Destination 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. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.

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

Coastline

• 9,330 km

Climate

• Varies from tropical to desert

Terrain

• High, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert

Population

• 107,449,525 (July 2006 est.)

Capital

• Mexico (Distrito Federal)

Nationality

• noun: Mexican(s)
• adjective: Mexican

Languages

• English 79.1%, Chinese 2.1%, Italian 1.9%, other 11.1%, unspecified 5.8% (2001 Census)

Local Weather

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