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Mexico.
Mexico
This article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation)
The United Mexican States or Mexico (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or México; the spelling Méjico is occasionally used in other Hispanic nations but considered offensive in Mexico itself) is a country located in North America, bordered to the north by the United States, to the south-east by Guatemala and Belize, to the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. It is the northernmost and third largest country in Latin America.
Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Flag of Mexico
Coat of Arms
National motto: None
Official language
Spanish
Capital
Mexico City.
Largest City
Mexico City
President
Vicente Fox
Area - Total - % water
Ranked 13th 1,972,550 km² 2.5%
Population - Total (2003) - Density
Ranked 11th 104,907,991 54/km²
Independence - Declared - Recognised
From SpainSeptember 16, 1810April 28, 1836
GDP (base PPP)
- Total (2002)
- GDP/head
Ranked 13th(countries)Ranked 10th(economies)
900 billions $
9,000 $
Currency
Mexican peso (MXN)
Time zone
UTC -6 to -8
National anthem
Mexicanos, al grito de guerra
Internet TLD
.mx
Calling Code
52
Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide")
1 History
2 Politics
3 States
4 Geography
5 Economy
6 Demographics
7 Culture
8 Holidays and celebrations
9 Miscellaneous topics
10 External links
History
main article: History of Mexico
Mexico was the site of several advanced Native American civilizations, of the Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Maya and the Aztecs. The arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century and their defeat of the Aztecs in 1521 marked the beginning of the colonial period of Mexico as a part of New Spain.
In 1810, independence from Spain was declared, causing a long war that eventually led to independence in 1821. After independence, Mexico's territory slowly decreased in size, with land lost and sold to the United States (see Mexican-American War) and the secession of Central America. In the 1860s the country suffered a military occupation by France, fought off by Mexican patriot Benito Juárez.
The long, undemocratic regime of Porfirio Díaz led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Revolutionary forces defeated the federal army, but were left with internal struggles, leaving the country in conflict for two more decades. At the end of the revolution the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) controlled the country until the end of the 20th century.
Politics
main article: Politics of Mexico
The 1917 constitution provides for the federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Historically, the executive is the dominant branch, with power vested in the president, who promulgates and executes the laws of the parliament, the federal congress or Congreso de la Unión.
The Congress has played an increasingly important role since 1997 when opposition parties first made major gains. The president also legislates by executive decree in certain economic and financial fields, using powers delegated from the Congress. The president is elected by universal adult suffrage for a 6-year term and may not hold office a second time. There is no vice president; in the event of the removal or death of the president, a provisional president is elected by the Congress.
The bicameral National Congress is composed of a Senate (Cámara de Senadores) and a Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). Consecutive re-election is prohibited. Senators are elected to 6-year terms, and deputies serve 3-year terms. The Senate's 128 seats are filled by a mixture of direct-election and proportional representation. In the lower Chamber of Deputies, 300 of the total 500 deputies are directly elected to represent single-member districts, and the remaining 200 are selected by a modified form of proportional representation from five electoral regions. The 200 proportional representation seats were created to help smaller parties gain access to the Chamber.
States
main article: States of Mexico
Mexico is divided into 31 states (estados) and the Mexican Federal District (Distrito Federal), which contains the capital, Mexico City:
Map of Mexico
Geography
main article: Geography of Mexico
Situated in the southwestern part of mainland North America and roughly triangular in shape, Mexico stretches more than 1,850 miles from northwest to southeast. Its width is varied, from more than 1,200 miles in the north and less than 135 miles in the south. Mexico borders two major bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean (with the Sea of Cortes in between the mainland and the Baja California peninsula) to the west and on the east the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea that lead to the Atlantic Ocean. Here are found coastal plains, whereas central Mexico consists of high plateaus and rugged mountains, including volcanoes, the highest of which is the Pico de Orizaba at 5,610 m.
The terrain and climate vary from deserts in the north to tropical rain forest in the south. Mexico's major rivers include the Río Bravo (known in the US as the Rio Grande), the Grijalva, the Balsas and the Yaqui.
Economy
main article: Economy of Mexico
Mexico has a free-market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico has fallen from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 1999. The administration of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León continued a policy of privatizing and expanding competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports which was initiated by his predecessors Miguel de la Madrid and Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
A strong export sector helped to cushion the economy's decline in 1995 and led the recovery in 1996-1999. Private consumption became the leading driver of growth, accompanied by increased employment and higher wages. Mexico still needs to overcome many structural problems as it strives to modernize its economy and raise living standards. Income distribution is very unequal, with the top 20% of income earners accounting for 55% of income.
Following 6.9% growth in 2000, real GDP fell 0.3% in 2001, with the US slowdown the principal cause. Positive developments in 2001 included a drop in inflation to 6.5%, a sharp fall in interest rates, and a strong peso that appreciated 5% against the US dollar. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since NAFTA was implemented in 1994. Mexico is pursuing additional trade agreements with most countries in Latin America and has signed a free trade deal with the European Union, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements and lessening its dependence on the US.
