Coatzacoalcos River

Coatzacoalcos
River
Name origin: 'where serpent hides' (Aztec)
Country	Mexico
Source
- coordinates	18°4′10″N 94°28′0″W / 18.06944°N 94.466667°W / 18.06944; -94.466667
Length	2,330 km (1,448 mi)

The Coatzacoalcos is a large river that feeds mainly the south part of the state of Veracruz; it originates in the Sierra de Niltepec and crosses the State Oaxaca in the region of Isthmus of Tehuantepec, flowing for 282 kilometers^[1] toward the Gulf of Mexico. Tributaries include Jaltepec, Chalchijalpa, El Chiquito, Uxpanapa and Calzadas. The merging of all these rivers creates one of the largest current flows in entire region. Two-thirds of the streams are navigable.

Legend

According to legend, the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was aboard a raft made of a serpent skin and navigated until became lost into the horizon. Ever since, the river has been known as Coatzacoalcos, which means “the place where the serpent hides.”

Port

The city of Coatzacoalcos, at the river's mouth, is one of the most commercial and industrialized ports, considered the third most important in the Gulf of Mexico, offering one of the most important means of transportation for an international commerce whose products are important to the local industrial farming business, forestry, and commerce in general for the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Pollution

The Coatzacoalcos is also among the world's most contaminated rivers, partly because of the lack of environmental laws protecting the public water.^[2] According to the Mexican Center of Environmental Law (CEMDA) the biggest polluting body is the petrochemical industry of Mexico (PEMEX).^[3]

References