Overview

With high and low lands, climate conditions vary within the state of Veracruz:

"From the tropical jungles of Veracruz to the arctic glaciers of North America's third highest peak, the eastern approach to El Pico de Orizaba is both remote & beautiful. From the crater rim, at 18,869 feet, you can look down to the jungles and the warm sunny Gulf of Mexico."

In 1985 the state economy was 5.7% of the GNP, however, by 1995 state participation came down to 4.9% of the GNP; nonetheless Veracruz is the fifth most important state economy in the Nation.

INEGI has applied a new methodology to calculate GNP by State, adopting 1993 as the base year instead of 1980 as before, see below how each state ranks and in its individual contribution to the GNP:
 
 

Ranking by State participation in GNP
rank:
State's name
% GNP
 -----------
rank:
State's name
% GNP
1
Distrito Federal
23.93
 
17
San Luis Potosi
1.77
2
Mexico
10.34
 
18
Oaxaca
1.67
3
Jalisco
6.56
 
19
Hidalgo
1.51
4
Nuevo Leon
6.41
 
20
Morelos
1.49
5
Veracruz
4.56
 
21
Queretaro
1.40
6
Chihuahua
3.92
 
22
Yucatan
1.30
7
Guanajuato
3.36
 
23
Durango
1.30
8
Puebla
3.23
 
24
Tabasco
1.29
9
Coahuila
2.9
 
25
Quintana Roo
1.29
10
B. California N.
2.79
 
26
Campeche
1.19
11
Tamaulipas
2.79
 
27
Aguascalientes
0.97
12
Sonora
2.61
 
28
Zacatecas
0.84
13
Michoacan
2.34
 
29
Nayarit
0.66
14
Sinaloa
2.33
 
30
Colima
0.55
15
Guerrero
1.87
 
31
B. California S.
0.53
16
Chiapas
1.79
 
32
Tlaxcala
0.51

The state has 13 out of 14 different types of soil, as classified by FAO worldwide. It produces 72 different types of commercially agricultural products. Therefore, the state ranks first at a national level in production of sugar cane, orange, lemon, vanilla, rubber, pineapple, mango, coffee and rice.

Due to the state's diversity of climates and its abundant annual rainfall, Veracruz is one of the country's most important producers of agricultural goods including coffee, oranges, bananas, rice, papaya, mango, sugar cane, pineapple and watermelon. In terms of volume, Veracruz produces more than 54% of the country's orange crop, 50% in the case of papaya and 87% of its plneapple. One-third of Mexico's banana crop is harvested in Veracruz, and 30% of its rice crop.

By third year in a row, Veracruz state was the main national producer and provider of meats for Mexico city with a production of 186,212 tons and for the third year as well, it has been the second producer of milk with 596 million liters.


State of Veracruz

The land where the state of Veracruz is to-date, (white color in picture to the left) was the site of important ancient civilizations that produced rich knowledge and served other
meso-american societies at their different stages of development.

Ancient vestiges detected in the state of Veracruz date from 5600 years before our time. The Olmeca civilization dates from 1200 b.c. and it is a benchmark in meso-american history. Its influence spread far beyond the Gulf of Mexico shoreline to Central America, main land Mexico and to the West up to the Pacific Ocean. 

Today, the state is located on the East coast, with a 600+ kilometers long shoreline with the Gulf of Mexico, state's inhabitants are close to 6.5 million.

The state

The state of Veracruz covers an area of 72,815 square kilometers, 3.7% of Mexico's national territory. This makes Veracruz the eleventh largest state in the Republic of Mexico. It has a coastline of 684 kilometers. The state is some 800
kilometers in length. Its width varies noticeably, from just 52 kilometers in the Martinez de la Torre zone to approximately 200 kilometers in the southern part of the state.

Veracruz borders on seven other Mexican states, as well as fronting on the Gulf of Mexico. The eastern Sierra Madre mountain range extends along almost the state's entire western boundary lines.

Veracruz geographically is characterized by length. It is located between parallels 17o10' and 23o38' North Lattitude and between meridians 93o and 99o West Longitude.

Furthermore, Mexico's only nuclear electric plant, located at Laguna Verde some 70 kilometers to the north from the port of Veracruz, is now fully operational with a total generating capacity of 1,350 MW. And an additional generating unit at the mammoth Tuxpan thermoelectric plant was due to come on stream in 1995.

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