Zapata County, Texas

Zapata County
County
The front of the Zapata County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 27°00′N 99°11′W / 27°N 99.18°W / 27; -99.18
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	January 22, 1858
Named for	Colonel José Antonio de Zapata
Seat	Zapata
Largest community	Zapata
Area
• Total	1,058 sq mi (2,740 km2)
• Land	998 sq mi (2,580 km2)
• Water	60 sq mi (200 km2)  5.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	13,889
• Density	13/sq mi (5.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	28th
Website	www.co.zapata.tx.us

Zapata County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 13,889.^[1] Its county seat is Zapata.^[2] The county is east of the Mexico–United States border and is named for Colonel José Antonio de Zapata, a rancher in the area who rebelled against Mexico.

Zapata County comprises the Zapata, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area.

The South Texas Oil Boom included wells drilled in Zapata County in the early 1920s through the work of Laredo industrialist Oliver Winfield Killam, a Missouri native who once served as an Oklahoma state legislator.