Map of Mexico | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec Toltec Teotihuacan Zapotec Maya and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries it achieved independence early in the 19th century. 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 but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. The global financial crisis in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn in Mexico the following year although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages high underemployment inequitable income distribution and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007 Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.


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Location: North America bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean between Guatemala and the United States

Geographic coordinates: 23 00 N 102 00 W

Map reference: North America

Area
Total: 1,964,375 km²
Land: 1,943,945 km²
Water: 20,430 km²
Rank: 14
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 4,389 km
Border countries: (3) Belize 276 km; Guatemala 958 km; US 3,155 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
Mean elevation: 1111 m
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m: highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,675 m

Natural resources: petroleum silver copper gold lead zinc natural gas timber

Land use
Agricultural land: 54.9%
Forest: 33.3%
Other: 11.8%

Irrigated land: 65,000 km² (2012)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

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
Volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima which erupted in 2010 is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (elev. 5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena Ceboruco El Chichon Michoacan-Guanajuato Pico de Orizaba San Martin Socorro and Tacana

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


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Population
Distribution: most of the population is found in the middle of the country between the states of Jalisco and Veracruz; approximately a quarter of the population lives in and around Mexico City: 123,166,749 (July 2016 est.)
Rank: 12
Growth rate: 1.15% (2016 est.)
Growth rate rank: 102

Nationality
Noun: Mexican
Adjective: Mexican

Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 62% predominantly Amerindian 21% Amerindian 7% other 10% (mostly European)
Note: Mexico does not collect census data on ethnicity

Languages: Spanish only 92.7% Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7% indigenous only 0.8% unspecified 0.8%
Note: indigenous languages include various Mayan Nahuatl and other regional languages

Religions: Roman Catholic 82.7% Pentecostal 1.6% Jehovah's Witness 1.4% other Evangelical Churches 5% other 1.9% none 4.7% unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 27.26%
15-24 years: 17.72%
25-54 years: 40.69%
55-64 years: 7.41%
65 years and over: 6.93% (2016 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 51.7%
Youth dependency ratio: 41.9%
Elderly dependency ratio: 9.8%
Potential support ratio: 10.2%

Median age
Total: 28 years
Male: 26.9 years
Female: 29.1 years
Rank: 133

Population growth rate: 1.15% (2016 est.)
Rank: 102

Birth rate: 18.5 births/1000 population (2016 est.)
Rank: 93

Death rate: 5.3 deaths/1000 population (2016 est.)
Rank: 177

Net migration rate: -1.7 migrant(s)/1000 population (2016 est.)
Rank: 155

Population distribution: most of the population is found in the middle of the country between the states of Jalisco and Veracruz; approximately a quarter of the population lives in and around Mexico City

Urbanization
Urban population: 79.2% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 1.57% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: MEXICO CITY (capital) 20.999 million; Guadalajara 4.843 million; Monterrey 4.513 million; Puebla 2.984 million; Toluca de Lerdo 2.164 million; Tijuana 1.987 million (2015)

Environment
Current issues: scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater 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
Current issues note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues
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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male/female
55-64 years: 0.85 male/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female

Mothers mean age at first birth: 21.3 (2008 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 11.9 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 13.3 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 10.4 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 122

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.9 years
Male: 73.1 years
Female: 78.8 years
Rank: 93

Total fertility rate: 2.25 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Rank: 95

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 72.5% (2009)

Drinking water source:

Current health expenditure

Physicians density: 2.1 physicians/1000 population (2011)

Hospital bed density: 1.5 beds/1000 population (2011)

Sanitation facility access:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.24% (2015 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 95
People living with hivaids: 198,200 (2015 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 30
Deaths: 4,000 (2015 est.)
Deaths rank: 28

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: intermediate
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
Vectorborne disease: dengue fever
Note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country ; it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex via blood transfusion or during pregnancy in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus (2016)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 27.6% (2014)
Rank: 23

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 2.8% (2012)
Rank: 117

Education expenditures: 5.2% of GDP (2011)
Rank: 72

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 95.1%
Male: 96.2%
Female: 94.2%

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 13 years
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: United Mexican States
Conventional short form: Mexico
Local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Local short form: Mexico
Etymology: named after the Mexica the largest and most powerful branch of the Aztecs; the meaning of the name is uncertain

Government type: federal presidential republic

Capital
Name: Mexico City
Geographic coordinates: 19 26 N 99 08 W
Time difference: UTC-6

