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. 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.

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:	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)
Total renewable water resources:	457.2 cu km (2000)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):	total: 78.22 cu km/yr (17%/5%/77%) per capita: 731 cu m/yr (2000)
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

People

Mexico

Population:	108,700,891 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:	0-14 years: 30.1% (male 16,696,089/female 16,011,563) 15-64 years: 64% (male 33,624,812/female 35,925,372) 65 years and over: 5.9% (male 2,917,563/female 3,525,492) (2007 est.)
Median age:	total: 25.6 years male: 24.6 years female: 26.6 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:	1.153% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	20.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	4.76 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:	-4.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:	at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.043 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.936 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.828 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:	total: 19.63 deaths/1,000 live births male: 21.54 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:	total population: 75.63 years male: 72.84 years female: 78.56 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:	2.39 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:	0.3% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:	160,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:	5,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:	degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: dengue fever water contact disease: leptospirosis (2008)
Nationality:	noun: Mexican(s) adjective: Mexican
Ethnic groups:	mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%
Religions:	Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census)
Languages:	Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages
Literacy:	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 91% male: 92.4% female: 89.6% (2004 est.)

Government

Mexico

Country name:	conventional long form: United Mexican States conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico
Government type:	federal republic
Capital:	name: Mexico (Distrito Federal) geographic coordinates: 19 26 N, 99 08 W time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October note: Mexico is divided into three time zones
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 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by 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 Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa (since 1 December 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa (since 1 December 2006) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term; election last held on 2 July 2006 (next to be held 1 July 2012) election results: Felipe CALDERON elected president; percent of vote - Felipe CALDERON 35.89%, Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR 35.31%, Roberto MADRAZO 22.26%, other 6.54%
Legislative branch:	bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 seats 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 elected by popular vote; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote; to serve three-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2006 for all of the seats (next to be held 1 July 2012); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2 July 2006 (next to be held 5 July 2009) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PAN 52, PRI 33, PRD 26, PVEM 6, CD 5, PT 5, independent 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PAN 207, PRD 127, PRI 106, PVEM 17, CD 17, PT 11, other 15
Judicial branch:	Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)
Political parties and leaders:	Convergence for Democracy or CD [Luis MALDONADO Venegas]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Beatriz PAREDES]; Labor Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [German MARTINEZ Cazares]; New Alliance Party (Partido Nueva Alianza) or PNA [Jorge Antonio KAHWAGI Macari]; Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Leonel COTA Montano]; Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party (Partido Alternativa Socialdemocrata y Campesina) or Alternativa [Alberto BEGNE Guerra]
Political pressure groups and leaders:	Broad Progressive Front or FAP; Businessmen's Coordinating Council or CCE; 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 Small Business Chamber or CANACOPE; National Syndicate of Education Workers or SNTE; National Union of Workers or UNT; Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca or APPO; Roman Catholic Church
International organization participation:	APEC, BCIE, BIS, CAN (observer), Caricom (observer), CDB, CE (observer), CSN (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-15, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, NAFTA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo SARUKHAN Casamitjana chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Omaha, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Laredo (Texas), Las Vegas, Little Rock (Arkansas), McAllen (Texas), New Orleans, Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Paul (Minnesota), Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona)
Diplomatic representation from the US:	chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA, Jr. embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-9000 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5511-9980 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo
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 in the trillion dollar class. It contains 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 generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2007, during his first year in office, the Felipe CALDERON administration was able to garner support from the opposition to successfully pass a pension and a fiscal reform. The administration continues to face many economic challenges including the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize labor laws, and allow private investment in the energy sector. CALDERON has stated that his top economic priorities remain reducing poverty and creating jobs.
GDP (purchasing power parity):	$1.353 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):	$886.4 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:	3% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):	$12,500 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:	agriculture: 3.9% industry: 26.3% services: 69.9% (2007 est.)
Labor force:	45.38 million (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:	agriculture: 18% industry: 24% services: 58% (2003)
Unemployment rate:	3.7% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line:	13.8% note: food-based poverty. Asset based poverty amounted to more than 40% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:	lowest 10%: 1.2% highest 10%: 37% (2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:	50.9 (2005)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):	3.8% (2007)
Investment (gross fixed):	21.5% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:	revenues: $209.2 billion expenditures: $209.2 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt:	23.1% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:	corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products
Industries:	food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:	1.2% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:	222.4 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - production by source:	fossil fuel: 78.7% hydro: 14.2% nuclear: 4.2% other: 2.9% (2001)
Electricity - consumption:	183.3 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports:	1.597 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports:	470.7 million kWh (2005)
Oil - production:	3.784 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption:	2.078 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports:	2.268 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:	308,500 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:	12.88 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production:	41.37 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:	47.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports:	282.9 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports:	9.717 billion cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves:	434.1 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance:	$-5.414 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:	$267.5 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:	manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton
Exports - partners:	US 84.7%, Canada 2.1%, Spain 1.3% (2006)
Imports:	$279.3 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)
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 50.9%, China 9.5%, Japan 6%, South Korea 4.2% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:	$189.4 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:	$85.11 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:	$182 billion (30 June 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:	$236.2 billion (2006 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:	$30.75 billion (2006 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:	$348.3 billion (2006)
Currency (code):	Mexican peso (MXN)
Currency code:	MXN
Exchange rates:	Mexican pesos per US dollar - 10.8 (2007), 10.899 (2006), 10.898 (2005), 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003)
Fiscal year:	calendar year

