More About Mexico

Mexico is bordered by the United States to the north, Belize and Guatemala to the southeast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the south and west. The capital, Mexico City, is one of the largest cities in the world. Area 756,066 square miles (1,958,201 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 91,145,000.

The Pacific Coastal Plain (more than 800 miles [1,300 km] long and 60 to 100 miles [100 to 160 km] wide) contains good natural harbors, such as those of Acapulco and Manzanillo, and many small fishing ports and coves. Rainfall ranges from less than 10 inches (250 mm) in the arid north-northwest, to 40 to 115 inches (1,000 to 2,900 mm) in the coastal plains. The Pacific Coast hurricane season (better described as the rain season) generally runs from mid May through October. For the most part, the hurricane season is welcome by all as brief but frequent, cooling thunderheads will role in off the ocean with amazing and spectacular lightening shows. Pacific storms will seldom reach hurricane strength but be alert and exercise caution when one is brewing.

About three-fifths of Mexico's total population is mestizo (mixed European and Indian stock), nearly one-third is American Indian, and almost all of the rest are of European ancestry. Roman Catholics comprise about nine-tenths of the population, and Protestants account for most of the remainder. Spanish is the official language. A small percentage of the total population speaks only an Indian language; nonetheless, more than 50 Indian languages are spoken.

Mexico has a mixed economy based largely on wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, agriculture, and petroleum extraction. The gross national product (GNP) is not growing as rapidly as the population; the GNP per capita, however, is consistently one of the highest in Latin America.

Corn (maize), wheat, rice, and beans are the leading staples. Sugarcane, sorghum, bananas, tomatoes, oranges, and potatoes are also major crops. Coffee, cotton, and fruits and vegetables are exported. Cattle and pigs are the major livestock. Mexico is also one of the world's largest producers of natural honey. Forests cover more than one-fourth of the total land area and mainly produce coniferous roundwood. Fishing is an important industry, and frozen prawns are an export item.

Mexico has a wide variety of natural resources and an enormous power potential in its petroleum reserves and hydroelectric capacity. Its proven crude-oil reserves rank seventh in the world, and natural-gas reserves also are substantial. The production of petroleum contributes one-fourth of the government's revenue. Coal reserves in northeastern Coahuila state are of exceptionally high quality. About three-fourths of Mexico's electricity is generated from petroleum and other fossil fuels; waterpower provides nearly all the remainder.

The history of Mexico is the history of Central American civilization itself. Hunter-gatherer peoples are thought to have inhabited Mexico more than 20,000 years ago. The history of the Mayan civilization goes back to 2600 BC on the Yucatan Peninsula. The beginnings of village farming are evident between 1500 and 900 BC. More complex cultures began to form between 900 and 300 BC, and from AD 100 to 900 some of these crystallized into great civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Mayan, and Aztec. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Aztec, who rose to prominence about 1200, were the rulers of much of Mexico.

In a campaign lasting two years Cortes conquered the Aztecs, capturing their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in 1521. Cortes established Mexico City on the site of the Aztec capital. In 1526 Francisco de Montejo conquered the remnants of the Maya civilization.

In 1821 Guerrero and Agust’n de Iturbide, the commander of royalist troops, negotiated a status quo independence from Spain, and a congress was elected. A military rebellion forced Iturbide to leave the country in 1823, and the congress declared Mexico a republic. A federal constitution was adopted in 1824, and Manuel Felix Fernandez, better known as Guadalupe Victoria, was elected the first president.

In 1845 the U.S. government voted to annex Texas, and in the ensuing Mexican War, Santa Anna's armies were defeated and Mexico City was captured by the United States. On Feb. 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ceded nearly all the territory now included in Arizona, western Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Texas, California, and New Mexico to the United States.

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