Tapachula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
The location of Chiapas in Mexico.
The location of Tapachula in Chiapas.

Statistics
Capital	Tapachula
Area	303 km² km² Ranked 21st
Population (2005 census)	189,991 city; 282,420 municipality
ISO 3166-2 Postal abbr.	Tapachula, Mexico Tapachula.

Tapachula is a municipio (municipality) and city with a hot, humid climate in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is located in southern part of the state on the Soconusco coastal plain, near the border with Guatemala, at 14.91° N 92.27° W. In the 2005 census the population of the municipality was 282,420 people, whereas the city of Tapachula had a population of 189,991 (more than two-thirds of the municipality's total). The city and the municipality both rank second in the state in population, behind Tuxtla Gutiérrez.

The city has one of the highest GDP per capita in Mexico, and it is known sometimes as "Perla del Soconusco" ("Pearl of Soconusco").^{[citation needed]}

1 Culture
2 Migration
3 Metropolitan area
4 Education
5 Notable features
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Culture

The population mix is culturally diverse. From Indios and Mestizos, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, French and several others. The International Fair of Tapachula is celebrated during March with cattle agricultural and commercial exhibition.

Important newspapers are the Tapachultecan "El Orbe" and the Soconuscan "El Diario del Sur"; radio can be received from both Mexico and Guatemala.

Important politicians, scientists, and artists were born in Tapachula, like Fray Matías de Córdova and Amparo Montes. During the history of the city several foreign cultures had influence in the rich history of the city. The Germans came during the coffee boom and created German villages and haciendas where their ancestors live today, and haciendas like: Hamburgo, Bremen, Germania, etc. still remind us of the first Saxons of the area. The Japanese and the Chinese also left a strong influence in Tapachula, in the cuisine and architecture. They came to construct railroads and were the first Asian immigrants in Latin America. Italian, French and other expats descendants still live along the Spanish, Mestizo and Indians of the region.

[edit] Migration

Tapachula is also known as the point at which the undocumented migrants from Central America begin their trek northward in search of jobs, and a better life. Before Hurricane Stan devastated the Soconusco region, a train system carried large numbers of these migrants weekly to the north.

[edit] Metropolitan area

Tapachula has an extensive metropolitan zone that includes several suburbs incluiding beaches like Playa Linda, Puerto Madero, Viva Mexico a downtown Tapachula and even a Cruise Harbor named Puerto Chiapas (2005). The postal code for Tapachula is 30,700.

[edit] Education

The city is an examplary cultural hub, strong involvement of the government of Mexico is changing trends of literacy around this city. Although there are not that many universities, most majors are offered from law and accounting (UNACH, CEST), to medicine and civil engineering (IESCH, Tecnologico de Tapachula), architecture and system engineer (UVG).