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Mexico is in 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. |
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| Geographic
coordinates
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| 23 00 N, 102 00 W |
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| Area |
Total: 1,972,550 sq km
Land: 1,923,040 sq km
Water: 49,510 sq km |
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| Climate |
| Varies from tropical to desert
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| Terrain |
| High, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert. |
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| Land use |
Arable land: 12.66%
Permanent crops: 1.28%
Other: 86.06% (2005) |
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| Natural hazards |
| Ttsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts. |
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| Land boundaries |
Total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
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| Coastline |
| 9,330 km |
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| Elevation
extremes
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Lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
Highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
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| Natural resources |
| Petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber |
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| Irrigated land |
| 63,200 sq km (2003) |
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| Population |
| 107,449,525 (July 2006 est.) |
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| 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.) |
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| Sex ratio |
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 yers: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
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| Terrain
Life expectancy at birth |
total population: 75.41 years
male: 72.63 years
female: 78.33 years (2006 est.) |
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| Median age |
Total: 25.3 years
Male: 24.3 years
Female: 26.2 years (2006 est.) |
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| Coastline |
| 9,330 km |
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| Population growth rate |
| 1.16% (2006 est.) |
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| Birth rate |
| 20.69 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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| Death rate |
| 63,200 sq km (2003)
4.74 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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| Country name |
Conventional long form: United Mexican States
Conventional short form: Mexico
Local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Local short form: Mexico |
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| Government type |
| Federal republic |
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| Capital |
| Mexico (Distrito Federal) |
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| Executive branch |
Chief of state: President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa (since 1 December 2006); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa since 1 December 2006); 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 2006. |
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| 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) |
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| 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. |
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| 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 on 2 July 2006 for all of the seats; Chamber of Deputies - last held on 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 |
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| 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. |
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| Industries |
| Food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism |
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| GDP (purchasing power parity) |
| $1.067 trillion (2005 est.) |
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| GDP (official exchange rate) |
| $693 billion (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate |
| 3% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - per capita (PPP) |
| $1.067 trillion (2005 est.)
$10,000 (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector |
Agriculture: 4%
Industry: 26.5%
Services: 69.5% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - per capita (PPP)
Labor force |
| 43.4 million (2005 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation |
Agriculture: 18%
Industry: 24%
Services: 58% (2003) |
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| Agriculture - products |
| Corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products |
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| Telephones - main lines in use |
| 18,073,200 (2004) |
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| Television broadcast stations |
| 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) |
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| Internet hosts |
| 2,026,633 (2005) |
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| Internet users |
| 16,995,400 (2005) |
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| Telephones - mobile cellular |
| 38,451,100 (2004) |
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| Radio broadcast stations |
| AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) |
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| Internet country code |
| .mx |
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