The site of several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved independence early in the 19th century. Elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON, but Enrique PENA NIETO regained the presidency for the PRI in 2012. The global financial crisis in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn in Mexico the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, high underemployment, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.
Geography
- Location
North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States
- Geographic coordinates
- Area 14/257
total: 1,964,375 sq km
land: 1,943,945 sq km
water: 20,430 sq km
- Area - comparative
slightly less than three times the size of Texas
- Land boundaries
total: 4,389 km
border countries (3): Belize 276 km, Guatemala 958 km, US 3,155 km
- Coastline
9,330 km
- Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
- Climate
varies from tropical to desert
- Terrain
high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
- Elevation
mean elevation:
elevation extremes:
lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,675 m
- Natural resources
petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
- Land use
agricultural land: 54.9%
arable land 11.8%; permanent crops 1.4%; permanent pasture 41.7%
forest: 33.3%
other: 11.8% (2011 est.)
- Irrigated land
65,000 sq km (2012)
- Total renewable water resources
457.2 cu km (2011)
- Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
total: 80.4 cu km/yr (14%/9%/77%)
per capita: 700.4 cu m/yr (2009)
- Natural hazards
tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts
volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (elev. 3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (elev. 5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana
- Environment - current issues
scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater 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
- Environment - international agreements
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
- Geography - note
strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico
People and Society
- Nationality
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican
- Ethnic groups
mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 62%, predominantly Amerindian 21%, Amerindian 7%, other 10% (mostly European)
note: Mexico does not collect census data on ethnicity (2012 est.)
- Languages
Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%
note: indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2005)
- Religions
Roman Catholic 82.7%, Pentecostal 1.6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.4%, other Evangelical Churches 5%, other 1.9%, none 4.7%, unspecified 2.7% (2010 est.)
- Population 12/238
121,736,809 (July 2015 est.)
- Age structure
0-14 years: 27.59% (male 17,178,327/female 16,412,337)
15-24 years: 17.9% (male 11,027,564/female 10,759,446)
25-54 years: 40.55% (male 23,785,345/female 25,576,645)
55-64 years: 7.19% (male 4,017,721/female 4,734,391)
65 years and over: 6.77% (male 3,709,873/female 4,535,160) (2015 est.)
- Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 51.7%
youth dependency ratio: 41.9%
elderly dependency ratio: 9.8%
potential support ratio: 10.2% (2015 est.)
- Median age
total: 27.6 years
male: 26.6 years
female: 28.7 years (2015 est.)
- Population growth rate 102/233
1.18% (2015 est.)
- Birth rate 92/224
18.78 births/1,000 population (2015 est.)
- Death rate 181/225
5.26 deaths/1,000 population (2015 est.)
- Net migration rate 160/222
-1.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015 est.)
- Urbanization
urban population: 79.2% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 1.57% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
- Major urban areas - population
MEXICO CITY (capital) 20.999 million; Guadalajara 4.843 million; Monterrey 4.513 million; Puebla 2.984 million; Toluca de Lerdo 2.164 million; Tijuana 1.987 million (2015)
- Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.85 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2015 est.)
- Mother's mean age at first birth
21.3 (2008 est.)
- Maternal mortality rate 108/184
38 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
- Infant mortality rate 122/224
total: 12.23 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.64 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2015 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth 95/224
total population: 75.65 years
male: 72.88 years
female: 78.55 years (2015 est.)
- Total fertility rate 94/224
2.27 children born/woman (2015 est.)
- Contraceptive prevalence rate
72.5% (2009)
- Health expenditures 108/191
6.2% of GDP (2013)
- Physicians density
2.1 physicians/1,000 population (2011)
- Hospital bed density
1.5 beds/1,000 population (2011)
- Drinking water source
improved:
urban: 97.2% of population
rural: 92.1% of population
total: 96.1% of population
unimproved:
urban: 2.8% of population
rural: 7.9% of population
total: 3.9% of population (2015 est.)
- Sanitation facility access
improved:
urban: 88% of population
rural: 74.5% of population
total: 85.2% of population
unimproved:
urban: 12% of population
rural: 25.5% of population
total: 14.8% of population (2015 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate
0.23% (2014 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS
194,100 (2014 est.)
- HIV/AIDS - deaths
6,000 (2014 est.)
