Las Choapas

Las Choapas is a city at the far southeastern corner of Veracruz, close to the borders with Tabasco, Chiapas and Oaxaca, and the seat of the largest municipality in the state, which covers about 3,510 km². The city had 46,909 people at the 2020 census. It lies in hot, low country, only a few dozen metres above sea level, where the Pedregal, Tonalá and Nanchital rivers come together and the land rises to the south toward the hills of the Uxpanapa. Rain is heavy, at around 2,500–2,900 mm a year, and summer temperatures can reach 40 °C. The name comes from Nahuatl Achiopan or Achoapan, "river of the achiote". The economy rests on oil and cattle, with maize, fruit, sugar cane and rubber.

The area lies in the heart of the old Olmec zone between the Uxpanapa and Tonalá rivers, about 22 km south of the great Olmec site of La Venta. In 2012 an INAH archaeologist described three later settlements found near the city during public works and oil exploration, dated roughly to 600–1200 AD, with plazas and ball courts built on clusters of raised mounds; the largest, El Chichón-Acapulco, covers 288 hectares. In the 19th century the land was divided into haciendas, and from the 1890s foreign oil companies arrived, led by the El Águila company; drilling began here in 1930, and the industry was expropriated in 1938. Las Choapas became a congregación of Minatitlán in 1932, the municipality was created on 28 December 1961, and the town became a city in 1967. A tanker named Las Choapas was sunk in 1942 during the Second World War.

Las Choapas is a working city rather than a tourist town, and its life revolves around the oil service companies, commerce and the surrounding ranches. It has a culture centre, the Casa de Cultura Frida Kahlo, a strong son jarocho tradition, and professional football and baseball stadiums. Since 13 September 2024 it has been a stop on Line FA of the Tren Interoceánico, which runs between Coatzacoalcos and Palenque. The rivers of the municipality, such as the Uxpanapa and the Tonalá, known locally as the Tancochapa, are used for fishing and swimming. The main civic celebrations are the Independence fiestas of 13–16 September and the anniversary of the municipality, from 22 to 30 December.