Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua,
Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango,
Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo,
Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga,
Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas,
Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas

Independence: 16 September 1810 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

Constitution: 5 February 1917

Legal system: mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law
system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not
enforced)

Executive branch: chief of state: President Vicente FOX Quesada
(since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of
state and head of government

head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December
2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of
attorney general requires consent of the Senate

elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held NA July 2006)

election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of
vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa
(PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74%

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la
Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are
allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal
Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300
members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year
terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each
party's popular vote, also for three-year terms)

elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats
(next to be held NA 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2 July
2000 (next to be held NA 2003)

election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by
party - PRI 59, PAN 45, PRD 17, PVEM 5, PT 1, PCD 1; Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 211,
PAN 208, PRD 50, PVEM 16, PT 7, PCD 3, PSN 3, PAS 2

Judicial branch: Su