ns; 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: 12%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 39%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 22% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 61,000 sq km (1993 est.)

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

Environment - current issues: 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;
serious air pollution in the national capital and urban centers along
US-Mexico border

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, 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: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location on southern border of US

@Mexico:People

Population: 100,349,766 (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 34% (male 17,306,548; female 16,632,827)
15-64 years: 62% (male 30,223,317; female 31,868,213)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,927,850; female 2,391,011) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.53% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 23.15 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 5.05 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.81 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 26.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.49 years
male: 68.47 years
female: 74.66 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.67 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican

Ethnic groups: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or
predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%,