city and river port, southeastern Veracruz estado (state), south central Mexico. It is on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Río Coatzacoalcos, 20 mi (32 km) from its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico and 210 ft (64 m) above sea level. When founded in 1822 as Paso de la Fabrica, the settlement's inhabitants included North Americans, French, and Germans. The colony did not prosper until oil was discovered in the vicinity in the 1940s. Now a prosperous petrochemical centre, Minatitlán refines and distributes oil found on the isthmus. Mexico's first refinery was built in Minatitlán, and there is a network of gas and oil pipelines, the most important of which cross the isthmus to the port of Salina Cruz, on the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Lumbering and agriculture are additional sources of income. Minatitlán is accessible by highway, railroad, river, and air. Pop. (2005) urban agglom., 330,781.