Communications

Mexico

Telephones - main lines in use:	19.861 million (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:	57.016 million (2006)
Telephone system:	general assessment: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable domestic: low telephone density with about 18 fixed lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; despite the opening to competition in January 1997, Telmex remains dominant; legal challenges to Telmex's alleged anti-competitive behavior in the mobile and fixed-line markets culminated in a World Trade Organization ruling in 2004 against Mexico prompting some strengthening of the powers granted Mexico's telecom regulator international: country code - 52; Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Spain, and Italy; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 submarine cable system together provide access to Central America, parts of South America and the Caribbean, and the US; 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), 1 Panamsat, numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections (2005)
Radio broadcast stations:	AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003)
Radios:	31 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:	236 (plus repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:	25.6 million (1997)
Internet country code:	.mx
Internet hosts:	7.629 million (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):	51 (2000)
Internet users:	22 million (2006)

Transportation

Mexico

Airports:	1,834 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:	total: 231 over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 77 under 914 m: 29 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:	total: 1,603 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 63 914 to 1,523 m: 408 under 914 m: 1,131 (2007)
Heliports:	1 (2007)
Pipelines:	gas 22,705 km; liquid petroleum gas 1,875 km; oil 8,688 km; oil/gas/water 228 km; refined products 6,520 km (2006)
Railways:	total: 17,665 km standard gauge: 17,665 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:	total: 235,670 km paved: 116,751 km (includes 6,144 km of expressways) unpaved: 118,919 km (2004)
Waterways:	2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals) (2007)
Merchant marine:	total: 60 ships (1000 GRT or over) 802,128 GRT/1,157,971 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 7, chemical tanker 6, liquefied gas 4, passenger/cargo 11, petroleum tanker 25, roll on/roll off 5 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 2, Norway 1, UAE 1) registered in other countries: 14 (Brazil 1, Honduras 1, Liberia 1, Panama 4, Portugal 1, Spain 3, Venezuela 3) (2007)
Ports and terminals:	Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Veracruz

Military

Mexico

Military branches:	Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Sedena): Army (Ejercito), Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, FAM); Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaria de Marina, Semar): Mexican Navy (Armada de Mexico, ARM, includes Naval Air Force (FAN) and Marines) (2007)
Military service age and obligation:	18 years of age for compulsory military service, conscript service obligation - 12 months; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary enlistment; conscripts serve only in the Army; Navy and Air Force service is all voluntary; women are eligible for voluntary military service (2007)
Manpower available for military service:	males age 18-49: 24,488,008 females age 18-49: 26,128,046 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:	males age 18-49: 19,058,337 females age 18-49: 21,966,796 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:	males age 18-49: 1,063,233 females age 18-49: 1,043,816 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:	0.5% (2006 est.)

