Mexico

Location

• North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States
• note 1: strategic location on southern border of the US; Mexico is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, which is a belt bordering the Pacific Ocean that contains about 75% of the world's volcanoes and up to 90% of the world's earthquakesnote 2: the Sac Actun cave system at 348 km (216 mi) is the longest underwater cave in the world and the second longest cave worldwide, after Mammoth Cave in the United States (see "Geography - note" under United States)note 3: the prominent Yucatán Peninsula that divides the Gulf of America from the Caribbean Sea is shared by Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; on the northern coast of Yucatan near the town of Chicxulub lie the remnants of a massive asteroid or comet crater about 150 km (93 mi) in diameter and extending into the Gulf of America; the impact is believed to have initiated a worldwide climate disruption that caused a mass extinction of 75% of the earth's plant and animal species, including the non-avian dinosaurs

Population

Notable Population Centers

City	Population	Note
Mexico City	12,294,193	Capital
Tijuana	1,922,523
Iztapalapa	1,835,486
Puebla	1,692,181
Ecatepec de Morelos	1,645,352
Santiago de Querétaro	1,594,212
León de los Aldama	1,579,803
Ciudad Juárez	1,512,450
Zapopan	1,476,491
Guadalajara	1,385,629

Size

• 761,602 square miles
• 1,972,550 square kilometers
• slightly less than three times the size of Texas

History

Mexico was the site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations -- including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec -- until Spain conquered and colonized the area 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 Mexican Revolution in 1910 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 PEÑA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. Left-leaning anti-establishment politician and former mayor of Mexico City (2000-05) Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR, from the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), became president in 2018. The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, or T-MEC by its Spanish acronym) entered into force in 2020 and replaced its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexico amended its constitution in 2019 to facilitate the implementation of the labor components of USMCA. Mexico is currently the US's second-largest goods trading partner, after Canada. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities, particularly for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful transnational criminal organizations have engaged in a struggle to control criminal markets, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides and forced disappearances.

Climate

varies from tropical to desert

Terrain

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

Languages

Spanish only 93.8%, Spanish and indigenous languages (including Mayan, Nahuatl, and others) 5.4%, indigenous only 0.6%, unspecified 0.2% (2020 est.)major-language sample(s): La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Religions

Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant/evangelical Christian 11.2%, other 0.002%, unaffiliated (includes atheism) 10.6% (2020 est.)

Government

federal presidential republic

• Constitution: history: several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917amendment process: 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
• Political Parties and Leaders: n/a
• Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory
• Legal System: civil law system with US constitutional law influence; judicial review of legislative acts
• Executive Branch: chief of state: President Claudia SHEINBAUM Pardo (since 1 October 2024)head of government: President Claudia SHEINBAUM Pardo (since 1 October 2024)cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the presidentelection/appointment process: president directly elected by simple-majority popular vote for a single 6-year termmost recent election date: 2 June 2024election results: 2024: Claudia SHEINBAUM Pardo elected president; percent of vote - Claudia SHEINBAUM Pardo (MORENA) 59.4%, Xóchitl GÁLVEZ Ruiz (PAN) 27.9%, Jorge Álvarez MÁYNEZ (MC) 10.4%, other 2.3%2018: Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR elected president; percent of vote - Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR (MORENA) 53.2%, Ricardo ANAYA Cortés (PAN) 22.3%, José Antonio MEADE Kuribreña (PRI) 16.4%, Jaime RODRÍGUEZ Calderón (independent) 5.2%, other 2.9%2012: Enrique PEÑA NIETO elected president; percent of vote - Enrique PEÑA NIETO (PRI) 38.2%, Andrés Manuel LÓPEZ OBRADOR (PRD) 31.6%, Josefina Eugenia VÁZQUEZ Mota (PAN) 25.4%, other 4.8%expected date of next election: 2030note: the president is both chief of state and head of government
• Judicial Branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (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 termssubordinate courts: federal level includes circuit, collegiate, and unitary courts; state and district level courtsnote: in April 2021, the Mexican congress passed a judicial reform which changed 7 articles of the constitution and preceded a new Organic Law on the Judicial Branch of the Federation
• Legislative Branch: legislature name: Congress of the Union (Congreso de la Unión)legislative structure: bicameralnote: as of the 2018 election, senators will be eligible for a second term and deputies up to 4 consecutive terms

Demographic Profile

n/a

Economy

• upper-middle-income economy; highly integrated with US via trade and nearshore manufacturing; weak domestic demand, fiscal consolidation, and trade uncertainty contributing to sluggish growth; low unemployment; challenges from income inequality, corruption, and cartel-based violence
• Budget: revenues: $342.571 billion (2023 est.)expenditures: $417.843 billion (2023 est.)note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
• Credit Rating: n/a
• Natural Resources: petroleum, silver, antimony, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
• Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
• Agricultural Products: sugarcane, maize, milk, oranges, sorghum, tomatoes, chicken, chillies/peppers, wheat, lemons/limes (2023)note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage
• Land Use: agricultural land: 49.4% (2022 est.)arable land: 9.8% (2022 est.)permanent crops: 1.5% (2022 est.)permanent pasture: 38.1% (2022 est.)forest: 33.7% (2022 est.)other: 16.9% (2022 est.)
• Labor Force by Occupation: n/a
• Imports
• Imported Commodities: vehicle parts/accessories, refined petroleum, integrated circuits, broadcasting equipment, cars (2023)note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
• Import Partners: USA 46%, China 20%, Germany 4%, Japan 3%, S. Korea 3% (2023)note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
• Exports
• Exported Commodities: cars, vehicle parts/accessories, crude petroleum, trucks, computers (2023)note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars
• Export Partners: USA 76%, Canada 5%, China 2%, Germany 2%, Spain 1% (2023)note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports