Mexico

United Mexican StatesEstados Unidos Mexicanos

federal republic operating under a centralizedIndependence 16 September 1810 (from Spain)

Mexico as the 1999 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 108 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalMexico
Position23 00 N, 102 00 W
Area1,972,550 sq km
LocationMiddle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the
1999

Every edition of Mexico

Populationas each edition published it
100.29 million July 1999 est. · 87.87m in 1990
Population growth% a year
1.73% 1999 est. · 1.97% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 23.8 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
72 years 1999 est. · 72.55 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
2.85 children per woman 1999 est. · 3.4 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
24.62 deaths per 1,000 live births 1999 est. · 33 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
$8,300 1998 est. · $3,600 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
4.8% 1998 est. · 2.6% in 1993

Geography

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

18 fields

Land useshare of 1,972,550 sq km

arable land 12%permanent crops 1%permanent pastures 39%forests and woodland 26%other 22% (1993 est.)irrigated 61,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Area
1,972,550sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq kmwater: 49,510 sq kmslightly less than three times the size of Texas
Coastline
9,330km
contiguous zone: 24 nmcontinental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental marginexclusive economic zone: 200 nmterritorial sea: 12 nm
Highest point
5,700m
Volcan Pico de Orizabalowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
Land boundaries
4,538km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,326 km

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

Climate

varies from tropical to desert

Terrain

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

Natural resources

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

Natural hazards

tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts

Environment--current issues

  • 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;
  • serious air pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border

Environment--international agreements

party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography--note

strategic location on southern border of US

People

15 fields
Population
100,294,036
(July 1999 est.)growth rate: 1.73% (1999 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1999 est.)

Birth
24.99Death
4.83Net migration
-2.84

Male · female

TotalMale · femaleLife expectancy years (1999 est.)72
68.98 · 75.17
TotalMale · femaleLiteracy (1995 est.)89.6%
91.8% · 87.4%
MaleFemaleLiteracy definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Ethnic groups

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

Age structure

0-14 years:
35% (male 17,987,500; female 17,289,875)
15-64 years:
61% (male 29,610,813; female 31,216,342)
65 years and over:
4% (male 1,873,986; female 2,315,520) (1999 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.81 male(s)/female
total population:
0.97 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate

24.62 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate

2.85 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality

noun:
Mexican(s)
adjective:
Mexican

Religions

nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%

Languages

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

Government

Federal republic operating under a centralized; President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1 December 1994); President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1 December 1994)

19 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

50.18%
-Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI) 50.18%Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%Diego FERNANDEZ DE CEVALLOS (PAN) 26.69%other 6.05%election last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held in July or August 2000)

Legislature, 500 seatsseats by party

-PRI 239PRD 125PAN 121PVEM 8PT 7

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 operating under a centralized government

Capital

Mexico

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)

Executive branch

chief of state:
President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1 December 1994); note--the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government:
President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1 December 1994); note--the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet:
Cabinet appointed by the president with consent of the Senate
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held in July or August 2000)
election results:
  • Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon elected president;
  • percent of vote--Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI) 50.18%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%, Diego FERNANDEZ DE CEVALLOS (PAN) 26.69%, other 6.05%

Legislative branch

bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; half are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and half are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara 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 6 July 1997 for one-quarter of the seats;
  • Chamber of Deputies--last held 6 July 1997 (the next legislative elections will coincide with the presidential election in July or August 2000)
election results:
  • Senate--percent of vote by party--NA;
  • seats by party--PRI 77, PAN 33, PRD 16, PVEM 1, PT 1;
  • note--the distribution of seats as of May 1998 is as follows--PRI 77, PAN 31, PRD 15, PT 1, independents 4;
  • Chamber of Deputies--percent of vote by party--PRI 39%, PAN 27%, PRD 26%;
  • seats by party--PRI 239, PRD 125, PAN 121, PVEM 8, PT 7;
  • note--the distribution of seats as of May 1998 is as follows--PRI 237, PRD 127, PAN 120, PT 7, PVEM 6, independents 3

Judicial branch

Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)

Political parties and leaders

recognized parties--Institutional

Political pressure groups and leaders

  • Roman Catholic Church;
  • Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM;
  • Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN;
  • Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO;
  • National Peasant Confederation or CNC;
  • Revolutionary Workers Party or PRT;
  • Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC;
  • Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM;
  • Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX;
  • National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA;
  • Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE;
  • Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES;
  • National Union of Workers or UNT

International organization participation

APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CCC, CDB, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Jesus REYES HEROLES Gonzalez Garza
chancery:
1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006
consulate(s) general:
Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
consulate(s):
Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, San Jose, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson

Diplomatic representation from the US

chief of mission:
Ambassador Jeffery DAVIDOW
embassy:
Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal
mailing address:
P. O. Box 3087, Laredo, TX 78044-3087
consulate(s) general:
Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
consulate(s):
Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales

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

Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture | of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly | dominated by the private sector.

31 fields
GDP per capita, PPP
$8,300
purchasing power parity? · (1998 est.)
Real growth rate
4.8%
(1998 est.)industrial production growth: 6% (1998 est.)
Unemployment rate
2.6%
(1998) urban; plus considerable underemployment

GDP--composition by sector(1997)

agriculture 6%industry 26%services 68% (1997)

Trading partnersexports left, imports right

87.5%
US
74.2%
0.8%
Japan
3.7%
Germany
3.7%
1.3%
Canada
1.8%
South Korea
1.5%
Italy
1.3%
France
1.2%
0.6%
Spain
0.6%
Chile
0.5%
Brazil
Exports $117.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies)Imports $111.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies)(1998 est.)