Transnational Issues

Mexico

Disputes - international:	abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; the US has intensified security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across its border with Mexico; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States
Refugees and internally displaced persons:	IDPs: 10,000-12,000 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region) (2006)
Trafficking in persons:	current situation: Mexico is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor; while the vast majority of victims are Central Americans trafficked along Mexico's southern border, other source regions include South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia; women and children are trafficked from rural regions to urban centers and tourist areas for sexual exploitation, often through fraudulent offers of employment or through threats of physical violence; the Mexican trafficking problem is often conflated with alien smuggling, and frequently the same criminal networks are involved; pervasive corruption among state and local law enforcement often impedes investigations tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mexico remains on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year based on future commitments to undertake additional efforts in prosecution, protection, and prevention of trafficking in persons, and the failure of the government to provide critical law enforcement data
Illicit drugs:	major drug-producing nation; cultivation of opium poppy in 2005 amounted to 3,300 hectares yielding a potential production of 8 metric tons of pure heroin, or 17 metric tons of "black tar" heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States; marijuana cultivation decreased 3% to 5,600 hectares in 2005 - just two years after a decade-high cultivation peak in 2003 - and yielded a potential production of 10,100 metric tons; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, with an estimated 90% of annual cocaine movements towards the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market

History of Mexico

Prehistoric times
Although there are tantalizing fragments of evidence suggesting human habitation of Mexico more than 20,000 years ago (see Tlapacoya archaeological site), there is no uncontested evidence that humans arrived in Mexico earlier than ~15,000 BP. One of those asserting a date of 28,000 years is archaeologist Michael D. Coe of Yale University (see Mexico: From The Olmecs To The Aztecs, 5th Edition published by Thames and Hudson).

Ancient Mexicans began to selectively breed corn plants around 8,000 B.C. Evidence shows an explosion of pottery works by 2300 B.C. and the beginning of intensive corn farming between 1800 and 1500 B.C.

Pre-Columbian Mexican civilizations
Between 1800 and 300 BC, complex cultures began to form. Many matured into advanced Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations such as the: Olmec, Izapa, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huaxtec, Purepecha,Toltec and Mexica (Aztecs), which flourished for nearly 4,000 years before first contact with Europeans.

Accomplishments
These indigenous civilizations are credited with many inventions in: building pyramid-temples, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, highly-accurate calendars, fine arts, intensive agriculture, engineering, an abacus calculator (Nepohualtzitzin), a complex theology, and the wheel. Without any draft animals to do labor, however, the wheel had limited applications and was primarily used for art and toys. Metallurgy focused on copper, gold, and silver.

Archaic inscriptions on rocks and rock walls all over northern Mexico (especially in the state of Nuevo León) demonstrate an early propensity for counting in Mexico. These very early and ancient count-markings were associated with astronomical events and underscore the influence that astronomical activities had upon Mexican natives, even before they possessed urbanization.

In fact, many of the later Mexican based civilizations would all carefully build their cities and ceremonial centers according to specific astronomical events. Astronomy and the notion of human observation of celestial events would become central factors in the development of religious systems, writing systems, fine arts, and architecture. Pre-historic Mexican astronomers set in motion a tradition of obsessive observing, recording, and commemorating astronomical events that later become a hallmark of Mexican civilized achievements. Cities would be founded and built on astronomical principles, leaders would be appointed on celestial events, wars would be fought according to solar-calendars, and a complex theology using astronomical metaphors would organize the daily lives of millions of people.

At different points in time, three different Mexican cities were the largest cities in the world: Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and Cholula. These cities, among several others, blossomed as centers of commerce, ideas, ceremonies, and theology. In turn, they radiated influence outwards onto nearby neighboring cultures in central Mexico.

Major Civilizations
While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mexico can be said to have had five major civilizations: The Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Toltec, the Mexica (a.k.a. Aztecs) and the Maya. These civilizations (with the exception of the politically-fragmented Maya) extended their reach across Mexico, and beyond, like no others. They consolidated power and distributed influence in matters of trade, art, politics, technology, and theology. Other regional power players made economic and political alliances with these five civilizations over the span of nearly 4,000 years. Many made war with them. But almost all found themselves within these five spheres of influence.

The Olmec Civilization
The earliest known Mexican civilization is the Olmec. This civilization established the cultural blueprint which all succeeding indigenous civilizations would follow in Mexico and Central America. The roots of Olmec civilization began around 2300 B.C. (according to Arquelogia Mexicana, the Mexican archaeology journal) with the production of pottery in abundance, a major sign of urbanization. The first signs of Olmec civilization are in San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, near the coast in south-east Veracruz. Widely known today for their colossal heads, the Olmec influence extended across Mexico, into Central America, and along the Gulf of Mexico. They established new forms of government, pyramid-temples, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, trade, and religion. Their achievements would pave the way for the later Maya civilization in the east, and the many civilizations to the west in central Mexico.

