Mexico's rain-soaked Tabasco holds the heartland of the Olmec civilization
Unlike most of Mexico, Tabasco gets heavy rain all year, around 2,550 millimetres on average, so rainforest and wetlands cover much of it. The south-eastern state also holds La Venta, the great Olmec site regarded as the source of later Mesoamerican cultures, and it pumps significant amounts of oil and gas.
Officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, it is one of Mexico's 32 federal entities, with 17 municipalities and its capital at Villahermosa. It borders Campeche, Veracruz and Chiapas, touches Guatemala's Petén department, and faces the Gulf of Mexico to the north. Its 24,731 square kilometres make up 1.3 percent of the country. Since 1994 it has been split into two regions named after rivers: the Grijalva, smaller but home to most of the urban population, and the more rural Usumacinta.
Much of the state is low, flat floodplain built from river sediment, and most hills stay under 30 metres, though the south rises toward the Chiapas highlands. There are 198.8 kilometres of coastline and 29,800 hectares of estuaries and lakes. Flooding is frequent, especially in September and November, fed by rivers draining the Sierra and by the Usumacinta; swampy hollows in the Chontalpa are particularly exposed.
The Gulf shapes a hot tropical climate, and more than 95 percent of the territory is hot and wet. The yearly average is 27 degrees Celsius, with highs near 36 degrees mostly in May and January lows of 18.5 degrees, and the rain peaks from June to October.
Tropical rainforest dominates, but logging and slash-and-burn farming have left only a fraction of what once stood. Mahogany, cedar, ceiba and many palms grow alongside orchids and bromeliads, and the wildlife ranks among Mexico's most varied, from macaws and resplendent quetzals to jaguars, spider monkeys and tapirs. The Pantanos de Centla Biosphere Reserve holds most of the wetlands, where crocodiles, turtles, gar and even manatees live.
Source: Tabasco
