<hdr>The World Factbook 1994: Mexico<nl>Government</hdr><body>
<list>
<item><hi format=bold>Names:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional long form:</hi> United Mexican States
<item>• <hi format=ital>conventional short form:</hi> Mexico
<item>• <hi format=ital>local long form:</hi> Estados Unidos Mexicanos
<item>• <hi format=ital>local short form:</hi> Mexico
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<item><hi format=bold>Digraph:</hi> MX
<item><hi format=bold>Type:</hi> federal republic operating under a centralized government
<item><hi format=bold>Capital:</hi> Mexico
<item><hi format=bold>Administrative divisions:</hi> 31 states (estados, singular—estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas
<item><hi format=bold>Independence:</hi> 16 September 1810 (from Spain)
<item><hi format=bold>National holiday:</hi> Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
<item><hi format=bold>Constitution:</hi> 5 February 1917
<item><hi format=bold>Legal system:</hi> mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
<item><hi format=bold>Suffrage:</hi> 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)
<item><hi format=bold>Executive branch:</hi>
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<item>• <hi format=ital>chief of state and head of government:</hi> President Carlos SALINAS de Gortari (since 1 December 1988); election last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held 21 August 1994); results—Carlos SALINAS de Gortari (PRI) 50.74%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (FDN) 31.06%, Manuel CLOUTHIER (PAN) 16.81%; other 1.39%; note—several of the smaller parties ran a common candidate under a coalition called the National Democratic Front (FDN)
<item>• <hi format=ital>cabinet:</hi> Cabinet; appointed by the president
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<item><hi format=bold>Legislative branch:</hi> bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union)
<item><hi format=bold>Senate (Camara de Senadores):</hi> elections last held on 18 August 1991 (next to be held 21 August 1994); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats in full Senate—(64 total; Senate will expand to 128 seats following next election) PRI 62, PRD 1, PAN 1
<item><hi format=bold>Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados):</hi> elections last held on 18 August 1991 (next to be held 21 August 1994); results—PRI 53%, PAN 20%, PFCRN 10%, PPS 6%, PARM 7%, PMS (now part of PRD) 4%; seats—(500 total) PRI 320, PAN 89, PRD 41, PFCRN 23, PARM 15, PPS 12
<item><hi format=bold>Judicial branch:</hi> Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
<item><hi format=bold>Political parties and leaders:</hi> (recognized parties) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Ignacio Pichardo PAGAZA; National Action Party (PAN), Carlos CASTILLO; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Indalecio SAYAGO Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Porfirio MUNOZ Ledo; Cardenist Front for the National Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael AGUILAR Talamantes; Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution (PARM), Rosa Maria MARTINEZ Denagri; Democratic Forum Party (PFD), Pablo Emilio MADERO; Mexican Green Ecologist Party (PVEM), Jorge GONZALEZ Torres
<item><hi format=bold>Other political or pressure groups:</hi> Roman Catholic Church; Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM); Confederation of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN); Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce (CONCANACO); National Peasant Confederation (CNC); Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT); Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC); Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM); Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX); National Chamber of Transformation Industries (CANACINTRA); Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations (COECE); Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services (FESEBES)
<item>• <hi format=ital>consulate(s) general:</hi> Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
<item>• <hi format=ital>consulate(s):</hi> Albuquerque, Austin, Boston, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Loredo, Mc Allen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Nogales (Arizona), Oxnard (California), Philadelphia
<item>• <hi format=ital>consulate(s) general:</hi> Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana
<item>• <hi format=ital>consulate(s):</hi> Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo
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<item><hi format=bold>Flag:</hi> 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