Its territory is divided into two nearly equal parts by the eastern branch of the Sierra Madre Occidental, the northern part belonging to the great central plateau region, and the southern to an extremely broken region formed by the diverging branches of the Sierra Madre, with their wooded terraces and slopes and highly fertile valleys.
long and has no ports or towns of importance, the slopes of the Sierra Madre del Pacifico being precipitous and heavily wooded and the coastbelt sandy, hot and malarial.
The Sierra Madre crosses the southern part of the state parallel with the coast, separating the low, humid, forested districts on the frontier of Tabasco from the hot, drier, coastal plain on the Pacific. The mountain region includes a plateau of great fertility and temperate climate, which is one of the best parts of Mexico and contains the larger part of the population of the state.
Coffee-planting is a new industry on the Pacific slope of the Sierra Madre at elevations of 2000 to 4000 ft., and has met with considerable success.
The surface of the state is much broken by the Sierra Madre Occidental, which extends through it from north to south and covers its entire width with parallel ranges, enclosing fertile valleys.