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate 23/191
27.6% (2014)
- Children under the age of 5 years underweight 117/138
2.8% (2012)
- Education expenditures 72/173
5.1% of GDP (2011)
- School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 13 years
male: 13 years
female: 13 years (2012)
- Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 104/134
total: 9.2%
male: 8.5%
female: 10.5% (2013 est.)
Government
- Country name
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico
local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
local short form: Mexico
etymology: named after the Mexica branch of the Aztecs; the meaning of the name is uncertain
- Government type
federal republic
- Capital
name: Mexico City (Distrito Federal)
geographic coordinates: 19.26° N, 99.08° W
time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October
note: Mexico has four time zones
- 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, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (Veracruz), Yucatan, Zacatecas
- Independence
16 September 1810 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)
- National holiday
Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
- Constitution
several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917; amended many times, last in 2014 (2015)
- Legal system
civil law system with US constitutional law influence; judicial review of legislative acts
- International law organization participation
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
- Citizenship
citizenship by birth: yes
citizenship by descent: yes
dual citizenship recognized: not specified
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
- Suffrage
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
- Executive branch
chief of state: President Enrique PENA NIETO (since 1 December 2012); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Enrique PENA NIETO (since 1 December 2012)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general, the head of the Bank of Mexico, and senior treasury officials require consent of the Senate
elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a single 6-year term; election last held on 1 July 2012 (next to be held in July 2018)
election results: Enrique PENA NIETO elected president; percent of vote - Enrique PENA NIETO (PRI) 38.2%, Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (PRD) 31.6%, Josefina Eugenia VAZQUEZ Mota (PAN) 25.4%, other 4.8%
- Legislative branch
description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 32 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 200 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 3-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held on 1 July 2012 for all of the seats (next to be held 1 July 2018); Chamber of Deputies - last held on 7 June 2015 (next to be held on 1 July 2018)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRI 52, PAN 38, PRD 22, PVEM 9, PT 4, Movimiento Ciudadano 2, PANAL 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRI 203, PAN 108, PRD 56, PVEM 47, MORENA 35, MC 26, PNA/PANAL 10, PES 8, PT 6, independent 1
- Judicial branch
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (consists of the chief justice and 11 justices and organized into civil, criminal, administrative, and labor panels) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (organized into the superior court, with 7 judges including the court president and 5 regional courts, each with 3 judges)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices nominated by the president of the republic and approved by two-thirds vote of the members present in the Senate; justices serve for life; Electoral Tribunal superior and regional court judges nominated by the Supreme Court and elected by two-thirds vote of members present in the Senate; superior court president elected from among its members to hold office for a single-renewable 4-year term; other judges of the superior and regional courts serve staggered, single-renewable 9-year terms
subordinate courts: federal level includes circuit, collegiate, and unitary courts; state and district level courts
- Political parties and leaders
Citizen's Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano) or MC [Dante DELGADO Rannaoro]
Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) or PRI [Cesar CAMACHO Quiroz]
Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo) or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]
Mexican Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico) or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Torres]
Movement for National Regeneration (Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional) or MORENA [Marti BATRES]
National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [Gustavo MADERO Munoz]
New Alliance Party (Partido Nueva Alianza) or PNA/PANAL [Luis CASTRO Obregon]
Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Jesus ZAMBRANO Grijalva]
Social Encounter Party (Partido Encuentro Social) or PES [Hugo Eric FLORES Cervantes]
- Political pressure groups and leaders
Businessmen's Coordinating Council or CCE
Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX
Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN
Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM
Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO
Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE
Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES
National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA
National Confederation of Popular Organizations or CNOP
National Coordinator for Education Workers or CNTE
National Peasant Confederation or CNC
National Small Business Chamber or CANACOPE
National Syndicate of Education Workers or SNTE
National Union of Workers or UNT
Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca or APPO
Roman Catholic Church
- International organization participation
APEC, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (observer), Caricom (observer), CD, CDB, CE (observer), CELAC, CSN (observer), EBRD, FAO, FATF, G-3, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-5, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, MIGA, NAFTA, NAM (observer), NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR (observer), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
- Flag description
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; Mexico's coat of arms (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) is centered in the white band; green signifies hope, joy, and love; white represents peace and honesty; red stands for hardiness, bravery, strength, and valor; the coat of arms is derived from a legend that the wandering Aztec people were to settle at a location where they would see an eagle on a cactus eating a snake; the city they founded, Tenochtitlan, is now Mexico City
note: similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter, uses lighter shades of red and green, and does not display anything in its white band
- National symbol(s)
golden eagle; national colors: green, white, red
- National anthem
name: "Himno Nacional Mexicano" (National Anthem of Mexico)
lyrics/music: Francisco Gonzalez BOCANEGRA/Jaime Nuno ROCA
note: adopted 1943, in use since 1854; also known as "Mexicanos, al grito de Guerra" (Mexicans, to the War Cry); according to tradition, Francisco Gonzalez BOCANEGRA, an accomplished poet, was uninterested in submitting lyrics to a national anthem contest; his fiancee locked him in a room and refused to release him until the lyrics were completed
Economy
- Economy - overview
Mexico's $2.2 trillion economy has become increasingly oriented toward manufacturing in the 22 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into force. Per capita income is roughly one-third that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal.
