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 its independence early in the 19th century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn the following year although growth returned quickly in 2010. 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 indigenous 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 but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. Since 2007 Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.

Geographic coordinates: 23 00 N 102 00 W

Area
Rank: 14
Land: 1,943,945 km²
Water: 20,430 km²

Land boundaries
Border countries: (3) Belize 250 km; Guatemala 962 km; US 3,141 km

Coastline: 9,330 km

Maritime claims
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 highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m

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

Land use
Permanent crops: 1.36%
Other: 85.66% (2011)

Irrigated land: 64,600 km² (2009)

Total renewable water resources: 457.2 km³ (2011)

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 (elev. 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 (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

Population: 120,286,655 (July 2014 est.)
Rank: 12
Growth rate: 1.21% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 98
Below poverty line: 52.3%

Nationality
Adjective: Mexican

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

Languages: Spanish only 92.7% Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7% indigenous only 0.8% unspecified 0.8%

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

Age structure
15-24 years: 18.1% (male 10,999,445/female 10,741,999)
25-54 years: 40.4% (male 23,385,321/female 25,200,511)
55-64 years: 7% (male 3,850,792/female 4,527,074)
65 years and over: 6.9% (male 3,594,675/female 4,374,840) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 42.7 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 10.1 %
Potential support ratio: 9.9 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 26.3 years
Female: 28.4 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.21% (2014 est.)
Rank: 98

Birth rate: 19.02 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 91

Death rate: 5.24 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 182

Net migration rate: -1.64 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 158

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 1.49% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: MEXICO CITY (capital) 20.446 million; Guadalajara 4.525 million; Monterrey 4.213 million; Puebla 2.335 million; Tijuana 1.82 million; Toluca de Lerdo 1.748 million (2011)

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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 21.3

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 123
Male: 14 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 11.08 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 94
Male: 72.67 years
Female: 78.32 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.29 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 95

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 70.9% (2006)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 1.96 physicians/1000 population (2009)

Hospital bed density: 1.7 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2012 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 115
People living with hivaids: 174,300 (2012 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 32
Deaths: NA

Major infectious diseases
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
Vectorborne disease: dengue fever (2013)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 32.1% (2008)
Rank: 23

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 2.8% (2012)
Rank: 115

Education expenditures: 5.1% of GDP (2009)
Rank: 72

Literacy
Total population: 93.5%
Male: 94.8%
Female: 92.3% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years (2011)

Country name
Conventional short form: Mexico
Local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Local short form: Mexico

Government type: federal republic

Capital
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

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 de Ignacio de la Llave (Veracruz) Yucatan Zacatecas

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

National holiday: Independence Day 16 September (1810)

Constitution: several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917; amended many times last in 2014 (2014)

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Executive branch
Head of government: President Enrique PENA NIETO (since 1 December 2012)
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
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term; election last held on 1 July 2012 (next to be held in July 2018)
Election results: Enrique PENA NIETO elected president; percent of vote - Enrique PENA NIETO (PRI) 38.21% Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (PRD) 31.59% Josefina Eugenia VAZQUEZ Mota (PAN) 25.41% other 4.79%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms and 32 seats allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara 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; members to serve three-year terms)
Elections: Senate - last held on 1 July 2012 for all of the seats (next to be held on 1 July 2018); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 1 July 2012 (next to be held on 5 July 2015)
Election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRI 52 PAN 38 PRD 22 PVEM 9 PT 4 Movimiento Ciudadano 2 PANAL 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRI 208 PAN 114 PRD 100 PVEM 33 PT 19 Movimiento Ciudadano 16 PANAL 10

Judicial branch
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 for life; 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 single-renewable 4-year term; other judges of the superior and regional courts serve staggered single-renewable 9-year terms
Subordinate courts: federal level includes circuit collegiate and unitary courts; state and district level courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: APEC BCIE BIS CAN (observer) Caricom (observer) CD CDB CE (observer) CELAC CSN (observer) EBRD FAO FATF G-20 G-3 G-15 G-24 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) 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 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 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 general: Anchorage (AK) Atlanta Austin Boston Chicago Dallas Denver El Paso (TX) Houston Laredo (TX) Los Angeles Miami New York Nogales (AZ) Phoenix Sacramento (CA) San Antonio San Diego San Francisco San Jose (CA) San Juan (Puerto Rico) Saint Paul (MN)
In the us consulate: Albuquerque Boise (ID) Brownsville (TX) Calexico (CA) Del Rio (TX) Detroit Douglas (AZ) Eagle Pass (TX) Fresno (CA) Indianapolis (IN) Kansas City (MO) Las Vegas (NV) Little Rock (AR) McAllen (TX) New Orleans Omaha (NE) Orlando (FL) Oxnard (CA) Philadelphia Portland (OR) Presidio (TX) Raleigh (NC) Salt Lake City San Bernardino (CA) Santa Ana (CA) Seattle Tucson (AZ) Yuma (AZ); note - Washington DC Consular Section located in a separate building from the Mexican Embassy and has jurisdiction over DC parts of Virginia Maryland and West Virginia
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) 5,080-2,834
From the us consulate general: 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

