Mexico is located on the North American continent, along with Canada and the United States of America, west of the Greenwich Meridian. As to geographical coordinates, the national territory is located between meridians 118º 27’ 24 W, from the Baja California coasts in the Pacific Ocean on the West to 86º 42’ 36 W at the most eastern point, touching Islas de las Mujeres in the Caribbean Sea; and between parallels 32º 43’ 06 N to the north, bordering the United States of America, and 14º 32’ 27 N to the south, at the mouth of Suchiate River, bordering Guatemala.

Mexico has to the north a 3,152 km border with the United States of America, and to the Southeast a joint border stretching 1,149 km with Guatemala and Belize. The length of its continental coasts is 11,122 km, second to Canada in North America.

Due to its geographical position, shape, weather, orography and geology, the Mexican Republic has a wide variety of ecological conditions unique in the world.  These conditions have resulted in rich soil and diversity in vegetation involving practically all known species.

Mexico also has land areas in which vegetation is hardly found, as in the driest areas of the desserts or in areas of perpetual snow. In contrast, there are abundant forests with trees as high as 40 mts with annual rainfall exceeding 4,000 mm.  Among these extremes, there is a wide variety of areas with extensive and diverse underbrush, pasture, conifer and oak trees in almost every mountain system, palm groves, forests with different foliage, extensive wetlands in the South and on both coasts, and pioneering vegetable communities in the coastal dunes, among many others.

As to non-renewable resources, oil and gas reserves are important, as well as silver.  The former provided output of 60-160 million barrels starting in 1998, while the latter has enabled Mexico to become the leading worldwide silver producer with a production of 2,701,329 kilograms in 1997.

Government:  Federal Democratic Representative Republic.

Head of State and Government:

Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, President.

Languages:  Besides Spanish, more than fifty indigenous languages are spoken of which the main ones are: Náhuatl, spoken by more than one million people, Maya by almost 777 thousand people, Zapoteco by more than 415 thousand people and Mixteco by almost 390 thousand people.

Religion: The Constitution guarantees religious freedom. A majority of the population is Catholic.

Territorial Expanse:

 1,964,375 square kilometers

Capital City:  Mexico, Federal District 

Administrative Division: 32 States, including the Federal District.

Population:  Mexico has a population of 103,263,388 inhabitants, according to the most updated census by the Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas, Geografia e Informatica (2005), which represents 1.6% of world population. 53 millions are female and 50.3 millions are male.

97,483,412 inhabitants (census from the year 2000)

Currency: Mexican Peso (N$) is divided into 100 cents, with denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 pesos.

Exchange rate: Purchase: $10.97 pesos for US$1, Sale: $10.98 pesos for US$1. (February 2007).

Independence Day: September 15, 1810

Weather: Mexico’s geographical situation, latitude, altitude, and relation to the land and sea, provide the country with great weather diversity which is even more marked owing to the special topographical characteristics of the national territory. Thus, instead of two types of weather (temperate or torrid), there are five types of thermal regimens: warm, semi- warm, mild, semi-cold and cold.

Economy: In 1998, Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) climbed to $414,986.4 million, based on the following main economic sectors: agriculture, 5.4%; industry, 29.1%, of which manufacturing represents 75.3%; and the service sector 65.6%, of which commerce, restaurants and hotels are most important, representing 31.9% for this sector. On the other hand, crude oil production was 3,077 million barrels daily. After experiencing a contraction during most of 2001, the Mexican economy entered into a recovery stage by the beginning of 2002. During the first quarter of 2002, all the components of aggregate supply and demand experienced negative annual growth rates. Starting from there, however, most of the macroeconomic indicators showed more dynamic activity, which can be verified in both annual and monthly comparisons with numbers adjusted by season. This incipient recovery process marked the end of the country´s economic recession.