Mexico has become the United States' second-largest export market and third-largest source of imports. In 2014, two-way trade in goods and services exceeded $590 billion. Mexico has free trade agreements with 46 countries, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. In 2012, Mexico formally joined the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations and formed the Pacific Alliance with Peru, Colombia and Chile.
Mexico's current government, led by President Enrique PENA NIETO, emphasized economic reforms during its first two years in office, passing and implementing sweeping education, energy, financial, fiscal and telecommunications reform legislation, among others, with the long-term aim to improve competitiveness and economic growth across the Mexican economy. Mexico began holding public auctions of exploration and development rights to select oil and gas resources in 2015 as a part of reforms that allow for private investment in the oil, gas, and electricity sectors. The second and third auctions demonstrated the capacity for the Mexican Government to adapt and improve the terms of the contracts to garner sufficient interest from investors amid low oil prices.
Although the economy experienced stronger growth in 2014-15 as a result of increased investment and stronger demand for Mexican exports, growth is predicted to remain below potential given falling oil production, weak oil prices, structural issues such as low productivity, high inequality, a large informal sector employing over half of the workforce, weak rule of law, and corruption. Over the medium-term, the economy is vulnerable to global economic pressures, such as lower external demand, rising interest rates, and low oil prices - approximately 20% of government revenue comes from the state-owned oil company, PEMEX. The increasing integration of supply chains, development of energy sectors, and government-to-government focus on trade facilitation will continue to make the North American region increasingly competitive and contribute to Mexican economic development and strength.
- GDP (purchasing power parity) 12/230
$2.22 trillion (2015 est.)
$2.17 trillion (2014 est.)
$2.124 trillion (2013 est.)
note: data are in 2015 US dollars
- GDP (official exchange rate)
$1.161 trillion (2015 est.)
- GDP - real growth rate 131/225
2.3% (2015 est.)
2.1% (2014 est.)
1.4% (2013 est.)
- GDP - per capita (PPP) 92/230
$18,500 (2015 est.)
$18,100 (2014 est.)
$17,700 (2013 est.)
note: data are in 2015 US dollars
- Gross national saving 85/179
19.7% of GDP (2015 est.)
19.9% of GDP (2014 est.)
19.3% of GDP (2013 est.)
- GDP - composition, by end use
household consumption: 67.3%
government consumption: 12.1%
investment in fixed capital: 21.2%
investment in inventories: -0.7%
exports of goods and services: 38.4%
imports of goods and services: -38.3%
(2015 est.)
- GDP - composition, by sector of origin
agriculture: 3.5%
industry: 34.1%
services: 62.4% (2015 est.)
- Agriculture - products
corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products
- Industries
food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
- Industrial production growth rate 77/202
3.3% (2015 est.)
- Labor force 13/233
52.81 million (2015 est.)
- Labor force - by occupation
agriculture: 13.4%
industry: 24.1%
services: 61.9% (2011)
- Unemployment rate 45/207
4.5% (2015 est.)
4.8% (2014 est.)
note: underemployment may be as high as 25%
- Population below poverty line
52.3%
note: based on food-based definition of poverty; asset-based poverty amounted to more than 47% (2012 est.)
- Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 37.5% (2010)
- Distribution of family income - Gini index 26/144
48.3 (2008)
53.1 (1998)
- Budget
revenues: $259.6 billion
expenditures: $300.5 billion (2015 est.)
