ...

. In 1848, after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, Tamaulipas lost more than a quarter of its territory via the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. American president

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

had desired to annex Mexican territory as far south as

although his negotiator

Nicholas Trist Nicholas Philip Trist (June 2, 1800 – February 11, 1874) was an American lawyer, diplomat, planter, and businessman. Even though he was dismissed by President James K. Polk as the negotiator with the Mexican government, he negotiated the Treat ...

disregarded this and settled on a border with Texas on the Rio Grande. Its capital was kept at Aguayo, which later was renamed

in honor of

Guadalupe Victoria Guadalupe Victoria (; 29 September 178621 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and political leader who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He ...

, first

President of Mexico The president of Mexico ( es, link=no, Presidente de México), officially the president of the United Mexican States ( es, link=no, Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Co ...

. In the wake of the war, Tamaulipas remained an object of interest to American expansionists. The climate was considered suitable for the spread of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

by Southerners who desired the admission of new territory to shift the balance in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

back towards the

slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...

s. Senator

Albert Gallatin Brown Albert Gallatin Brown (May 31, 1813June 12, 1880) was Governor of Mississippi from 1844 to 1848 and a Democratic United States Senator from Mississippi from 1854 to 1861, when he withdrew during secession. Early life He was born to Joseph and ...

declared "I want Tamaulipas, Potosi, and one or two other Mexican states; and I want them all for the same reason - for the plantation and spreading of slavery". In the 1850s José María Jesús Carbajal led several incursions into Tamaulipas before being indicted for violating the Neutrality Act.

Filibustering A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

efforts were also directed towards

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

with the

Lopez Expedition The Lopez Expedition (Spanish: Expedición López) of 1851 was an attempt led by Narciso López to invade and seize control of Cuba which was then part of the Spanish Empire. The force comprising 420 Cuban emigres and American volunteers landed in ...

, which was desired for the same reason as Tamaulipas. The French occupation and reign of Emperor

Maximilian Maximilian, Maximillian or Maximiliaan (Maximilien in French) is a male given name. The name " Max" is considered a shortening of "Maximilian" as well as of several other names. List of people Monarchs *Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459� ...

during the 1860s was difficult for Tamaulipas, at least on the borders and in the city of Tampico. Portions of Tamaulipas supported the republican forces led by President

Benito Juarez Benito may refer to: Places * Benito, Kentucky, United States * Benito, Manitoba, Canada * Benito River, a river in Equatorial Guinea Other uses * Benito (name) * ''Benito'' (1993), an Italian film See also * '' Benito Cereno'', a novella by ...

in resisting the French, especially in the north. Two years after French occupation began, Tamaulipas as a state finally acceded to Maximilian's rule, and the last French soldiers left the state in 1866, leading up to Maximilian's execution and fall of the Second Mexican Empire in 1867. However, the years after Maximilian's defeat were ones of rebuilding and great growth in Tamaulipas.

International trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

began to blossom, especially with the coming of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to Tampico, which was developing as not only a

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 H ...

city but also as an industrial and commercial center. The railroad allowed goods to flow quickly from the mines and cities of the interior and the Texas border to Tampico for processing and shipment. This, in turn, caused significant growth in towns such as Matamoros and Nuevo Laredo. Since the revolution of 1910, successive governments have dedicated themselves to building industry and infrastructure in Tamaulipas, including communications and educational systems. Norberto Treviño Zapata founded the state university system, as well as reformed the state oil industry. Marte Gómez provided increased farm sizes for private family farmers. And more recently, Emilio Martínez Manautou led industrial growth. Lately, a push has been to strengthen

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, including efforts to increase the price of fish and shellfish on the international market. During the 1970s, Colombia was experiencing the

Colombian Conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...

, leading to the rise of illicit criminal organizations like the

Cali Cartel The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away f ...

and

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...

led by drug traffickers like Pablo Escobar and

Fabio Ochoa Vásquez Fabio Ochoa Vásquez (born May 2, 1957) is a former leading member of the Medellín cocaine trafficking cartel, along with his older brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis. His role briefly made him a billionaire. After serving a brief prison te ...

