Tabasco

The state is located in the southeast of Mexico, bordering the states of Campeche, Chiapas, and Veracruz, with the Gulf of Mexico to the north and the country of Guatemala to the south and east. The state covers , which is 1.3 percent of Mexico's total. The northwestern portion is on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico with the south and east as part of the mountain chain that extends into northern Chiapas. It is divided into seventeen municipalities. There are 36 communities designated as urban, with about 3,000 smaller towns and villages. 185 are classified as "regional development centers". Tabasco has seventeen municipalities: Balancán, Cárdenas, Centla, Centro (Villahermosa), Comalcalco, Cunduacán, Emiliano Zapata, Huimanguillo, Jalapa, Jalpa de Méndez, Jonuta, Macuspana, Nacajuca, Paraíso, Tacotalpa, Teapa and Tenosique. In 1994, the state was officially divided into two regions and five sub-regions for socioeconomic development and geographic documentation. The two major regions are called the Grijalva and the Usumacinta. The Grijalva Region is named after the river on which most of the municipalities here are dependent. It is the smaller of the two regions with a territory of or 48.94 percent of the state's territory; however, it contains most of Tabasco's urban population as well as of its socioeconomic and political activity. It is divided into three sub-regions called Chontalpa, Centro and Sierra; it includes the municipalities of Huimanguillo, Cárdenas, Comalcalco, Cunduacán, Paraíso, Jalpa de Méndez, Nacajuca, Centro, Jalapa, Teapa and Tacotalpa. The Usumacinta Region is named after the main river on which the Centla, Jonuta, Emiliano Zapata, Balancán and Tenosique municipalities depend. It is divided into the Pantanos and Ríos subregions, which are both more rural than the Grijalva Region. The environment of the state consists of extensive low-lying floodplains, mountains and valleys. Most of the territory is covered with tropical rainforest and wetlands. There are also areas with savanna, beaches and mangrove forests. Much of the rainforest has suffered degradation due to over-logging and conversion of territory into farmland. The east is formed of low humid plains formed by sediment deposited by a number of rivers. In the Chontalpa zone and in parts of the municipalities of Centla and Jonuta, there are swampy depressions extremely vulnerable to flooding from both riverflow and from excessive rainfall. Flooding is a frequent occurrence, especially in September and November. The state has of state protected lands such as the Agua Blanca waterfalls and the Sierra State Park in Teapa. The caves are classified as a natural monument with . The Centla Biosphere Reserve covers an area of . The Yumká Park and Laguna de las Ilusiones Ecological Reserves have . The Laguna de la Lima Reserve has . The Chontalpa Ecological Park has . The Laguna del Camarón Ecological Park has . ==History==

