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.

Geographic coordinates: 23 00 N 102 00 W

Map reference: North America

Area
Total: 1,972,550 km²
Land: 1,923,040 km²
Water: 49,510 km²
Comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Total: 4,353 km
Border countries: (3) 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
Extremes 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 km² (2003)

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

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

Population: 108,700,891 (July 2006 est.)
Growth rate: 1.153% (2006 est.)
Below poverty line: 17.6% (2004)

Nationality
Noun: Mexican
Adjective: Mexican

Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60% Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30% white 9% other 1%

Languages: Spanish various Mayan Nahuatl and other regional indigenous languages

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)

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) (2006 est.)

Median age
Total: 25.6 years
Male: 24.6 years
Female: 26.6 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.153% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 20.36 births/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 4.76 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.08 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Environment
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

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.043 male/female
15-64 years: 0.936 male/female
65 years and over: 0.828 male/female
Total population: 0.96 male/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 19.63 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 21.54 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 17.62 deaths/1000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 75.63 years
Male: 72.84 years
Female: 78.56 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.39 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 160,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 5,000 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 91%
Male: 92.4%
Female: 89.6% (2004 est.)

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 four 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
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 206, PRD 127, PRI 106, PVEM 17, CD 17, PT 12, other 18

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 [Manuel ESPINO Barrientos]; New Alliance Party (Partido Nueva Alianza) or PNA [Miguel Angel JIMENEZ Godinez]; 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]

International organization participation: APEC BCIE BIS CAN (observer) Caricom (observer) CDB CE (observer) CSN (observer) EBRD FAO G-3 G-6 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 UNMOVIC UNWTO UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Arturo SARUKHAN Casamitjana
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 consulates general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, 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)
In the us consulates: 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, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Paul (Minnesota), Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona)
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA, Jr.
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 telephone: [52] (55) 5,080-2000
From the us fax: [52] (55) 5,511-9,980
From the us consulates general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
From the us consulates: 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 overview: Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered 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. The new Felipe CALDERON administration that took office in December 2006 faces many of the same challenges that former President FOX tried to tackle including the need to upgrade infrastructure modernize the tax system and labor laws and allow private investment in the energy sector. CALDERON has stated that his top priorities include reducing poverty and creating jobs. The success of his economic agenda will depend on his ability to garner support from the opposition.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $1.149 trillion (2006 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 4.8% (2006 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $10,700 (2006 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.9%
Industry: 26.7%
Services: 69.4% (2006 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: 3.6% (2006 est.)

Labor force: 44.51 million (2006 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 18%
By occupation industry: 24%
By occupation services: 58% (2003)

Unemployment rate: 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line: 17.6% (2004)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1.6%
Highest 10: 39.4% (2004)

Distribution of family income gini index: 46.1 (2004)

Budget
Revenues: $207.7 billion
Expenditures: $206.9 billion (2006 est.)

Public debt: 23.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.6% (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares: $348.3 billion (2006)

Current account balance: $-2.425 billion (2006 est.)

Exports: $250 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: manufactured goods oil and oil products silver fruits vegetables coffee cotton
Partners: US 84.7% Canada 2.1% Spain 1.3% (2006)

Imports: $256.1 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Commodities: metalworking machines steel mill products agricultural machinery electrical equipment car parts for assembly repair parts for motor vehicles aircraft and aircraft parts
Partners: US 50.9% China 9.5% Japan 6% South Korea 4.2% (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $76.33 billion (2006 est.)

Debt external: $164.7 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $236.2 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $30.75 billion (2006 est.)

Exchange rates: Mexican pesos per US dollar - 10.899 (2006) 10.898 (2005) 11.286 (2004) 10.789 (2003) 9.656 (2002)

Electricity
Production: 222.4 billion kWh (2005)
Consumption: 183.3 billion kWh (2005)
Exports: 1.597 billion kWh (2005)
Imports: 470.7 million kWh (2005)

Natural gas
Production: 41.37 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Consumption: 47.5 billion m³ (2005 est.)
Exports: 282.9 million m³ (2005 est.)
Imports: 9.717 billion m³ (2005)
Proven reserves: 434.1 billion m³ (1 January 2006 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 19.861 million (2006)
Mobile cellular: 57.016 million (2006)

Telephone system
General assessment: low telephone density with about 18 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telmex remains dominant
Domestic: 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
International: country code - 52; 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; high capacity Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, and Italy (2005)

Internet
Country code: .mx
Hosts: 7.629 million (2006)
Users: 22 million (2006)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 0.5% (2006 est.)

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 (2006)

Airports: 1834 (2006)
With paved runways total: 231
With paved runways over 3047 m: 12
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 29
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 84
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 77
With paved runways under 914 m: 29 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 1,603
With unpaved runways over 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 63
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 408
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 1,131 (2006)

Heliports: 1 (2006)

Pipelines: gas 22,705 km; liquid petroleum gas 1875 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) (2006)

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) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Altamira Manzanillo Morro Redondo Salina Cruz Tampico Topolobampo Veracruz

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)

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