. In Mexico, there had already existed various illicit organizations doing drug trafficking like the Gulf Cartel,

Milenio Cartel The Milenio Cartel, or Cártel de los Valencia (Valencia family Cartel), was a Mexican criminal organization based in Michoacán. It relocated to Jalisco in the early 2000s. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was born from the splintering of t ...

, Juaréz Cartel,

Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel ( es, Cártel de Guadalajara) also known as The Federation ( es, La Federación, link=no) was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fo ...

, and a new group of

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

drug traffickers called

La Familia Michoacana La Familia Michoacana, (English: ''The Michoacán Family'') La Familia (English: ''The Family''), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. They are known to produce large amounts o ...

. The Gulf Cartel was in charge of the State of Tamaulipas and other gulf coast states, leading to the drug trafficking rates going high in the 1990s. Around that time, a group of defectors from the

Mexican Special Forces In Mexico, both the army and navy have special forces groups or elite units. Army Special Forces The Army has a Special Forces Corps unified command consisting of three Special Forces Brigades, a High Command GAFE (Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Esp ...

that participated in the

Chiapas conflict The Chiapas conflict ( Spanish: ''Conflicto de Chiapas'') comprises the 1994 Zapatista uprising, the 1995 Zapatista crisis and ensuing tension between the Mexican state and the indigenous peoples and subsistence farmers of Chiapas from the 1990 ...

defected as

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Osiel Cárdenas Guillén (born 18 May 1967) is a Mexican drug lord and the former leader of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Originally a mechanic in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, he entered the cartel by killing Juan García Abrego's friend and comp ...

made them promises that they would receive better wages if they worked as the enforcer group of the Gulf Cartel called

Los Zetas Los Zetas (, Spanish for "The Zs") is a Mexican criminal syndicate, regarded as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent "shock and awe" tactics such as beheadings, torture, and indiscr ...

. They did incursions in states like Michoacán and merged La Familia Michoacana as an enforcer group from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, their crimes resulted in the Mexican drug war and

Joint Operation Nuevo León-Tamaulipas Joint Operation Nuevo León-Tamaulipas is an anti-drug joint operation in two Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León by Federal Police and the Mexican Armed Forces. The objective of the joint operation is to eliminate Los Zetas and Gulf ...

Geography

Sierra Madre Oriental - La Independencia Jaumave, Tam

The

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted tow ...

crosses the southern part of the municipality of Victoria. The coastal plains along the Gulf have a large presence in the state, whereas inland the landscape is adorned by

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

species and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

. Predominant fauna in the region include the cougar (''Puma concolor''),

long-tailed weasel The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central A ...

(''Mustela frenata''), ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis''),

American badger The American badger (''Taxidea taxus'') is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-cent ...

(''Taxidea taxus''),

North American beaver The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and introduced in South America ( Patagonia) and Europe (primarily Finland ...

(''Castor canadensis''), plain chachalaca (''Ortalis vetula'') and

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

. In the western part of the state, the Sierra Madre Oriental displays warm valleys and high sierras with peaks reaching in the Pedragoso Sierra; in the Borregos Sierra; in La Gloria Sierra; in Cerro el Nacimiento; and above sea level in the Sierra el Pinal. The

Sierra de Tamaulipas The Sierra de Tamaulipas is an isolated, semi-tropical mountain range in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Its highest point is . There are no cities or towns in the Sierra and the small population is largely agricultural. The higher elevations o ...

and the Sierra de San Carlos are isolated mountain ranges in eastern Tamaulipas. In terms of hydrology, the Bravo, Purificacion, and Guayalejo Rivers flow into the Gulf of Mexico after crossing the state from the western inland. On their way, their basins and zones of influence naturally correspond to the areas destined for agricultural use. The Rio Grande, known to Mexicans as the

