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MexicoGeneral informationCapital: Mexico City SummaryThe country known as the United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), commonly known as Mexico, is a federal constitutional republic. Mexico shares borders with the United State on the north; the Pacific Ocean on the south and west; Guatemala, Belize and the Caribbean Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Mexico on the east. Covering almost 2 million square kilometers (about 3 times the size of Texas), Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. It is the 11th most populous country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city. The population of the area of Mexico has seen the growth and disappearance of some important civilizations. For 3-4000 years before the Mayflower made its way to the New England coast of the USA a multitude of these civilations had already left a mark on Mexico. These included splendid cities, sophisticated calendars, and great arts. This while the Essenes were hiding the Dead Sea Scrolls and most of Europe was still savage backwoods. While much of the remote past is still shadowy, a great amount of work has put together glimpses of these civilizations. These were complex cultures that matured into advanced civilizations, with names you would recognize, such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Maya and the Aztec. All of this before the first contact with Europeans. Mexico became a colony of Spain from the landing of Hernán Cortés in 1521 until its independence in 1821. This 300 year rule not only saw the collapse of the existing civilizations but the virtual destruction of the cultures of the Indians all over Mexico. The post-independence period saw economic instability, civil war, foreign intervention, two empires and two domestic dictatorships. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which produced the 1917 Constitution and the beginning of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI). As a regional power and the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country, considered as a newly industrialized country with a rapidly developing economy ranked by the World Bank as the the 12th largest economy in the world. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. The People of MexicoMexico, like the USA, was a melting pot of people from different origins and cultures. It has taken longer for this to mix to blend because of diseases brought by newcomers, extreme differences in backgrounds, a violent history and uneven population growth. Because of the uneven population growth, geographic challenges and the lack of water the village organization evolved. Most villages were self-sufficient and were capable of existing without contact or commerce with the rest of the country. There is a mix of part European (cities) to Indian (hamlets and villages). The average tourist may never see the Indian mix in the small, rural areas. Contemporary Mexican's are, essentially, a brand-new race. In the USA the melting pot produced a new country but not a new people. Originally, they were called mestizo, someone of mixed European and Indian blood. Less than 150 years ago the Mexican Indian outnumbered both the mestizo and the Europeans. Their attitudes have been shaped by their history which includes Spanish rule (destruction of temples, cultural records, morality and leaders), revolutions, loss of history and identity and natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, destructive tropical downpours, hurricanes and floods. The Mexican lives in a world where skepticism and cynicism are a means of survival. This can cause an expectation that any new experience of contact will bring something bad. Visitors to Mexico may expect caballeros or Pancho Villas but they will be disappointed. The people have changed and are now more open to the world with insecurity less prevalent. More confidence is shown and a sense of worth and of nation. People are more cosmopolitan. It was Octavio Paz, a Mexican writer, diplomat and poet that said: "Whereas Americans are ready to believe, we are believers; they love stories of enchanted nymphs, and detective yarns, we like myths and legends. The Mexican lies are fantasies done out of desperation or to surmount a sordid life; Americans do not lie, they substitute the true truth for the social truth. We get drunk to confess; they to forget. They are optimists; we are nihilists - but our nihilism isn't intellectual, but rather an instinctive reaction, therefore irrefutable. Mexicans are suspicious; Americans are open. We are sad and sarcastic; they are happy and jovial. Americans always wish to understand everything; we prefer to contemplate. They are activists, we are quiet. We gather the dividends of our wounds while they count the dividends from their inventions. They believe in hygiene, health, work and happiness, but they never experience the true delirious happiness which is both a drunkenness and a tornado. In the celebration of a night fiesta our voices are surrounded by lights, and life and death are mixed; they, on the other hand, let their vitality be petrified in a smile, they deny aging and death, and they immobilize life." The Regions of Mexico
States & Territories in the Mexican RepublicMexico is divided into 31 estados (states) and one distrito federal (federal district).
