Mexico

Facts

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 global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused another massive economic downturn the following year. As the economy recovers, 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. National elections, including the presidential election, are scheduled for July 2012.
Location: Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States
Area land: 1,943,945 sq km
Area water: 20,430 sq km
Coastline: 9,330 km
Country name conventional long form: United Mexican States
Country name conventional short form: Mexico
Country name former: United Mexican States
Population: 113,724,226 (July 2011 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 28.2% (male 16,395,974/female 15,714,182); 15-64 years: 65.2% (male 35,842,495/female 38,309,528); 65 years and over: 6.6% (male 3,348,495/female 4,113,552) (2011 est.);
Population growth rate: 1.102% (2011 est.)
Birth rate: 19.13 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate: 4.86 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)
Net migration rate: -3.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female; total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2011 est.);
Infant mortality rate: total: 17.29 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 19.14 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 15.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.);
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.47 years; male: 73.65 years; female: 79.43 years (2011 est.);
Total fertility rate: 2.29 children born/woman (2011 est.);
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 220,000 (2009 est.);
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA;
Nationality: noun: Mexican(s); adjective: Mexican;
Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%;
Religions: Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census);
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);
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 86.1%; male: 86.9%; female: 85.3% (2005 Census);
GDP (purchasing power parity): $1.56 trillion (2010 est.); $1.485 trillion (2009 est.); $1.589 trillion (2008 est.);

GDP (official exchange rate): $1.004 trillion (2010 est.);
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2010 est.); -6.5% (2009 est.); 1.5% (2008 est.);
GDP - per capita (PPP): $13,800 (2010 est.); $13,400 (2009 est.); $14,400 (2008 est.);
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.2%; industry: 33.3%; services: 62.5% (2010 est.);
Population below poverty line: 18.2% using food-based definition of poverty; asset based poverty amounted to more than 47% (2008);
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.7%; highest 10%: 36.3% (2008);
Labor force: 46.99 million (2010 est.);
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 13.7%; industry: 23.4%; services: 62.9% (2005);
Unemployment rate: 5.6% (2010 est.); 5.5% (2009 est.);
Budget: revenues: $237 billion; expenditures: $267 billion (2010 est.);
Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism;
Industrial production growth rate: 6% (2010 est.);
Electricity - production: 245 billion kWh (2008 est.);
Electricity - consumption: 181.5 billion kWh (2009 est.);
Electricity - exports: 1.288 billion kWh (2008 est.);
Electricity - imports: 584 million kWh (2008 est.);

Statistics: CIA World Factbook.

Press

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