El Puente Tampico (finished in October 1988) links the states of Tamaulipas and Veracruz and is a major element in the Gulf of Mexico highway system. It took 10 years to build this 1543 meter-long bridge rising 55 meters above the Río Pánuco. Its height allows large ships to enter the city docks.

Tampico, located at 22.22°N, 97.85°W, is the main city in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, and the Mexican Gulf's main economic powerhouse. Tampico is an important sea port. The city was founded by Spain in 1554. In 2003 the estimated population of Tampico was about 307,000 people, although the metropolitan area, including Ciudad Madero, Altamira, Pueblo Viejo de Tampico and Tampico Alto, raises that number to 769,070.

The name "Tampico" is of Huastec origin: tam-piko, meaning "place of – otters", (literally "water dogs"). The city is surrounded by rivers and lagoons which hosted a large population of otters in the past.

The first Coca Cola bottling plant in Mexico was built there.

Mexican commercial aviation started there, as its first flight, by Mexicana Airlines, took off from Tampico headed for Mexico City.

Tampico's Country Club, and its golf course, is one of the oldest in Mexico. Seafood is important in the city.