Pánuco River

Tampico is the main city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is the nation's chief economic powerhouse on the Gulf of Mexico. Economic development during the 1920s made the city a pioneer in the aviation and soda industries. Oil is the chief export, but the city also is a major exporter of silver, copper, and lumber, together with wool, hemp, and other agricultural products. Containerized cargo, however, is mainly handled by the neighboring ocean port of Altamira. The present city was founded by Europeans on April 13, 1823, though there had been a series of human settlements in the area for centuries. The region had several early Huastec settlements, among them the important site at Las Flores, which flourished between 1000 and 1250 CE. Among the earliest European colonists, the Spanish Franciscan priest Andrés de Olmos established a mission in the area in 1532. At his request, Spanish officials founded a settlement called San Luis de Tampico in 1554. Its population was relocated in 1684 to the south of the Pánuco River due to frequent pirate attacks, among them a particularly destructive incursion by Laurens de Graaf. In August 1829, Spanish troops from Cuba invaded Tampico. In September a force under General Santa Anna forced the Spanish troops to surrender and Mexican control of Tampico was re-established.[1] The name "Tampico" is of Huastec origin: tam-piko, meaning "place of otters" (literally "water dogs"). The city is surrounded by rivers and lagoons that were <b>...</b>