- Taxes and other revenues 141/219
22.3% of GDP (2015 est.)
- Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) 131/220
-3.5% of GDP (2015 est.)
- Public debt 98/176
45.2% of GDP (2015 est.)
42.1% of GDP (2014 est.)
- Fiscal year
calendar year
- Inflation rate (consumer prices) 131/226
2.7% (2015 est.)
4% (2014 est.)
- Central bank discount rate 84/156
4.5% (31 December 2012)
4.5% (31 December 2011)
- Commercial bank prime lending rate 159/184
3.7% (31 December 2015 est.)
3.55% (31 December 2014 est.)
- Stock of narrow money 23/192
$180.8 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$195.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
- Stock of broad money 20/193
$826.7 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
$727 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
- Stock of domestic credit 30/191
$389 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$412.5 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
- Market value of publicly traded shares 22/121
$525.1 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
$408.7 billion (31 December 2011)
$454.3 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
- Current account balance 189/197
-$27.9 billion (2015 est.)
-$24.98 billion (2014 est.)
- Exports 12/224
$430.9 billion (2015 est.)
$398.3 billion (2014 est.)
- Exports - commodities
manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton
- Exports - partners
US 80.2% (2014)
- Imports 10/223
$434.8 billion (2015 est.)
$400.4 billion (2014 est.)
- Imports - commodities
metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, automobile parts for assembly and repair, aircraft, aircraft parts
- Imports - partners
US 48.8%, China 16.6%, Japan 4.4% (2014)
- Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 13/170
$204.1 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$195.9 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
- Debt - external 29/206
$424.1 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
$397.3 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
- Stock of direct foreign investment - at home 19/120
$361 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$338 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
- Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad 30/105
$142.8 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$131.2 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
- Exchange rates
Mexican pesos (MXN) per US dollar -
15.88 (2015 est.)
13.29 (2014 est.)
13.29 (2013 est.)
13.17 (2012 est.)
12.42 (2011 est.)
Energy
- Electricity - production 15/220
278.7 billion kWh (2012 est.)
- Electricity - consumption 15/219
234 billion kWh (2012 est.)
- Electricity - exports 51/218
1.288 billion kWh (2013 est.)
- Electricity - imports 71/219
607 million kWh (2013 est.)
- Electricity - installed generating capacity 17/214
62.29 million kW (2012 est.)
- Electricity - from fossil fuels 100/214
74.2% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
- Electricity - from nuclear fuels 28/214
2.5% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
- Electricity - from hydroelectric plants 97/214
18.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
- Electricity - from other renewable sources 60/212
4.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
- Crude oil - production 11/214
2.459 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
- Crude oil - exports 13/214
1.22 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
- Crude oil - imports 76/214
9,884 bbl/day (2013 est.)
- Crude oil - proved reserves 17/215
9.812 billion bbl (1 January 2015 est.)
- Refined petroleum products - production 14/214
1.438 million bbl/day (2013 est.)
- Refined petroleum products - consumption 12/212
1.966 million bbl/day (2014 est.)
- Refined petroleum products - exports 37/214
171,200 bbl/day (2013 est.)
- Refined petroleum products - imports 13/213
563,300 bbl/day (2013 est.)
- Natural gas - production 19/216
45.4 billion cu m (2014 est.)
- Natural gas - consumption 10/215
73.26 billion cu m (2014 est.)
- Natural gas - exports 44/215
172 million cu m (2014 est.)
- Natural gas - imports 13/214
27.39 billion cu m (2014 est.)
- Natural gas - proved reserves 30/212
483.5 billion cu m (1 January 2014 est.)
- Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy 16/212
453.8 million Mt (2012 est.)
Communications
- Telephones - fixed lines 14/219
total subscriptions: 21.1 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 18 (2014 est.)
- Telephones - mobile cellular 14/217
total: 102.2 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 85 (2014 est.)
