MEXICO
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
MEXICO
@Mexico:Geography
Location: Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific
Ocean, between Guatamala and the US
Map references: North America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEXICO - MAJOR CITIES
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEXICO CITY 8,831,000 19.25N, 99.10W 52-5 GMT-6
Guadalajara 1,626,000 20.40N,103.20W 52-36 GMT-7
Monterrey 1,090,000 25.40N,100.20W 52-83 GMT-6
Puebla 836,000 19.03N, 98.10W 52-22 GMT-6
Leon 656,000 21.10N,101.42W 52-471 GMT-6
Ciudad Juarez 567,000 31.42N,106.29W 52-16 GMT-6
Culiacan 560,000 24.48N,107.24W 52-671 GMT-6
Mexicali 511,000 32.40N,115.29W 52-65 GMT-8
Tijuana 461,000 32.29N,117.01W 52-66 GMT-8
Merida 425,000 20.58N, 89.37W 52-99 GMT-6
Acapulco 409,000 16.51N, 99.56W 52-748 GMT-6
Chihuahua 407,000 28.40N,106.06W 52-14 GMT-6
San Luis Potosi 407,000 22.10N,101.00W 52-481 GMT-6
Hermosillo 341,000 29.04N,110.58W 52-62 GMT-7
Mazatlan 250,000 23.13N,106.25W 52-678 GMT-6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area:
total area: 1,972,550 sq km
land area: 1,923,040 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: total 4,538 km, Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US
3,326 km
Coastline: 9,330 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: claims Clipperton Island (French possession)
Climate: varies from tropical to desert
Terrain: high, rugged mountains, low coastal plains, high plateaus,
and desert
Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc,
natural gas, timber
Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 1%
meadows and pastures: 39%
forest and woodland: 24%
other: 24%
Irrigated land: 51,500 sq km (1989 est.)
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
natural hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, destructive
earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf and
Caribbean coasts
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
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 -
Desertification
Note: strategic location on southern border of US
@Mexico:People
Population: 93,985,848 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (female 17,028,091; male 17,631,110)
15-64 years: 59% (female 28,429,663; male 26,866,886)
65 years and over: 4% (female 2,184,998; male 1,845,100) (July 1995
est.)
Population growth rate: 1.9% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 26.64 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 4.64 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: -3.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 26 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.34 years
male: 69.74 years
female: 77.11 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.09 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican
Ethnic divisions: mestizo (Indian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or
predominantly Amerindian 30%, Caucasian or predominantly Caucasian 9%,
other 1%
Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%
Languages: Spanish, various Mayan dialects
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population: 88%
male: 90%
female: 85%
Labor force: 26.2 million (1990)
by occupation: services 31.7%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and
fishing 28%, commerce 14.6%, manufacturing 11.1%, construction 8.4%,
transportation 4.7%, mining and quarrying 1.5%
@Mexico:Government
Names:
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico
local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
local short form: Mexico
Digraph: MX
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,
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 and head of government: President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce
de Leon (since 1 December 1994); election last held on 21 August 1994
(next to be held NA); results - Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI)
50.18%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%, Diego FERNANDEZ de
Cevallos (PAN) 26.69%; other 6.049%
cabinet: Cabinet; appointed by the president
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union)
Senate (Camara de Senadores): elections last held on 21 August 1994
(next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats in
full Senate - (128 total; Senate expanded from 64 seats at the last
election) PRI 93, PRD 25, PAN 10
Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados): elections last held on 24
August 1994 (next to be held NA); results - percent of vote by party
NA; seats - (500 total) PRI 300, PAN 119, PRD 71, PFCRN 10
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
Political parties and leaders: (recognized parties) Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI), Maria de los Angeles MORENO; National
Action Party (PAN), Carlos CASTILLO; Popular Socialist Party (PPS),
Indalecio SAYAGO Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD),
Porfirio MUNOZ Ledo; Cardenist Front for the National Reconstruction
Party (PFCRN), Rafael AGUILAR Talamantes; Authentic Party of the
Mexican Revolution (PARM), Rosa Maria MARTINEZ Denagri; Democratic
Forum Party (PFD), Pablo Emilio MADERO; Mexican Green Ecologist Party
(PVEM), Jorge GONZALEZ Torres
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); Revolutionary
Workers Party (PRT); 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);
Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations (COECE);
Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services (FESEBES)
Member of: AG (observer), APEC, BCIE, CARICOM (observer), CCC, CDB,
CG, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G- 6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, GATT, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES,
LAIA, NAM (observer), OAS, OECD, ONUSAL, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Jesus SILVA HERZOG Flores
chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006
telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso,
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Antonio, San
Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulate(s): Albuquerque, Austin, Boston, Brownsville (Texas),
Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Eagle
Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Loredo, McAllen (Texas), Midland
(Texas), Nogales (Arizona), Oxnard (California), Philadelphia,
Phoenix, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, San
Jose, Santa Ana, Seattle
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador James R. JONES
embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico,
Distrito Federal
mailing address: P. O. Box 3087, Laredo, TX 78044-3087
telephone: [52] (5) 211-0042
FAX: [52] (5) 511-9980, 208-3373
consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo
Flag: 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, under the guidance of new President Ernesto ZEDILLO,
entered 1995 in the midst of a severe financial crisis. Mexico's
membership in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the
United States and Canada, its solid record of economic reforms, and
its strong growth in the second and third quarters of 1994 - at an
annual rate of 3.8% and 4.5% respectively - seemed to augur bright
prospects for 1995. However, an overvalued exchange rate and widening
current account deficits created an imbalance that ultimately proved
unsustainable. To finance the trade gap, Mexico City had become
increasingly reliant on volatile portfolio investment. A series of
political shocks in 1994 - an uprising in the southern state of
Chiapas, the assassination of a presidential candidate, several high
profile kidnappings, the killing of a second high-level political
figure, and renewed threats from the Chiapas rebels - combined with
rising international interest rates and concerns of a devaluation to
undermine investor confidence and prompt massive outflows of capital.
