The first LDS Church temple in Mexico was built in Mexico City in 1983. Twenty-three years later, there are twelve LDS Church temples in Mexico. The Tampico Mexico Temple—actually located in Ciudad Madero, part of the Tampico conurbation—was the sixth to be dedicated in the country.
Tampico itself has a population of about 212,000 and is located in the state of Tamaulipas, on the Gulf of Mexico. There are about 18,000 church members in the city. Previous to the temple's dedication, local Latter-day Saints had to cross the Sierra Madre mountain range to reach the temple in Mexico City. A groundbreaking ceremony, which about 930 people attended, was held on 28 November 1998.
Thomas S. Monson, of the LDS Church's First Presidency gave the dedicatory prayer for the Tampico Mexico Temple on May 20, 2000. The Tampico Mexico Temple has a total floor area of 10,700 square feet (990 m2), two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