The Teotihuacan Civilization
The decline of the Olmec resulted in a power vacuum in Mexico. Emerging from that vacuum was Teotihuacan, first settled in 300 B.C. By 150 A.D., it had grown to become the first true metropolis of what is now called North America. Teotihuacan established a new economic and political order never before seen in Mexico. Its influence stretched across Mexico into Central America, founding new dynasties in the Mayan cities of Tikal, Copan, and Kaminaljuyú. Teotihuacan's influence over the Maya civilization cannot be understated: it transformed political power, artistic depictions, and the nature of economics. Within the city of Teotihuacan was a diverse and cosmopolitan population. Most of the regional ethnicities of Mexico were represented in the city, such as Zapotecs from the Oaxaca region. They lived in apartment communities where they worked their trades and contributed to the city's economic and cultural prowess. By 500 A.D., Teotihuacan had become the largest city in the world. Teotihuacan's economic pull impacted areas in northern Mexico as well. It was a city whose monumental architecture reflected a new era in Mexican civilization, declining in political power about 650 B.C., but lasting in cultural influence for the better part of a millennium, to around 950 A.D.

The Maya Civilization
Contemporary with Teotihuacan's greatness was the greatness of the Maya civilization. The period between 250 A.D. and 650 A.D. saw an intense flourishing of Maya civilized accomplishments. While the many Maya city-states never achieved political unity on the order of the central Mexican civilizations, they exerted a tremendous intellectual influence upon Mexico and Central America. The Maya built some of the most elaborate cities on the continent, and made innovations in mathematics, astronomy, and writing that became the pinnacle of Mexico's scientific achievements.

The Toltec Civilization
Just as Teotihuacan had emerged from a power vacuum, so too did the Toltec civilization, which took the reigns of cultural and political power in Mexico from about 700 A.D. Many of the Toltec peoples were comprised of northern desert peoples, often called Chichimeca in Mexico's Nahuatl language. They fused their proud desert heritage with the mighty civilized culture of Teotihuacan. This new heritage would give rise to a new empire in Mexico. The Toltec empire would reach as far south as Central America, and as far north as the Anasazi corn culture in the Southwestern United States. The Toltec established a prosperous turquoise trade route with the northern civilization of Pueblo Bonito, in modern-day New Mexico. Toltec traders would trade prized bird feathers with Pueblo Bonito, while circulating all the finest wares that Mexico had to offer with their immediate neighbors. In the Mayan area of Chichen Itza, the Toltec civilization spread and the Maya were once again powerfully influenced by central Mexicans. The Toltec political system was so influential, that any serious Maya dynasty would later claim to be of Toltec descent. In fact, it was this prized Toltec lineage that would set the stage for Mexico's last great indigenous civilization.

The Mexica (Aztec) Civilization
With the decline of the Toltec civilization came political fragmentation in the Valley of Mexico. Into this new game of political contenders to the Toltec throne stepped outsiders: the Mexica. They were a proud desert people, one of seven groups who formerly called themselves "Azteca," but changed their name after years of migrating. Newcomers to the Valley of Mexico, they were seen as crude and unrefined in the ways of the prestigious Nahua civilizations, such as the fallen Toltec empire.

Latecomers to Mexico's central plateau, the Mexica (or Aztecs as they were subsequently labeled by European anthropologists) never thought of themselves as heirs to the prestigious civilizations that had preceded them, much as Charlemagne of France did with respect to the fallen Roman Empire.

In 1428, the Mexica-Aztecs led a war of liberation against their rulers from the city of Azcapotzalco, which had subjugated most of the Valley of Mexico's peoples. The revolt was successful, and The Mexica, through cunning political maneuvers and ferocious fighting skills, managed to pull off a true "rags-to-riches" story: they became the rulers of central Mexico as the head of the Triple Alliance.

This Triple Alliance was composed of the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. At their peak, 300,000 Mexica (Aztecs) presided over a wealthy tribute-empire comprising approximately 10 million people, almost half of Mexico's present 24 million population. This empire stretched from ocean to ocean, and extended into Central America.

By 1519, the Mexica (Aztec) capital, Tenochtitlan, was the largest city in the world with a population of around 350,000 (although some estimates range as high as 500,000). By comparison, the population of London in 1519 was 80,000 people. Tenochtitlan is the site of modern-day Mexico City.