Administrative divisions

Dependent areas

Independence

National holiday

Constitution

Legal system

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage

Executive branch

Legislative branch

Judicial branch

Political parties and leaders

International organization participation

Diplomatic representation

Flag description

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity

Real gdp growth rate

Real gdp per capita

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin

Agriculture products

Industries

Industrial production growth rate

Labor force

Unemployment rate

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance

Exports

Imports

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates


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Electricity
Generation sources nuclear: 2.5% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 28
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 18.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 96
Generation sources other renewable sources: 4.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 60

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 2.302 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 11
Crude oil exports: 1.199 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 13
Crude oil imports: 11,110 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 76
Crude oil proven reserves: 9.7 billion bbl (1 January 2016 es)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 17

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 1.258 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products production rank: 14
Products consumption: 2.007 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products consumption rank: 12
Products exports: 190,900 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports rank: 37
Products imports: 713,500 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports rank: 13

Natural gas
Production: 44.37 billion m³ (2014 est.)
Production rank: 19
Consumption: 72.77 billion m³ (2014 est.)
Consumption rank: 10
Exports: 52 million m³ (2014 est.)
Exports rank: 43
Imports: 28.84 billion m³ (2014 est.)
Imports rank: 13
Proven reserves: 432.9 billion m³ (1 January 2016 es)
Proven reserves rank: 31

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 455 million Mt (2013 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 16

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 19,886,949
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 16
Fixed lines rank: 14
Mobile cellular total: 106.831 million
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 88
Mobile cellular rank: 14

Telephone system
General assessment: adequate telephone service for business and government; improving quality and increasing mobile cellular availability with mobile subscribers far outnumbering 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: competition has spurred the mobile-cellular market; fixed-line teledensity is less than 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is about 90 per 100 persons
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 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 - 120 (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 (2015)

Broadcast media: many TV stations and more than 1400 radio stations with most privately owned; the Televisa group once had a virtual monopoly in TV broadcasting but new broadcasting groups and foreign satellite and cable operators are now available (2012)

Internet
Country code: .mx
Users total: 69.915 million
Users percent of population: 57.4%
Users rank: 12

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures:
Rank: 124

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service conscript service obligation is 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; cadets enrolled in military schools from the age of 15 are considered members of the armed forces (2012)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 21
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 357
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 45,560,063
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 713,985,467 mt-km

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: XA (2016)

Airports: 1714 (2013)
Rank: 3
With paved runways total: 243
With paved runways over 3047 m: 12
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 32
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 80
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 86
With paved runways under 914 m: 33
With unpaved runways total: 1471
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 42
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 281
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1146

Heliports: 1 (2013)

Pipelines: gas 18,074 km; liquid petroleum 2,102 km; oil 8,775 km; oil/gas/water 369 km; refined products 7,565 km; water 123 km (2013)

Railways
Total: 15,389 km
Standard gauge: 15,389 km 1.435-m gauge (2014)
Rank: 18

Roadways
Total: 377,660 km
Paved: 137,544 km
Unpaved: 240,116 km
Rank: 19

Waterways: 2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals mostly connected with ports on the country's east coast) (2012)
Rank: 33

Merchant marine
Total: 52
By type: bulk carrier 5 cargo 3 chemical tanker 11 liquefied gas 3 passenger/cargo 10 petroleum tanker 17 roll on/roll off 3
Foreign owned: 5
Registered in other countries: 12 (2010)
Rank: 70

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Altamira Coatzacoalcos Lazaro Cardenas Manzanillo Veracruz
Container port: Manzanillo (1,992,176) Lazaro Cardenas (1,242,777) (2012)
Oil terminals: Cayo Arcas terminal Dos Bocas terminal
LNG terminal: Altamira Ensenada
Cruise port: Cancun Cozumel Ensenada


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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 US; Belize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty

Refugees and internally displaced persons
IDPs: 287,000 (2015)
Stateless persons: 13

Illicit drugs: major drug-producing and transit nation; world's second largest opium poppy cultivator; opium poppy cultivation in 2009 rose 31% over 2008 to 19,500 hectares yielding a potential production of 50 metric tons of pure heroin or 125 metric tons of 'black tar' heroin the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States; marijuana cultivation increased 45% to 17,500 hectares in 2009; 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 95% of annual cocaine movements toward the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control the 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 (2007)