Mexico
Country Guide

Explore Mexico

Mexico with its capital Mexico City is located in North America (North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico). It covers some 1,964,381 square kilometers (slightly less than three times the size of Texas) with a population of 124,575,000. Spanish is the language spoken by people in Mexico. Belize, Guatemala and United States are bordering countries.

Mexico officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is a country in North America, lying between the United States of America to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast. Mexico is one of the most popular tourist countries on earth. Much of the tourist industry is centered around the beach resorts as well as the altiplano in the central part of the country. Visiting the northern interior allows visitors to get off the beaten path a bit. American tourists tend to predominate on the Baja peninsula and the more modernized beach resorts (Cancún, Puerto Vallarta), while European tourists congregate around the smaller resort areas in the south like Playa del Carmen and colonial towns San Cristobal de las Casas.

Popular Destinations in Mexico

Administrative regions of Mexico

• Ciudad de Mexico
• Estado de Aguascalientes
• Estado de Baja California
• Estado de Baja California Sur
• Estado de Campeche
• Estado de Chiapas
• Estado de Chihuahua
• Estado de Coahuila de Zaragoza
• Estado de Colima
• Estado de Durango
• Estado de Guanajuato
• Estado de Guerrero
• Estado de Hidalgo
• Estado de Jalisco
• Estado de Mexico
• Estado de Michoacan de Ocampo
• Estado de Morelos
• Estado de Nayarit
• Estado de Nuevo Leon
• Estado de Oaxaca
• Estado de Puebla
• Estado de Queretaro
• Estado de Quintana Roo
• Estado de San Luis Potosi
• Estado de Sinaloa
• Estado de Sonora
• Estado de Tabasco
• Estado de Tamaulipas
• Estado de Tlaxcala
• Estado de Veracruz-Llave
• Estado de Yucatan
• Estado de Zacatecas

About the country

The terrain is high, rugged mountains with low coastal plains, high plateaus as well as desert. The average density of population is about 63 per km². The climate in Mexico can be described as varying from tropical to desert. Possible natural disasters include 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 volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby vill

To reach someone Mexico dial +52 prior to a number. The local cellular networks are operated on 850 MHz, 1900 MHz, 3G, 4G. Websites typically end with the top level domain ".mx". If you want to bring electric appliances (e.g. battery chaarger), keep in min the local 120 V - 60 Hz (plugs: A, B). The sign for the locally used currency Peso is MXN.

Three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; Mexico's coat of arms (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) is centered in the white band; green signifies hope, joy, and love; white represents peace and honesty; red stands for hardiness, bravery, strength, and valor; the coat of arms is derived from a legend that the wandering Aztec people were to settle at a location where they would see an eagle on a cactus eating a snake; the city they founded, Tenochtitlan, is now Mexico City.

The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century. 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, but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. The global financial crisis in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn in Mexico the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.

Geography

Area
Total (World Rank: 15)	1,964,380	sq km
Land (World Rank: 15)	1,943,940	sq km
Water (World Rank: 28)	20,430	sq km
Forest (World Rank: 33)	41.70	%
Comparative	slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Coastline
9330
Landborder
4389
Elevation
Lowest point (World Rank: 51)	-10	m
Highest point (World Rank: 21)	5,636	m
Agricultural land
Total (World Rank: 57)	54.90	%
Arable (World Rank: 96)	11.80	%
Permanent crops (World Rank: 109)	1.40	%
Permanent pastures (World Rank: 33)	41.70	%
Irrigated land (World Rank: 7)	65,000	sq km
Map reference
North America
Environment
Issues	- deforestation - desertification - deteriorating agricultural lands - inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast - land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues - natural freshwater resources scarce and polluted in north - raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas - rural to urban migration - scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities - serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border - widespread erosion
Agreement party	- 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
Hazzards	- 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 - volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby vill
Location
North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States
Climate
varies from tropical to desert
Terrain
high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert

