Geography
Tamaulipas covers 80,249 km² in the north-east corner of Mexico, the sixth-largest state by area. Its northern boundary is the Río Bravo — the Rio Grande on the US side — which runs about 370 km from the Falcón reservoir to the river's mouth on the Gulf. Most of the state east of the mountains is a low coastal plain that rarely rises above 200 m. Behind the beach lies the Laguna Madre, a hypersaline lagoon about 200 km long, shielded from the Gulf by a narrow barrier island and one of only a handful of such lagoons in the world.
The western third of Tamaulipas climbs into the Sierra Madre Oriental. Peña Nevada, on the Nuevo León border, is the high point at about 3,600 m. The Tropic of Cancer crosses the state just north of Ciudad Victoria, and the vegetation changes with it: thorn scrub and mesquite to the north, sugar cane and citrus in the Mante valley to the south. Above Gómez Farías, the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve protects about 144,500 ha of cloud forest — among the northernmost in the Americas — where temperate oak and pine grow directly above tropical lowland. The Pánuco river marks the southern boundary with Veracruz and reaches the Gulf at Tampico, while the Soto la Marina and San Fernando rivers drain the centre of the state.
The climate divides on the same line. North of the Tropic of Cancer the state is semi-arid, with under 600 mm of rain a year at Nuevo Laredo and summer temperatures above 40 °C; the south is humid subtropical, with more than 1,000 mm at Tampico. The whole coast is exposed to Atlantic hurricanes between June and November, and the flat plain behind the Laguna Madre floods easily. Falcón and Vicente Guerrero, the two largest reservoirs, store irrigation water for the northern farming districts, which grow sorghum, cotton and citrus.
Main cities
| City | Population (2020) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Reynosa | 704,767 | Largest city; crossing to McAllen, Texas |
| Matamoros | 541,979 | Crossing to Brownsville; Gulf beaches at Bagdad |
| Nuevo Laredo | 425,058 | Busiest freight crossing in Mexico |
| Ciudad Victoria | 349,688 | Capital, at the foot of the Sierra Madre Oriental |
| Tampico | 297,284 | Historic oil port on the Pánuco |
| Altamira | 262,062 | Deep-water container and petrochemical port |
| Ciudad Madero | 197,216 | Refinery town, part of the Tampico conurbation |
| Río Bravo | 118,000 | Farming town between Reynosa and Matamoros |
| El Mante | 112,000 | Sugar cane centre in the southern lowlands |
Figures are 2020 municipal populations from the INEGI census; the smaller ones are rounded. Tampico, Ciudad Madero and Altamira form a single metropolitan area of about 950,000 people spanning the Tamaulipas–Veracruz line, the largest urban concentration in the state.
Neighbouring states
Tamaulipas borders three states and one country. Nuevo León lies to the west, and the two states share the Sierra Madre crest as well as the Monterrey–Reynosa motorway corridor. San Luis Potosí adjoins the south-west, where both states hold part of the Huasteca lowlands. Veracruz is across the Pánuco to the south. To the north, the Río Bravo separates Tamaulipas from Texas — the longest stretch of the international boundary held by any single Mexican state.
Getting there
Five airports serve the state: Reynosa (REX), Matamoros (MAM), Nuevo Laredo (NLD), Ciudad Victoria (CVM) and Tampico (TAM), the busiest of them, with connections through Mexico City, Monterrey and a handful of Texas cities. Most US visitors arrive instead by road through the three main bridges, or fly into McAllen or Brownsville and cross.
By road, Federal Highway 85 is the classic route: it runs from Mexico City through Ciudad Victoria to Nuevo Laredo and continues as Interstate 35 in the United States. Highway 101 links Ciudad Victoria to Matamoros, Highway 180 follows the Gulf coast south to Tampico and on into Veracruz, and Highway 40D connects Monterrey to Reynosa. Mexico City to Ciudad Victoria is about 700 km, roughly 8 hours by the toll roads; Mexico City to Tampico is about 500 km and 6 hours. See the road map and the airports map.
Questions about Tamaulipas
Where is Tamaulipas on the map of Mexico?
In the north-east corner of the country, on the Gulf of Mexico. It faces Texas across the Río Bravo for about 370 km and reaches south to the Pánuco river at Tampico, roughly 700 km from Mexico City.
What are the border crossings into Tamaulipas?
Three main ones: Nuevo Laredo–Laredo, which handles more truck traffic than any other crossing on the US–Mexico border; Reynosa–McAllen; and Matamoros–Brownsville.
Is Ciudad Victoria the largest city in Tamaulipas?
No. Ciudad Victoria is the capital, with about 350,000 people, but Reynosa (704,767), Matamoros (541,979) and Nuevo Laredo (425,058) are all larger. The state has no single dominant city.
Is Tamaulipas safe to visit?
The US State Department has kept Tamaulipas at its highest advisory level for several years, citing crime and kidnapping, and restricts its own employees' travel there. Check the current advisory before planning any trip.
What time zone is Tamaulipas in?
Central time, UTC−6. Mexico abolished daylight saving in 2022, but the municipalities along the Río Bravo still change their clocks with the United States. See the time zones map.