Demographics
main article: Demographics of Mexico
Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world and the second most populous country in Latin America after Portuguese-speaking Brazil. Some 60% of the population is of a mixed ethnicity known as mestizo, with 30% being Amerindian and 9% of European descent. The country is predominantly Roman Catholic (89%), with 6% adhering to various Protestant faiths and the remaining 5% either to other smaller religions or is unaffiliated.
Culture
main article: Culture of Mexico
Holidays and celebrations
Date
English Name
Local Name
Remarks
January 1
New Year's Day
Año nuevo
First day of the year
February 5
Constitution Day
Día de la Constitución
Celebrates the ratification of the Constitution of 1917, adopted after the Mexican Civil War
March 18
Oil Expropriation
Expropiación Petrolera
President Lázaro Cárdenas expropriated oil companies to facilitate Mexico's industrial development. (see 1938)
March 21
Benito Juárez's Birthday
Natalicio de Benito Juárez
Birthday of Benito Juárez, 19th century president and statesman who stood against the French occupation (see Maximilian of Mexico)
May 1
Labour Day
Día del Trabajo
Commemorates the Haymarket Riot of (1886)
May 5
Cinco de Mayo
Batalla de Puebla
Celebrates the victory against French forces in the city of Puebla, on May 5, 1862. It is also widely celebrated in the United States among Mexican-Americans
September 16
Independence Day
Día de la Independencia
Celebrates the Grito de Dolores, an event that marked the start of the independence war against Spain on the eve of September 16, 1810. See also Fiestas Patrias
November 20
Revolution Day
Día de la Revolución
Celebrates the beginning of the Mexican civil war of 1910 (see also Fiestas Patrias)
December 25
Christmas
Navidad
Celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ, also celebrated as secular winter holiday
Miscellaneous topics
External links
North America
Antigua and Barbuda | Bahamas | Barbados | Belize | Canada | Costa Rica | Cuba | Dominica | Dominican Republic | El Salvador | Grenada | Guatemala | Haiti | Honduras | Jamaica | Mexico | Nicaragua | Panama | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Trinidad and Tobago | United States
Dependencies
Anguilla | Aruba | Bermuda | Cayman Islands | Greenland | Guadeloupe | Martinique | Montserrat | Netherlands Antilles | Puerto Rico | Saint-Pierre and Miquelon | Turks and Caicos Islands | U.S. Virgin Islands | British Virgin Islands
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Australia | Brunei Darussalam | Canada | Chile | People's Republic of China | Hong Kong, China | Indonesia | Japan | Malaysia | Mexico | New Zealand | Papua New Guinea | Peru | Philippines | Russia | Singapore | Republic of Korea | Chinese Taipei | Thailand | United States | Vietnam
Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom)
Antigua and Barbuda | The Bahamas1 | Barbados | Belize | Dominica | Grenada | Guyana | Jamaica | Montserrat | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Suriname | Trinidad and Tobago
Associate members
British Virgin Islands | Turks and Caicos Islands
Observer status
Anguilla | Aruba | Bermuda | Cayman Islands | Colombia | Dominican Republic | Haiti | Mexico | Netherlands Antilles | Puerto Rico | Venezuela
[1] a member of the community but not the common market
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Australia | Austria | Belgium | Canada | Czech Republic | Denmark | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Ireland | Italy | Japan | South Korea | Luxembourg | Mexico | Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Slovakia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | United Kingdom | United States
The above article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
Opening Mexico : The Making of a Democracy by Julia Preston
Rand McNally the Road Atlas Deluxe '04: United States, Canada, & Mexico (Rand McNally Road Atlas Deluxe: United by Rand McNally and Company
Rand McNally 2004 Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico (Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico) by Rand McNally
Live Well in Mexico: How to Relocate, Retire, and Increase Your Standard of Living (The Live Well Series) by Ken Luboff
The People's Guide to Mexico (Peoples Guide to Mexico, 12th Ed) by Carl Franz
Mexico One Plate At A Time by Rick Bayless
Frommer's Cancun, Cozumel and the Yucatan 2004 by David Baird
Lonely Planet Costa Rica (Costa Rica, 5th Ed) by Rob Rachowiecki
Live Better South of the Border in Mexico: Practical Advice for Living and Working by Mike Nelson
Frommer's Costa Rica 2004 by Eliot Greenspan
Tropical Houses : Living in Nature in Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Java, Bali, and the Coasts of Mexico andBelize by Tim Street-Porter
The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nat Philbrick
Lonely Planet Mexico (Mexico, 8th Ed) by John Noble
Mexicolor: The Spirit of Mexican Design by Melba Levick
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