zinc, natural gas, timber
Land use:
arable land 12%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 39%; forest and
woodland 24%; other 24%; includes irrigated 3%
Environment:
subject to tsunamis along the Pacific coast and destructive earthquakes in
the center and south; natural water resources scarce and polluted in north,
inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast;
deforestation; erosion widespread; desertification; serious air pollution in
Mexico City and urban centers along US-Mexico border
Note:
strategic location on southern border of US

:Mexico People

Population:
92,380,721 (July 1992), growth rate 2.3% (1992)
Birth rate:
29 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
30 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
69 years male, 76 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Mexican(s); adjective - Mexican
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo (Indian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%,
Caucasian or predominantly Caucasian 9%, other 1%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%
Languages:
Spanish; various Mayan dialects
Literacy:
87% (male 90%, female 85%) age 15 and over can read and write (1985 est.)
Labor force:
26,100,000 (1988); services 31.4%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and
fishing 26%, commerce 13.9%, manufacturing 12.8%, construction 9.5%,
transportation 4.8%, mining and quarrying 1.3%, electricity 0.3% (1986)
Organized labor:
35% of labor force

:Mexico Government

Long-form name:
United Mexican States
Type:
federal republic operating under a centralized government
Capital:
Mexico
Administrative divisions:
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
Independence:
16 September 1810 (from Spain)
Constitution:
5 February 1917
Legal system: