Veracruz (Latin American Spanish pronunciation: [beɾaˈkɾus] ⓘ), also known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico and the most populous city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located along the coast in the central part of the state, 90 km (56 mi) southeast of the state capital Xalapa.
It is the most populous city in the state of Veracruz. Part of the city extends into the neighboring municipality of Boca del Río. At the 2020 census, Veracruz Municipality had a population of 607,209 inhabitants. The city of Veracruz had a population of 537,952 inhabitants, 405,952 in Veracruz municipality and 132,011 in Boca del Río municipality. Developed during Spanish colonization, Veracruz is Mexico's oldest, largest, and historically most significant port.
When the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés arrived in what is now Mexican territory on 22 April 1519, he founded a city, which he named Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, referring to the area's gold and dedicated to the "True Cross", because he landed on the Christian holy day of Good Friday, the day of the Crucifixion. It was the first Spanish settlement on the mainland of the Americas to receive a coat-of-arms. During the colonial period, this city had the largest mercantile class and was at times wealthier than the capital, Mexico City. Its wealth attracted the raids of 17th-century pirates, against which fortifications such as Fort San Juan de Ulúa were built. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Veracruz was invaded on different occasions by France and the United States; in the aftermath of the 1914 Tampico Affair, US troops occupied the city for seven months. For much of the 20th century, the production of petroleum was most important for the state's economy but, in the latter 20th century and into the 21st, the port has re-emerged as the main economic engine. It has become the principal port for most of Mexico's imports and exports, especially for the automotive industry.
Veracruz has a blend of cultures, mostly indigenous, Spanish and Afro-Caribbean. The influence of these three is best seen in the food and music of the area, which has strong Spanish, Caribbean and African influences.
Etymology
The name Veracruz (originally Vera Cruz), derives from the Latin Vera Crux (True Cross). Having established the settlement of Villa Rica (Rich Village) on Good Friday, 22 April 1519, Cortés dedicated the place to the True Cross as an offering.
History
Viceroyalty of New Spain (1518–1821)
The Spanish captain Juan de Grijalva, along with Bernal Díaz del Castillo, first arrived in 1518 at the island later known as San Juan de Ulúa. The Spanish gave it that name because they landed on the Christian feast of John the Baptist (24 June), and in honor of the captain. De Ulúa is derived from the local name for the Aztecs, coluha or acolhua. The word for Aztec evolved into Ulúa.
While Veracruz itself was founded by Hernán Cortés who arrived in 1519, the area at the time was within the jurisdiction of Moctezuma II and his Aztec Empire. Cortés and his men landed at the shore opposite the island where Grijalva had moored, which has the pre-Hispanic name of Chalchihuecan. Cortés, Francisco de Montejo and Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero founded the settlement, naming it Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The name Villa Rica (rich village) referred to the gold that was found here and Vera Cruz (True Cross) was added because the Cortés expedition landed on Good Friday, a Christian holy day. When Cortés and his soldiers abolished the Aztec rulers and elected a Justicia Mayor and a Capitán General, they created the first city council on the American continent. The city was the first on mainland America to receive a European coat of arms, which was authorized by Carlos V in Valladolid, Spain, on 4 July 1523.
The original settlement was moved in 1525 to what is now known as Antigua, at the mouth of the Huitzilapan (or Antigua River) shortly thereafter. This separated the city from the port, as ships could not enter the shallow river. Ships continued to dock at San Juan de Ulúa, with small boats being used to ferry goods on and off the ships.
As in other parts of Mexico, the indigenous peoples suffered from epidemics of European infectious diseases, which decimated the population after contact. The Portuguese Empire began to import African slaves via the port of Veracruz. In the 16th century, the state had more slaves than any other in Mexico. Before the slave trade was abolished, Mexico had the second-highest population of African slaves in the Americas, following Brazil.
