Tamaulipas borders on the states of Veracruz to the south, San Luis Potosí to the southwest, and Nuevo León to the west. To the east Tamaulipas fronts the Gulf of Mexico; to the north Tamaulipas stands on the U.S.-Mexico border, adjacent to the U.S. state of Texas. According to the 2006 census, Tamaulipas had a population of some 3,024,238 people.
The capital of Tamaulipas is Ciudad Victoria. Also in Tamaulipas are the cities of Altamira, Camargo, Ciudad Madero, Ciudad Mante, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo Progreso, Ocampo, Reynosa, Tula, Tampico, Valle Hermoso, San Fernando, Soto La Marina, and Rio Bravo.