Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

; one of the 31 states which, along with

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities. It is located in northeast Mexico and is bordered by the states of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

to the west,

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

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, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

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

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and to the east it is bordered by 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 ...

. In addition to the capital city,

Ciudad Victoria Ciudad Victoria () (English: ''Victoria City'') is the seat of the Victoria Municipality, Tamaulipas, Municipality of Victoria, and the capital of the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. It is located in the Northern Mexico, n ...

, the state's largest cities include

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

, Matamoros,

Nuevo Laredo Nuevo Laredo () is a city in the Municipality of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. The city lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, across from Laredo, Texas, Laredo, United States. The 2010 census popula ...

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 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 pre-Columbian ancestors of the modern day Huastec people ...

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 languages, Southern Athabaskan Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people, who have lived in the Oasisamerica, Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European ...

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 Bajío region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" t ...

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

settlement in the area was

in 1554. Further settlement was done by

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

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 New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

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. Nuevo Santander was named after Santander, Cantabri ...

. 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 (, ), 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 ...

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 The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

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 forming the crossroads of Central, South and West Texas, United States. It is named in honor of Haden Edwards. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east; the Llano Uplift and the Lla ...

, 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 The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

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 (, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from the Spanish Empire. It was not a single, coherent event, but local and regional ...

from Spain, and the fall of the

Mexican Empire Mexican Empire may refer to: * First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire (, ) was a constitutional monarchy and the first independent government of Mexico. It was also the only former viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy af ...

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

United Mexican States Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Slavery was formally abolished by the 1824 Constitution. During the fights between centralists and federalists that after independence, the successful

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

led to the creation of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

in 1836. The new republic claimed as part of its territory northern Tamaulipas. In 1840, it became a part of the short-lived

Republic of the Rio Grande The Republic of the Rio Grande () was one of a series of political movements in what was then the Centralist Republic of Mexico, which sought to become independent from the authoritarian, unitary government of Antonio López de Santa Anna; t ...

. In 1848, after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, 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. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

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 had been dismissed by President James K. Polk as the negotiator with the Mexican government, he negotiated the T ...

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 politician who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence and afte ...

, first

President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

. 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 is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

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 prohibited. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave s ...

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 José María Jesús Carbajal (1809–1874) (also spelled Carvajal, Caravajal, Carabajal, and Carbahal) was a Mexican Tejano who opposed the Centralist government installed by Antonio López de Santa Anna, but was a conscientious objector who refus ...

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 a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

efforts were also directed towards

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

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. Wary that Spain's rule in Cuba was unsustainable, López sought to hav ...

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

Maximilian Maximilian or Maximillian (Maximiliaan in Dutch and Maximilien in French) is a male 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 (1 ...

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 Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1 ...

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 The Second Mexican Empire (; ), officially known as the Mexican Empire (), was a constitutional monarchy established in Mexico by Mexican monarchists with the support of the Second French Empire. This period is often referred to as the Second ...

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 significan ...

began to blossom, especially with the coming of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 Hamburg, Manch ...

city but also as an industrial and commercial center. The railroad allowed goods to flow quickly from the

mines Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

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 (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, including efforts to increase the price of fish and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

on the international market. During the 1970s,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

was experiencing the

Colombian Conflict The Colombian conflict () 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 guerrilla groups fighting each other to increase their i ...

, leading to the rise of illicit criminal organizations like the Cali Cartel and

Medellín Cartel The Medellín Cartel () 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 to be the first major ...

led by drug traffickers like

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

and

Fabio Ochoa Vásquez Fabio Ochoa Vásquez (born May 2, 1957) is a former leading member of the Medellín Cartel, along with his older brothers Juan David and Jorge Luis. His role briefly made him a billionaire. He was extradited to the US and served 25 years o ...

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

Gulf Cartel The Gulf Cartel ( , or ''Golfos'') is a criminal syndicate, Drug cartel, drug trafficking organization, and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, which is perhaps one of the oldest organized crime groups in Mexico. It is currently bas ...

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 the ...

, Juaréz Cartel,

Guadalajara Cartel The Guadalajara Cartel (), also known as The Federation (), was a Mexican drug cartel which was formed in the late 1970s by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo in order to ship cocaine and marijuan ...

, and a new group of

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

drug traffickers called

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

. 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 that participated in the

Chiapas conflict The Chiapas conflict (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Conflicto de Chiapas'') consisted of the Zapatista uprising, 1994 Zapatista uprising, the 1995 Zapatista Crisis, 1995 Zapatista crisis, and the subsequent tension between the Federal government o ...

defected as

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

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 and designated terrorist organization, known as one of the most dangerous of Mexico's drug cartels. They are known for engaging in brutally violent " shock and awe" tactics suc ...

. They did incursions in states like

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

and merged La Familia Michoacana as an enforcer group from 2004 to 2006. In 2006, their crimes resulted in the

Mexican drug war The Mexican drug war is an List of ongoing armed conflicts, ongoing Asymmetric warfare, asymmetric armed conflict between the Federal government of Mexico, Mexican government and various Drug cartel#Mexico, drug trafficking syndicates. When the ...

