Nice print titled Vera-Cruz et Fort de Saint-jean-d'Ulua, from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, approx. page size is 27.5 x 19 cm, approx. image size is 19 x 13  cm. From La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes / The Earth and Its Inhabitants, great work of Elisee Reclus.

Veracruz,

in full Veracruz Llave, city and port on the Gulf of Mexico, east-central Veracruz estado (“state”), east-central Mexico.

Veracruz is built on a hot, low, and barren sandy beach along the Gulf of Mexico only about 50 feet (15 m) above sea level. Hernán Cortés founded La Villa Rica de la Veracruz (“The Rich Town of the True Cross”) as the first Mexican municipality in 1519, but the site was twice abandoned because of its rainy, humid, and somewhat unhealthy conditions; the present city dates from about 1599. As the chief link between colonial Mexico and Spain, Veracruz prospered as a port and became the most “Spanish” of Mexican cities, with an admixture of Caribbean creole influences. It was attacked and captured repeatedly—first by privateers, then by French and U.S. forces, and, after independence in 1821, by numerous revolutionary governments. It was renamed Veracruz Llave in honour of General Ignacio de la Llave, governor of Veracruz state (1857–60). Both the 1857 and 1917 Mexican constitutions were proclaimed there.

Veracruz is the chief seaport on the east coast of Mexico and is a communications centre for the gulf littoral and the tropical and highland hinterlands of Veracruz state. It is linked by highway, railroad, and air to other major cities. The city also houses the University of Veracruz (1944). Pop. (1980) 333,000; (1990) 438,821.