Río Bravo The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

, represents the northern frontier shared with the United States. One of the tributaries of this natural border, the San Juan River, feeds the Marte R. Gómez Dam. Agricultural and cattle-raising activities are served by 14 other dams across the state, with a total capacity of 7,500 million m³ of water. File:Rio Grande SE of Falcon Reservoir, Municipality of Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico (12 August 2007).jpg, Rio Grande ca. 3 miles southeast of Falcon Reservoir, Municipality of Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico (August 2007) File:Thornscrub south of Reynosa, Municipality of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico (13 August 2007).jpg, Thornscrub south of Reynosa, Municipality of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico (August 2007) File:Grassland habitat on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (18 March 2009).jpg, Grassland habitat on the road to Mezquital, Municipality of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (March 2009) File:Rio Sabinas, Municipality of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico (15 April 2001).jpg, Dawn on the Rio Sabinas near Highway 85, Municipality of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico (April 2001) File:El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, Municipality of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico (16 April 2001).jpg, Road into the cloud forest of

El Cielo Biosphere Reserve The El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (''Reserva de la Biosfera El Cielo'' in Spanish) is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental in the southern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near the town of Gómez Farias. The reserve protects the northernmost ...

, Municipality of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico (April 2001) File:Cloud forest vegetation in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, 24 September 2003.jpg, Lush cloud forest vegetation and waterfall in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (August 2004). File:Cloud forest road in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, 24 September 2003.jpg, The few roads in the cloud forest of El Cielo Biosphere Reserve are suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles only (August 2004). File:Cloud forest stream in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, 24 September 2003.jpg, Cloud forest stream in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (August 2004) File:Rio Guayalejo & Cerro del Bernal, Municipality of Gonzlaez, Tamaulipas, Mexico (17 April 2001).jpg, Rio Guayalejo at Highway 80 with silhouette of Cerro del Bernal, Municipality of Gonzlaez, Tamaulipas, Mexico (April 2001) File:Sierra Madre Oriental, Municipality of Miquihuana, Tamaulipas, Mexico (10 August 2003).jpg, Gravel road through the arid interior slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Municipality of Miquihuana, Tamaulipas, Mexico (August 2003)

Climate

About 58% of the state has a hot humid subtropical climate. In the centre, north, and towards southwest, an

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

and

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

predominate (both of these account for 38% of the state). A temperate subtropical climate is found in the extreme southwest of the state while in the extreme southeast, such as

, there is a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

. Mean annual temperature in the state is around while mean annual precipitation is , mostly concentrated between June to September.

Government and infrastructure

State agencies include: * Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (Tamaulipas) * Secretetaria De Obras Publica * Procuraduria General De Justica Tamaulipas * Policia Estatal

Economy

Northern Tamaulipas shares its economic culture with that of

, and is primarily characterized by agriculture and strong growth in all industrial sectors. This region is home to many of the maquiladoras, factories owned by foreign companies but worked by Mexicans, primarily by women. In the state there are important industrial parks such as the

Oradel Industrial Center Oradel Industrial Center is located in the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is an industrial zone funded in 2000 and located on the route that connects the East Zone of the United States with Mexico (11.99 miles away of the World Tr ...

, located in the border city of

. Southern Tamaulipas' economy is primarily based on 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 so ...

industries. There are petrochemical production plants around

Altamira Altamira may refer to: People *Altamira (surname) Places * Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...

as well as a principal Gulf coast

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

port,

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

facilities in Ciudad Madero and many oil-industry support service companies in

, as well as a major

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

and

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude o ...

port. Also of importance are the tourism and fishing industries, as well as much commercial shipping, based in Tampico and Altamira. The little village of La Pesca, in the municipality of

Soto La Marina Soto la Marina is a town in Soto la Marina Municipality located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It was directly hit by Hurricane Alex in 2010. It is located on the banks of the Soto la Marina river, just up river from the small ocean port of L ...

, about midway between Brownsville, Texas and Tampico, is a rapidly growing tourist area with lovely beaches and excellent fishing both in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Soto La Marina. The central zone contains the capital,

, and is home to much forestry and farming, as well as some industrial development. About 30% of the population lives here, both in the capital and in

Ciudad Mante Mante, formally Ciudad Mante, is a city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The city is the municipal seat of El Mante municipality in extreme southern Tamaulipas, and lies in the northwestern portion of the municipality. It had a 2005 census p ...

