Mexico
Geography - People - Economy - Government - Communications - Transportation - Military - Transnational IssuesCountry information - Mexico
Country name - conventional long form : United Mexican States
Country name - conventional short form : Mexico
Country name - local long form : Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Country name - local short form : Mexico
Country name - former :
Country code : MX
Government type : federal republic
Capital - name : Mexico (Distrito Federal)
Capital - time difference : UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday : Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Population : 109,955,400 (July 2008 est.)
Nationality - noun : Mexican(s)
Nationality - adjective : Mexican
Languages : Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%; note - indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2005)
Currency (code) : Mexican peso (MXN)
Currency code : MXN
Major infectious diseases - degree of risk : intermediate
Major infectious diseases - note :
Mexico is located 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. The climate is varies from tropical to desert. The terrain is high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert.
Background
This entry usually highlights major historic events and current issues and may include a statement about one or two key future trends.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. The 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.
