Mexico
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See regional map II
Geography
Total area: 1,972,550 km²; land area:
1,923,040 km²
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 4,538 km total; Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,326 km
Coastline: 9,330 km
Maritime claims:
- Contiguous zone: 24 nm
- Continental shelf: natural prolongation of continental margin or 200 nm
- Extended economic zone: 200 nm
- Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: varies from tropical to desert
Terrain: high, rugged mountains, low coastal plains, high plateaus, and desert
Natural resources: crude oil, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
Land use: 12% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 39% meadows and pastures; 24% forest and woodland; 24% other; includes 3% irrigated
Environment: subject to tsunamis along the Pacific coast and destructive earthquakes in the center and south; natural water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; deforestation; erosion widespread; desertification; serious air pollution in Mexico City and urban centers along US-Mexico border
Note: strategic location on southern border of US
People
Population: 87,870,154 (July 1990),
growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: -2 migrants/ 1 ,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun—Mexican(s); adjective—Mexican
Ethnic divisions: 60% mestizo (Indian-Spanish), 30% Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian, 9% white or predominantly white, 1% other
Religion: 97% nominally Roman Catholic, 3% Protestant
Language: Spanish
Literacy: 88%
Labor force: 26,100,000 (1988); 31.4% services; 26% agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing, 13.9% commerce, 12.8% manufacturing, 9.5% construction, 4.8% transportation, 1.3% mining and quarrying, 0.3% electricity, (1986)
Organized labor: 35% of labor force
Government
Long-form name: United Mexican States
Type: federal republic operating under a centralized government
Capital: Mexico
Administrative divisions: 31 states (estados, singular—estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas
Independence: 16 September 1810 (from Spain)
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
National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Executive branch: president, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Unión) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Cámara de Senadores) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Suprema Corte de Justicia)
Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Carlos SALINAS de Gortari (since 1 December 1988)
Political parties and leaders: (recognized parties) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta; National Action Party (PAN), Luis Alvarez; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Indalecio Sayago Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Cuauhtemoc Cardenas; Cardenist Front for the National Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael Aguilar Talamantes; Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution (PARM), Carlos Enrique Cantu Rosas
Suffrage: universal and compulsory (but not enforced) at age 18
Elections: President—last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1994); results—Carlos Salinas de Gortari (PRI) 50.74%, Cuauhtémoc Cardénas Solórzano (FDN) 31.06%, Manuel Clouthier (PAN) 16.81%; others 1.39%; note—several of the smaller parties ran a common candidate under a coalition called the National Democratic Front (FDN)
Senate—last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1991); results—PRI 94%, FDN (now PRD) 6%; seats—(64 total) number of seats by party NA;
Chamber of Deputies—last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1991); results—PRI 53%, PAN 20%, PFCRN 10%, PPS 6%, PARM 7%, PMS (now part of PRD) 4%; seats—(500 total) number of seats by party NA
Other political or pressure groups: Roman Catholic Church, Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN), Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce (CONCANACO), National Peasant Confederation (CNC), National Confederation of Popular Organizations (CNOP), Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), Mexican Democratic Party (PDM), Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM), Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX), National Chamber of Transformation Industries (CANACINTRA), Business Coordination Council (CCE)
Member of: FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, LAIA, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Gustavo PETRICIOLI Iturbide; Chancery at 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20006; telephone (202) 728-1600; there are Mexican Consulates General in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El
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