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Country profilesMexico

Capital: Mexico City
Currency: Peso (MXN)
Time zone: GMT -6
International dialling code: +52
Driving: Right
Area size: 1,972,550 km²

At a glance / quick facts

Common Definition: United Mexican States
Language: Spanish is the official language, but 6 million Mexicans also speak indigenous languages.
Region: North America
Latitude: 23.0000000
Longitude: -102.0000000
Religion: Mainly Catholic
Climate: Variable with altitude from tropical to arid desert. The central highlands are temperate.
Ethnic Group: Mexicans are descended from Meso-American indigenous peoples and Spanish conquistadors. Indigenous peoples still account for 30 percent of the population.

Humanitarian profile

Mexico has one of the largest economies in Latin America. Drug-related corruption and violence kill thousands of people each year and threaten its stability. Some 10,000 people died in the ‘drug wars’ between 2006 and 2009. In 2008 the U.S. described Mexico and Pakistan as the two countries most at risk of becoming failed states. Storms and floods are common and affect hundreds of thousands of people a year.

Country snapshot

Mexico is an electoral democracy with the second largest economy in Latin America after Brazil. Drug-related corruption and violence kill thousands of people each year and is a threat to its stability. It has a long and influential artistic and culinary tradition.

Government

The president, who is both the head of state and the head of the government, is elected by popular vote for a six-year term. The legislature comprises the 128 member Senate, 96 of whom are elected by popular vote for six years and 32 by proportional representation, and the 500 member Chamber of Deputies, 300 of whom are elected by popular vote for three years and 200 by proportional representation. The 31 states each have their own governor, constitution, congress and judiciary.

Economy

Agriculture accounts for about 4 percent of GDP and about 15 percent of the workforce. About 50 percent of agriculture workers are subsistence farmers. The main crops include corn, tomatoes, sugar cane and avocados. Industry accounts for about 30 percent of GDP and about 90 percent of export earnings. Most major auto companies have assembly or component plants in Mexico. There is a significant food processing industry and a nascent aerospace industry. The economy has benefited greatly from global trade liberalisation in recent years, principally from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by Mexico, Canada and the U.S. in 1994. The economy is highly dependent on exports to the U.S. and movements in the U.S. business cycle. The services sector accounts for some 70 percent of GDP and employs more than half the workforce in sectors such as banks, retailing and transport. Tourism is the fourth largest foreign exchange earner, but growth in visitor numbers in areas near the border with the U.S. is hindered by fear of drug-related violence. Mexico is the world’s seventh-largest oil producer and the industry provides 40 percent of government revenues. But its importance to the economy has fallen as other sectors have grown; export earnings have fallen from over 60 percent of the total in 1980 to under 10 percent.

History

Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1810 and became a republic in 1822. In 1910 widespread fighting broke out after authoritarian president Porfirio Diaz, in power since 1876, won a blatantly fraudulent election. Revolutionary forces, led by Pancho Vila and Emiliano Zapata, among others, defeated Diaz who resigned in 1911. The introduction of a new constitution in 1917 which contained a number of anti-Catholic provisions led to renewed fighting from 1926 to 1929. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), founded in 1929, incorporated many of the country’s warring elements and held power for the next 70 years. President Lazero Cardenas, elected in 1934, nationalised the oil industry, the railways, the electricity industry and distributed land to the peasants. Support for the PRI was weakened by its mishandling of relief efforts after the 1985 Mexico city earthquake and the economic crisis of 1994-95 triggered by a devaluation of the peso. Its hold on the presidency ended with the landmark election victory in 2000 of Vicente Fox Quesada of the National Action Party (PAN). In 2006 the PAN’s Felipe Calderon narrowly defeated Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the candidate of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), in presidential elections. For months after the election Lopez Obrador refused to accept he had lost. Mexico was hit harder than any other country in the Americas by the global recession; the economy shrank by nearly 10 percent in the year to mid-2009. This boosted the PRI’s electoral fortunes and it regained control of the Chamber of Deputies in 2009. Support for the government was also undermined by growing drug-related violence, despite Calderon’s decision to deploy troops to the worst affected areas on taking office in 2006. Some 10,000 people died in the ‘drug wars’ between 2006 and 2009. In 2008 the U.S. described Mexico and Pakistan as the two countries most at risk of becoming failed states.

Legal snapshot

The legal system is a based on a civil law system and is also influenced by U.S. constitutional theory. The inquisitorial trial system was replaced with an adversarial system in 2008 and an explicit presumption of innocence was introduced. Implementation is expected to take eight years. The judiciary is divided into federal and state court systems; federal courts have jurisdiction over most civil cases and some major felonies. There is considerable political influence on judicial appointments and decisions and judges have been involved in corruption, organised crime and drug trafficking. Powerful, influential people and those able to pay bribes are rarely prosecuted; the judicial system focuses its efforts on minor crimes. The police have a reputation for corruption and for collaborating with criminals. A large proportion of crimes – 80 percent in Mexico City – go unreported, according to U.S. government-funded watchdog Freedom House. Mexico was ranked 89^th in Transparency International’s 180 nation corruption perceptions index in 2009.

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