Allies of the Mexica (Aztecs)
In the formation of the Triple Alliance empire, the Mexica established several ally states. Among them were Cholula (the site of an early massacre by Spaniards), Texcoco (the site of a major library, subsequently burned by the Spanish), Tlacopan, and Matatlan. Also, many of the kingdoms conquered by the Mexica provided soldiers for further campaigns such as: Culhuacan, Xochimilco, Tepeacac, Amecameca, Coaixtlahuacan, Cuetlachtlan, and Ahuilizipan. Mexica fighting forces would become multi-ethnic, comprising many soldiers from conquered areas, led by a core of Mexica warriors and officers. This same strategy would later be employed by the Spaniards.

Legacy of the Mexica
The Mexica left a deep and durable stamp upon Mexican culture. Much of what is considered Mexican culture today derives from this Mexica civilization: place-names, words, food, art, dress, symbols, and even the name "Mexican". (See also Origin and history of the name "Mexica").

For much of its history, the majority of Mexico's population lived an urban lifestyle: cities, towns, and villages. Only a fraction of the population was tribal and wandering. Most people were permanently-settled, agriculturally-based, and identified with an urban identity, as opposed to a tribal identity. Mexico has long been an urban land, which was graphically reflected in the writings of the Spaniards who encountered them.

Spanish conquest
In 1519, the native civilizations of Mexico were invaded by Spanish troops numbering about 600 soldiers, who brought with them superior weaponry and old world diseases. Two years later in 1521, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) was conquered. It is said that the dead from smallpox filled the streets and canals. Hundreds of thousands of Aztecs died of disease. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba explored the shores of southern Mexico in 1517, followed by Juan de Grijalva in 1518. The most important of the early Conquistadores was Hernán Cortés, who entered the country in 1519 from a native coastal town which he renamed "Puerto de la Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz" (today's Veracruz).

Contrary to popular opinion, Spain did not conquer all of Mexico when Cortés conquered Tenochtitlan in 1521. It would take another two centuries after the Siege of Tenochtitlan before the Conquest of Mexico would be complete, as sporadic and ineffective rebellions, attacks, and wars continued against the Spanish by other native people. Disease ran rampant throughout Mexico, dropping the population from about eight million to two million by 1600.

Colonial period
The Spanish defeat of the Mexica in 1521 marked the beginning of the 300 year-long colonial period of Mexico. After the fall of Tenochtitlan Mexico City, it would take decades of sporadic warfare to pacify the rest of Mesoamerica. Particularly fierce were the "Chichimeca wars" in the north of Mexico (1576–1606).

During the colonial period, which lasted from 1521 to 1810, Mexico was known as "Nueva España" or "New Spain", whose territories included today's Mexico, Central America as far south as Costa Rica, and the area comprising today's southwestern United States. Also the Phillipines, coastal parts of Alaska, British Columbia, all Oregon and Louisiana was part of the New Spain.

Mexican war of independence
After Napoleon I invaded Spain and put his brother on the Spanish throne, Mexican Conservatives and rich land-owners who supported Spain's Bourbon royal family objected to the comparatively more liberal Napoleonic policies. Thus an unlikely alliance was formed in Mexico: liberales, or Liberals, who favored a republican Mexico, and conservadores, or Conservatives, who favored Mexico ruled by a Bourbon monarch who would restore the old status quo. These two elements agreed only that Mexico must achieve independence and determine her own destiny.

Taking advantage of the fact that Spain was severely handicapped under the occupation of Napoleon's army, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest of Spanish descent and progressive ideas, declared Mexico's independence from Spain in the small town of Dolores on September 16, 1810. This act started the long war that eventually led to the official recognition of independence from Spain in 1821. As with many early leaders in the movement for Mexican independence, Hidalgo was captured by opposing forces and executed. After no European monarch accepted its throne, the newly independent Mexico was ruled by Agustín de Iturbide. After his coronation as Emperor of Mexico he became known as Agustin I, and ruled until his overthrow by republican forces led by Guadalupe Victoria and Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Mexican-American War
A dominant figure of the second quarter of that century was the dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna who was president seven different times, many of his terms were unsuccessful.

