Mexico, officially United Mexican States, Country, southern North America. The Rio Grande forms part of its northeastern border with the U.S. Area: 758,445 sq mi (1,964,375 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 132,529,000. Capital: Mexico City. More than three-fifths of Mexico’s people are mestizos, about one-fifth are American Indians, and the bulk of the rest are of European ancestry. Languages: Spanish (official); more than 50 Indian languages are spoken. Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant). Currency: Mexican peso. Mexico has two major peninsulas, the Yucatán in the southeast and Baja California in the northwest. The high Mexican Plateau forms the core of the country and is enclosed by mountain ranges: the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. The last has the country’s highest peak, the volcano Citlaltépetl, which reaches 18,406 ft (5,610 m). Mexico has a mixed economy based on agriculture, manufacturing, and the extraction of petroleum and natural gas. About one-eighth of the land is arable; major crops include corn, wheat, rice, beans, coffee, cotton, fruits, and vegetables. Mexico is the world’s largest producer of silver, bismuth, and celestite. It has significant reserves of oil and natural gas. Manufactures include processed foods, chemicals, transport vehicles, and electrical machinery. It is a federal republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president. Some scholars date human arrival in Mexico to as early as 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, but most believe it was somewhat later. The area produced a string of great early civilizations, including the Olmec, Toltec, and Maya. The Aztec empire, another important civilization located in Mexico, was conquered in 1521 by Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés, who established Mexico City on the site of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Francisco de Montejo conquered the remnants of Maya civilization in 1526, and Mexico became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 rebels negotiated independence from Spain, and in 1823 a new congress declared Mexico a republic. In 1845 the U.S. voted to annex Texas, initiating the Mexican War. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico ceded a vast territory in what is now the western and southwestern U.S. The Mexican government endured several rebellions and civil wars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (see Mexican Revolution). During World War II (1939–45) it declared war on the Axis powers, and in the postwar era it was a founding member of the United Nations (1945) and the Organization of American States (1948). In 1993 it ratified the North American Free Trade Agreement. The election of Vicente Fox to the presidency (2000) ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party. After the government involved the military in its efforts against the country’s powerful illegal drug cartels in 2006, violence mounted through the decade and into the next, with tens of thousands killed.
FAQs
What type of economy did Mexico have? ›
The economy of Mexico is a developing mixed-market economy.
What are the ancient Mexican civilizations? ›Mesoamerica. While many city-states, kingdoms, and empires competed with one another for power and prestige, Mexico can be said to have had seven major civilizations: The Olmec, Teotihuacan, the Toltec, the Aztec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and the Maya.
What was the economy of Mexico before colonization? ›The first forms of economic organization in Pre-Hispanic Mexico were agriculture and hunting activities. The first people who inhabited the Mexican lands and part of Central America were great builders and later on creators of some of the most advanced civilizations of that time.
How did Mexican civilization make money? ›Mexico's economy in the colonial period was based on resource extraction (mainly silver), on agriculture and ranching, and on trade, with manufacturing playing a minor role.
What type of economy did Olmecs have? ›The Olmec had an agricultural economy mainly based on the crops of maize corn, beans, and squash. The Olmec also had a network of long distance trade. They have been believed to import/export mass amounts of sea shell and greenstone.
How has Mexico's economy struggled? ›High energy prices, expensive telecommunication services, the scarcity of skilled labor, and the Mexican government's inability to regulate these input markets also seem to diminish Mexico's comparative advantage and earning capacity in key industries.
Which ancient civilization was established in Mexico? ›Ancient Mexico can be said to have produced five major civilizations: the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec.
What is the greatest civilization in Mexico? ›Lasting about 200 years, the Aztec Empire was the last great civilization of Mesoamerica (the region from modern northwestern Mexico to the Central American country of El Salvador) before Europeans conquered the land.
What are ancient Mexicans called? ›The Aztecs (/ˈæztɛks/ AZ-teks) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.
What were the economy of the Mayans Aztecs and Incas? ›Agriculture was the foundation of the economy for the Maya, Aztecs, and Inca. All three depended heavily on the cultivation of maize, beans, and squash. The Andean region's many microclimates made the Incan economy much more diverse. Potatoes and quinoa were staples in the Andes but not in Mesoamerica.
What was the economy of the Aztecs in Mexico? ›
The economic basis of the Aztec hegemony was the Valley of Mexico's agriculture, characterized for several centuries by irrigation systems and chinampas, the misnamed “floating gardens” that were actually a raised-field system of agriculture.
What was the economic miracle in Mexico? ›The Mexican Economic Miracle refers to the country's inward-focused development strategy, which produced sustained economic growth of 3-4 percent with modest 3 percent inflation annually from the 1940s until the 1970s.
What is Mexico's economy based on? ›Economic structure:
In 2021, services accounted for 64% of overall GDP, manufacturing 18%, other industrial activity 14%, and agriculture 4%.
The basis of Aztec success in creating a great state and ultimately an empire was their remarkable system of agriculture, the high productivity of which made for a rich and populous state.
How did the Mayan civilization make money? ›Currency. The Maya used several different mediums of exchange and in the trading of food commodities, the barter system was typically used for large orders. Cacao beans were used for everyday exchange in Postclassic times. For more expensive purchases gold, jade and copper were used as a means of exchange.
Why is Mexico a mixed economy? ›Mexico has a mixed economy, which means that it is made up of both privately-owned and state-owned companies. The government also regulates economic activity. Development is occurring at a rapid rate and private investments and businesses have also been increasing.
What is a mixed market economy? ›A mixed economy is an economy organized with some free-market elements and some socialistic elements; it lies on a continuum between pure capitalism and pure socialism. Mixed economies typically accept private ownership of most means of production, with some government intervention, mainly through regulations.
What type of economy is New Mexico? ›Oil and gas production, tourism, and federal government spending are important drivers of New Mexico's economy. The state government has an elaborate system of tax credits and technical assistance to promote job growth and business investment, especially in new technologies.
Is Mexico a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd world country? ›Mexico is third world because it is non-aligned. First World = NATO aligned countries. Second World = Warsaw Pact Aligned Countries. The term second World is not used often anymore, but first world basically means it is similar to a NATO nation in that it is wealthy, good governance, etc.