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Introduction | Mexico

Background: | The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON.

Geography | Mexico

Location: | Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US
Geographic coordinates: | 23 00 N, 102 00 W
Map references: | North America
Area: | total: 1,972,550 sq km land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: | total: 4,353 km border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km
Coastline: | 9,330 km
Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Climate: | varies from tropical to desert
Terrain: | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m
Natural resources: | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
Land use: | arable land: 12.66% permanent crops: 1.28% other: 86.06% (2005)
Irrigated land: | 63,200 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources: | 457.2 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): | total: 78.22 cu km/yr (17%/5%/77%) per capita: 731 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards: | tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts
Environment - current issues: | scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico

People | Mexico

Population: | 109,955,400 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 29.6% (male 16,619,995/female 15,936,154) 15-64 years: 64.3% (male 34,179,440/female 36,530,154) 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 3,023,185/female 3,666,472) (2008 est.)
Median age: | total: 26 years male: 24.9 years female: 27 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: | 1.142% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: | 20.04 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: | 4.78 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: | -3.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 19.01 deaths/1,000 live births male: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 75.84 years male: 73.05 years female: 78.78 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 2.37 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.3% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 160,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 5,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: dengue fever water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Nationality: | noun: Mexican(s) adjective: Mexican
Ethnic groups: | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%
Religions: | Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census)
Languages: | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91% male: 92.4% female: 89.6% (2004 est.)

Government | Mexico

Country name: | conventional long form: United Mexican States conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico
Government type: | federal republic
Capital: | name: Mexico (Distrito Federal) geographic coordinates: 19 26 N, 99 08 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October note: Mexico is divided into three time zones
Administrative divisions: | 31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas
Independence: | 16 September 1810 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)
National holiday: | Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Constitution: | 5 February 1917
Legal system: | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)
Executive branch: | chief of state: President Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa (since 1 December 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa (since 1 December 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term; election last held on 2 July 2006 (next to be held 1 July 2012) election results: Felipe CALDERON elected president; percent of vote - Felipe CALDERON 35.89%, Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR 35.31%, Roberto MADRAZO 22.26%, other 6.54%
Legislative branch: | bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 seats are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are elected by popular vote; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote; to serve three-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2006 for all of the seats (next to be held 1 July 2012); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2 July 2006 (next to be held 5 July 2009) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PAN 52, PRI 33, PRD 26, PVEM 6, CD 5, PT 5, independent 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PAN 207, PRD 127, PRI 106, PVEM 17, CD 17, PT 11, other 15
Judicial branch: | Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)
Political parties and leaders: | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Luis MALDONADO Venegas]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Beatriz PAREDES]; Labor Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [German MARTINEZ Cazares]; New Alliance Party (Partido Nueva Alianza) or PNA [Jorge Antonio KAHWAGI Macari]; Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Leonel COTA Montano]; Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party (Partido Alternativa Socialdemocrata y Campesina) or Alternativa [Alberto BEGNE Guerra]
Political pressure groups and leaders: | Broad Progressive Front or FAP; Businessmen's Coordinating Council or CCE; Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Small Business Chamber or CANACOPE; National Syndicate of Education Workers or SNTE; National Union of Workers or UNT; Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca or APPO; Roman Catholic Church
International organization participation: | APEC, BCIE, BIS, CAN (observer), Caricom (observer), CDB, CE (observer), CSN (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-15, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, NAFTA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo SARUKHAN Casamitjana chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Omaha, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Laredo (Texas), Las Vegas, Little Rock (Arkansas), McAllen (Texas), New Orleans, Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Paul (Minnesota), Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona)
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA, Jr. embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-9000 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5511-9980 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo
Flag description: | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band

