Mexico
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.
Elections held in July 2000 marked
the first time since the 1910
Mexican Revolution that the
opposition defeated the party in
government, the Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente
FOX of the National Action Party
(PAN) was sworn in on 1 December
2000 as the first chief executive
elected in free and fair elections.
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: contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 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: 13%
permanent crops: 1.1%
other: 85.7% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 65,000 sq km (1998 est.)
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 party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, 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
People Mexico
-------------
Population: 103,400,165 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 32.8% (male 17,310,230;
female 16,630,935)
15-64 years: 62.7% (male 31,552,877;
female 33,246,668)
65 years and over: 4.5% (male
2,069,826; female 2,589,629) (2002
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.47% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 22.36 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 4.99 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: -2.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/
female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/
female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 24.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 72.03 years
female: 75.21 years (2002 est.)
male: 68.99 years
Total fertility rate: 2.57 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.29% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 150,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 4,700 (1999 est.)
Nationality: noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican
Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%,
Amerindian or predominantly
Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 89%,
Protestant 6%, other 5%
Languages: Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and
other regional indigenous languages
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 89.6%
male: 91.8%
female: 87.4% (1995 est.)
Government Mexico
-----------------
Country name: conventional long form: United
Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico
local short form: Mexico
local long form: Estados Unidos
Mexicanos
Government type: federal republic
Capital: Mexico (Distrito Federal)
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 (from 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 Vicente
FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000);
note - the president is both the
chief of state and head of
government
election results: Vicente FOX
Quesada elected president; percent
of vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN)
42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa
(PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS
Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74%
elections: president elected by
popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 2 July 2000 (next
to be held NA July 2006)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the
president; note - appointment of
attorney general requires consent of
the Senate
head of government: President
Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1
December 2000); note - the president
is both the chief of state and head
of government
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or
Congreso de la Union consists of the
Senate or Camara de Senadores (128
seats; 96 are elected by popular
vote to serve six-year terms, and 32
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 directly
elected by popular vote to serve
three-year terms; remaining 200
members are allocated on the basis
of each party's popular vote, also
for three-year terms)
election results: Senate - percent
of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 15, PVEM
5, PT 1, CD 1; Chamber of Deputies -
percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - PRI 211, PAN 207,
PRD 50, PVEM 16, PT 8, PSN 3, PAS 2,
CD 1, independents 2
elections: Senate - last held 2 July
2000 for all of the seats (next to
be held NA 2006); Chamber of
Deputies - last held 2 July 2000
(next to be held NA 2003)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice or Corte
Suprema de Justicia (judges are
appointed by the president with
consent of the Senate)
Political parties and leaders: Convergence for Democracy or CD
[Dante DELGADO Ranauro];
Institutional Revolutionary Party or
PRI [Dulce Maria SAURI Riancho];
Mexican Green Ecological Party or
PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ
Martinez]; National Action Party or
PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party
of the Democratic Revolution or PRD
[Amalia GARCIA Medina]; Party of the
Nationalist Society or PSN [Gustavo
RIOJAS Santana]; Social Alliance
Party or PAS [Guillermo CALDERON
Dominguez]; Workers Party or PT
[Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]
Political pressure groups and Confederation of Employers of the
leaders: 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 Union
of Workers or UNT; Regional
Confederation of Mexican Workers or
CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of
Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman
Catholic Church
International organization APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer),
participation: CCC, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD,
ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-
24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer),
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO,
ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer),
NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA,
RG, UN, UN Security Council
(temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNITAR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Juan
Jose BREMER Martino
FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698
consulate(s): Albuquerque,
Brownsville (Texas), Calexico
(California), Corpus Christi, Del
Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas
(Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas),
Fresno (California), McAllen
(Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha,
Orlando, Oxnard (California),
Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon),
Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, St.
Louis, Salt Lake City, San
Bernardino, Santa Ana (California),
Seattle, Tucson
consulate(s) general: Atlanta,
Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas,
Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo
(Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New
Orleans, New York, Nogales
(Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San
Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco,
San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20006
telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600
Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador Jeffery
US: DAVIDOW
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305,
Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico,
Distrito Federal
mailing address: P. O. Box 3087,
Laredo, TX 78044-3087
telephone: [52] 55 5080-2000
FAX: [52] 55 5080-2005, 2834
consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez,
Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros,
Merida, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales
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
with 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,
natural gas distribution, and
airports. Income distribution
remains highly unequal. Trade with
the US and Canada has tripled since
the implementation of NAFTA in 1994.
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 dollar.
