Revolution that the opposition defeated the
party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente
FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000
as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.

Geography Mexico

Location: Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean,
between Guatemala and the US

Geographic coordinates: 23 00 N, 102 00 W

Map references: North America

Area: total: 1,972,550 sq km land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries: total: 4,353 km border countries: Belize 250 km,
Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km

Coastline: 9,330 km

Maritime claims: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: Climate: varies from
tropical to desert

Terrain: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus;
desert

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m highest point:
Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m

Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural
gas, timber

Land use: arable land: 13% permanent crops: 1% other: 86% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 65,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and
destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the
Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts

Environment - current issues: scarcity of hazardous waste disposal
facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources
scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and
extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers
in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification;
deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in
the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land
subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion note: the
government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national
security issues

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Geography - note: st