35% of labor force

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

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

Executive branch: president, Cabinet

Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union)
consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Camara de Senadores)
and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Suprema Corte de Justicia)

Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Carlos SALINAS de
Gortari (since 1 December 1988)

Political parties and leaders: (recognized parties) Institutional
Revolutionary Party (PRI), Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta; National Action
Party (PAN), Luis Alvarez; Popular Socialist Party (PPS), Indalecio Sayago
Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD), Cuauhtemoc Cardenas;
Cardenist Front for the National Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael
Aguilar Talamantes; Authentic Party of the Mexican Revolution (PARM),
Carlos Enrique Cantu Rosas

Suffrage: universal and compulsory (but not enforced) at age 18

Elections:
President--last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1994);
results--Carlos Salinas de Gortari (PRI) 50.74%,
Cuauhtemoc Cardemas Solorzano (FDN) 31.06%,
Manuel Clouthier (PAN) 16.81%; others 1.39%; note--several of the smaller
parties ran a common candidate under a coalition called the National
Democratic Front (FDN)

Senate--last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September
1991); results--PRI 94%, FDN (now PRD) 6%;
seats--(64 total) number of seats by party NA;

Chamber of Deputies--last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September
1991);
results--PR