National symbols: golden eagle

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Francisco Gonzalez BOCANEGRA/Jaime Nuno ROCA

Economy overview: Mexico's $1.3 trillion economy has become increasingly oriented toward manufacturing in the 20 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force. Per capita income is roughly one-third that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Mexico has become the United States' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2013 two-way merchandise trade reached nearly $507 billion. Mexico has free trade agreements with over 50 countries including Guatemala Honduras El Salvador the European Free Trade Area and Japan - putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2012 Mexico formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and formed the Pacific Alliance with Peru Colombia and Chile. Mexico's current government led by President Enrique PENA NIETO emphasized economic reforms during its first year in office passing education energy financial fiscal and telecommunications reform legislation. The three-party 'Pact for Mexico' reform agenda aims to improve competitiveness and economic growth across the Mexican economy.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 11

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 170

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 88

Gross national saving:
Rank: 77

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 11.8%
Investment in fixed capital: 22.7%
Investment in inventories: -1%
Exports of goods and services: 31.2%
Imports of goods and services: -33.8%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 36.6%
Services: 59.8% (2013 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: 3.5% (2013 est.)
Rank: 83

Labor force: 51.48 million (2013 est.)
Rank: 13
By occupation industry: 24.1%
By occupation services: 61.9% (2011)

Unemployment rate: 5.3% (2012 est.)
Rank: 45

Population below poverty line: 52.3%

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 37.5% (2010)

Distribution of family income gini index: 53.1 (1998)
Rank: 24

Budget
Expenditures: $324.1 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -2.5% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 105

Taxes and other revenues: 21.9% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 148

Public debt: 35.8% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 100

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.6% (2012 est.)
Rank: 136

Central bank discount rate: 4.5% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 81

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 4.73% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 155

Stock of narrow money: $170.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 23

Stock of broad money: $671.8 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 20

Stock of domestic credit: $404.4 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 28

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 22

Current account balance: -$11.84 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 182

Exports: $349.6 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 17
Commodities: manufactured goods oil and oil products silver fruits vegetables coffee cotton
Partners: US 78% (2012)

Imports: $350.9 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 16
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 49.9% China 15.4% Japan 4.8% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $149.2 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 18

Debt external: $286.4 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 32

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $400.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 19

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $133 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 26

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 296 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Production rank: 14
Consumption: 212.3 billion kWh (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 18
Exports: 1.286 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 55
Imports: 603 million kWh (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 75
Installed generating capacity: 62 million kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 16
Generation sources fossil fuels: 76.2% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 97
Generation sources nuclear: 2.2% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 26
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 18.3% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 94
Generation sources other renewable sources: 3.3% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 57

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 2.936 million bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 9
Crude oil exports: 1.46 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 11
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 98
Crude oil proven reserves: 10.26 billion bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 18

Refined petroleum
Products production: 1.364 million bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 14
Products consumption: 2.133 million bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 12
Products exports: 189,100 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 32
Products imports: 607,400 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 10

Natural gas
Production: 53.96 billion m³ (2012 est.)
Production rank: 18
Consumption: 59.15 billion m³ (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 13
Exports: 11 million m³ (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 51
Imports: 17.24 billion m³ (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 22
Proven reserves: 487.7 billion m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 32

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 462.3 million Mt (2011 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 20.22 million (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 14
Mobile cellular: 100.786 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 13

Telephone system
Domestic: despite the opening to competition in January 1997 Telmex remains dominant; Fixed-line teledensity is less than 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is about 80 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 (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 - 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 (2011)

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
Hosts: 16.233 million (2012)
Hosts rank: 9
Users: 31.02 million (2009)
Users rank: 12

Military expenditures:
Rank: 124

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)

Airports: 1714 (2013)
Rank: 3
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 (2013)
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: 1146 (2013)

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
Rank: 16
Standard gauge: 17,166 km 1.435-m gauge (22 km electrified) (2008)

Roadways
Rank: 18
Paved: 137,544 km (includes 7,176 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 240,116 km (2012)

Waterways: 2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals mostly connected with ports on the country's east coast) (2012)
Rank: 34

Merchant marine
Rank: 70
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 (France 1 Greece 2 South Africa 1 UAE 1)
Registered in other countries: 12 (Antigua and Barbuda 1 Marshall Islands 2 Panama 5 Portugal 1 Spain 1 Venezuela 1 unknown 1) (2010)

Ports and terminals
Oil terminals: Cayo Arcas terminal Dos Bocas terminal

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

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Stateless persons: 7 (2012)

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)