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Mexico:
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Other pages in this profile of Mexico:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.
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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. |
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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) |
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 |
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Copyright 2008 World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com) |