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Mexico
Mexico
and the United States
share a border of 3,152 km. (1,958 miles); from monument 258 Northwest of
Tijuana to the where the Río Grande ends in the Gulf of Mexico. It is
on the southern portion of North America, north of Central America and south
of the United States. (See
TravelBelle's article Traveling
to Mexico)
The people Mexico is comprised of is mestizo
(Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white
9%, other 1%. The predominant religion is Roman Catholic with 89% of the
population, with Protestants comprising 6%, and other religion/s 5%.
The official name for Mexico is
Mexican United States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), but many times is simply
called Mexico. It is comprised of 31 states and 1 federal district
(Mexico City, the capital city is located there).
Mexico's
climate is as diverse as it's landscape. It goes in a north-south
direction and has a wide range of altitudes from plateaus, high mountains to deep
valleys. Most of Mexico is wet from June to September and dry from October to
April. Modest rainfall amounts in the interior and north while it's
abundant along the east coast, in the south, as well as the Yucatan Peninsula.
Spanish
is the official language and is spoken by the majority of Mexicans.
There are approximately 66 indigenous languages and about 8 percent of
population speaks an indigenous language. Most of these people speak
Spanish as second language. Knowledge of English is increasing,
particularly among business persons, emigrants who've returned to Mexico, the
middle class and the young.
Several
holidays are celebrated in Mexico: New Year's (Jan 1); Constitution Day
(Feb 5); Benito Juárez's Birthday (March 21);
International Labor Day (May 1); May 5,
commemorating the victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla;
Independence Day (Sept 16) celebrating independence from Spain;
Discovery of America (Oct 12); Anniversary of the Revolution (Nov 20),
Christmas (Dec 25); New Year's Eve (Dec 31). It's
government is a Federal Republic that is made up of three branches: Executive,
Legislative, and Judicial. Mexico's
natural resources include petroleum, copper, gold, lead, natural gas, zinc and
wood.
Mexico Photo Gallery
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