Tabasco

Tabasco is a tropical state on the Gulf coast of southeastern Mexico, lush, wet and rich in pre-Hispanic history. Its capital is Villahermosa. Home to the ancient Olmec civilisation and major oil reserves, it is a green land of rivers, wetlands and rainforest.

Tabasco is low-lying and extremely wet, laced with rivers, lagoons and wetlands draining into the Gulf of Mexico, with rainforest and farmland. It is one of the rainiest states in Mexico, with a hot, humid tropical climate.

Tabasco's culture reflects its Olmec and Maya roots and its tropical setting, with a cuisine featuring cacao, plantains and river fish. Villahermosa's parks display colossal Olmec stone heads.

The cradle of the Olmec, often called the mother culture of Mesoamerica, Tabasco was where Hernan Cortes first landed and received the translator known as La Malinche. It became a state in 1824 and prospered with the oil industry.