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People

Population
Total (World Rank: 11)	124,575,000
Deathrate (World Rank: 182)	0.53	%
Birthrate (World Rank: 92)	1.83	%
Growthrate (World Rank: 102)	1.12	%
Migration rate (World Rank: 122)	-0.18	%
Fertility rate (World Rank: 94)	2.24	%
Median age
Male (World Rank: 140)	27.20
Female (World Rank: 120)	29.40
Age structure
0 14 male (World Rank: 12)	17,155,700
0 14 female (World Rank: 12)	16,390,900
15 24 male (World Rank: 9)	11,065,900
15 24 female (World Rank: 9)	10,778,400
25 54 male (World Rank: 10)	24,550,800
25 54 female (World Rank: 10)	26,282,800
55 64 male (World Rank: 11)	4,362,870
55 64 female (World Rank: 11)	5,160,510
65 x male (World Rank: 14)	3,949,820
65 x female (World Rank: 15)	4,877,000
Health
Infant mortality rate (World Rank: 123)	1.16	%
Life expectancy total (World Rank: 88)	76	years
Life expectancy female (World Rank: 93)	79	years
Life expectancy male (World Rank: 96)	73	years
Physicians per 1000 (World Rank: 72)	2.07
Hospital bed per 1000 (World Rank: 127)	1.50
Sanitation access total (World Rank: 110)	85.20	%
Obesity adult (World Rank: 29)	28.90	%
Drinking water access (World Rank: 103)	96.10	%

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Energy

Electricity
Production (World Rank: 13)	292,700,000,000	kWh
Consumption (World Rank: 15)	245,200,000,000	kWh
Export (World Rank: 27)	7,308,000,000	kWh
Import (World Rank: 84)	392,000,000	kWh
Source fossil (World Rank: 100)	72.20	%
Source nuclear (World Rank: 136)	2.10	%
Source renew (World Rank: 72)	8.50	%
Crude oil
Production (World Rank: 12)	2,187,000	bbl / day
Exports (World Rank: 15)	1,224,000	bbl / day
Proved reserves (World Rank: 19)	7,640,000,000	bbl
Refined products
Production (World Rank: 18)	1,043,000	bbl / day
Consumption (World Rank: 11)	2,027,000	bbl / day
Export (World Rank: 32)	181,600	bbl / day
Import (World Rank: 10)	751,500	bbl / day
Natural gas
Production (World Rank: 20)	40,370,000,000	m³
Consumption (World Rank: 4)	418,900,000,000	m³
Export (World Rank: 51)	31,000,000	m³
Import (World Rank: 1)	0	m³
Carbon footprint
455000000

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Nation

Budget
Education (World Rank: 57)	5	% of GDP
Military (World Rank: 141)	1	% of GDP
Health (World Rank: 99)	6	% of GDP
Surplus (World Rank: 100)	-3	% of GDP
National symbol
golden eagle
National colours
white
Adjective
Mexican
Noun
Mexican(s)
Background
The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century. 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, but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. The global financial crisis in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn in Mexico the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.
Flag description
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; Mexico's coat of arms (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) is centered in the white band; green signifies hope, joy, and love; white represents peace and honesty; red stands for hardiness, bravery, strength, and valor; the coat of arms is derived from a legend that the wandering Aztec people were to settle at a location where they would see an eagle on a cactus eating a snake; the city they founded, Tenochtitlan, is now Mexico City

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Economy

Gdp
Purchasing power parity (World Rank: 11)	2,315,000,000,000	USD
Real growth rate (World Rank: 123)	2.30	%
Per capita purchasing power parity (World Rank: 90)	18,900	USD
Source agriculture (World Rank: 144)	3.80	%
Source industry (World Rank: 67)	32.20	%
Source service (World Rank: 98)	63.40	%
Labourforce
Total (World Rank: 12)	53,680,000
In poverty (World Rank: 29)	46.20	%
Products
Industries	- beverages - chemicals - clothing - consumer durables - food - iron - mining - motor vehicles - petroleum - steel - textiles - tobacco - tourism
Agriculture	- beans - beef - coffee - corn - cotton - dairy products - fruit - poultry - rice - soybeans - tomatoes - wheat - wood products
Exports	- coffee - cotton - fruits - manufactured goods - oil - oil products - silver - vegetables
Imports	- agricultural machinery - aircraft - aircraft parts - automobile parts for assembly - electrical equipment - metalworking machines - repair - steel mill products

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Communication

Phone
Landline total (World Rank: 13)	19,599,900
Landline per 100 (World Rank: 109)	16.00
Mobile per 100 (World Rank: 145)	91.00
Assessment	0
Internet
Users (World Rank: 7)	73,334,000
Population (World Rank: 98)	59.50	%

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Transport

Air
Airports paved (World Rank: 11)	243.00
Airports unpaved (World Rank: 3)	1,471
Heliports (World Rank: 107)	1.00
Rail
Total length (World Rank: 18)	15,389
Road
Total length (World Rank: 20)	377,660
Paved length (World Rank: 23)	137,544
Unpaved length (World Rank: 9)	240,116
Water
Total length (World Rank: 34)	2,900

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