Mexico, officially the United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or EUM), is the second largest country of Latin America and the largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world. With an east coast on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea and a long west coast on the Pacific Ocean it has by far the longest coastline in Latin America and, as a result, the largest number of lighthouses. Mexico is a federal union of 31 states (estados) plus the capital district, and the states are subdivided into municipalities (municipios). This page includes the lighthouses of the central and southern regions of the Mexican state of Veracruz, which faces east on the Gulf of Mexico. Lighthouses of the Huasteca regions of northern Veracruz State are described on the Northern Gulf Coast page. Wedged between the Gulf on the east and the mountains of the Sierra Madre Oriental to the west, Veracruz state has a coastline about 650 km (400 mi) long. Veracruz City is the largest port, but there are many smaller ports. In Spanish the word for a lighthouse is faro, baliza is a beacon, isla is an island, cabo is a cape, punta is a promontory or point of land, péñon is a rock, arrecife is a reef, bahía is a bay, ría is an estuary or inlet, estrecho is a strait, río is a river, and puerto is a port or harbor. Mexican lighthouses are managed by the Port Captains and Maritime Affairs Unit (Unidad de Capitanías de Puerto y Asuntos Marítimos, UNICAPAM). Many of the larger light stations are staffed by resident civilian keepers. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. CF numbers are from the Mexican Cuaderno de Faros (Handbook of Lighthouses). Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. NGA Light List numbers are from NGA Publication 110.
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![]() Faro Verde (Southeast Breakwater Light), Veracruz, July 2018 ex-Google Plus photo by Carlos Rodrigues |
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![]() Arrecife Santiaguillo Light, Antón Lizardo Reefs, July 2023 Google Maps photo by Carlos Mesta Fernández |
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![]() Isla de Enmedio Light, Antón Lizardo Reefs, March 2019 photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
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![]() New and old Coatzacoalcos Lights, Coatzacoalcos, May 2018 Google Maps photo by Hilda Zamudio Gonzalez |
Information available on lost lighthouses
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Northern Gulf Coast | East: Southern Gulf Coast
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Posted December 2004. Checked and revised April 9, 2025. Lighthouses: 41. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.