<text><span class="style42"></span><span class="style12">MEXICO</span><span class="style42">Official name:</span><span class="style13"> Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States)</span><span class="style42">Member of: </span><span class="style13">UN, OAS, NAFTA, ALADI, OECD, Apec</span><span class="style42">Area: </span><span class="style13">1958201 km2 (756066 sq mi)</span><span class="style42">Population: </span><span class="style13">89960000 (1993 est)</span><span class="style42">Capital: </span><span class="style13">Mexico City 15050000 (city 8237000; Nezahualcóyotl 1260000; 1990 census)Other major cities: Guadalajara 1650000, Monterrey 1069000, Puebla 1055000, León 852000 (all including suburbs; 1990 census)</span><span class="style42">Languages: </span><span class="style13">Spanish (92%; official), various Indian languages</span><span class="style42">Religion: </span><span class="style13">Roman Catholic (91%)</span><span class="style42">GOVERNMENT</span><span class="style13">The 64-member Senate and the President – who may serve only once – are elected by universal adult suffrage for six years. The 500-member Chamber of Deputies is directly elected for three years – 200 of the members are elected under a system of proportional representation; the remaining 300 represent single-member constituencies. The President appoints a Cabinet. Each of the 31 states has its own Chamber of Deputies.</span><span class="style42">GEOGRAPHY</span><span class="style13">Between the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains in the east and the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west is a large high central plateau. Volcanoes include Volcán Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) at 5610 m (18 405 ft), the country’s highest point. The coastal plains are generally narrow in the west, but wider in the east. The Yucatán Peninsula in the southeast is a broad limestone lowland; Baja California in the northwest is a long narrow mountainous peninsula. </span><span class="style42">Principal river: </span><span class="style13">Rio Bravo de Norte (Rio Grande) 3033 km (1885 mi). </span><span class="style42">Climate: </span><span class="style13">There is considerable climatic variation, in part reflecting the complexity of the relief. In general, the south and the coastal lowlands are tropical; the central plateau and the mountains are cooler and drier.</span><span class="style42">ECONOMY</span><span class="style13">Over 20% of the labor force is involved in agriculture and many Mexicans are still subsistence farmers growing maize, wheat, kidney beans and rice. Coffee, cotton, fruit and vegetables are major export crops. Mexico is the world’s leading producer of silver. The exploitation of large reserves of natural gas and petroleum enabled Mexico’s spectacular economic development since the 1970s, but social and economic reforms did not keep up with this growth. An expanding industrial base includes important petrochemical, textile, motor-vehicle and food-processing industries. In the early 1990s low labor costs and the new NAFTA trade agreement encouraged major US companies to set up plant in Mexico. However, economic problems remain, and high unemployment has stimulated immigration – often illegal – to the US. A major crisis of confidence in 1995 sent the peso into steep decline and Mexico required a US-led rescue package. </span><span class="style42">Currency: </span><span class="style13">Peso.</span><span class="style42">HISTORY</span><span class="style13">When the Spanish arrived in Mexico in 1519, the Maya civilization in Yucatán was in decline, but Aztec power, centered on Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), was flourishing. In 1519–21, the mighty Aztec empire was overthrown by a small band of Spanish invaders under Cortez. For the next 300 years Mexico was under Spanish rule, its economy largely based on silver and gold mining and the produce of large estates owned by Spanish grandees. The first revolt against Spanish rule broke out in 1810, but Mexican independence was not gained until 1821 after a guerrilla war led by Vicente Guerrero. Initially an empire, Mexico became a republic in 1823, but conflict between federalists and centralists erupted, developing into civil war.In 1836 Texas rebelled against Mexico, declaring independence. When the USA annexed Texas in 1845, war broke out, resulting in the loss of half Mexico’s territory – Texas, New Mexico and California. A period of reform began in 1857, with a new liberal constitution. A civil war (1858–61) between reformists and conservatives was won by the reformists under Benito Juárez (1806–72), but the economy was shattered. After Mexico failed to repay debts, Spain, Britain and France invaded in 1863. Although Spain and Britain soon withdrew, France remained, appointing Archduke Maximilian of Austria (1832–67) as Emperor (1864). Under US pressure and Mexican resistance, the French withdrew in 1867. Maximilian remained in Mexico City and was captured and executed. Juárez re-established the republic.The authoritarian rule of General Porfirio Díaz (President 1876–80 and 1888–1910) brought peace, but wealth was concentrated into a few hands. Revolution against the power of the landowners erupted in 1910. The reformist policies of President Francisco Madero (1873–1913) were supported by the outlaw Pancho Villa (1877–1923), but revolutionary violence continued, and in 1916–17 a US expeditionary force was sent against Villa. From 1924 the revolution became anticlerical and the Church was persecuted. Order was restored when the Institutional Revolutionary Party came to power in 1929. In the 1930s the large estates were divided and much of the economy was nationalized. Political opposition was tolerated, although the ruling party is virtually guaranteed perpetual power. A more liberal economic and political climate emerged in the 1990s, but Mexico’s ‘coming of age’ – marked by membership of NAFTA and OECD – has been marred by political assassinations (1994), a peasant uprising in the state of Chiapas (since 1994) and a major economic crisis (1995).</span></text>
