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 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the capital in September 1847, Mexico e ...

. 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 Mexican Revolution, 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 Commercial fishing, fishing, including efforts to increase the price of fish and shellfish on the international market. During the 1970s, Colombia was experiencing the Colombian Conflict, leading to the rise of illicit criminal organizations like the Cali Cartel and Medellín Cartel led by drug traffickers like Pablo Escobar and Fabio Ochoa Vásquez. In Mexico, there had already existed various illicit organizations doing drug trafficking like the Gulf Cartel, Milenio Cartel, Juaréz Cartel, Guadalajara Cartel, and a new group of vigilante drug traffickers called La Familia Michoacana. 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 defected as Osiel Cárdenas Guillén made them promises that they would receive better wages if they worked as the enforcer group of the Gulf Cartel called Los Zetas. 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.

Geography

The Tropic of Cancer 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 species and pasture. Predominant fauna in the region include the cougar (''Puma concolor''), long-tailed weasel (''Mustela frenata''), ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis''), American badger (''Taxidea taxus''), North American beaver (''Castor canadensis''), plain chachalaca (''Ortalis vetula'') and New World quail, quail. 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 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, represents the northern frontier shared with the United States. One of the tributaries of this natural border, the San Juan River (Tamaulipas), 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 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, 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 climate, arid and semi-arid climate 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. 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 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, located in the border city of

. Southern Tamaulipas' economy is primarily based on the petrochemical industries. There are petrochemical production plants around Altamira, Tamaulipas, Altamira as well as a principal Gulf coast containerization, container port, Oil refinery, refinery facilities in Ciudad Madero and many oil-industry support service companies in

, as well as a major Break bulk cargo, general and bulk cargo 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, Tamaulipas, Soto La Marina, 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. Ciudad Victoria is a significant educational center, home to the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (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 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

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 *Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Tec Campus Tampico (ITESM)

Transportation

Airports

Tamaulipas is served by five international airports and one national airport. *Ciudad Mante 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 *

is served by: Quetzalcóatl International Airport *

is served by: General Lucio Blanco International Airport *

is served by: General Francisco Javier Mina International Airport

Media

List of newspapers in Mexico, Newspapers 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

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

, 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 * 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 Los Zetas. 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 Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Miguel Alemán, Ciudad Mier, Mier, Camargo Municipality, Tamaulipas, 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). 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

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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