Pre-Columbian period The origin of the name Tabasco is not definitively known, with a number of theories debated among linguists. The name appears in the chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo during the conquest era, who mentions a river named after local ruler Tabscoob. One possible theory states that it is from Nahuatl with two possible derivations: one meaning "place that has a lord" and the other "place where the land is moist". The state seal is that which was granted in 1598 to the town of Villahermosa, then called San Juan Bautista by Philip II of Spain. This is one of the oldest coats of arms in the Americas. The Olmec civilization dominated much of what is now Tabasco 3,000 years ago, reaching a height around 800 BC. It was the oldest Mesoamerican culture, dominating what are now the states of Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Tabasco as well as parts of Central America, and is considered the founding culture for all of Mesoamerica. The main Olmec site in Tabasco is La Venta. The site covers an area of surrounded by swamps and marshes linked to the Tonalá River, from the Gulf of Mexico. Around 300 AD, the Mayans began to dominate part of the state. Mayan sites include Comalcalco, Pomoná, El Tortuguero and Jonuta (Prehispanic). The Mayans in Tabasco reached their peak between the 6th and 7th centuries. In the early 16th century, the territory of Tabasco was home to a number of relatively small polities. The Chontal Maya were the predominant ethnicity, and within Tabasco were divided into the provinces of Potonchán, Cupilco (located near Comalcalco), Zahuatan-Chilapa in the south (located near Jalapa and Macuspana), and Ixtapa-Usumacinta in the east (located near Tenosique). Of these, Potonchan was the most populous, and is sometimes considered to have been the capital of a kingdom known as Tabasco. The western coastal portion of the state was known as Ahualulco or Yahualulco and was inhabited by a mix of Nahuas and Popolucas (the latter being related to the Zoque people, though the Nahuas formed the political elite. However, the most important Nahua town was Cimatan, located near modern Cárdenas). Cimatan was the capital of a lordship that ruled over several Zoque towns to the south. Tabasco, in particular the region around Comalcalco and Villahermosa, was one of the major cacao-producing regions in late postclassic Mesoamerica, alongside Soconusco and certain parts of Central America. The territory of Tabasco, together with portions of the neighboring states of Veracruz and Campeche, was a hotspot for regional trade, as the numerous rivers and lagoons made transportation by canoe very efficient. Local rulers, being connected by trade to many different regional powers, frequently aimed to balance their foreign relations in order to maximize their commercial profits. Many rulers were themselves successful merchants, rather than the hereditary monarchs typical elsewhere in Mesoamerica. The region had a reputation for being open-minded towards foreigners and patronizing the arts. Colonial era into the city of Tabasco The first contact with the Spanish came in 1518 when an expedition headed by Captain Juan de Grijalva disembarked at the mouth of the river that now bears his name. Hernán Cortés came the following year and fought the natives here at the Battle of Centla. As conqueror, Cortés received twenty female slaves, one of whom was La Malinche. Despite the early conquest and the foundation of Santa María de la Victoria (today Frontera), the territory was not fully subjugated because of the climate, terrain and lack of minerals. The Spanish did not begin to pacify the area until the second half of the 16th century, when Santa María de la Victoria was secured, slightly inland from the original Frontera location. However, in the meantime, English pirates had taken possession of the nearby Isla del Carmen and other points in the Gulf for piracy. Santa María de la Victoria was attacked and sacked, forcing the settlement to move inland in 1598 to San Juan Bautista (today Villahermosa), renamed Villa Hermosa by the Spanish Crown, which gave it the oldest coat of arms on the American mainland, today the seal of the state of Tabasco. At the end of the war in 1821, Tabasco became one of the first fourteen states under the 1824 Constitution. The first state constitution was ratified in 1825. In 1883, the state was divided into seventeen municipalities. Political instability in the state and an outbreak of cholera forced Tabasco to rejoin the federation. In 1836, a group of Conservatives took control of the federal government, but Tabasco Liberals decided to rebel against this government until they were defeated. During the Mexican–American War, troops under Matthew C. Perry arrived in Tabasco in 1846. Other ships arrived soon after and took possession of the port of Frontera. On their first attempt to take Villahermosa upriver, they failed. The second attempt bombarded the city before successfully taking it. However, the Tabascans formed guerrilla groups and this along with the inhospitable climate forced the U.S. military to withdraw soon after. There were several insurrections against this government such as the one headed by Andrés Sánchez Magallanes in 1863. He raised a small army from various parts of the state and attacked the imperial army barracks in Comalcalco, then moved on to Villahermosa in November 1863. Here they encountered imperialist troops at what is now called the , where the insurgents won, expelling the French from the state. The Porfirio Díaz period from the 1880s to 1910 was free from political violence and allowed the state to build infrastructure, but only slowly owing to its isolation. The capital, heavily damaged by decades of war, was reconstructed, with many old buildings torn down to make way for new ones. In 1879, the Instituto Juárez was inaugurated. In 1881, telegraph service connected Villahermosa with Mexico City. The capital received electricity in 1890, with the new state government palace opened in 1894 and the first bank in 1901. In 1879, the first institute of higher education, the Instituto Juárez, was opened. During this time period, a woman by the name of Salomé Marín Virgilio founded schools in Balancán to teach workers to read and write along with liberal political ideas. Her work would later inspire José María Pino Suárez. Another important episode in the history of the state was the governorship of Tomás Garrido Canabal after the end of the Revolution. He was elected in 1922, allied with Mexican presidents Álvaro Obregón and later Plutarco Elías Calles. He implemented an ambitious socialist program, organizing unions and consolidating power though his Radical Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Radical). He reestablished the state's teachers’ college and established a system of rural schools. Livestock-raising increased and general economic levels rose. He prohibited the production and sale of alcoholic beverages in the state. An atheist, he persecuted the Catholic Church, destroying various churches including the Tabasco Cathedral. Events relating to this were portrayed in the novel The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. He organized "cultural assemblies with the aim of persuading people away from religion, sometimes burning images of saints. He even forbade the use of crosses on graves and changed the names of towns and ranches to rid them of religious references. Unlike other parts of the country, there was little resistance against this repression of the church and the success of Garrido's dissuasion left a vacuum, which was later filled by missionaries from Protestant and Evangelical groups." His tenure as governor ended in 1935, when he was appointed the federal Secretary of Agriculture and he appointed to take over. Opponents of Garrido declared this a violation of due process and held their own elections. Supporters of Garrido tried to stop the election, resulting in shooting and twelve dead. In the 1950s, Carlos A. Madrazo became governor; he promoted large public works, agricultural and industrial projects, and initiated exploration for petroleum. The friction between the populace and the government over oil and other issues led to some political restructuring in the state. This was accompanied with general dissatisfaction with the ruling party, the PRI, nationwide. Reforms to decentralize power away from Villahermosa were undertaken but in the 1990s, political instability remained with farmers, ranchers and others continuing to complain about how PEMEX was affecting their economic activities. Flooding has historically been an issue in the state, which has year-round heavy rainfall and various rivers flowing through it. Villahermosa was founded on a hill between the Sierra and Grijalva Rivers. The growth of the city from the 1970s on has brought development down from the hill onto the floodplains. Recent major flooding includes events in 1975, 1990 and 1999. The last prompted the creation of the Programa Integral de Control de Inundaciones (Integral Program for Flood Control) to build dams, dikes and other flood control measures. These were in process of construction when the 2007 floods hit. From October 28 to 30, unusually heavy rainfall caused the Grijalva River to rise, overflowing the Peñitas Dam, as well as other area rivers. This eventually covered about eighty percent of the state's territory as deep as in places, affecting over a million people. The flood damage was made worse by the presence of human settlements on flood plains and the lack of hydraulic infrastructure on the Sierra and Usumacinta rivers. There was also a lack of warning systems and evacuation plans for those downriver. In the 1990s, various technical colleges were established in the state along with the Universidad Popular de la Chontalpa and another in Tenosique. Hospitals in various municipalities and various historic centers were reconstructed, especially that of Villahermosa. ==Economy==