During this period, many of the mostly unsettled territories in the north were lost to the United States. Santa Anna was Mexico's leader during the conflict with Texas, which declared itself independent from Mexico in 1836 by defeating Santa Anna and the Mexican army. As president, Santa Anna tried to rule during the disastrous Mexican-American War (1846–48). The U.S. government sent troops to Texas in order to secure the territory ignoring Mexican demands for U.S. withdrawal. Mexico saw this as a U.S. intervention in internal affairs by supporting a "rebel" province. In the war that ensued, the United States kept over half of Mexico's territory, including land comprising the present states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Mexico lost nearly 2,000,000 km² after the war and received $15 million for the lands from the U.S

French intervention in Mexico
In the 1860s, the country again suffered a military occupation, this time by France, seeking to establish the Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria as Emperor of Mexico, with support from the Roman Catholic clergy and conservative elements of the upper class as well as some indigenous communities. The Second Mexican Empire was then overthrown by President Benito Juárez, with diplomatic and logistical support from the United States and the military expertise of General Porfirio Díaz. General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the largely unsupported French Army in Mexico at the city of Puebla on May 5, 1862, celebrated as Cinco de Mayo ever since. However, after his death, the city was lost in early 1863, following a renewed French attack which penetrated as far as Mexico City, forcing Juárez to organize a new itinerant government.

Order, progress, and the Díaz dictatorship
After the victory, there was resentment by Conservatives against Juárez (who they thought concentrated too much power and desired to be re-elected) that an army general, Porfirio Díaz, rebelled against the government with the proclamation of the Plan de Tuxtepec in 1876.

Díaz became the new president. During a period of more than thirty years (1876–1911) while he was the strong man in Mexico, the country's infrastructure improved greatly thanks to investments from other countries. This period of relative prosperity and peace is known as the Porfiriato. However there was discontentment amongst the people during the Porfiriato due foreign investors paying workers very small wages, which produced a very steep social division: only a small group of investors (domestic and foreign) were getting rich, but the vast majority of the people remained in abject poverty. Democracy was completely suppressed, and dissent was dealt with in repressive, often brutal ways (see, for example, Nogales, Veracruz).

Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution, sometimes called the Mexican Revolution of 1910, was a violent social and cultural movement, colored by socialist, nationalist, and anarchist tendencies. It began with the popular rejection of dictator Porfirio Díaz Mori in 1910 and continued even after the promulgation of a new constitution in 1917. The main problem at the beginning was the dictatorship of Diaz since 1884 and the plight of farm workers who had been stripped of their wealth and lands. In 1909, Francisco I. Madero proposed returning the land to the people. When Madero won the elections, he said that the process of returning the lands was going to take time; as a result he was the object of several conspiracies until his assassination in 1913.

Zimmerman telegram
Towards the end of World War I a secret proposal was devised by Germany, articulated in a diplomatic message that became known as the Zimmerman telegram. The proposal, which was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence, asked Mexico to join the German war effort in exchange for German support in reclaiming Mexico's former territories in the southwestern United States. Its discovery became one of the many contributing factors to eventual U.S. involvement in the war on the side of the Allies. Mexico did not accept the offer.

Mexican economic miracle
During the next four decades, Mexico experienced impressive economic growth (from a very low base), and historians call this period "El Milagro Mexicano", the Mexican Miracle. This was in spite of falling foreign confidence in investment during the worldwide great depression. The assumption of mineral rights and subsequent nationalization of the oil industry into PEMEX during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was a popular move.

NAFTA
On January 1, 1994, Mexico became a full member of the North American Free Trade Agreement, joining the United States of America and Canada in a large economic bloc. On March 23, 2005, the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America was signed by the elected leaders of those countries.

Opposition to NAFTA is a rallying cause in Mexican left politics, and the EZLN made the day it came into effect the day they began their armed insurrection.

The end of the PRI's hegemony
Even though it was frequently accused of corruption, influence peddling and blatant election fraud, the PRI managed to retain a firm grip on political power in Mexico until the end of the 20th century. Almost all public offices were held by members of the PRI.

It was not until the 1980s that the PRI lost the first state governorship, an event that marked the beginning of the party's loss of hegemony. Through the electoral reforms started by president Carlos Salinas de Gortari and consolidated by president Ernesto Zedillo, by the mid 1990s PRI had lost its majority in Congress. In 2000, after seventy years, PRI lost a presidential election to Vicente Fox, candidate of the Alliance for Change.

According to Canal del Congreso web site, it was believed by some opposition party members that Vicente Fox made Congress responsible for his government paralysis.

Fox was accused of manipulating the budget, playing it to the media and badmouthing Congress for rejecting VAT (Value added tax) on food and medicines.

Last update on 13 March 2008