Mexico Profile

Location and Size

Mexico is 761,602 square miles (1,972,550 square kilometers) about three times the size of Texas, or one-fifth the size of the United States. It shares its northern border with the United States and its southern border with Guatemala and Belize.

Climate

The climate vary very much depending on the region, the north is usually hot and dry with a large desert region; the south has more humidity with more jungles along with coastal areas. Rain falls mainly in the summer. Mexico City, its capital, is located in a high central plateau and is bounded by two mountain ranges: the Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental. Mountains and volcanoes cover about 70% of the country.

History

Mexico had several advance indigenous civilizations such as the Olmecs, Mayas, and Aztecs. The Aztecs were the last great empire, they were conquered by the Spanish in 1521 which brought Christianity to the land and ruled until the 19th century.
Mexico was one of the first countries to revolt against Spain, led by a priest named Miguel Hidalgo, the independence fight began in 1810 and ended in 1821. A constitution was adopted in 1824 and a republic was established. Antonio López de Santa Ana took power in 1833 and ruled as a dictator. During his regime, Mexico lost territory comprising Texas and much of the current western United States. Santa Ana resigned in 1855 and Benito Juárez became president.
In 1861, French troops invaded Mexico City and named the Austrian archduke Maximilian the emperor of Mexico. Forces under Juárez overthrew Maximilian in 1867. Dictator Porfirio Díaz came to power in 1877 and was overthrown in 1910, when Mexico entered a period of internal political unrest and violence. That period, which ended in the 1920s and produced a new constitution, became known as Mexico's social revolution.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) emerged as the national leader in 1929 and ruled the country until 2000. In 1994, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada. After his term he fled the country because of allegations of corruption.
In July 2000, Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) was elected president, ending more than 70 years of PRI control of the government.

Language

The oficial language is Spanish. English is taught in secondary schools but the level is still low. In some parts of Mexico, indigenous languages are still spoken such as Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Nahuatl, Otomi, Zapotec, and Mixtec.

Religion

The majority of Mexicans are Roman Catholic, around 89%, protestants in their various flavours are around 6%.

Government

Mexico has 31 states and a federal district, it has a central government led by a president. States are autonomous but several services are controled by the federal government such as education, security, and national industries. A president can serve only one six-year term, and a legislator cannot serve two consecutive terms. The legislature is composed of a 128-seat Senate and 500-seat Chamber of Deputies. Voting is considered a duty for adults 18 and older but is not enforced.

Sources:
Instituto National de Geografía e Informatica (INEGI). Retrieved November 1, 2006 from http://www.inegi.gob.mx Mexico. (2006, October 31). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:39, November 1, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexico&oldid=84756700 Index Mundi. Retrieved November 1, 2006 from http://www.indexmundi.com/es/mexico/producto_interno_bruto_(pib)_per_capita.html