The state accounts for 3.4 percent of Mexico's national GDP. In urban areas running water, sewerage and electricity is available to over ninety percent of the population; however, in rural areas, running water reaches about forty percent, sewerage under seventy percent and electricity under 85 percent. The state has about 150,000 families or about half a million people living in poverty, mostly due to lack of employment according to the Sedesol. Most of the state's poor are concentrated in the Jonuta, Tacotalpa, Centla and Humanguillo municipalities as these lack any major industry. The heavy rainfall in the state does not lend itself well to annual crops and frequent flooding is a problem as well. Despite this, there is significant production of corn, sorghum and beans. Most of the commercially important crops are perennials, such as cacao, coconut, oranges, bananas and sugar cane. There is also important pasture, both natural and seeded. The state has extensive areas of natural grasslands. Due to the climate, the Zebu breed of cattle does best and is mostly raised for meat. Cattle accounts for about three quarters of the meat produced in the state. Other livestock includes pigs, sheep, goats and domestic fowl. Most livestock is raised in the Villahermosa, Cárdenas and Emiliano Zapata municipalities. Tabasco has salt water and fresh water fishing along its shoreline and in the many rivers and small lakes but they are not extensively exploited, providing less than two percent of Mexico's total fish production. Commercial species include oysters, mojarra, shrimp, sea bass, shark, lobster and gar. Most fishing fleets are located in Frontera, with others in Sanchez Magallanes, Chilitepec, and Dos Bocas. The state has natural resources such as mahogany, cedar and other tropical hardwoods. Mining, mostly of petroleum and natural gas, provides most of the state's GDP. Only 14.6 percent of the working population is in mining. About 19 percent work in construction, transportation and manufacturing. Most manufacturing is food processing, bottling and tobacco products. About ninety percent of industrial establishments are family-owned, mostly dedicated to food processing in and around Villahermosa. The most important industry is petroleum refining, done by PEMEX in the Macuspana municipality. There are 860 wells in various municipalities extracting crude oil and natural gas. It produces 556,371 barrels of crude oil and of natural gas per day. It has deposits of gravel and sand, along with the Cementos Apasco factory. Just over 61 percent of the working population is employed in services and commerce. There are 86 traditional public markets. The Tabasco Fair is the most important commercial event. It has its origins in 1880. It has been held on and off since then in various locations. Today, it is held in Villahermosa at Parque Tabasco 2000 where the various municipalities of the state demonstrate their products. It features cultural and sporting events as well. ==Tourism==

