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. Left-leaning antiestablishment politician and former mayor of Mexico City (2000-05) Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR, from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), became president in December 2018.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: 15
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
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Contiguous zone: 24 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
Lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
Highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,636 m

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

Land use
Agricultural land: 54.9% (2011 est.)
Forest: 33.3% (2011 est.)
Other: 11.8% (2011 est.)

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 coastsvolcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (3,850 m), 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 (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; see note 2 under 'Geography - note'

Geography
Note: note 1: strategic location on southern border of the US; Mexico is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire


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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: 128,649,565 (July 2020 est.)
Rank: 10
Growth rate: 1.04% (2020 est.)
Growth rate rank: 101
Below poverty line: 46.2% (2014 est.)
Below poverty line note: from a food-based definition of poverty; asset-based poverty amounted to more than 47%

Nationality
Noun: Mexican(s)
Adjective: Mexican

Ethnic groups: Mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 62%, predominantly Amerindian 21%, Amerindian 7%, other 10% (mostly European) (2012 est.)
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% (2005)
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: 26.01% (male 17,111,199/female 16,349,767)
15-24 years: 16.97% (male 11,069,260/female 10,762,784)
25-54 years: 41.06% (male 25,604,223/female 27,223,720)
55-64 years: 8.29% (male 4,879,048/female 5,784,176)
65 years and over: 7.67% (male 4,373,807/female 5,491,581) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 50.3
Youth dependency ratio: 38.8
Elderly dependency ratio: 11.4
Potential support ratio: 8.7 (2020 est.)

Median age
Total: 29.3 years
Male: 28.2 years
Female: 30.4 years (2020 est.)
Rank: 132

Population growth rate: 1.04% (2020 est.)
Rank: 101

Birth rate: 17.6 births/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 94

Death rate: 5.4 deaths/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 185

Net migration rate: -1.9 migrant(s)/1000 population (2020 est.)
Rank: 165

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: 80.7% of total population
Note: (2015-20 est.)
Rate of urbanization: 1.59% annual rate of change

Major urban areas
Population: 21.782 million MEXICO CITY (capital), 5.179 million Guadalajara, 4.874 million Monterrey, 3.195 million Puebla, 2.467 million Toluca de Lerdo, 2.140 million Tijuana (2020)

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(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.84 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2020 est.)

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

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 10.7 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 12 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 9.2 deaths/1000 live births (2020 est.)
Rank: 126

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 76.7 years
Male: 73.9 years
Female: 79.6 years (2020 est.)
Rank: 91

Total fertility rate: 2.19 children born/woman (2020 est.)
Rank: 93

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 73.1% (2018)

Drinking water source
Urban: 0% of population
Rural: 3.4% of population
Total: 0% of population (2017 est.)

Current health expenditure: 5.5% (2017)

Physicians density: 2.38 physicians/1000 population (2017)

Hospital bed density: 1.5 beds/1000 population (2015)

Sanitation facility access
Urban: 0.7% of population
Rural: 8.1% of population
Total: 2.2% of population (2017 est.)

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2018 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 106
People living with hivaids: 230,000 (2018 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 25
Deaths: 4,000 (2017 est.)
Deaths rank: 30

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: intermediate (2020)
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever
Note: a new coronavirus is causing sustained community spread of respiratory illness (COVID-19) in Mexico; sustained community spread means that people have been infected with the virus, but how or where they became infected is not known, and the spread is ongoing; illness with this virus has ranged from mild to severe with fatalities reported; as of 5 August 2020, Mexico has reported 443,813 confirmed cases of COVID19 with 48,012 deaths

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 28.9% (2016)
Rank: 29

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 4.2% (2016)
Rank: 87

Education expenditures: 4.5% of GDP (2017)
Rank: 78

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 95.4%
Male: 95.8%
Female: 94.6% (2018)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 15 years
Male: 15 years
Female: 15 years (2018)

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 capital city, whose name stems from 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 (Ciudad de Mexico)
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 has four time zonesetymology: named after the Mexica, the largest and most powerful branch of the Aztecs; the meaning of the name is uncertain

Administrative divisions: 32 states (estados, singular - estado); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Cuidad de Mexico, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas

Dependent areas

Independence: 16 September 1810 (declared independence from Spain); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

Constitution
History: several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917
Amendments: proposed by the Congress of the Union; passage requires approval by at least two thirds of the members present and approval by a majority of the state legislatures; amended many times, last in 2020

Legal system: civil law system with US constitutional law influence; judicial review of legislative acts