. Ciudad Victoria is a significant educational center, home to the

Autonomous University of Tamaulipas , mottoeng = Truth, Beauty, Probity , established = , type = Public university , rector = ING. José Andrés Suárez Fernández , faculty = , staff = , students = , undergrad ...

(which also has campuses in other cities in the state), the Regional Technical Institute of Ciudad Victoria, the University of Valle de Bravo, and other institutions of learning. As of the 1990 Mexican census, 13 percent of the homes had only dirt floors, nearly 19 percent had no running water, and over 15 percent of the homes had no electricity. This was better than the national average but was skewed because of the high rate of development in the urban centers. In rural communities in Tamaulipas, access to running water was available in less than 40 percent of homes. As of 2005, Tamaulipas's economy represents 3.3% of Mexico's total

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

or 21,664 million USD. Tamaulipas's economy has a strong focus on export oriented manufacturing (i.e. maquiladora / IMMEX). As of 2005, 258,762 people are employed in the manufacturing sector. Foreign direct investment in Tamaulipas was 386.2 million USD for 2005. The average wage for an employee in Tamaulipas is approximately 240 pesos per day, $2.00 to $3.00 an hour.

Demographics

There is a large number of people (around 200 000 only in the city of Reynosa) born in the southern neighboring state of Veracruz who are economic immigrants that end up working in the maquila industry.

Education

Tamaulipas enjoys standards slightly higher than the national averages, since illiteracy has been reduced to 5% for those over 15 years of age, average schooling reaches 7.8 years, and as many as 11% have earned a professional degree. Institutions of higher education include: *

Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Tamaulipas ) , established = 1974 , type = Private , rector = Gloria Laura Septién Crespo , faculty = , students = , undergrad = , postgrad = , city = Altamira , state = Tamaulipas , country = Mexico , campus ...

(IEST) *

Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Madero Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Madero is a technological institute in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is border ...

(ITCM) *

Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas , mottoeng = Truth, Beauty, Probity , established = , type = Public university , rector = ING. José Andrés Suárez Fernández , faculty = , staff = , students = , undergrad ...

* Tec Campus Tampico (ITESM)

Transportation

Airports

Tamaulipas is served by 5 international airports and one national airport. *

is served by: Ciudad Mante National Airport *

is served by: General Pedro J. Méndez International Airport * Matamoros is served by:

General Servando Canales International Airport General Servando Canales International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional General Servando Canales, ), also known as Matamoros International Airport (), is an international airport located in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexi ...

is served by:

Quetzalcóatl International Airport Quetzalcóatl International Airport (, es, Aeropuerto Internacional Quetzalcóatl, ), also known as Nuevo Laredo International Airport (), is an international airport located in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is situated near the U.S.-Mex ...

is served by:

General Lucio Blanco International Airport General Lucio Blanco International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional General Lucio Blanco, ), also known as Reynosa International Airport (), is an international airport located in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the Mexico–United States ...

is served by:

General Francisco Javier Mina International Airport General Francisco Javier Mina International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional General Francisco Javier Mina, ), also known as Tampico International Airport () formerly , is an international airport located at Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It ...

Media

Newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

of Tamaulipas include: ''El Bravo'', ''El Diario de Ciudad Victoria'', ''El Mañana'', ''El Mañana de Reynosa'', ''El Mercurio de Tamaulipas'', ''El Sol de la Tarde'', ''El Sol de Tampico'', ''Hora Cero Tamaulipas'', ''La Razón'', ''La Tarde'', ''La Verdad de Tamaulipas'', ''Milenio'', ''Periódico Valle del Norte'', and ''Siempre con la verdad a tiempo.''

Notable natives and residents

* José Ángel Gurría Treviño, diplomat and economist, Secretary-General of the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

. *

Intocable Intocable ("Untouchable" in English) is an American band from Zapata, Texas that plays Regional Mexican music; specializing in Norteño and Tejano music. It was started by friends Ricardo Javier Muñoz and René Orlando Martínez in the ear ...