Tourism in the state is organized into various routes. The Centro or Villahermosa route is centered on the state capital with its museums and historic buildings. These include the cultural center of Villahermosa, the regional anthropology museum, Tomás Garrido Canabal Park, the Yumka’ Ecological Reserve, the Paseo Tabasco Malecon tourist corridor, the Papagayo Interactive Museum and the Tabasco Cathedral. The Cacao route consists of various cacao haciendas, where guides give lessons on how the plant is cultivated and the cacao bean is harvested, then processed into chocolate. It also includes a visit to the Comalcalco archeological site. In Jalpa de Méndez, the main attractions are its gourd handcrafts, the San Remo cigar factory, the La Encantada Turtle Farm and the Pomposú Juliva wetlands on the Mezcalapa River. In Comalcalco, attractions include the Comalcalco archeological site, cacao haciendas such as La Luz with its cacao museum, Jesús María, La Chonita and Cholula. Paraíso is a small port with beaches and some resort facilities. The river route is based in the interior portion of the state, between the Grijalva and Usumacinta Rivers. This is an ecotourism route with activities such as canopy climbing, rafting and rappelling. There is also an option to visit the Ponomá archeological site. The wetlands route emphasizes flora and fauna both on land and on the water. The mountain adventure route is in the highlands of the state with its forests, sulphurate waters and caves, centered on the town of Tapijulapa, which is noted for its handcrafts of wood and wicker. The Olmec Zoque route encompasses the municipalities of Cardenas and Huimanguillo. Cardenas is near the ocean with various attractions. One is the fishing village of Villa Sánchez Magallenes. Huimanguillo has archeological sites and a number of natural attractions. The best known is La Venta, an Olmec site, but another important one is Malpasito, which belongs to the Zoque culture. In addition, there are areas of tropical rainforest, waterfalls, petroglyphs and lakes. The Biji Yokot’an route centers on the municipality of Nacajuca. It features the crafts of the area such as decorated containers made from gourds, its cuisine, especially river fish, the Chontal people of the area and the river boardwalk. ==Demographics==

Tabasco's population has been growing rapidly: between 1990 and 2005 the population grew from 1,501,744 to 1,989,969. Tabasco's population is mostly young, with an average age of 19 years and over 38 percent of the population is under 15 years of age. Those who leave the state mostly go to Quintana Roo, Campeche and Veracruz. Those that migrate to the state mostly come from Chiapas, Veracruz and Campeche. As of the 2000s, only about 2 percent of the population has left to live abroad, mostly to the United States. The national average is 16 percent. ==Culture==

Traditional masculine dress consists of a white shirt and pants, with black boots or shoes, black belt, a hat in a style called "chontal" and a red handkerchief around the neck. This dress is based on an older type of clothing called traje choco, made of cotton cloth called manta, used to work in the fields. The traditional female dress consists of a wide skirt trimmed with a ruffle. Under the skirt is a slip designed to fluff the skirt and make the waist look smaller. The blouse is white with an embroidered band in bright colors, often with flower and/or animal designs. It has short sleeves ending in a square form in the lower part. The woman often carried a small handkerchief and a shawl called a rebozo in bright colors, often complementing the skirt. The shoes are black. Traditional music has its origins in the Olmec period with other indigenous influences such as those of the Maya, Mexicas and Nahuas. It is based on flute and percussion, including drums made of tortoise shells and flutes/whistles made of ceramic. Purely indigenous music has almost entirely disappeared, replaced by that of European influence. Fandango influence was the first to arrive, which was modified then called fandanguillo leading to songs called zapateos in the colonial period, played by small orchestras. These were mostly composed of wind instruments but the marimba and drums called temborileros were added. This music was accompanied by a dance of the same name. Later, short improvised rhymes called "bombas" were added varying by region often consisting of a man and woman answering each other. (amashito) Traditionally, people in Tabasco eat seven times a day, these meals are called "puntal" (after getting out of bed), breakfast, "refigerio," "apertivo," "comida," "merienda" and "cena." This regime is based on rural work customs which required starting the day before the sun rose. Typical dishes include those with iguana meat, gar fish, beef puchero, smoked oysters, totopostes, pork with beans and tortillas made with banana and fresh corn. Chocolate is still found in preparations which have not changed since pre Hispanic times mostly as hot and cold beverages. The most common cold chocolate beverage is pozol, served fresh or fermented. Each of the regions has certain specialties. Teapa is known for its cheese and longaniza sausage. Jalpa de Méndez produces head cheese, longaniza sausage and another cured meat called butifarra. Macuspana's dishes are often based on ingredients from the area's rivers such as bass, turtle and gar. Paraíso is known for its oysters, often cooked in their shell over an open flame. Jalapa is known for its sweets such as sweetened fruits in corn husks, often accompanied by a cacao and corn beverage called chorote. Tabasco is host to the boating marathon called the Mundo Maya on the Usumacinta and Grijalva rivers. The state has sixteen important museums. Most are located in the Villahermosa area but others can be found in Comalcalco, Huimanguillo, Balancán, Emiliano Zapata, Jalpa de Méndez, Jonuta and Teapa. These include the Carlos Pellicer Museum (anthropology) Museum of Popular Culture, Museum of History and the La Venta site museum. Patron saint days are still popular events in the state, with some of the more notable being San Isidro in Comalcalco and Nacajuca, James the Greater in Chontalpa, Our Lady of the Remedies in Nacajuca, Our Lady of the Assumption in Cupilco, Francis of Assisi in , events related with Lent in Atasta and Tamulté and the Saint Sebastian in Tenosique. There are also notable Carnival celebrations in Pochó, Tenosique and Villahermosa. ==Archaeology==