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: yes
Citizenship by descent only: yes
Dual citizenship recognized: not specified
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (since 1 December 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (since 1 December 2018)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general, the head of the Bank of Mexico, and senior treasury officials require consent of the Senate 
Electionsappointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a single 6-year term; election last held on 1 July 2018 (next to be held in July 2024)
Election results: Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR elected president; percent of vote - Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (MORENA) 53.2%, Ricardo ANAYA (PAN) 22.3%, Jose Antonio MEADE Kuribrena (PRI) 16.4%, Jaime RODRIGUEZ Calderon 5.2% (independent), other 2.9%

Legislative branch
Description:
Elections:
Election results:: note: for the 2018 election, senators will be eligible for a second term and deputies up to 4 consecutive terms

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (consists of the chief justice and 11 justices and organized into civil, criminal, administrative, and labor panels) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (organized into the superior court, with 7 judges including the court president, and 5 regional courts, each with 3 judges)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices nominated by the president of the republic and approved by two-thirds vote of the members present in the Senate; justices serve 15-year terms; Electoral Tribunal superior and regional court judges nominated by the Supreme Court and elected by two-thirds vote of members present in the Senate; superior court president elected from among its members to hold office for a 4-year term; other judges of the superior and regional courts serve staggered, 9-year terms
Subordinate courts: federal level includes circuit, collegiate, and unitary courts; state and district level courts: Note: in mid-February 2020, the Mexican president endorsed a bill on judicial reform, which proposes changes to 7 articles of the constitution and the issuance of a new Organic Law on the Judicial Branch of the Federation

Political parties and leaders: Citizen's Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano) or MC [Clemente CASTANEDA]Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) or PRI [Claudia RUIZ Massieu]Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo) or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]Mexican Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico) or PVEM [Carlos Alberto PUENTE Salas]Movement for National Regeneration (Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional) or MORENA [Andres Manuel LOPEZ Obrador]National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [Damian ZEPEDA Vidales]Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Manuel GRANADOS]

International organization participation: APEC, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (observer), Caricom (observer), CD, CDB, CE (observer), CELAC, CSN (observer), EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-3, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-5, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, MIGA, NAFTA, NAM (observer), NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission:
In the us chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,006
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698
In the us consulate:
In the us:  
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher LANDAU (since 26 August 2019)
From the us telephone: (011) [52]-55-5,080-2000
From the us embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 6,500 Mexico, Distrito Federal
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 9,000, Brownsville, TX 78,520-9,000
From the us fax: (011) 52-55-5,080-2005
From the us consulate: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Monterrey, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; Mexico's coat of arms (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) is centered in the white band; green signifies hope, joy, and love; white represents peace and honesty; red stands for hardiness, bravery, strength, and valor; the coat of arms is derived from a legend that the wandering Aztec people were to settle at a location where they would see an eagle on a cactus eating a snake; the city they founded, Tenochtitlan, is now Mexico City
Note: similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter, uses lighter shades of green and red, and does not display anything in its white band

National symbols: golden eagle; national colors: green, white, red

National anthem
Name: Himno Nacional Mexicano (National Anthem of Mexico)
Lyricsmusic: Francisco Gonzalez BOCANEGRA/Jaime Nuno ROCA
Note: adopted 1943, in use since 1854; also known as 'Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra' (Mexicans, to the War Cry); according to tradition, Francisco Gonzalez BOCANEGRA, an accomplished poet, was uninterested in submitting lyrics to a national anthem contest; his fiancee locked him in a room and refused to release him until the lyrics were completed

National heritage


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity
Real:
Real note: data are in 2010 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 197

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2010 dollars
Rank: 115

Gross national saving:
Rank: 85

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 67% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 11.8% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 22.3% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 0.8% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 37.8% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -39.7% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.6% (2017 est.)
Industry: 31.9% (2017 est.)
Services: 64.5% (2017 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: -0.6% (2017 est.)
Rank: 174

Labor force: 50.914 million (2020 est.)
Rank: 12
By occupation agriculture: 13.4%
By occupation industry: 24.1%
By occupation services: 61.9% (2011)

Unemployment rate:
Note: underemployment may be as high as 25%
Rank: 49

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 46.2% (2014 est.)
Note: from a food-based definition of poverty; asset-based poverty amounted to more than 47%

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2%
Highest 10: 40% (2014)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: 261.4 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: 273.8 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -1.1% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 83

Taxes and other revenues: 22.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Rank: 131

