VERACRUZ (officially VERACRUZ LLAVE), a Gulf Coast State of Mexico, bounded north by Tamaulipas, west by San Luis Potosi, Hidalgo, Puebla and Oaxaca, and south-east by Chiapas and Tabasco. Pop. (1900) 981,030; (193o) 1,376,476. It is about 5om. wide, extending along the coast north-west to south-east, for a distance of 435m., with an area of 29,201 square miles. It was the seat of an ancient Indian civilization antedating the Aztecs and is filled with remarkable and interesting ruins; it is now one of the richest States of the republic. It consists of a low, sandy coastal zone, much broken with tidewater streams and lagoons, behind which the land rises gradually to the base of the sierras and then in rich valleys and wooded slopes to their summits on the eastern margin of the great Mexican plateau, from which rise the majestic summits of Orizaba and Cof re de Perote. The climate is hot, humid and malarial, except on the higher elevations; the rainfall is heavy, and the tropical vegetation is so dense that it is practically impossible to clear it away. At Coatzacoalcos the annual precipitation ranges from 125 to i4oin., but it steadily de creases towards the north. On the higher slopes of the sierras pre historic terraces are found, evidently constructed to prevent the washing away of the soil by these heavy rains. More than 4o
rivers cross the State from the sierras to the coast. There are several ports on the coast—Coatzacoalcos, Alvarado, Veracruz, Nautla, Tecolutla and Tuxpam. The products of the State are chiefly agricultural—cotton, sugar, rum, tobacco, coffee, cacao, vanilla, maize, beans and fruit. Cattle-raising is followed in some districts, cattle and hides being among the exports. Among the forest products are rubber, cabinet woods, dye-woods, broom-root, chicle, jalap and orchids. Veracruz is one of the largest pro ducers of sugar and rum in Mexico. There are a number of cotton factories (one of the largest in Mexico being at Orizaba), chiefly devoted to the making of coarse cloth for the lower classes. To bacco factories are also numerous. Other manufactures include paper, chocolate, soap and matches. There are four lines of rail way converging at Veracruz, two of which cross the State by dif ferent routes to converge again at Mexico City. Another, the Tehuantepec National railway, crosses in the south, and is con nected with Veracruz (city) by the Veracruz and Pacific line, which traverses the State in a south-easterly direction. The cap ital is Jalapa, and the principal towns are Veracruz, Orizaba, Cor dova and Coatzacoalcos.