The dwindling of foreign exchange reserves, which the central bank had
been using to defend the currency, forced the new administration to
change the exchange rate policy and allow the currency to float freely
in the last days of 1994. The adjustment roiled Mexican financial
markets, leading to a 30% to 40% weakening of the peso relative to the
dollar. ZEDILLO announced an emergency economic program that included
federal budget cuts and plans for more privatizations, but it failed
to restore investor confidence quickly. While the devaluation is
likely to help Mexican exporters, whose products are now cheaper, it
also raises the specter of an inflationary spiral if domestic
producers increase their prices and workers demand wage hikes.
Although strong economic fundamentals bode well for Mexico's
longer-term outlook, prospects for solid growth and low inflation have
deteriorated considerably, at least through 1995.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $728.7 billion (1994
est.)
National product real growth rate: 3.5% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $7,900 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.1% (1994 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9.8% (1994 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $96.99 billion (1994 est.)
expenditures: $96.51 billion (1994 est.), including capital
expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)
Exports: $60.8 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.), includes in-bond
industries
commodities: crude oil, oil products, coffee, silver, engines, motor
vehicles, cotton, consumer electronics
partners: US 82%, Japan 1.4%, EC 5% (1993 est.)
Imports: $79.4 billion (f.o.b., 1994 est.), includes in-bond
industries
commodities: metal-working machines, steel mill products, agricultural
machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts
for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts
partners: US 74%, Japan 4.7%, EC 11% (1993 est.)
External debt: $128 billion (1994 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.5% (1994 est.)
Electricity:
capacity: 28,780,000 kW
production: 122 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,239 kWh (1993)
Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel,
petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer
durables, tourism
Agriculture: accounts for 7% of GDP; large number of small farms at
subsistence level; major food crops - corn, wheat, rice, beans; cash
crops - cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes
Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis
continues in spite of government eradication program; major supplier
of heroin and marijuana to the US market; continues as the primary
transshipment country for US-bound cocaine and marijuana from South
America; increasingly involved in the production and distribution of
methamphetamine
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $3.1 billion;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-89), $7.7 billion; Communist countries (1970-89), $110 million
Currency: 1 New Mexican peso (Mex$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: market rate of Mexican pesos (Mex$) per US$1 - 6.736
(average in March 1995), 5.5133 (January 1995), 3.3751 (1994), 3.1156
(1993), 3,094.9 (1992), 3,018.4 (1991), 2,812.6 (1990)
note: the new peso replaced the old peso on 1 January 1993; 1 new peso
= 1,000 old pesos
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Mexico:Transportation
Railroads:
total: 24,500 km
standard gauge: 24,410 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 93 km 0.914-m gauge
Highways:
total: 242,300 km
paved: 84,800 km (including 3,166 km of expressways)
unpaved: gravel and earth 157,500 km
Inland 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: Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz,
Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico,
Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz
Merchant marine:
total: 59 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 949,271 GRT/1,340,595 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 2, chemical tanker 4, container 7,
liquefied gas tanker 7, oil tanker 30, refrigerated cargo 2,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 2, short-sea passenger 4
Airports:
total: 2,055
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 9
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 25
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 82
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 75
with paved runways under 914 m: 1,262
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 60
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 539
@Mexico:Communications
Telephone system: 6,410,000 telephones; highly developed system with
extensive microwave radio relay links; privatized in December 1990
local: adequate phone service for business and government, but, at a
density of less than 7 telephones/100 persons, the population is
poorly served
intercity: includes 120 domestic satellite terminals and an extensive
network of microwave radio relay links
international: 5 INTELSAT (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) earth
stations; connected into Central America Microwave System; launched
Solidarity I satellite in November 1993
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 679, FM 0, shortwave 22
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 238
televisions: NA
@Mexico:Defense Forces
Branches: National Defense (includes Army and Air Force), Navy
(includes Marines)
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 23,354,445; males fit for
military service 17,029,788; males reach military age (18) annually
1,054,513 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP
________________________________________________________________________