Public debt:
Rank: 82

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:
Rank: 156

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:
Rank: 181

Exports:
Rank: 17
Partners: US 79.9% (2017)
Commodities: manufactured goods, electronics, vehicles and auto parts, oil and oil products, silver, plastics, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton; Mexico is the world's leading producer of silver

Imports:
Rank: 16
Commodities: metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, automobile parts for assembly and repair, aircraft, aircraft parts, plastics, natural gas and oil products
Partners: US 46.4%, China 17.7%, Japan 4.3% (2017)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
Note: Mexico also maintains access to an $88 million Flexible Credit Line with the IMF
Rank: 14

Debt external:
Rank: 28

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification total population: 100% (2020)
Production: 302.7 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Production rank: 13
Consumption: 258.7 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Consumption rank: 14
Exports: 7.308 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Exports rank: 27
Imports: 3.532 billion kWh (2016 est.)
Imports rank: 47
Installed generating capacity: 72.56 million kW (2016 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 17
Generation sources fossil fuels: 71% of total installed capacity (2016 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 105
Generation sources nuclear: 2% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 27
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 17% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 96
Generation sources other renewable sources: 9% of total installed capacity (2017 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 82

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 1.852 million bbl/day (2018 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 13
Crude oil exports: 1.214 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 11
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 166
Crude oil proven reserves: 6.63 billion bbl (1 January 2018 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 19

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 844,600 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products production rank: 23
Products consumption: 1.984 million bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products consumption rank: 11
Products exports: 155,800 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products exports rank: 35
Products imports: 867,500 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products imports rank: 10

Natural gas
Production: 31.57 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Production rank: 24
Consumption: 81.61 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Consumption rank: 9
Exports: 36.81 million m³ (2017 est.)
Exports rank: 51
Imports: 50.12 billion m³ (2017 est.)
Imports rank: 8
Proven reserves: 279.8 billion m³ (1 January 2018 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 38

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 454.1 million Mt (2017 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 14

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 22,471,647
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 17.65 (2019 est.)
Fixed lines rank: 11
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 121,117,720
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 95.13 (2019 est.)
Mobile cellular rank: 14

Telephone system

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .mx
Users total: 82,843,369
Users percent of population: 65.77% (July 2018 est.)
Users rank: 9

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 18,359,028
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 15 (2018 est.)
Rank: 10


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Military expenditures:
Rank: 148

Military and security forces:

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory military service (selection for service determined by lottery), conscript service obligation is 12 months; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary enlistment; cadets enrolled in military schools from the age of 15 are considered members of the armed forces; women are eligible for voluntary military service (2012)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 16 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 370
Annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 64,569,640 (2018)
Annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 1,090,380,000
Note: mt-km (2018)

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: XA (2016)

Airports: 1714 (2013)
Rank: 3
With paved runways total: 243 (2017)
With paved runways over 3047 m: 12 (2017)
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 32 (2017)
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 80 (2017)
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 86 (2017)
With paved runways under 914 m: 33 (2017)
With unpaved runways total: 1471 (2013)
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 42 (2013)
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 281 (2013)
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1146 (2013)

Heliports: 1 (2013)

Pipelines: 15,986 km natural gas (2019), 10,365 km oil (2017), 8,946 km refined products (2016)

Railways
Total: 20,825 km (2017)
Standard gauge: 20,825 km
Note: 1.435-m gauge (27 km electrified) (2017)
Rank: 14

Roadways
Total: 398,148 km (2017)
Paved: 174,911 km
Note: (includes 10,362 km of expressways) (2017)
Unpaved: 223,237 km (2017)
Rank: 18

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

Merchant marine
Total: 637
By type: bulk carrier 6, general cargo 10, oil tanker 35, other 586 (2019)
Rank: 35

Ports and terminals
Major seaport: Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Veracruz
Oil terminal: Cayo Arcas terminal, Dos Bocas terminal
Cruise port: Cancun, Cozumel, Ensenada
Container port: Manzanillo (2,830,370), Lazaro Cardenas (1,149,079) (2017)
LNG terminal: Altamira, 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
Refugees: 9,257 (Honduras) (2019); 73,494 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2020)
IDPs: 345,000 (governments quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region; drug cartel violence and governments military response since 2007; violence between and within indigenous groups) (2019)
Stateless persons: 13 (2019)

Illicit drugs: major drug-producing and transit nation; Mexico is estimated to be the world's third largest producer of opium with poppy cultivation in 2015 estimated to be 28,000 hectares yielding a potential production of 475 metric tons of raw opium; 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