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 Ca ...

Geography

The

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...

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 (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

species and

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

. Predominant fauna in the region include the

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(''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 weasel found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-t ...

(''Mustela frenata''),

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

(''Leopardus pardalis''), American badger (''Taxidea taxus''),

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

(''Castor canadensis''),

plain chachalaca The plain chachalaca (''Ortalis vetula'') is a large bird in the chachalaca, guan and curassow family Cracidae. It breeds in tropical and subtropical environments from mezquital thickets in the Rio Grande Valley in southernmost Texas, United St ...

(''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 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 ...

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 ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern ...

, represents the northern frontier shared with the United States. One of the tributaries of this natural border, the San Juan River, feeds the . Agricultural and cattle-raising activities are served by 14 other dams across the state, with a total capacity of of water. File:Rio Grande SE of Falcon Reservoir, Municipality of Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico (12 August 2007).jpg,

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

southeast of

Falcon Reservoir Falcon International Reservoir (), commonly called Falcon Lake, is a reservoir on the Rio Grande 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Laredo, Texas, United States, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The huge lake is bounded by Starr and Zapata ...

, 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 Mexico, Mexican state of Tamaulipas near the town of Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Gómez Farias. The ...

, 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 A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

. In the centre, north, and towards southwest, an

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

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 se ...

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 ...

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

Government and infrastructure

State agencies include: * Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (Tamaulipas) * Secretetaria De Obras Publica * Fiscalia General De Justica Tamaulipas * Guardia 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

maquiladora A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty (economics), duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present thro ...

s, 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, 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 s ...

industries. There are petrochemical production plants around Altamira 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 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 ...

and many oil-industry support service companies in

, as well as a major

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

and

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is Product (business), product cargo that is transported packaging, unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, ...

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 La Pesca is a small town in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the Río Soto La Marina, between the Laguna Madre to the north and the Laguna Morales to the south. It stands due east of state cap ...

, 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 o ...

, about midway between

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...

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 The Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (in ) is a Mexican public university based in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. Throughout the larger cities of Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Tampico and smaller cities of Ciudad Mante and Valle Hermo ...

(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% of the homes had only dirt floors, nearly 19% had no running water, and over 15% 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% 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 total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

or 21,664 million USD. Tamaulipas's economy has a strong focus on export oriented manufacturing (i.e.

/ 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

More than 200,000 people born in the southern neighboring state of Veracruz are economic immigrants that travel to work in the maquila industry.

Education

Tamaulipas enjoys standards slightly higher than the national averages, with illiteracy 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 (IEST) * Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Madero (ITCM) *

Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas The Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (in ) is a Mexican public university based in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. Throughout the larger cities of Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Tampico and smaller cities of Ciudad Mante and Valle H ...

* Tec Campus Tampico (ITESM)

Transportation

Airports

Tamaulipas is served by five 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 Matamoros International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional General Servando Canales'' (General Servando Canales International Airport) () is an international airport located in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexico b ...

is served by:

Quetzalcóatl International Airport Nuevo Laredo International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional Quetzalcóatl'' () (Quetzalcóatl International Airport) () is an international airport located in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the U.S.-Mexico border. It ser ...

is served by:

General Lucio Blanco International Airport Reynosa International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional General Lucio Blanco'' (General Lucio Blanco International Airport) () is an international airport located in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, near the Mexico–United States bor ...

is served by:

General Francisco Javier Mina International Airport Tampico International Airport (); officially ''Aeropuerto Internacional General Francisco Javier Mina'' (General Francisco Javier Mina International Airport) () is an international airport situated in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico. It manages air t ...

Media

Newspapers A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...

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 José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''J ...

, diplomat and economist, Secretary-General of the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

. *

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 earl ...

, Regional Mexican musical group *

Fito Olivares Rodolfo Olivares (April 19, 1947 – March 17, 2023), known as Fito Olivares, was a Mexican cumbia musician. Early life Olivares was born on April 19, 1947 in Ciudad Camargo, Tamaulipas, the son of María Cristina Olivares and Mucio Olivares. ...

, Cumbia singer/musician * Alicja Bachleda-Curus, actress, singer *

Rosemary Barkett Rosemary Barkett (née Barakat; born August 29, 1939) is an American judge of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal located in The Hague, Netherlands since 2013. Previously, she served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Co ...

, US judge *

Jean-Louis Berlandier Jean-Louis Berlandier (1803 – 1851) was a French-Mexican natural history, naturalist, physician, and anthropologist. Early life Berlandier was born in Geneva, and later trained as a Botany, botanist there. During this time he probably served a ...

(1803–1851) French-Mexican naturalist, physician, and anthropologist. *

James Carlos Blake James Carlos Blake (May 26, 1943 – January 11, 2025) was an American novelist as well as a writer of novellas, short stories, and essays. His work has received extensive critical favor and several notable awards. He has been called “one of th ...

