The municipio (municipality/county) of San Andrés Tuxtla sits app. 100 miles northeast of
Veracruz City, in the southeastern part of Veracruz state, in east central Mexico.

It is the largest and most populated county in the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas, harboring app.
149,000 inhabitants (2005).  The population is mostly mestizo, with less than 600 known
native language speakers.
Municipio of San Andrés Tuxtla
Its largest cities are the county seat of San Andrés city
with 58,757 inhabitants followed by some of its suburbs,
Comoapan 4845, Eyipantla 3683, Sihuapan 3429, Caleria
3767 and another 29 towns with more than 1000 people
plus another 200 or more smaller villages.

First historical records from 1580 describe the area as
several haciendas. After long political domination by
Santiago Tuxla, the city achieved its own county status in
1823.

By 1830, the bestowing of the title "town" to its county
seat and the advent of tobacco planters, laid the roots for
the future international prominence of San Andres Tuxtla
as a cigar center. The advent of the paved Mexican
federal highway 180 from Texas to Yucatan, in the early
1950's, propelled the municipio into the 20th century and
exploded its population and environmental degradation.

The county occupies most of Volcano San Martin Tuxtla,
5442 feet (1659m) and its slopes from the Gulf of Mexico
to the Rio San Juan. To the east the municipality borders on
the municipio of Catemaco, south to Hueyapan de Ocampo
and Isla, and west to Santiago Tuxtla and Angel R.
Cabada. 14 miles (28 km) of coastline along the Gulf of
Mexico hem the county to the north.
Almost half of the total surface area of 354.74 square
miles (919 km²), is protected by the, mostly in name only,
Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (Reserva de la Biosfera
de Los Tuxtlas). More than half of the county is dedicated
to cattle raising, and almost one quarter to corn growing. In
addition, Tobacco growing and processing is still a staple
of the local economy.

Tourism is mostly centered in San Andres City attracting
primarily business travellers to its almost 20 hotels. The
undeveloped coastal area features the tiny resort of
Montepio with less than 30 hotel rooms. The most visited
attraction is the Eyipantla waterfall.