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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.
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:
Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas Land boundaries:
Coastline: 9,330 km Maritime claims:
Climate: varies from tropical to desert Terrain: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber Land use:
Irrigated land: 61,000 sq km (1993 est.) Natural hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts Environment - current issues: 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; serious air pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note: strategic location on southern border of US
Population: 100,349,766 (July 2000 est.) Age structure:
Population growth rate: 1.53% (2000 est.) Birth rate: 23.15 births/1,000 population (2000 est.) Death rate: 5.05 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.) Net migration rate: -2.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.) Sex ratio:
Infant mortality rate: 26.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.) Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 2.67 children born/woman (2000 est.) Nationality:
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:
Country name:
Data code: MX Government type: federal republic Capital: Mexico 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:
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; half are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and half 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)
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 GONZALEZ Torres]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party of the Democratic Center or PCD [Manuel CAMACHO Solis]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Amalia GARCIA Medina]; Party of the Mexican Revolution or PARM [leader NA]; Party of the Nationalist Society or PSN [Gustavo RIOJAIS Santana]; Social Alliance Party or PAS [Jose Antonio CALDERON Cardoso]; Social Democratic Party or PDS [Gilberto RINCON Gallardo]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] Political pressure groups and leaders: 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 Union of Workers or UNT; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC; Revolutionary Workers Party or PRT; Roman Catholic Church International organization participation: APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CCC, CDB, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US:
Diplomatic representation from the US:
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 - overview: Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico has fallen from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 1999. The ZEDILLO administration is privatizing and expanding competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports. A strong export sector helped to cushion the economy's decline in 1995 and led the recovery in 1996-99. Private consumption became the leading driver of growth, accompanied by increased employment and higher wages. Mexico still needs to overcome many structural problems as it strives to modernize its economy and raise living standards. Income distribution is very unequal, with the top 20% of income earners accounting for 55% of income. Trade with the US and Canada has nearly doubled since NAFTA was implemented in 1994. Mexico is pursuing additional trade agreements with most countries in Latin America and has signed a free trade deal with the EU to lessen its dependence on the US. The government is pursuing conservative economic policies in 2000 to avoid another end-of-term economic crisis, but it still projects an economic growth rate of 4.5% because of the strong US economy and high oil prices. GDP: purchasing power parity - $865.5 billion (1999 est.) GDP - real growth rate: 3.7% (1999 est.) GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,500 (1999 est.) GDP - composition by sector:
Population below poverty line: 27% (1998 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (1999 est.) Labor force: 38.6 million (1999) Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 24%, industry 21%, services 55% (1997) Unemployment rate: 2.5% urban (1998); plus considerable underemployment Budget:
Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism Industrial production growth rate: 4% (1999 est.) Electricity - production: 176.055 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - production by source:
Electricity - consumption: 164.767 billion kWh (1998) Electricity - exports: 11 million kWh (1998) Electricity - imports: 1.047 billion kWh (1998) Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products Exports: $136.8 billion (f.o.b., 1999), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies) Exports - commodities: manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, coffee, cotton Exports - partners: US 89.3%, Canada 1.7%, Spain 0.6%, Japan 0.5%, Venezuela 0.3%, Chile 0.3%, Brazil 0.3% (1999 est.) Imports: $142.1 billion (f.o.b., 1999), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies) Imports - commodities: metal-working machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts Imports - partners: US 74.8%, Germany 3.8%, Japan 3.5%, Canada 1.9%, South Korea 2%, Italy 1.3%, France 1% (1999 est.) Debt - external: $155.8 billion (1999) Economic aid - recipient: $1.166 billion (1995) Currency: 1 New Mexican peso (Mex$) = 100 centavos Exchange rates: Mexican pesos (Mex$) per US$1 - 9.4793 (January 2000), 9.5604 (1999), 9.1360 (1998), 7.9185 (1997), 7.5994(1996), 6.4194 (1995) Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones - main lines in use: 9.6 million (1998) Telephones - mobile cellular: 2.02 million (1998) Telephone system:
highly developed system with extensive microwave radio relay links; privatized in December 1990; opened to competition January 1997
Radio broadcast stations: AM 865, FM about 500, shortwave 13 (1999) Radios: 31 million (1997) Television broadcast stations: 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) Televisions: 25.6 million (1997) Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 167 (1999)
Railways:
Highways:
Waterways: 2,900 km 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:
Airports: 1,806 (1999 est.) Airports - with paved runways:
Airports - with unpaved runways:
Heliports: 2 (1999 est.)
Military branches: National Defense Secretariat (includes Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (includes Naval Air and Marines) Military manpower - military age:
18 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
Military manpower - fit for military service:
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $4 billion (FY99) Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1% (FY99)
Disputes - international: none Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 1998 - 5,500 hectares; potential production - 60 metric tons) and cannabis cultivation in 1998 - 4,600 hectares; government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low; major supplier of heroin and marijuana to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America; involved in the production and distribution of methamphetamines; upsurge in drug-related violence and official corruption; major drug syndicates growing more powerful |