Reynosa () is a border city in the northern part of 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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

which also holds the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

seat of Reynosa Municipality. The city is located on the southern bank of the

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 ...

in the international

Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan area Reynosa–McAllen, also known as McAllen–Reynosa, or simply as Borderplex, is one of the six international conurbations along the Mexico–U.S border. The city of Reynosa is situated in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on the southern bank of ...

, directly across the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

from

Hidalgo, Texas Hidalgo is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. Its population was 11,198 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, and in 2020, the population had risen to 13,964. History The area that is now Hidalgo was first settled by Spanis ...

. As of 2020, the city of Reynosa has a population of 691,557. If the floating population is included, the total can reach approximately 1,000,000.

History

On 6 July 1686, Agustín Echeverz y Zuvízar, governor of the '' Nuevo Reino de León,'' camped in what is now Reynosa during an exploratory expedition. In December 1748, an expedition led by

José de Escandón y Helguera 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 ...

left from

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

, planning to establish 14 villages; the caravan consisted of 1500 colonists and 755 soldiers. On 14 March 1749, was founded (in its original location) the ''Villa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Reynosa,'' by the captain Carlos Cantú on behalf of Escandón, being as well in political and military command. There were 279 pioneer residents in the charge of Friar Agustín Fragoso. The city was named ''Reynosa'' after

Reinosa Reinosa is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. , it has 10,307 inhabitants. The municipality, one of the smallest by land area in Cantabria, is notable for being one of the nearest towns to the headwaters of the Ebro River. It is surrounded by th ...

, birthplace of the viceroy Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas. In August 1750, the first flood was documented in the village. In April 1757, Reynosa had it first political conflict, when Escandón dismissed Carlos Cantú as the mayor of the village, replacing him by Pedro de Estrada, second mayor of Reynosa. On 9 July 1757, arrives to the village the captain José Tineda y Cuervo and the engineer Agustín López, both viceroyalty inspectors, to do a population census according to which Reynosa had 280 inhabitants. As a result of the census, they obtained authorization from the King of Spain to move the village to a placed named Santa María de las Lajas, which was not done because Escandón didn't consider the river a flooding risk anymore. In September 1800, an immense flood occurred. The village was inundated and the villagers used canoes and rafts to arrive to the hills of ''El Morrillo.'' In 1802, the village moved to its current location and the new census showed 1631 inhabitants. In 1810, the building of the old church ''Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe'' began, by the parish priest Don José Cárdenas; it was finished in 1815 by Don Lorenzo Treviño. In 1846, Reynosa was invaded by the American army during the

Mexican-American war Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

. On 10 May 1910, General Lucio Blanco with the constitutional army took Reynosa during the Mexican revolution. On 24 November 1926, Reynosa became a city.

Current

Reynosa extends across 3,156.34 sq kilometers (1218.66 sq. miles), representing 3.7 per cent of the

territory. Today it is the location of several satellite U.S. companies doing business to take advantage of low labor rates and industry incentives. On 18 September 2012, an explosion at the nearby

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexico, Mexican State ownership, state-owned Petroleum industry, petroleum corporation managed and operated by the government of Mexico, ...

gas plant killed 30 and injured 46 people. Pemex Director Juan Jose Suarez said that there was "no evidence that it was a deliberate incident, or some kind of attack". In 2017, it was described as a major hotspot 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 ...

, as a result of the internecine wars between the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...

and

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 ...

drugs cartels.

Geography

Reynosa is the largest and most populous city in the state of Tamaulipas, followed by 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 ...

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 ...

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 Río Bravo. In addition, the international

Reynosa–McAllen Metropolitan Area Reynosa–McAllen, also known as McAllen–Reynosa, or simply as Borderplex, is one of the six international conurbations along the Mexico–U.S border. The city of Reynosa is situated in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, on the southern bank of ...

has a population of 1,500,000 inhabitants, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the Mexico–U.S. border after

San Diego–Tijuana San Diego–Tijuana is an international transborder agglomeration, straddling the border of the adjacent North America, North American coastal cities of San Diego, California, United States, and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The 2020 popula ...

and El Paso–Juárez. Reynosa is the 30th largest city in Mexico and anchors the largest metropolitan area in Tamaulipas. In 2011, Reynosa was the fastest growing city in the state of Tamaulipas, and was among the top five fastest growing cities in Mexico. The city is about south of

McAllen, Texas McAllen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Hidalgo County. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexican border. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, acros ...

.Sanchez, Claudio.
Child Migrants Settle Uneasily In The Big Easy

Archive
.

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. September 11, 2014. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.

Climate

Reynosa has a

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 ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BSh'') with short, mild winters and hot summers. Winters are mild and dry with a January high of and a low of although temperatures can fall below . Summers are hot with a July mean of and temperatures can exceed anytime from May until August. The average annual precipitation is , with most of it being concentrated in the summer months though the months of May and June are the wettest.

Notable people

* Abraham Ancer – Professional golfer * Xavier Baez – Footballer * Jorge Cantú – Major League Baseball player * Christian Chávez – Singer and actor * Laura Flores – Actress, hostess and singer * Jaime Garcia – Major League Baseball player * Néstor Garza – Former WBA World Super Bantamweight Champion * José María Cantú Garza – Geneticist * Vidal Medina – Playwright and theatre director * Los Relámpagos del Norte – Musical duo * Komander – Wrestler * Beto Quintanilla – Artist * Sergio Peña Solís – Mexican

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise. Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not possess illegal goods. Ra ...

( Los Zetas Cartel)

Transportation

Reynosa is served by the General Lucio Blanco International Airport, which has flights to multiple important Mexican cities on six airlines, some serving it with aircraft such as

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

. In addition, the McAllen Miller International Airport in

, is also relatively close and is served by airlines like

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air is an American ultra low-cost carrier, ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ult ...

, American and United.

References

External links

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
Gobierno de Reynosa
{{Authority control Populated places in Tamaulipas Mexico–United States border crossings Lower Rio Grande Valley Populated places established in 1749 1740s establishments in Mexico 1749 establishments in North America Tamaulipas populated places on the Rio Grande