Country Facts - Mexico

The People

Nationality

Mexican(s)

Ethnic Composition

Indian-Spanish (Mestizo)	60%
Amerindian	30%
Caucasian	9%
Other	1%

Religious Composition

Nominal Roman Catholic	89%
Protestant	6%
Other	5%

Languages Spoken

Spanish, Mayan dialects, Nahuatal and other indigenous languages.

Education and Literacy

Education spending rose dramatically, from 2.6 percent of GDP in 1988 to 4 percent in 1994. School enrollments at all levels have risen accordingly. Schooling is free and compulsory between ages 6 and 18. Adult literacy stood at 89.6 percent in 1995. Along gender lines literacy is as follows: 91.8 percent of all adult males are literate as opposed to 87.4 percent of adult females.

Labor Force

Total: 39.8 million (2000)

By occupation:

Agriculture	20%
Industry	24%
Services	56%

Geography

Land Mass Total

761,605 sq mi (1,972,550 sq km)

Land

742,489

mi (1,923,040 sq km)

Water

19,115 sq mi (49,510 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 2,704 mi (4,353 km)
Border countries: Belize 155 ft (250 km), Guatemala 597 ft (962 km), United States
1,951 mi (3,141 km)

Coastline

5,797 mi (9,330 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 24 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Varies from tropical to desert.

Terrain

High, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Laguna Salada 32 ft (10 m)
Highest: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 18,700 ft (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)

Natural hazards

Occasional tsunamis along the Pacific coast; volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south of the country; possible hurricanes traveling up the the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts during late summer.

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

Geography Note

Strategic location on southern border of United States.

Demographics

Population

103,400,165 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	32.8%	Male:17,310,230	Female: 16,630,935
15-64 years:	62.7%	Male:31,552,877	Female: 33,246,668
65 years and over:	4.5%	Male: 2,069,826	Female: 2,589,629

(2002)

Growth Rate

1.47% (2002)

Life Expectancy

72.03 years
Female: 75.21 years
Male: 68.99 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$9,000 (2001)

Infant Mortality

24.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

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:	0.8 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.97 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

-2.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity, natural gas distribution, and airports. Income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the U.S. and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Following 6.9 percent growth in 2000, real GDP fell 0.3 percent in 2001, with the U.S. slowdown the principal cause. Positive developments in 2001 included a drop in inflation to 6.5 percent, a sharp fall in interest rates, and a strong peso that appreciated 5 percent against the dollar. Mexico City implemented free trade agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and the European Free Trade Area in 2001, putting more than 90 percent of its trade under free trade agreements. Foreign direct investment reached $25 billion in 2001, of which $12.5 billion came from the purchase of Mexico's second largest bank, Banamex, by Citigroup. GDP growth moved up to 1.7 percent in 2002 and is predicted to reach 2.5 percent in 2003 before approaching 3.1 percent in 2004. Much, of course, depends on the recovery of the U.S. economy and the price of petroleum worldwide. Unemployment and under-employment remain as problems, and Mexico is still very dependent on the US$8 billion per year in remittances sent home by its expatriate workers in the U.S. market.

Unemployment

Urban - 3% plus considerable underemployment (2001)

Inflation Rate

6.5% (2001)

Industries

Food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism.

Exports

US$159 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$168 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$920 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

US 88.4%, Canada 2%, Germany 0.9%, Spain 0.8%, Netherlands Antilles 0.6%, Japan 0.4%, UK 0.4%, Venezuela 0.4%, (2001)

Top Import Partners

US 68.4%, Japan 4.7%, Germany 3.6%, Canada 2.5%, China 2.2%, South Korea 2.1%, Taiwan 1.6%, Italy 1.3%, Brazil 1.1% (2001)

Top Exports

Manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, coffee, cotton.

Top Imports

Metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts.

Debt - external

US$191 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$1.166 billion (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m. There is a one to two hour break for lunch.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 9p.m.	Shorter hours on the weekend.
Banks	9a.m. to 1:30p.m., and limited transactions from 4p.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 1p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Anniversary of the Constitution	February 5	February 5	February 5
Benito Juarez Day	March 21	March 21	March 21
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 20	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Cinco de Mayo	May 5	May 5	May 5
President's State of the Nation Address	September 1	September 1	September 1
Independence Day	September 16	September 16	September 16
Columbus Day and Dia de la Raza	October 12	October 12	October 12
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution	November 20	November 20	November 20
Day of the Dead	November 2	November 2	November 2
Christmas Day²	December 25	December 25	December 25

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press