Mexico Country Profile
Physical geography
Mexico is a country located in the Western Hemisphere, sharing a northern border with the United States of America and southern border with Guatemala and Belize.(See Figure 1) Mexico is mostly made up of mountains, deserts and rainforests. Mexico is a substantially diverse place in terms of people, climates and landscapes. The most significant division of the country comes from the Tropic of Cancer which cuts through the middle of the country. The climate is different on each side of Mexico. The northern part of Mexico is temperate and dry, while the southern part is more tropical with consistent temperatures year round with much more rainfall. Another feature to describe Mexico is that it sits on three tectonic plates. With that being said Mexico is one of the most seismic active places in the Western Hemisphere.
From here Mexico can be divided into three loose regions. The northern part of Mexico is a mixture of deserts and mountains. The two main mountain ranges are to the west is the Sierra Madre Occidental and to the east is Sierra Madre Oriental. These twin mountain ranges run parallel to each other from the north and south, even extending into central Mexico. In the northwest, Mexico contains the world's largest peninsula. This 775 mile long stretch of land is called the Baja California Peninsula. The northern state of Chiluhana holds Mexico's largest canyon, Copper Canyon which is seven times the size of the Grand Canyon and over 1,400 feet deeper. The three major cities of northern Mexico are Ciudad Juárez, Tijuana, and Chiluhana.
The Sierra Madres run into another mountain range, the Cordillera Neovolcanica. Once you reach the Cordillera Neovolcanica, it is in indicator that you are in Central Mexico. Central Mexico is known for a lot of the mountains with peaks reaching over 16,000 feet in elevation. Most of the peaks are active volcanoes, making the soil fertile causing freshwater to be produced The most notable valley in this part of Mexico is the Valley of Mexico. This valley is where Mexico City is located today.
Southern Mexico but generally talking about southeastern Mexico or the Yucatan Peninsula. This part of Mexico is fully tropical, differing from the climate in the northern region. This region is covered in tropical jungles rather than mountains like the rest of Mexico. This near sea level region is built on limestone, from this groundwater erodes the limestone causing massive sinkholes called cenotes. The southern region of Mexico is considered to be one of the most populated tourist destinations.
Population geography
Mexico represents about 1.6 percent of the world’s population. As of 2018, Mexico’s population is about 131.3 million, increasing about 16.4 million people since 2012.The population growth rate is 1.3 percent annually changing. Mexico ranks 10 globally for being one of the most populated countries. Mexico covers an area of 1,972,550 square kilometers with about 57 people covering per square kilometer. Mexico’s capital, Mexico City, alone has a population of about 21.2 million people with about 8.9 million of those people living in the city.
Mexico City is one of the most populated cities in the western hemisphere. The female population is about 50.7 percent and the males is about 49.3 percent. Figure 2 shows the male and female population of last year. In 2016 the country's birth rate was about 19.02 births for every 1,000, while the death rate was 5.24 for every 1,000. Overtime Mexico has indicated a steady population growth with the population nearly quadrupling between 1993 and 1980. Mexico has obtained a positive population growth over the last seven decades and it still continuing to expand to this day.
Linguistics and religion
Mexico has had many languages, about 138 indigenous languages but most have vanished over time. The main languages spoken in Mexico are Spanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya and Mixtec. Nahuatl has over 1.4 million people speaker speaking it, Yucatec Maya is spoken by three quarters of a million people, and Mixtec about half a million people. While spanish is the most spoken language in Mexico it is not the dominant language.
Catholicism has become the dominant religion in the 16th century during Spanish colonization. The main religion in Mexico is Roman Catholic, with about 88 percent of the population identifying themselves as Catholic. The second largest religion is Protestant and Evangelical which accounts for about 5 percent of the population. (See figure 3) Central Mexico is considered one of the most Catholic places in the world. Since the 19th century, Mexico has allowed freedom of religion which had caused a diversity in religions, even though most are Catholic, it opened it up for other religions.
Political geography
On September, 16th 1810 Mexico declared its independence from Spain. After taking on the U.S for the right of Texas, they went on and created their own political system. In 1946, Miguel Aleman had became the first civilian president since 1911. The government party was founded in 1929 is now renamed the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and continues to dominate for the next 50 years. The Mexican government is similar to the United Stated having three branches, the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. People have been migrating to the United States since the 1850’s creating conflicts over boundaries which caused the border lines to change. The border between Mexico and the United States has had a large impact on the lives of mexican people. The Rio Grande separates the northeastern part of Mexico from the United States. The Mexican and United States border is 2,000 miles long and extends through the west of the pacific ocean to the east of the gulf of Mexico. With these borders being so long, drug trafficking has become a major issue with both the Mexican and United States government.
Economic geography
Mexico is classified as middle class with the average household income of 13,239 pesos ($843) a month. The Mexican economy is the 11th largest in the world by the GDP. Mexico has a what you call a mixed economy which means they are made up of both privately and state owned companies. In 2016 the GDP was $1.1 trillion and the GDP per capita was $8,700. In the years between 2001 and 2008 the economy was growing but at a steady pace and only increasing by very little. Mexico exports about 81 percent of their goods to the United States. Mexico exports the same amount of goods as the rest of Latin America combined, making them number 1 in the exporting of manufactured goods.The average growth of the economy in Mexico is about 4 to 5 percent per year.
Mexico is number 8 in the world for the production of oil. Mexico imports machinery for metal work and agricultural and electrical equipment for automobiles and aircraft parts. Agriculture presents the greatest problems for the Mexican economy. The rural areas are the poorest, where only about 12 percent of the land can be farmed and about half of that is cultivated. More than 23 percent of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, which this produces less than 8 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP). Manufacturing only employs about 11 percent of the workforce. Exports of minerals are a big factor of income for Mexico. With more than about 75 percent of oil gets exported to the United States. These large fields are located of the Gulf of Mexico. Tourism and other industrial services help the economy to grow faster, contributing to about half the GDP. There are around 6 million tourists that come to Mexico each year.
Land use and urban geography
Mexico's territory is around 198 million hectares but 15 percent is towards agricultural crops, with about 58 percent for the production of livestock. There are a lot of mountains in Mexico making it hard to get a plentiful amount of crops. The growing of crops is the most important part of mexico's agriculture, it accounts about 50 percent of the output. Some of the main crops grown are sugarcane, corn, bananas, tomatoes. The abral land uses about 12.98 percent, while crops use 1.36 percent and 85.66 percent of the other. The most important export crops are sugar, coffee, fruit and vegetables, making the most common exports in Mexico mostly food crops. More than 60 percent of Mexico's forests are owned or managed by communities. Mexican federal and state governments need the support to strengthen community forests. About 79 percent of the population is living in an urban environment, with Mexico City being the capital and one of the largest cities with about 20 million people. They follow a grid pattern in Mexico City, where it is also the center for the government.