, Regional Mexican musical group * Fito Olivares, Cumbia singer/musician * Alicja Bachleda-Curus, actress, singer * Rosemary Barkett, US judge * Jean-Louis Berlandier (1803 – 1851) French-Mexican naturalist, physician, and anthropologist. * James Carlos Blake, award-winning novelist * José María Jesús Carbajal, Mexican freedom fighter, military governor of Tamaulipas * Linda Christian, actress * Ivan Contreras, volleyball olympics * Ana Brenda Contreras, actress, singer * Amalia González Caballero de Castillo Ledón, diplomat, cabinet minister, minister plenipotentiary, writer, * Laura Elizondo, beauty queen/model * Juan García Esquivel, composer/band leader/pianist * Laura Flores, actress * Rafael Aguilar Guajardo, drug criminal * Manuel González Flores, general and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1880 to 1884. * Víctor García (Mexican singer), Víctor García, singer *Elma González, plant cell biologist * Rodrigo González (Mexican musician), Rodrigo González, musician and songwriter * Emilio Portes Gil, president of Mexico after the death of Alvaro Obregon in 1928. * Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, director/producer * Manuel Raga, basketball player * Aurora Robles, model * James de La Rosa, welterweight boxer * Juan de la Rosa, boxer on the NBC's show The Contender (television series), The Contender * Arleth Terán, actress * Rigo Tovar, singer/songwriter/composer/actor * Ismael Valdez, former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball * Eduardo Verástegui, actor/model * B. Traven, German author and activist * Juan Garcia Abrego, drug criminal * Juan Nepomuceno Guerra, smuggler/founder of C.D.G. * Mauricio Garces, actor * Mayra Flores, politician, first Mexican-born American congressperson

State anthem

The current anthem of the state of Tamaulipas is ', composed in 1926 by Rafael Antonio Pérez Pérez, set to music by Alfredo Tamayo Marín. Normally, only the chorus, first verse and chorus are sung in public.

Crime

This state is known to be the site of a territorial struggle between the Gulf Cartel and

. The resulting deaths and unresolved kidnappings from the gang violence have been described as a "humanitarian tragedy". The state of Tamaulipas is one of the most affected by violence in the country, mainly caused by organized crime. In February 2010, an armed conflict broke out between the criminal groups known as the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, resulting in many border cities becoming "ghost towns"; such is the case of the border strip known as "La Frontera Chica" made up of the cities of Miguel Alemán, Mier, Camargo and Nueva Ciudad Guerrero. In November 2010, the Mexican army, together with the Federal Police and the Navy, launched an operation around the north of the state of Tamaulipas, allowing hundreds of families to return to their homes after months of exile in other states, mainly in municipalities like Mier, where around 4,000 people returned. According to INEGI, in 2012 Tamaulipas contained 9 municipalities with a homicide rate higher than 100 per 100,000 inhabitants: Cruillas (106), San Fernando (175), Llera (159), Mier (156), Güémez (141), Hidalgo (135), Nuevo Laredo (134), González (109) and Soto la Marina (100). On the other hand, the municipalities that had had the most intentional homicides in 2012 were Nuevo Laredo (536 homicides), Victoria (165) and San Fernando (102). In 2013, 880 homicides were recorded in the state, giving a rate of 25 per 100,000 inhabitants. This placed it that year in the 9th position of the states with the most homicides in Mexico. In 2013, Tamaulipas reached the first national place in kidnappings with 275 known cases and the ninth place in violent highway robbery (68 cases). Currently Tamaulipas continues to be affected by violence, this being one of the factors that have greatly hindered the economic and social activity of the state. In 2014 it was estimated that the losses due to violence by each company in Tamaulipas reached an average of 95 thousand pesos per year (fourth highest in the country). This placed it above the national average in terms of cost of crime for each company (13,600 pesos against the national average of 12,800).

References

External links

*
Tamaulipas state government

Ley de Escudo de Armas y el Himno de Tamaulipas
{{Authority control Tamaulipas, States of Mexico States and territories established in 1824 1824 establishments in Mexico