La Venta was the most important civic-religious center of the Olmec civilization, the first major culture of Mesoamerica. The site shows a number of the characteristics of Olmec culture, including depictions of jaguars, colossal heads and images of figures of rotund children. The site dates back to about 1000 BC and declined around 400 AD, replaced in importance by San Lorenzo. The museum associated with La Venta is in Villahermosa proper, and called Parque Museo de la Venta. It contains thirty three major pieces from the site and includes displays about Olmec customs, government, astronomy and writing. Comalcalco is a Maya archeological site near the modern city of the same name, on a bank of the Mezcalapa River. While it is not the only Mayan city whose monumental architecture is of adobe brick instead of stone, it is the only one which has had extensive reconstruction, and is open to the public. The Mayas here used adobe because of the lack of building stone in the area, instead using the abundant clay and lime extracted from shells. The Mayan city developed between 800 and 1100 AD, contemporary with Palenque and Yaxchilan. The name of the site comes from Nahuatl and means place of comals (a kind of cooking pan), but its Mayan name was Hoi Chan, which means "cloudy sky". The site covers 577 hectares and with a total of 282 structures. The main monuments are La Plaza Norte, La Gran Acropolis and the Eastern Acropolis. The main plazas with their ceremonial structures are similar to those found in Tikal and the towers of Río Bec. There are seven principal structures surrounded by numerous smaller ones. Many of the stele from the site can be found at the José Gómez Panaco Museum in the nearby city of Balancán. In 2020, the largest and oldest Mayan temple yet discovered was uncovered using lidar at the Aguada Fénix site in Tabasco. ==Education==

The state's population growth has put pressure on the educational system with about forty percent of its population school age. The average schooling in Tabasco has climbed from 2.7 years in 1970 to 6.7 years in 1995. In the same time period, the level percentage of the population which was illiterate fell from 25.7% to 11%. Today, the average schooling is 8.6 years or the third year of middle school, which is the national average. The state has sixteen major institutes of higher education, with four universities, three technological colleges, seven teachers’ colleges an "instituto de estudios superiors" and one post graduate college. These include the Escuela Normal Urbana de Balancán, Escuela Normal Justo Sierra Méndez, Escuela Normal Graciela Pintado de Madrazo, Escuela Normal Pablo García Avalos, Colegio Rosario María Gutiérrez Eskildsen, Colegio Monte Cristo, Centro de Estudios Culturales, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Universidad Olmeca, Institutio Tecnológico de Villahermosa, Instituto Tecnológico Agropecuario Num.28, Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Comalcalco, Centro de Estudios Universitarios de Villahermosa, Instituto de Educación Superior Alfa y Omega, Universidad Pedagógica Nacional and the Colegio de Posgraduados en Ciencias Agrícolas. ==Communications and transportation==

Media The state has thirty-three radio stations and thirteen television stations, nine of which are repeaters for programs from Mexico City. The two local stations are Televisión de Tabasco and Canal 9. Transport The state has of federal, state and rural roads. The most important highways in the state are the Coatzacoalcos-Villahermosa, Tuxtla Gutiérrez-Villahermosa, Escárcega-Villahermosa and Cd. Del Carmen-Frontera-Villahermosa. There are also of rail line which transports 523,468 tons of cargo per year as well as passengers. The C.P.A. Carlos Rovirosa International Airport is located just outside Villahermosa. It offers service to various cities in Mexico along with Havana, Cuba and Houston, Texas. ==Notes==