- Telephone system
general assessment: adequate telephone service for business and government; improving quality and increasing mobile cellular availability, with mobile subscribers far outnumbering fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable
domestic: despite the opening to competition in January 1997, Telmex remains dominant; fixed-line teledensity is less than 20 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is about 80 per 100 persons
international: country code - 52; Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Spain, and Italy; the Americas Region Caribbean Ring System (ARCOS-1) and the MAYA-1 submarine cable system together provide access to Central America, parts of South America and the Caribbean, and the US; satellite earth stations - 120 (32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), 1 Panamsat, numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations); linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections (2011)
- Broadcast media
many TV stations and more than 1,400 radio stations with most privately owned; the Televisa group once had a virtual monopoly in TV broadcasting, but new broadcasting groups and foreign satellite and cable operators are now available (2012)
- Radio broadcast stations
AM 851, FM 726, shortwave 15 (2009)
- Television broadcast stations
729 (2009)
- Internet country code
.mx
- Internet hosts 9/232
16.233 million (2012)
- Internet users 12/217
total: 49.5 million
percent of population: 41.1% (2014 est.)
Transportation
- Airports 3/236
1,714 (2013)
- Airports - with paved runways
total: 243
over 3,047 m: 12
2,438 to 3,047 m: 32
1,524 to 2,437 m: 80
914 to 1,523 m: 86
under 914 m: 33 (2013)
- Airports - with unpaved runways
total: 1,471
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 42
914 to 1,523 m: 281
under 914 m: 1,146 (2013)
- Heliports
1 (2013)
- Pipelines
gas 18,074 km; liquid petroleum 2,102 km; oil 8,775 km; oil/gas/water 369 km; refined products 7,565 km; water 123 km (2013)
- Railways 16/136
total: 15,389 km
standard gauge: 15,389 km 1.435-m gauge (27 km electrified) (2014)
- Roadways 19/223
total: 377,660 km
paved: 137,544 km (includes 7,176 km of expressways)
unpaved: 240,116 km (2012)
- Waterways 33/107
2,900 km (navigable rivers and coastal canals mostly connected with ports on the country's east coast) (2012)
- Merchant marine 70/156
total: 52
by type: bulk carrier 5, cargo 3, chemical tanker 11, liquefied gas 3, passenger/cargo 10, petroleum tanker 17, roll on/roll off 3
foreign-owned: 5 (France 1, Greece 2, South Africa 1, UAE 1)
registered in other countries: 12 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, Marshall Islands 2, Panama 5, Portugal 1, Spain 1, Venezuela 1, unknown 1) (2010)
- Ports and terminals
major seaport(s): Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Veracruz
container port(s) (TEUs): Manzanillo (1,992,176), Lazaro Cardenas (1,242,777) (2012)
oil terminals: Cayo Arcas terminal, Dos Bocas terminal
LNG terminal(s) (import): Altamira, Ensenada
cruise port(s): Cancun, Cozumel, Ensenada
Military and Security
- Military branches
Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Sedena): Army (Ejercito), Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, FAM); Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaria de Marina, Semar): Mexican Navy (Armada de Mexico (ARM); includes Naval Air Force (FAN), Mexican Naval Infantry Corps (Cuerpo de Infanteria de Marina, Mexmar or CIM)) (2013)
- Military service age and obligation
18 years of age for compulsory military service, conscript service obligation is 12 months; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary enlistment; conscripts serve only in the Army; Navy and Air Force service is all voluntary; women are eligible for voluntary military service; cadets enrolled in military schools from the age of 15 are considered members of the armed forces (2012)
- Military expenditures 124/132
0.59% of GDP (2012)
0.56% of GDP (2011)
0.59% of GDP (2010)
Transnational Issues
- Disputes - international
abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; the US has intensified security measures to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across its border with Mexico; Mexico must deal with thousands of impoverished Guatemalans and other Central Americans who cross the porous border looking for work in Mexico and the United States; Belize and Mexico are working to solve minor border demarcation discrepancies arising from inaccuracies in the 1898 border treaty
- Refugees and internally displaced persons
IDPs: 281,400 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region; drug cartel violence and government's military response since 2007; violence between and within indigenous groups) (2014)
stateless persons: 13 (2014)
- Illicit drugs
major drug-producing and transit nation; world's second largest opium poppy cultivator; opium poppy cultivation in 2009 rose 31% over 2008 to 19,500 hectares yielding a potential production of 50 metric tons of pure heroin, or 125 metric tons of "black tar" heroin, the dominant form of Mexican heroin in the western United States; marijuana cultivation increased 45% to 17,500 hectares in 2009; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, with an estimated 95% of annual cocaine movements toward the US stopping in Mexico; major drug syndicates control the majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market (2007)