Geography

Located in the south of the North American subcontinent, Mexico shares a border to the north with the United States and to the southeast with Central America, particularly with Guatemala and Belize. Its surface area is 1,964,375 km² ^[12] , with a continental surface area of 1,959,248 km² ^[12] and an insular area of 5,127 km² ^[12] . Spread over its territorial sea are numerous islands, among which the Revillagigedo archipelagos (Socorro, Clarión, San Benedicto, Roca Partida), and the Marías islands, in the Pacific; those of Guadalupe, Cedros, Ángel de la Guarda, Coronado, Rocas Alijos, Isla del Tiburon, Isla del Carmen, off the Baja California peninsula and the coast of Sonora; and those of Ciudad del Carmen, Cozumel, Mujeres, and the Alacranes reef, in the Atlantic basin. Together they have a surface area of 5,127 km². Government Policy and Structure of Mexico City can be found on simplyyellowpages.

Mexico is the only country that contains two gulfs in two oceans, from the Gulf of California, also called the Sea of Cortez within the Pacific Ocean, and to the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean.

Hydrography

The rivers of Mexico are grouped into three slopes. The Pacific slope, the Gulf slope and the interior slope. The longest of the Mexican rivers is the Bravo, on the Gulf side. It has a length of 3,034 km, and serves as the border with the United States. Other important rivers are: the Usumacinta, which is the largest in Mexico and serves as the international boundary with Guatemala; the Grijalva River, the second largest in the country, both rivers join in the Tabasco plain, forming the largest hydraulic basin in Mexico; and the Pánuco River, to whose basin the Valley of Mexico belongs.

The Lerma and Balsas rivers flow into the Pacific, which are of vital importance for the cities of the highlands of Mexico; the Sonora, Fuerte, Mayo and Yaqui rivers, which support the prosperous agriculture of the northwest of the country, and the Colorado River, shared with the United States. Inland rivers, that is, those that do not flow into the sea, are usually short and with little flow. The Casas Grandes river in Chihuahua and the Nazas river in Durango stand out. Most of Mexico’s rivers have little flow, and almost none of them are navigable.

Mexico is home to numerous lakes and lagoons in its territory, but of modest size. The most important inland body of water is Lake Chapala, in the state of Jalisco, and due to overexploitation is at risk of disappearing. Other important lakes are Lake Pátzcuaro, Zirahuén and Cuitzeo, all of them in Michoacán. In addition, the construction of dams has led to the formation of artificial lakes, such as the Thousand Islands, in Oaxaca.

Political-administrative division

The territory of the United Mexican States, according to the 1917 Constitution, is divided into 31 states and a Federal District ^[12] [16] , which houses the seat of federal powers.

State governments are divided into three powers: The Executive Power is exercised by the State Governor, elected every six years without the possibility of reelection. It can be removed only at the request of the Senate or the State Congress. The Legislative Power is deposited in the Congress of each state; It is made up of deputies elected for a period of three years. The Judicial Power is embodied by the Superior Court of Justice of each entity ^[17] . The states are as follows:

1. Aguascalientes
2. Baja California
3. Baja California Sur
4. Campeche
5. Coahuila
6. Colima
7. Chiapas
8. Chihuahua
9. Durango
10. Guanajuato
11. Warrior
12. gentleman
13. Jalisco
14. Mexico
15. Michoacan
16. Morelos
17. Nayarit
18. New Lion
19. Oaxaca
20. Puebla
21. Queretaro
22. Quintana Roo
23. San Luis Potosi
24. Sinaloa
25. Sonora
26. Tabasco
27. Tamaulipas
28. Tlaxcala
29. Veracruz
30. Yucatan
31. Zacatecas
32. federal District

States of Mexico and its federal district.

Economy

Mexico is a developing country whose economy is based on oil, remittances from Mexican emigrants who work abroad, tourism and intense industrial, mining and agricultural activity ^[18] .

Mexico is the country with the most international free trade agreements signed in the world, however, the United States continues to be its main export and import market. The largest Mexican export products are oil, machinery, textiles, coffee, chemical products, etc.

The country’s economic growth has been maintained at a moderate rate in recent years, however, this has not been enough to improve competitiveness and combat the poverty of its population. The per capita income of the Mexican, according to World Bank data at the end of 2006, was $ 7,310 per year ^[18] . The official currency is the Mexican peso.

Primary sector

Of the primary activities, agriculture occupies a main place in the country, the extraordinary diversity of climates, areas and natural resources favor agricultural exploitation although this has been affected by the opening to North American imports that have come to damage even traditional productions like corn.

Among basic grains grown in Mexico during the early 1990s they highlighted maize, wheat and sorghum, spread throughout the Republic, with higher production in Sinaloa, Jalisco, Guanajuato and Puebla; the beans had lost ground and cultivation of rice was minimal, whereas the cotton and safflower highlighted in production, even above the soybean. Other products that stand out are coffee, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, sugar cane, etc. ^[18] .

Regarding livestock production, by 1995 there were 2 million head of pigs, 1.4 million of cattle, 500,000 of goats, and 420,000 of sheep. The country produced 3,685,344 tons of meat and 1,241,987 tons of eggs. Jalisco, Guanajuato and the State of Mexico stand out.

In addition to agricultural activities, the primary sector includes those related to forestry (forestry exploitation of timber products and harvesting) and fishing.

Industrial sector

The industrial sector is the economic engine of the country, made up of extractive activities: mining and oil and gas extraction, construction, the electrical industry and transformation or manufacturing activities. Industrial activity is one of the most important in the country as it occupies the fourth national economically active population ^[18] .

Mexican mining includes the exploitation of precious metals, industrial metals, metallic and non-metallic minerals, and metals obtained as by-products. Mining production was traditionally dedicated to silver and gold, but it has been changing, developing that of industrial metals, until the country has become an important producer of lead and zinc. Mexico is the main silver producer in the world ^[18] .

The oil industry includes the activities of exploration, exploitation, extraction, refining, transportation, storage and distribution and sale of oil. Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is the parastatal company that performs these tasks in Mexico. The Mexican economy depends on the increasingly smaller income from oil. Mexico signed a Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Canada, which in the opinion of many analysts has made its economy more dependent and has destroyed part of its agricultural production.

Service sector

Another major contributor to the Mexican Gross Domestic Product is the service sector, within which tourism ranks first. Mexico is a country that has 26 sites declared natural or cultural heritage of humanity and has also dedicated itself to developing the specialized tourism industry, from bird watching to extreme adventure sports or culinary tours.

Sightseeing

Tourism in Mexico is an important economic activity for the country and is one of the largest in the world, ranked eighth worldwide in terms of international tourist arrivals, with 21.4 million visitors in 2006, and is the first destination for foreign tourists within Latin America. Revenues from foreign tourists reached USD 12.17 billion in 2006, and Mexico captured 15.7% of the American tourism market segment in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, placed second on the continent, behind USA. In 2005, tourism contributed 5.7% of national income from the export of goods and services, and represented 14.2% of direct and indirect jobs in the Mexican economy.

The main tourist attractions in Mexico are the ancient ruins of Mesoamerican culture, colonial cities, and beach resorts. The temperate climate of the country, together with its historical cultural heritage; – the fusion of European culture (particularly Spanish) with Mesoamerican culture -; they also make Mexico an attractive tourist destination worldwide. The vast majority of foreign tourists visiting Mexico come from the United States and Canada. The next largest group are visitors from Europe and Asia. A small number of tourists also come from Latin American countries.