Economy | Mexico

Economy - overview: | Mexico has a free market economy in the trillion dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2007, during his first year in office, the Felipe CALDERON administration was able to garner support from the opposition to successfully pass a pension and a fiscal reform. The administration continues to face many economic challenges including the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize labor laws, and allow private investment in the energy sector. CALDERON has stated that his top economic priorities remain reducing poverty and creating jobs.
GDP (purchasing power parity): | $1.346 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $893.4 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 3.3% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $12,800 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 4% industry: 26.6% services: 69.5% (2007 est.)
Labor force: | 44.71 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 18% industry: 24% services: 58% (2003)
Unemployment rate: | 3.7% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 13.8% using food-based definition of poverty; asset based poverty amounted to more than 40% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1.2% highest 10%: 37% (2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 50.9 (2005)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 4% (2007)
Investment (gross fixed): | 20.8% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $209.2 billion expenditures: $209.2 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt: | 22.8% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products: | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products
Industries: | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: | 1.4% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production: | 222.4 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 78.7% hydro: 14.2% nuclear: 4.2% other: 2.9% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 183.3 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: | 1.597 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports: | 470.7 million kWh (2005)
Oil - production: | 3.784 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 2.078 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports: | 2.268 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: | 308,500 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves: | 14.7 billion bbl (2007 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 41.37 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 47.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 282.9 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 9.717 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 434.1 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance: | -$7.37 billion (2007 est.)
Exports: | $271.9 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities: | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton
Exports - partners: | US 84.7%, Canada 2.1%, Spain 1.3% (2006)
Imports: | $283 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities: | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts
Imports - partners: | US 50.9%, China 9.5%, Japan 6%, South Korea 4.2% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: | $189.4 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $87.19 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external: | $179.7 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $259.5 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $36.23 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares: | $348.3 billion (2006)
Currency (code): | Mexican peso (MXN)
Currency code: | MXN
Exchange rates: | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 10.8 (2007), 10.899 (2006), 10.898 (2005), 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Mexico

Telephones - main lines in use: | 19.861 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 57.016 million (2006)
Telephone system: | general assessment: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable domestic: low telephone density with about 18 fixed lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; despite the opening to competition in January 1997, Telmex remains dominant; legal challenges to Telmex's alleged anti-competitive behavior in the mobile and fixed-line markets culminated in a World Trade Organization ruling in 2004 against Mexico prompting some strengthening of the powers granted Mexico's telecom regulator international: country code - 52; Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Spain, and Italy; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 submarine cable system together provide access to Central America, parts of South America and the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 120 (32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), 1 Panamsat, numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations); linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections (2005)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003)
Radios: | 31 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: | 25.6 million (1997)
Internet country code: | .mx
Internet hosts: | 7.629 million (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 51 (2000)
Internet users: | 22 million (2006)

Transportation | Mexico

Airports: | 1,834 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 231 over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 77 under 914 m: 29 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 1,603 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 63 914 to 1,523 m: 408 under 914 m: 1,131 (2007)
Heliports: | 1 (2007)
Pipelines: | gas 22,705 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,875 km; oil 8,688 km; oil/gas/water 228 km; refined products 6,520 km (2006)
Railways: | total: 17,665 km standard gauge: 17,665 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: | total: 356,945 km paved: 123,503 km (includes 6,144 km of expressways) unpaved: 233,442 km (2005)
Waterways: | 2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals) (2007)
Merchant marine: | total: 60 ships (1000 GRT or over) 802,128 GRT/1,157,971 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 7, chemical tanker 6, liquefied gas 4, passenger/cargo 11, petroleum tanker 25, roll on/roll off 5 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 2, Norway 1, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 14 (Brazil 1, Honduras 1, Liberia 1, Panama 4, Portugal 1, Spain 3, Venezuela 3) (2007)
Ports and terminals: | Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Veracruz

Military | Mexico

Military branches: | Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Sedena): Army (Ejercito, includes Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, FAM)); Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaria de Marina, Semar): Mexican Navy (Armada de Mexico, ARM, includes Naval Air Force (FAN) and naval infantry) (2008)
Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age for compulsory military service, conscript service obligation - 12 months; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary enlistment; conscripts serve only in the Army; Navy and Air Force service is all voluntary; women are eligible for voluntary military service (2007)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 27,774,688 females age 16-49: 29,376,791 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 22,188,284 females age 16-49: 24,884,614 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | males age 16-49: 1,110,544 females age 16-49: 1,073,223 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 0.5% (2006 est.)

Transnational Issues | Mexico

Disputes - international: | abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; the US has intensified security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across its border with Mexico; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States
Refugees and internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 5,500-10,000 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region) (2007)
Illicit drugs: | major drug-producing nation; cultivation of opium poppy in 2005 amounted to 3,300 hectares yielding a potential production of 8 metric tons of pure heroin, or 17 metric tons of "black tar" heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States; marijuana cultivation decreased 3% to 5,600 hectares in 2005 - just two years after a decade-high cultivation peak in 2003 - and yielded a potential production of 10,100 metric tons; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, with an estimated 90% of annual cocaine movements towards the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market

This page was last updated on 19 June, 2008