Mexico City implemented free trade
agreements with Guatemala, Honduras,
El Salvador, and the European Free
Trade Area in 2001, putting more
than 90% of trade under free trade
agreements. Foreign direct
investment reached $25 billion in
2001, of which $12.5 billion came
from the purchase of Mexico's second
largest bank, Banamex, by Citigroup.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $920
billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -0.3% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $9,000
(2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5%
industry: 26%
services: 69% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: 40% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: 1.6%
percentage share: highest 10%: 41.1% (2001)
Distribution of family income - Gini 51.9 (1996)
index:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.5% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 39.8 million (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 20%, industry 24%,
services 56% (1998)
Unemployment rate: urban - 3% plus considerable
underemployment (2001)
Budget: revenues: $136 billion
expenditures: $140 billion,
including capital expenditures of
$NA (2001 est.)
Industries: food and beverages, tobacco,
chemicals, iron and steel,
petroleum, mining, textiles,
clothing, motor vehicles, consumer
durables, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: -3.4% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production: 194.367 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 75.91%
hydro: 16.88%
other: 3.19% (2000)
nuclear: 4.02%
Electricity - consumption: 182.829 billion kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 77 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 2.145 billion kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans,
cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes;
beef, poultry, dairy products; wood
products
Exports: $159 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, oil and oil
products, silver, fruits,
vegetables, coffee, cotton
Exports - partners: US 88.4%, Canada 2%, Germany 0.9%,
Spain 0.8%, Netherlands Antilles
0.6%, Japan 0.4%, UK 0.4%, Venezuela
0.4%, (2001 est.)
Imports: $168 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
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 68.4%, Japan 4.7%, Germany 3.6%,
Canada 2.5%, China 2.2%, South Korea
2.1%, Taiwan 1.6%, Italy 1.3%,
Brazil 1.1% (2001 est.)
Debt - external: $191 billion (2001)
Economic aid - recipient: $1.166 billion (1995)
Currency: Mexican peso (MXN)
Currency code: MXN
Exchange rates: Mexican pesos per US dollar - 9.1614
(January 2002), 9.3423 (2001),
9.4556 (2000), 9.5604 (1999), 9.1360
(1998), 7.9185 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Mexico
---------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 12.332 million (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.02 million (1998)
Telephone system: general assessment: low telephone
density with about 12 main lines per
100 persons; privatized in December
1990; the opening to competition in
January 1997 improved prospects for
development
domestic: adequate telephone service
for business and government, but the
population is poorly served;
domestic satellite system with 120
earth stations; extensive microwave
radio relay network; considerable
use of fiber-optic cable, coaxial
cable, and mobile cellular service
international: satellite earth
stations - 32 Intelsat, 2
Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved
access to South America, Central
America, and much of the US as well
as enhancing domestic
communications), numerous Inmarsat
mobile earth stations; linked to
Central American Microwave System of
trunk connections; high capacity
Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine
cable with access to the US, Virgin
Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco,
Spain, and Italy (1997)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 851, FM 598, shortwave 16 (2000)
Radios: 31 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 236 (plus repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 25.6 million (1997)
Internet country code: .mx
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 51 (2000)
Internet users: 3.42 million (2001)
Transportation Mexico
---------------------
Railways: total: 18,000 km
standard gauge: 18,000 km 1.435-
m gauge (2001)
Highways: total: 323,977 km
paved: 96,221 km (including 6,335 km
of expressways)
unpaved: 227,756 km (1997)
Waterways: 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal
canals
Pipelines: crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum
products 10,150 km; natural gas
13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km
Ports and harbors: Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos,
Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro
Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan,
Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico,
Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz
Merchant marine: total: 44 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 656,594 GRT/987,822 DWT
ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 1,
chemical tanker 4, liquefied gas 3,
petroleum tanker 27, roll on/roll
off 3, short-sea passenger 3
note: includes some foreign-owned
ships registered here as a flag of
convenience: Canada 2, Denmark 1
(2002 est.)
Airports: 1,852 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 235
over 3,047 m: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 28
914 to 1,523 m: 86
under 914 m: 25 (2001)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 85
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 1,617
under 914 m: 1,085 (2001)
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 461
1,524 to 2,437 m: 69
Heliports: 2 (2001)
Military Mexico
---------------
Military branches: National Defense Secretariat
(SEDENA) (including Army and Air
Force), Navy Secretariat (including
Naval Air and Marines)
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
note: starting in 2000, females were
allowed to volunteer for military
service (2002 est.)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 27,229,581 (2002
est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 19,761,440 (2002
service: est.)
Military manpower - reaching males: 1,077,536 (2002 est.)
military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar $4 billion (FY99)
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of 1% (FY99)
GDP:
Transnational Issues Mexico
---------------------------
Disputes - international: none
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of opium poppy
(cultivation in 2001 - 4,400
hectares; potential heroin
production - 7 metric tons) and
cannabis cultivation in 2001 - 4,100
hectares; government eradication
efforts have been key in keeping
illicit crop levels low; major
supplier of heroin and largest
foreign supplier of marijuana and
methamphetamine to the US market;
continues as the primary
transshipment country for US-bound
cocaine from South America; major
drug syndicates control majority of
drug trafficking throughout the
country; growing producer and
distributor of ecstasy