Veracruz was the most important port in New Spain, with a large wealthy merchant class that was more prosperous than that of Mexico City. Each of the two yearly voyages of the Spanish treasure fleet to and from Spain were to gather at Veracruz stevedores, muleteers, navigators, sailors, contractors, merchants and civil servants. In 1568 the Armada admiral Francisco Luján successfully ambushed a fleet of British privateers led by John Hawkins and Francis Drake whilst they were provisioning at Veracruz. By the end of the 16th century, the Spanish had constructed roads to link Veracruz with other cities such as Córdoba, Orizaba, Puebla, Xalapa and Perote. Their gold and silver were the principal exports.
This caused the city problems with pirates, prompting the construction of Fort San Juan de Ulúa on the island where Grijalva had landed in the mid-16th century. In 1600, when large-scale smuggling of goods took place to avoid customs officials, the Spanish Crown ordered the settlement returned to its original site to cut down on that traffic. Docks and an observation tower were constructed on the island to ensure that goods went through customs officials. Major public buildings were constructed at the beginning of the 17th century: the municipal palace, the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Merced, and the Hospital de Nuestra Señora de Loreto. In 1618, a fire nearly reduced much of the city to ashes. In 1640, the Barlovento Armada was stationed here for additional defense against pirates. The pirates, led by Spain's rival nations, Nicholas van Hoorn, Laurens de Graaf and Michel de Grammont attacked Vera Cruz in 1683.
During the 18th century Veracruz's defence was improved with the construction of a wall around it (1790), bastions Baluarte de Santiago and gates, and San Juan de Ulua's renovation to today's appearance. The reason was to protect this valuable port after the threat of an invasion such as the siege of Havana (1762) by the British. The Spanish empire's talented military engineers were gathered in Veracruz to work on the New Spanish Gulf of Mexico's defence against the attack of Spain's enemies in a time when the Spanish Empire stretched from current Venezuela to Florida. Many of the buildings and institutions which form Veracruz's Historic Centre date from that time such as the cathedral (1731), the Military Hospital of San Carlos (1731) or modern water supply and sewerage systems.
In 1804 the Balmis Expedition arrived at Veracruz with the smallpox vaccine, which was from here transported to the whole of New Spain. The 19th century was marked by armed conflicts. During the Mexican War of Independence, Spain placed troops here to maintain Mexico City's sea link with Spain. In 1816, Antonio López de Santa Anna commanded royalist troops countering the insurgency. In 1820, insurgents took the city, despite Santa Anna's attempts to stop them. The last viceroy of New Spain, Juan O'Donojú, arrived here in 1821, where he signed the Treaty of Córdoba with Agustín de Iturbide at Fort San Juan de Ulúa. In 1823, Spanish troops remaining at Fort San Juan de Ulúa fired on the newly independent Mexican city of Veracruz. In 1825 the last Spanish troops left San Juan de Ulúa.
Mexico (since 1821)
The city's defense against the attack earned its first title of "Heroic City". During the Pastry War in 1837, the city mounted a defense against a French attack, and earned its second title of "Heroic City."
In 1847 during the Mexican–American War, United States forces invaded the city. It was defended by generals Juan Morales and José Juan de Landero. The siege continued with brisk firing until 27 March, by which time a considerable breach had been made in the wall surrounding the city. Upon this General Morales, who was Governor of both the city and of San Juan de Ulúa, commenced a correspondence with General Winfield Scott looking to the surrender of the town, forts and garrison. On the 29th Vera Cruz and San Juan de Ulúa were occupied by Scott's army. About five thousand prisoners and four hundred pieces of artillery, in addition to large amounts of small arms and ammunition, fell into the hands of the victorious invaders. The casualties on the US side during the siege amounted to sixty-four officers and men, killed and wounded.
Ten years later, civil war between liberals and conservatives forced Benito Juárez's government to flee Mexico City. Juárez went to Veracruz and governed from there in 1857. In 1861 Spain sent its troops to occupy the port in an effort to secure payment of debts, which Juárez had suspended. French military forces accompanied them to prepare for Maximiliano I and occupied the city when the emperor and his wife Carlota of Belgium arrived in 1864.
