Mexico
hideThe United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), commonly known as Mexico (English: /ˈmɛksɪkoʊ/) (Spanish: México (help·info) [ˈmexiko]), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2 million square kilometres, Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 109 million, it is the 11th most populous country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain created the New Spain which would eventually become Mexico as the colony gained independence in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, territorial secession and civil war, including foreign intervention, two empires and two long domestic dictatorships. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI).
As a regional power and the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country, considered as a newly industrialized country and has the 11th largest economy in the world by GDP by purchasing power parity, and also the largest GDP per capita in Latin America according to the International Monetary Fund. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. Despite being considered an emerging power, the uneven income distribution and the increase in drug-related violence are issues of concern.
For more information about Mexico, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with mexico
Ocean current experts warn of risks if eastern Gulf is opened to drilling
Jun 17, 2009 |
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While Congress considers opening the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil-and-gas drilling, experts on ocean currents warn of a potential environmental nightmare that could reach the coast of South Florida.
Geoscientist offers new evidence that meteorite did not wipe out dinosaurs
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
May 04, 2009 |
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A Princeton University geoscientist who has stirred controversy with her studies challenging a popular theory that an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs has compiled powerful new evidence asserting her position.
Canada confirms 4 swine flu cases among students
Apr 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Canada became the third country to confirm human cases of swine flu Sunday as global health officials considered whether to raise the global pandemic alert level.
Health authorities rush to tackle killer flu in US, Mexico
Apr 24, 2009 |
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World health authorities on Friday rushed to tackle flu outbreaks in the United States and Mexico that have killed at least 60 people and have pandemic potential.
Research Team Finds Evidence Cacao Ritually Used in Chaco Canyon
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Feb 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Inhabitants of Chaco Canyon apparently drank chocolate from cylinders like these about a thousand years ago. That’s the finding in a paper published this week by PNAS, a publication of the ...
WHO worries Mexico flu deaths could mark pandemic
Apr 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Mexican authorities said 60 people may have died from a swine flu virus in Mexico, and world health officials worry it could unleash a global flu epidemic. Mexico City closed schools across the metropolis ...
Swine flu hits Europe
Apr 27, 2009 |
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Swine flu hit Europe with the first confirmed cases in Britain and Spain on Monday as governments and travel companies urged travellers to avoid Mexico where the virus has likely killed 149 people.
Oldest sea turtle fossil unveiled in Mexico
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Mar 06, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
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Paleontologists on Thursday unveiled the oldest fossil remains of a sea turtle that lived 72 million years ago in northern Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said.
Researchers predict large 2009 Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'
Jun 18, 2009 |
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University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar ...
Gulf's 'dead zone' much smaller than predicted (w/ Video)
Jul 25, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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NOAA-supported scientists, led by Nancy Rabalais, Ph.D., from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON), found the size of this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone to be smaller than forecasted, measuring 3,000 square ...
How will future sea-level rise linked to climate change affect coastal areas?
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 05, 2009 |
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The anticipated sea-level rise associated with climate change, including increased storminess, over the next 100 years and the impact on the nation's low-lying coastal infrastructure is the focus of a new, ...
Swine flu joins list of animal diseases that affect people
Apr 29, 2009 |
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The swine flu virus that is smoldering in this country and triggering a full-blown outbreak in Mexico is one of a growing number of animal pathogens to jump the species barrier -- and may be the microbe that jumpstarts the ...
Storm killers: Earth Scan Lab tracks cold water upwellings in Gulf
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 28, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
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Complex interactions between the ocean and overlying atmosphere cause hurricanes to form, and also have a tremendous amount of influence on the path, intensity and duration of a hurricane or tropical weather event. As researchers ...
Fear, anger and fatalism over swine flu in Mexico
Apr 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The schools and museums are closed. Sold-out games between Mexico's most popular soccer teams are being played in empty stadiums. Health workers are ordering sickly passengers off subways and buses. ...
First 'nanorust' field test slated in Mexico
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
May 27, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Rice University researchers today announced that the first field tests of "nanorust," the university's revolutionary, low-cost technology for removing arsenic from drinking water, will begin later this year ...
