Tabasco,estado (state), southeasternMexico. It is bounded by theGulf of Mexico to the north, by the state ofCampeche to the east, byGuatemala to the southeast, and by the states ofChiapas to the south andVeracruz to the west. Its capital city isVillahermosa.

Except for some higher areas in the south, the relief is generally low and flat, and the land is largely covered withlakes,lagoons, andwetlands, including those in the extensive Centla Wetlands Biosphere Reserve in the northeast. The state is drained by theGrijalva (also known as the Tabasco) andUsumacinta rivers, which, with their tributaries, deposit fertile soils in floodplains and act as major avenues of transportation.

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Pre-Hispanic Indiancultures included those of theChontal,Maya,Olmec, andNahua—many descendants of whom still inhabit the state. In 1518 the Spanish explorerJuan de Grijalba visited the area, and the following year the conquistadorHernán Cortés clashed with the Indians, who were partly subdued by Francisco de Montejo in the 1530s and ’40s.

Nearly half the population lives in rural areas, where the chief crops arecacao, copra (from coconuts), corn (maize), sugarcane, and tropical fruits (notably papayas and bananas). Forestry (especially mahogany and red cedar), beekeeping, fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and cattle raising are also important. Petroleum, which isextracted from several fields and refined locally, is a major source of employment and income in the state. The tabasco pepper (Capsicum frutescens, variety tabasco), a small hot red chili grown along the Gulf of Mexico and named for the Mexican state, became the basis of the world famous condiment known asTabasco sauce. 

Tabasco became a state in 1824. Its government is headed by a governor, who is elected to a single six-year term. Members of the unicameral legislature, the State Congress, are elected to three-year terms. Tabasco is divided into local governmental units calledmunicipios (municipalities), each of which is headquartered in a prominent city, town, or village. The state’s educational institutions include the JuárezAutonomous University of Tabasco (founded 1958, in Villahermosa) and the People’s University of Chontalpa (1998, in Cárdenas). Villahermosa is linked by highway with Cárdenas, Paraíso, and cities in neighbouring states. The principal port is Frontera. Area 9,756 square miles (25,267 square km). Pop. (2020) 2,402,598.