Budget

Revenues
$117 billionExpenditures
$123 billion (1998 est.)
expenditures including capital expenditures of $NA

Electricity

fossil fuel 71.46%hydro 20.16%nuclear 4.85%other 3.53% (1996)
Electricity production
154.395 billion (1996)Electricity consumption
154.448 billion (1996)Electricity exports
1.263 billion (1996)Electricity imports
1.316 billion (1996)

Economy--overview

Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. The number of state-owned enterprises in Mexico has fallen from more than 1,000 in 1982 to fewer than 200 in 1998. The ZEDILLO administration is privatizing and expanding competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports.

A strong export sector helped to cushion the economy's decline in 1995 and led the recovery in 1996 and 1997. In 1998, private consumption became the leading driver of growth, which was accompanied by increased employment and higher wages. The government expects the economy to slow in 1999 because of low commodity prices, tighter international liquidity, and slacker demand for exports.

Mexico still needs to overcome many structural problems as it strives to modernize its economy and raise living standards. Income distribution is very unequal, with the top 20% of income earners accounting for 55% of income. Trade with the US and Canada has nearly doubled since NAFTA was implemented in 1994. Mexico is pursuing additional trade agreements with most countries in Latin America and with the EU to lessen its dependence on the US.

GDP

purchasing power parity--$815.3 billion (1998 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%:
1.8%
highest 10%:
36.6% 1996)

Labor force

37.5 million (1998)

Labor force--by occupation

services 28.8%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing 21.8%, commerce 17.1%, manufacturing 16.1%, construction 5.2%, public administration and national defense 4.4%, transportation and communications 4.1%

Industries

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

Agriculture--products

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

Exports

$117.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies)

Exports--commodities

crude oil, oil products, coffee, silver, engines, motor vehicles, cotton, consumer electronics

Imports

$111.5 billion (f.o.b., 1998), includes in-bond industries (assembly plant operations with links to US companies)

Imports--commodities

metal-working machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts

Debt--external

$154 billion (1997)

Economic aid--recipient

$1.166 billion (1995)

Currency

1 New Mexican peso (Mex$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates

Mexican pesos (Mex$) per US$1--10.1104 (January 1999), 9.1360 (1998), 7.9141 (1997), 7.5994(1996), 6.4194 (1995), 3.3751 (1994)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

6 fields
Fixed lines
11,890,868
(1993 est.)

Telephone system

  • highly developed system with extensive microwave radio relay links;
  • privatized in December 1990;
  • opened to competition January 1997
domestic:
  • adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served;
  • domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations;
  • extensive microwave radio relay network
international:
  • satellite earth stations--5 Intelsat (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean);
  • launched Solidaridad I satellite in November 1993 and Solidaridad II in October 1994, giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications;
  • linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections

Radio broadcast stations

AM 824 (1999 est.), FM 500 (1998 est.), shortwave 19 (1999 est.)

Radios

22.5 million (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations

236 (not including repeaters) (1997)

Televisions

13.1 million (1992 est.)

Transportation

10 fields

Merchant marine, 52 ships by typeone square, one ship · (1998 est.)

bulk 2cargo 1chemical tanker 4container 4liquefied gas tanker 7oil tanker 28roll-on/roll-off cargo 3short-sea passenger 3

Airports by runway lengthpaved only

under 914 m
26
over 3,047 m: 10 2,438 to 3,047 m: 27 1,524 to 2,437 m: 91 914 to 1,523 m: 78

Airports by runway lengthunpaved only

under 914 m
1,040
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 63 914 to 1,523 m: 468

Networkskm

Highways
252,000Railways
31,048
Highways: paved: 94,248 km (including 6,740 km of expressways) · unpaved: 157,752 km (1996 est.) · Railways: standard gauge: 30,958 km 1.435-m gauge (246 km electrified) · narrow gauge: 90 km 0.914-m gauge (1998 est.)

Railways

total:
31,048 km
standard gauge:
30,958 km 1.435-m gauge (246 km electrified)
narrow gauge:
90 km 0.914-m gauge (1998 est.)

Highways

total:
252,000 km
paved:
94,248 km (including 6,740 km of expressways)
unpaved:
157,752 km (1996 est.)

Waterways

2,900 km navigable rivers and coastal canals

Pipelines

  • crude oil 28,200 km;
  • petroleum products 10,150 km;
  • natural gas 13,254 km;
  • petrochemical 1,400 km

Ports and harbors

Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz

Airports

1,805 (1998 est.)

Heliports

1 (1998 est.)

Military

National Defense Secretariat (includes Army | and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (includes Naval Air and Marines)

7 fields

Military branches

National Defense Secretariat (includes Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (includes Naval Air and Marines)

Military manpower--availability

males age 15-49: 25,675,266 (1999 est.)

Military manpower--fit for military service

males age 15-49: 18,675,524 (1999 est.)

Transnational Issues

2 fields

Illicit drugs

  • illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 1998--5,500 hectares; potential production--60 metric tons) and cannabis cultivation in 1998--4,600 hectares;
  • government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low;
  • major supplier of heroin and marijuana to the US market;
  • continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America;
  • involved in the production and distribution of methamphetamines

Central Intelligence Agency. “Mexico.” The World Factbook 1999. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/mexico/1999.

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