kimbarber@century21penasco.com www.RockyPointKim.com Officially United Mexican States, republic (1995 est. pop. 93,986,000), 753,665 sq mi (1,952,500 sq km), S North America. It borders on the United States in the north, on the Gulf of Mexico (including its arm, the Bay of Campeche) and the Caribbean Sea in the  east, on Belize and Guatemala in the southeast, and on the Pacific Ocean in the south and west. Mexico is divided into 31 states and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. Geography Land Most of Mexico is highland or mountainous and less than 15% of the land is arable; about 25% of the country is forested. Most of the Yucatán peninsula and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast is lowland, and there are low-lying strips of land along the  Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California In the south the deserts yield to the broad, shallow lakes of a region, comprising the Valley of Mexico, known as the Anáhuac and famous for its rich cultural heritage. South of the Anáhuac, which includes Mexico City, is a chain of extinct volcanoes, including Citlaltépetl , or Orizaba (18,700 ft/5,700 m, the highest point in Mexico), Popocatépetl , and Iztaccihuatl . To the south are jumbled masses of mountains and the Sierra Madre del Sur.*Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003.
Location: Mexico borders the southern United States and Northern Belize. It sits Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Geographic Coordinates: 23 00 N, 102 00 W Area: total: 1,972,550 sq km, nearly 3x the size of Texas
land: 1,923,040 sq km
water: 49,510 sq 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. Terrain: High, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert Elevation: Lowest point: Laguna Salada - 10 m Highest Point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba - 5,700 m - The highest volcano in North America  Climate: Varies from tropical to desert Land use: arable land: 12.66%
permanent crops: 1.28% other:86.06%
Irrigated land: 63,200 sq km (2003) Agriculture note: corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico. Enviornment - International Agreements - Party to, signed & ratified - 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 People Population: 109,955,400 (July 2008 est.)  Age distribution: 0-14 years: 29.6% 15-64 years: 64.3% 65 and over: 6.1% Sex at Birth: 1.05 males per female Life Expectancy at Birth: 75.84 years  Median age: 26 years Growth Rate: 1.14 Birth rate: 20.04/1000 Death rate: 4.78/1000 Overall Population: .96 males per female Fertility Rate: 2.37 per female Religion: Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census) Languages Spoken: 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) Literacy Rate: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91%
male: 92.4%
female: 89.6% (2004 est.) Age of Majority: 18 |