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.

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

23 00 N, 102 00 W

North America

slightly less than three times the size of Texas

9,330 km

varies from tropical to desert

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

highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,675 m

petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber

arable land 11.8%; permanent crops 1.4%; permanent pasture 41.7%

65,000 sq km (2012)

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

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

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

strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico

123,166,749 (July 2016 est.)

mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 62%, predominantly Amerindian 21%, Amerindian 7%, other 10% (mostly European)

Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%

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.)

1.15% (2016 est.)

18.5 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)

5.3 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)

-1.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)

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

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)

21.3 (2008 est.)

38 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

2.25 children born/woman (2016 est.)

72.5% (2009)

6.3% of GDP (2014)

2.1 physicians/1,000 population (2011)

1.5 beds/1,000 population (2011)

urban: 97.2% of population

rural: 92.1% of population

total: 96.1% of population

urban: 2.8% of population

rural: 7.9% of population

total: 3.9% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 88% of population

rural: 74.5% of population

total: 85.2% of population

urban: 12% of population

rural: 25.5% of population

total: 14.8% of population (2015 est.)

0.24% (2015 est.)

198,200 (2015 est.)

4,000 (2015 est.)

27.6% (2014)

2.8% (2012)

5.2% of GDP (2011)

federal presidential republic

31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 city* (ciudad); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Cuidad de Mexico*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (Veracruz), Yucatan, Zacatecas

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

Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917; amended many times, last in 2015 (2016)

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

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal and compulsory

Citizen's Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano) or MC [Dante DELGADO Rannaoro]

Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) or PRI [Cesar CAMACHO Quiroz]

Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo) or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]

Mexican Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico) or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Torres]

Movement for National Regeneration (Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional) or MORENA [Marti BATRES]

National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [Gustavo MADERO Munoz]

New Alliance Party (Partido Nueva Alianza) or PNA/PANAL [Luis CASTRO Obregon]

Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Jesus ZAMBRANO Grijalva]

Social Encounter Party (Partido Encuentro Social) or PES [Hugo Eric FLORES Cervantes]

Businessmen's Coordinating Council or CCE

Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX

Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN

Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM

Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO

Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE

Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES

National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA

National Confederation of Popular Organizations or CNOP

National Coordinator for Education Workers or CNTE

National Peasant Confederation or CNC

National Small Business Chamber or CANACOPE

National Syndicate of Education Workers or SNTE

National Union of Workers or UNT

Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca or APPO

Roman Catholic Church

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

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

golden eagle; national colors: green, white, red

Mexico's $2.2 trillion economy has become increasingly oriented toward manufacturing in the 22 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 US' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2014, two-way trade in goods and services exceeded $590 billion. Mexico has free trade agreements with 46 countries, 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 two years in office, passing and implementing sweeping education, energy, financial, fiscal, and telecommunications reform legislation, among others, with the long-term aim to improve competitiveness and economic growth across the Mexican economy. Mexico began holding public auctions of exploration and development rights to select oil and gas resources in 2015 as a part of reforms that allow for private investment in the oil, gas, and electricity sectors. The second and third auctions demonstrated the capacity for the Mexican Government to adapt and improve the terms of the contracts to garner sufficient interest from investors amid low oil prices.

Although the economy experienced stronger growth in 2014-15 as a result of increased investment and stronger demand for Mexican exports, growth is predicted to remain below potential given falling oil production, weak oil prices, structural issues such as low productivity, high inequality, a large informal sector employing over half of the workforce, weak rule of law, and corruption. Over the medium-term, the economy is vulnerable to global economic pressures, such as lower external demand, rising interest rates, and low oil prices - approximately 20% of government revenue comes from the state-owned oil company, PEMEX. The increasing integration of supply chains, development of energy sectors, and government-to-government focus on trade facilitation will continue to make the North American region increasingly competitive and contribute to Mexican economic development and strength.

$2.227 trillion (2015 est.)

$2.172 trillion (2014 est.)

$2.124 trillion (2013 est.)

$1.144 trillion (2015 est.)

2.5% (2015 est.)

2.3% (2014 est.)

1.3% (2013 est.)

$17,500 (2015 est.)

$17,300 (2014 est.)

$17,200 (2013 est.)

19.9% of GDP (2015 est.)

19.6% of GDP (2014 est.)

19.3% of GDP (2013 est.)

corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products

food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism

0.9% (2015 est.)

52.91 million (2015 est.)

4.4% (2015 est.)

4.8% (2014 est.)

52.3%

48.3 (2008)

53.1 (1998)

23.5% of GDP (2015 est.)

-3.5% of GDP (2015 est.)

46.5% of GDP (2015 est.)

41.9% of GDP (2014 est.)

calendar year

2.7% (2015 est.)

4% (2014 est.)

4.5% (31 December 2012)

4.5% (31 December 2011)

3.42% (31 December 2015 est.)

3.55% (31 December 2014 est.)

$194.8 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$195.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$826.7 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$727 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$398.9 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$413 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$525.1 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$408.7 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$454.3 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

-$32.38 billion (2015 est.)

-$24.85 billion (2014 est.)

$381 billion (2015 est.)

$397.7 billion (2014 est.)

manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton

US 81.1% (2015)

$395.6 billion (2015 est.)

$400.4 billion (2014 est.)

metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, automobile parts for assembly and repair, aircraft, aircraft parts

US 47.3%, China 17.7%, Japan 4.4% (2015)

$178 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$195.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$441.6 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$432.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$356.9 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$389.7 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$142.9 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$143.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

Mexican pesos (MXN) per US dollar -

15.848 (2015 est.)

13.292 (2014 est.)

13.292 (2013 est.)

13.17 (2012 est.)

12.423 (2011 est.)

286 billion kWh (2014 est.)

238 billion kWh (2014 est.)

7.1 billion kWh (2014 est.)

400 million kWh (2014 est.)

66 million kW (2014 est.)

74.2% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

2.5% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

18.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

4.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)

2.302 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

1.199 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

11,110 bbl/day (2015 est.)

9.7 billion bbl (1 January 2016 es)

1.258 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

2.007 million bbl/day (2015 est.)

190,900 bbl/day (2015 est.)

713,500 bbl/day (2015 est.)

44.37 billion cu m (2014 est.)

72.77 billion cu m (2014 est.)

52 million cu m (2014 est.)

28.84 billion cu m (2014 est.)

432.9 billion cu m (1 January 2016 es)

455 million Mt (2013 est.)

many TV stations and more than 1,400 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)

.mx

XA (2016)

1,714 (2013)

1 (2013)

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)

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

Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Sedena): Army (Ejercito), Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, FAM); Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaria de Marina, Semar): Mexican Navy (Armada de Mexico (ARM); includes Naval Air Force (FAN), Mexican Naval Infantry Corps (Cuerpo de Infanteria de Marina, Mexmar or CIM)) (2013)

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)

0.59% of GDP (2012)

0.56% of GDP (2011)

0.59% of GDP (2010)