French Department of
Posts and Telecommunications; includes radio relay and high-frequency radio
communications for links with Comoros and international communications;
450 telephones; stations--1 AM, no FM, no TV
- Defense Forces
Note: defense is the responsibility of France
----------------------------------------------------
Country: Mexico
- Geography
Total area: 1,972,550 km2; land area: 1,923,040 km2
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries: 4,538 km total; Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km,
US 3,326 km
Coastline: 9,330 km
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 24 nm;
Continental shelf: natural prolongation of continental margin or
200 nm;
Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: varies from tropical to desert
Terrain: high, rugged mountains, low coastal plains, high plateaus,
and desert
Natural resources: crude oil, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc,
natural gas, timber
Land use: 12% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 39% meadows and
pastures; 24% forest and woodland; 24% other; includes 3% irrigated
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
- People
Population: 87,870,154 (July 1990), growth rate 2.2% (1990)
Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1990)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
Infant mortality rate: 33 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 76 years female (1990)
Total fertility rate: 3.4 children born/woman (1990)
Nationality: noun--Mexican(s); adjective--Mexican
Ethnic divisions: 60% mestizo (Indian-Spanish), 30% Amerindian or
predominantly Amerindian, 9% white or predominantly white, 1% other
Religion: 97% nominally Roman Catholic, 3% Protestant
Language: Spanish
Literacy: 88%
Labor force: 26,100,000 (1988); 31.4% services; 26% agriculture, forestry,
hunting, and fishing, 13.9% commerce, 12.8% manufacturing, 9.5% construction,
4.8% transportation, 1.3% mining and quarrying, 0.3% electricity, (1986)
Organized labor:
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