Altamira is a

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' ...

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 ...

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in nor ...

. It is located immediately to the north of the municipalities of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. 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 fif ...

and

Ciudad Madero Ciudad Madero is a coastal city located on the Gulf of Mexico in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. Lying within the metropolitan area of Tampico, it is the seventh most populous city in the state, with a census-estimated ...

, at the southern tip of the state of

, on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Additionally, it borders the municipalities of González on the west and Aldama on the north, as well as Pánuco 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, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

on the southeast. ''Altamira'' can also refer to the city, founded in 1749, that is its municipal seat and second-largest community. The municipality is primarily made up of the cities of Miramar and Altamira, in addition to many smaller outlying towns such as

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, and the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle", an ...

. The municipality has a total area of 1,666.53 km² (643.45 sq mi). According to the

INEGI The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI from its former name in ) is an autonomous agency of the Government of Mexico, Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Statistical and Geographical Information ...

2010 census, the municipality has a population of 212,001 people. The city of Miramar had a population of 118,614 and the city of Altamira had a population of 59,536.

Economy

The municipality is the industrial and port center for the region; although the Tampico docks on the

Pánuco River The Pánuco River (, ), 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 through or borders the ...

are used for loose cargo, the Port of Altamira handles all the containerised cargos. Altamira's advantage is having a sea Port with a great territorial reserve of approximately 9500 hectares. Altamira has land and rail connections to connect all companies with the main consumer markets and production hubs in Mexico, highlighting the northeastern zone, which includes the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila. Because of its privileged geographical location, the Port of Altamira is easily accessible to the world's main shipping lines, enabling it to reach any market in every continent. The Port of Altamira was conceived under the Industrial Port Model; this means an industrial Park with its own Port. This situation results in multiple advantages for investors, since there is enough space and capacity to develop many industries which will have a nearby sea port available. Businesses can make their logistic processes more efficient, resulting in economic benefits. A large industrial sector, mainly involved in petro-chemicals, provides much employment and tax revenue; it includes foreign companies such as

Chemours The Chemours Company (, ) is an American chemical industry, chemical company that was founded in July 2015 as a Corporate spin-off, spin-off from DuPont. It has its corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. Chemours is the m ...

SABIC Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (), known as SABIC (), is a Saudi chemical manufacturing company. 70% of SABIC's shares are owned by Saudi Aramco. It is active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers and fertilizers. It is the second ...

BASF BASF SE (), an initialism of its original name , is a European Multinational corporation, multinational company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Ge ...

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

, etc. The state is trying to encourage construction of a new oil refinery for further integration. In 2014 President Pena announced that Mexico was ending its monopoly and opening oil and gas exploration to private companies; he hopes to stimulate both large and small-scale projects.

Education

Tamaulipas Institute of Higher Education The Tamaulipas Institute of Higher Education (), or IEST for its acronym in Spanish, is a private university in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico founded in 1974. It is one of the most recognized universities along with ITESM Campus Tampico in the sout ...

References

Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Tamaulipas
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México {{coord, 22.396, N, 97.937, W, display=title, source:eswiki Municipalities of Tamaulipas