, award-winning novelist *

, Mexican freedom fighter, military governor of Tamaulipas *

Linda Christian Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer; November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara ...

, actress * Ivan Contreras, volleyball olympics *

Ana Brenda Contreras Ana Brenda Contreras Pérez (born 24 December 1986), also known as Ana Breco, is a Mexican actress. From 2010 to 2011, she played Aurora Alcázar in the telenovela ''Teresa''. From 2018 to 2019, Contreras starred as Cristal Jennings in The CW' ...

, actress, singer * Amalia González Caballero de Castillo Ledón, diplomat, cabinet minister, minister plenipotentiary, writer, * Laura Elizondo, beauty queen/model *

Juan García Esquivel Juan García Esquivel (January 20, 1918 – January 3, 2002), often known mononymously as Esquivel!, was a Mexican band leader, pianist, and composer for television and films. He is recognized today as one of the foremost exponents of a sophist ...

, composer/band leader/pianist *

Laura Flores Laura Aurora Flores Heras (born August 23, 1963) is a Mexican actress, hostess and singer. Biography Laura Flores had a hit single "El Alma No Tiene Color" ("The Soul Has No Color"), which was a duet with Marco Antonio Solís taken from the ...

, actress *

Manuel González Flores José Manuel del Refugio González Flores (17 June 1833 – 8 May 1893) was a Mexican general and liberal politician who served as the 35th President of Mexico from 1880 to 1884. Before initiating his presidential career, González played i ...

, general and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1880 to 1884. * Víctor García, singer *

Elma González Elma L. González (born June 6, 1942) is a Mexican-born American plant cell biologist. She is Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1974, she was appointed professor of cell and mo ...

, plant cell biologist * Rodrigo González, musician and songwriter *

Emilio Portes Gil Emilio Cándido Portes Gil (; 3 October 1890 – 10 December 1978) was a Mexican politician, lawyer and diplomat who served as the 48th President of Mexico from 1928 to 1930, one of three to serve out the six-year term of President-elect Gener ...

, president of Mexico after the death of Alvaro Obregon in 1928. * Alejandro Gomez Monteverde, director/producer *

Manuel Raga Manuel "Manolo" Raga Navarro (born March 14, 1944) is a Mexican former professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was nicknamed, "The Flying Mexican", due to his nationality and his one of a kind 43 inch standing (no step) vert ...

, basketball player * Aurora Robles, model * James de La Rosa, welterweight boxer *

Juan de la Rosa Juan Pedro de la Rosa (born August 7, 1986) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the brother of welterweight boxer James de la Rosa. Personal life De la Rosa's father is Mexican and his mother is an African-American. His paternal grandfather ...

, boxer on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's show The Contender *

Arleth Terán Arleth Rocío Terán Sotelo (; born 3 December 1976), known professionally as Arleth Terán, is a Mexican actress appearing on TV soap operas. Early life Arleth studied acting at "Centro de Educacion Televisa" and went on to television. She d ...

, actress *

Rigo Tovar Rigoberto Tovar García (March 29, 1946 – March 27, 2005), better known as Rigo Tovar, was a Mexican musician. Famous for his cumbias, Tovar infused traditional Mexican and Latin music with modern instruments like the electric guitar and synth ...

, singer/songwriter/composer/actor * Ismael Valdez, former starting pitcher in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

Eduardo Verástegui José Eduardo Verástegui Córdoba (; born May 21, 1974) is a Mexican actor, activist, singer, and producer. He was part of the band Kairo and later embarked on a solo music career before he started appearing in Mexican telenovelas and eventuall ...

, actor/model *

B. Traven B. Traven (; Bruno Traven in some accounts) was the pen name of a novelist, presumed to be German, known for his novels on injustice and exploitation around the world, and especially in Mexico. His name, nationality, date and place of birth hav ...

, German author and activist * Juan Garcia Abrego, drug criminal *

Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Juan Nepomuceno Guerra Cárdenas (July 18, 1915 – July 12, 2001) was a Mexican drug lord who founded and led the Gulf Cartel for over 50 years. He is often considered the "godfather" of U.S–Mexico border cartels. He began his criminal caree ...

, smuggler/founder of C.D.G. * Mauricio Garces, actor *

Mayra Flores Mayra Nohemi Flores (born January 1, 1986) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first female Mexican-born member of the House. ...

, 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 Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. Given name Artists and musicians * Aldo Sambrell (1931–2010), Spanish actor also known as Alfredo Sa ...

. 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

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 Nueva Ciudad Guerrero (''New Guerrero City'') is a city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It lies on the banks of the Rio Grande / Río Bravo, near the US–Mexico border, opposite to Falcon Heights, Texas. The Lake Falcon Dam Internationa ...

. 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). As of 2021, 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).

Notes

References

External links

*
Tamaulipas state government

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

Etymology

History

Spanish era

Independent Mexico

Geography

Climate

Government and infrastructure

Economy

Demographics

Education

Transportation

Airports

Media

Notable natives and residents

State anthem

Crime

See also

Notes

References

External links