Tehuantepec
a town of Mexico; in the State of Oaxaca; 14 miles above the mouth of a river of the same name, falling into the Pacific Ocean. On account of a dangerous bar the river is little used for navigation. The town is near the S. side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest part of North America, having the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the Pacific side, the Bay of Campeachy on the Atlantic side; width, about 115 miles. A ship railway across the isthmus was projected by James B. Eads, and after his death it was built by an English firm for the Mexican Government at a cost of $20,- 000,000, and opened for 150 miles in 1907.