20th century
The conflicts and damaged trade relations with Europe took its toll on the port of Veracruz. By 1902, the port facilities had deteriorated, and it was considered one of the most dangerous on the American coast. President Porfirio Díaz contracted with foreign enterprises to modernize the port's infrastructure.
Between April and November 1914, during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920), the US attacked and occupied the port in an effort to try to preserve trade in the dispute with President Victoriano Huerta. The city gained its fourth title of "Heroic City".
After the Revolution, most port workers became unionized. Through most of the 20th century, federal and state legal and political initiatives intended to better workers' lives had effects on the operations of the port. Eventually, unions came to have great power over the operations and tariffs charged. By the latter part of the 20th century, competing unions made the operations of the port difficult. Some blocked access to the port from federal roads and financial corruption was a problem.
In the 1970s, a federal commission was established to design a new administrative system for the ports of Mexico. The legislature passed laws authorizing the federal government to take control over important ports such as Veracruz. The federal government modernized the port, adopting automation of loading and unloading. This resulted in a reduction of 80% of the port's jobs and labor resistance through strikes. The dockworkers' unions unified, negotiating for members to have a stake in a new company to manage the port's functions, named the Empresa de Servicios Portuarios de Veracruz, S.A. de C.V. The old Compañia Terminal de Veracruz was dissolved in 1988 and the new organization was fully in place by 1991.
21st century
In September 2010, Hurricane Karl, a small, strong Category 3 hurricane, caused widespread flooding and damage affecting approximately half a million people. Sixteen were confirmed dead with another eleven missing. Sixty-five municipalities in the state were declared disaster areas. Preliminary damage estimates total up to US$3.9 billion and $50 billion MXN.
Geography
As the municipal seat, the city of Veracruz is the governing authority for 128 other named localities during the 2010 census, forming a municipality with a territory of 241 km2 (93 sq mi). The population of the municipality is 552,156 inhabitants, of whom 428,323 or approximately 77.6% live in municipality's portion of the city proper. The municipality is bordered by the municipalities of La Antigua, Boca del Río, Manlio Fabio Altamirano, Medellín, and Paso de Ovejas, with the Gulf of Mexico to the northeast, and has an average altitude of ten meters above sea level. The area is flat with little in the way of elevations and is crossed by the Medio, Grande and Tonayán Rivers. There are also beaches here such as the Sacrificios and Verde. Its climate is tropical with an average temperature of 25.3 °C (77.5 °F). Vegetation is mostly of the rainforest type, with many trees losing leaves during the winter dry season. Fauna mostly consists of birds, small mammals and insects.
Much of the land in the municipality outside of the city is used for agriculture and livestock. Principal crops include corn, beans, watermelon, oranges, sorghum, mango, pineapple and sugar cane. Livestock raised includes cattle, pigs, sheep, fowl and horses. There is also some forestry. The municipality contains deposits of marble, lime, cement, sand and clay. In and around the city there are a number of industrial sites producing paints and solvents, food products, plastics, petrochemicals and metals.
Veracruz has many beaches and off coast islands. Controversy has accompanied the clean-up of the island called Isla de Sacrificios, which lies just off the coast of the city and measures 450 meters long and 198 meters wide. The island is part of a system of twenty-three coral reefs called the Veracruz Reef System, which is protected as a national park. Visitors can kayak to the Isla de Sacrificios to observe seagulls, pelicans and the fish that inhabit the coral reef. In 1983, a study and initial cleanup project was undertaken at the island, which collected fifty tons of trash. Shortly thereafter, the island was closed to the public and since then, there has been a struggle among authorities, tour operators and fisherman as to the fate and uses of the island. However, access to the island has been restricted to research, teaching and the occasional sporting event.