Population: 2005-10-17 census. Source: INEGI The National Flag
The National Flower
The National Anthem
A contest was commissioned in 1853 to choose lyrics and music for a national anthem. The contest rules published on November 12, 1853 stated: "so that a truly patriotic song can be adopted by the government as the permanent national anthem". The jury chose as the winning lyrics a composition by Francisco González Bocanegra, a poet from San Luis Potosí. The music however was not popular with the public so another contest was held to choose the music for Bocanegra's lyrics. Fifteen compositions were received and one chosen entitled "God and Liberty". The composer was identified only as J.N. An advertisement was published asking that the composer come forward and on August 12, 1854 he was identified as Jaime Nunó, a Catalan musician who was directing military bands at Santa Anna's invitation. The national anthem debuted on September 15, 1854 in the Santa Anna Theater, shortly thereafter named the National Theater. After 1854 the lyrics were adjusted to reflect the political changes in the country. The anthem is sometimes referred to unofficially as "Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra" ("Mexicans, at the cry of war"). It consisted of ten verses and a chorus. As adopted in 1943 the full anthem is 1st stanza, 5th stanza, 6th stanza and 10 stanza and chorus. The official lyrics are as follows:
Land and climateLand: Mexico lies in North America, bordered by the United States on the north and by Guatemala and Belize on the southeast. On the east is the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west and south. There is a chain of high volcanic mountains extending east-west across southern Mexico, just south of Mexico City. Other, lower mountain chains extend northwestward from each end of the volcanic chain, which forms a great U-shape of mountains. Much of north-central Mexico is a high plateau rimmed by these mountain ranges. The Pacific Coast in the far south is rugged and has densely forested areas. The long peninsula of Baja California in the northwest is mostly desert with some mountains. The Yucatán Peninsula in the southeast is flat and forested. Mexico's chief rivers are the Rio Grande (at the U.S. border) and the Balsas. Area: Mexico is about three times the size of Texas or about 1/5th the size of the USA. 756,066 mi.² (1,958,201 km.²). Greatest distances-north-south, 1,250 mi (2,012 km); east-west, 1,900 mi (3,060 km). Coastline-6,320 mi (10,170 km). Elevation: Highest-Pico de Orizaba (also called Citlaltepetl), 18,410 ft (5,610 m). Lowest-near Mexicali, 33 ft (10 m) below sea level. Climate: Northwest and north-central Mexico is mostly desert, with hot summers and cool to mild winters. The northeast coast has moderate rainfall with mild winters and warm summers. Central Mexico is dry, with temperatures varying according to altitude. High locations, such as Mexico City, have mild temperatures the year around. Low-altitude locations are warmer. Southern Mexico, including Yucatán, is warm and moist the year around. GovernmentForm of government: Federal republic. DemographicsPopulation: Current estimate-110,915,000. 2000 census-97,483,412. EconomyChief products: Agriculture-avocados, bananas, barley, beans, coffee, corn, cotton, lemons, mangoes, oranges, potatoes, sorghum, sugar cane, tomatoes, wheat. Manufacturing-chemicals, iron and steel, motor vehicles, processed foods. Mining-copper, gold, lead, natural gas, petroleum, salt, silver, sulfur, zinc. Calendar of Mexican FiestasFiestas are an essential part of the Mexican culture. It seems that every day there is a Fiesta somewhere in our country. The Mexican Bureau of Popular Cultures has identified at least 10,000 fiestas that are celebrated by different communities in Mexico. Bellow you'll find the dates for some of the more important, and popular fiestas. No table like this is ever complete. Local holidays and fiestas occur.
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Mexico's National flag, adopted in 1821, has three vertical stripes of equal width, from left to right: green (symbolizing unity and hope), white (for religion and purity), and red (for independence and union). The country's coat of arms is in the center of the middle white stripe. The coat of arms represents the legend of Aztec Indians who built their capital, Tenochtitlan, on the site that is now occupied by Mexico City. The coat of arms shows an eagle perched upon a nopal cactus devouring a snake. The legend tells that the Aztecs were told to build their city on the site where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake.
Mexico's National Flower is the Dahlia pinnata. Dahlias originated from the mountainous regions of Mexico and Central America and Colombia. Dahlia pinnata is a genus of bushy, summer and autumn flowering plant. Dahlia pinnata flowers are species having tuberous roots and showy rayed variously colored flower heads.