Mexico

§1. Mexico Introduction

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. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since
  the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in
  government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the
  National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first
  chief executive elected in free and fair elections.

§2. Mexico Geography

Location:
  Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between
  Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala
  and the US

Geographic coordinates:
  23 00 N, 102 00 W

Map references:
  North_America

Area:
  total: 1,972,550 km²
  land: 1,923,040 km²
  water: 49,510 km²

Area - comparative:
  slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
  total: 4,353 km
  border countries: 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
  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:
  65,000 km² (1998 est.)

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

Environment - current issues:
  scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration;
  natural fresh water 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
  note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation
    national security issues

Environment - 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
  signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

§3. Mexico People

Population:
  107,449,525 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 30.6% (male 16,770,957/female 16,086,172)
  15-64 years: 63.6% (male 33,071,809/female 35,316,281)
  65 years and over: 5.8% (male 2,814,707/female 3,389,599) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 25.3 years
  male: 24.3 years
  female: 26.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.16% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  20.69 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  4.74 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  -4.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
  total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 20.26 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 22.19 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 18.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 75.41 years
  male: 72.63 years
  female: 78.33 years (2006 est.)

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

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  0.3% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  160,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
  5,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality:
  noun: Mexican(s)
  adjective: Mexican

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

Religions:
  nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%

Languages:
  Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages

Literacy:
  definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  total population: 92.2%
  male: 94%
  female: 90.5% (2003 est.)

§4. Mexico Government

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:
  Mexico (Distrito Federal)

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 (from 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 Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note
    - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
  head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000);
    note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
  cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney
    general requires consent of the Senate
  elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election
    last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held 2 July 2006)
  election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of vote -
    Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa (PRI) 36.1%,
    Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74%

Legislative branch:
  bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate
  or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve
  six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular
  vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados
  (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve
  three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each
  party's popular vote, also for three-year terms)
  elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be
    held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to
    be held 2 July 2006)
  election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party -
    PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies -
    percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD
    95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held
    in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each
    assigned one additional proportional representation seat

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or
  ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)

Political parties and leaders:
  Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional
  Revolutionary Party or PRI [Mariano PALACIOS Alcocer]; Mexican Green
  Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action
  Party or PAN [Manuel ESPINO Barrientos]; Party of the Democratic Revolution
  or PRD [Leonel COTA Montano]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  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 Peasant
  Confederation or CNC; National Union of Workers or UNT; Regional
  Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of
  Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman Catholic Church

International organization participation:
  APEC, BCIE, BIS, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-24, IADB,
  IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
  IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA,
  NAFTA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD,
  UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
  WToO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez
  chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006
  telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600
  FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698
  consulate(s) 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)
  consulate(s): 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)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA
  embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico,
    Distrito Federal
  mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900
  telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000
  FAX: [52] (55) 5511-9980
  consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
  consulate(s): 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

§5. Mexico Economy

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 FOX administration is cognizant of
  the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor
  laws, and allow private investment in the energy sector, but has been
  unable to win the support of the opposition-led Congress. The next
  government that takes office in December 2006 will confront the same
  challenges of boosting economic growth, improving Mexico's international
  competitiveness, and reducing poverty.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
  $1.068 trillion (2005 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  $699.5 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
  3% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $10,100 (2005 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: 4%
  industry: 26.5%
  services: 69.5% (2005 est.)

Labor force:
  43.4 million (2005 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003)

Unemployment rate:
  3.6% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line:
  40% (2003 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: 1.6%
  highest 10%: 35.6% (2002)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
  54.6 (2000)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  3.3% (2005)

Investment (gross fixed):
  21.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $181 billion
  expenditures: $184 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005)

Public debt:
  39.1% of GDP (September 2005)

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:
  2.5% (2005 est.)

Electricity - production:
  209.2 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  193.9 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  1.07 billion kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  390.2 million kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  3.42 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  1.752 million bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports:
  1.863 million bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
  205,000 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
  33.31 billion bbl (2005 est.)

Natural gas - production:
  47.3 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  55.1 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
  0 m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
  7.85 billion m³ (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
  424.3 billion m³ (2005)

Current account balance:
  $-8.97 billion (2005 est.)

Exports:
  $213.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables,
  coffee, cotton

Exports - partners:
  US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004)

Imports:
  $223.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery,
  electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor
  vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts

Imports - partners:
  US 55.1%, China 7.1%, Japan 5.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
  $68.7 billion (2005 est.)

Debt - external:
  $174.3 billion (30 June 2005 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $1.166 billion (1995)

Currency (code):
  Mexican peso (MXN)

Exchange rates:
  Mexican pesos per US dollar - 10.898 (2005), 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003),
  9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. Mexico Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  18,073,200 (2004)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  38,451,100 (2004)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: low telephone density with about 15.2 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)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003)

Television broadcast stations:
  236 (plus repeaters) (1997)

Internet country code:
  .mx

Internet hosts:
  2,026,633 (2005)

Internet users:
  16,995,400 (2005)

§7. Mexico Transportation

Airports:
  1,832 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 227
  over 3,047 m: 12
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 28
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 81
  914 to 1,523 m: 77
  under 914 m: 29 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 1,605
  over 3,047 m: 1
  2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
  1,524 to 2,437 m: 69
  914 to 1,523 m: 457
  under 914 m: 1,077 (2005)

Heliports:
  1 (2005)

Pipelines:
  crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km;
  petrochemical 1,400 km (2003)

Railways:
  total: 17,634 km
  standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004)

Roadways:
  total: 349,038 km
  paved: 116,928 km (including 6,979 km of expressways)
  unpaved: 232,110 km (2003)

Waterways:
  2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals) (2005)

Merchant marine:
  total: 58 ships (1000 GRT or over) 767,807 GRT/1,151,898 DWT
  by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 6, chemical tanker 7, liquefied gas 4,
    passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/ roll off 4
  foreign-owned: 5 (Denmark 2, France 1, Norway 1, UAE 1)
  registered in other countries: 12 (Belize 1, Honduras 1, Panama 5, Portugal
    1, Spain 3, Venezuela 1) (2005)

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

§8. Mexico Military

Military branches:
  Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM);
    Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004)

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 (2004)

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 24,488,008 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 19,058,337 (2005 est.)

Manpower reaching military service age annually:
  males: 1,063,233 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  $6.07 billion (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  0.8% (2005 est.)

§9. Mexico Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and
  infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing
  arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals
  from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally
  crossing the border with Mexico

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
  IDPs: 12,000 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in
    eastern Chiapas Region) (2005)

Illicit drugs:
  major drug-producing nation; cultivation of opium poppy in 2004 amounted to
  3,500 hectares, but opium cultivation stayed within the range - between
  3,500 and 5,500 hectares - observed in nine of the last 12 years; potential
  production of 9 metric tons of pure heroin, or 23 metric tons of "black
  tar" heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United
  States; marijuana cultivation decreased 23% to 5,800 hectares in 2004 after
  decade-high cultivation peak in 2003; potential production of 10,400 metric
  tons of marijuana in 2004; government conducts the largest independent
  illicit-crop eradication program in the world; major supplier of heroin and
  largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market;
  continues as the primary transshipment country for US- bound cocaine from
  South America, accounting for about 90% of estimated annual cocaine
  movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug
  trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy;
  significant money-laundering center


<Factbook 2006>
