Tabasco is a state located in Southeast Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west, Chiapas to the south, and Campeche to the north-east. Also, to the east Tabasco borders with the Petén department of Guatemala, and to the north with the Bay of Campeche (part of the Gulf of Mexico). Tabasco is located between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Yucatan Peninsula.
The state covers 24,731 km2, which is about 1.3% of Mexico’s total. The state capital is Villahermosa.
Tabasco has a hot and humid tropical climate. The average annual temperature is 27C with high temperatures averaging 36C. Hotter months are May and June. Tabasco has abundant year round precipitation. The state receives an average annual rainfall of 2,550mm. Rain occurs all year but is particularly heavy from June to October. The flat, low-elevational areas of the state are subject to frequent flooding. According to the 2010 national census, Tabasco has 2,238,603 habitants.
Tabasco has an international airport. Its economy is oil and agricultural based. Mayor crops are bananas, corn, cacao and lemons. Cattle is produced abundantly.
The state has many different environments, including tropical rainforest, mangrove forests, beaches, lowland savanna, and water in all its forms: lagoons, rivers, marshes and the sea. Originally, most of the territory was covered with tropical rainforest and wetlands. Much of the rainforest has suffered degradation due to over logging and conversion into farmland. Along the state there are swampy depressions extremely vulnerable to flooding from both river flow and from excessive rainfall. In the south of the state there are some elevations which are part of the central mesa of Chiapas.
However, Tabasco still has habitat for the widest variety of wildlife, from birds such as parrots and hummingbirds to various kinds of reptiles, such as iguanas, crocodiles and snakes. Approximately, 520 bird species frequent this area, roughly half of the species encountered in Mexico. Mammal species have declined because of deforestation, but still include spider and howler monkeys, jaguars, pumas, raccoons, anteaters, deer, agouti and wild boar. Most the intact rainforest is found in the municipalities of Tenosique, Balancán, Macuspana, Teapa, Tacotalpa, Cárdenas and Huimanguillo.