MINATITLN

city and river port, southeastern Veracruz state, south central Mexico. It is on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Ro 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, Minatitln refines and distributes oil found on the isthmus. Mexico's first refinery was built in Minatitln, and there is a network of gas and oil pipelines, the most important of which crosses the isthmus to the port of Salina Cruz, on the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Lumbering and agriculture are additional sources of income. Minatitln is accessible by highway, railroad, river, and air. Pop. (1979 est.) 120,000.