other 5%
Languages: Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional
indigenous languages
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89.6%
male: 91.8%
female: 87.4% (1995 est.)
@Mexico:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico
local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
local short form: Mexico
Data code: MX
Government type: federal republic
Capital: Mexico
Administrative divisions: 31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1
federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California,
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 Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1
December 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
head of government: President Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (since 1
December 1994); note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with consent of the Senate
elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term;
election last held 21 August 1994 (next to be held 2 July 2000)
election results: Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon elected president;
percent of vote - Ernesto ZEDILLO Ponce de Leon (PRI) 50.18%,
Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 17.08%, Diego FERNANDEZ DE
CEVALLOS (PAN) 26.69%, other 6.05%
Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la
Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; half
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and half 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
membe
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