I.

Introduction

Mexico, in full United Mexican States (Spanish Estados Unidos Mexicanos), federal republic in North America. Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Western Hemisphere and is rich in natural resources such as petroleum and natural gas. Mexico’s efforts to develop and modernize its economy—one of the 15 largest in the world—have been slowed by the nation’s rugged terrain, limited farmland, a rapidly growing population, and a series of economic crises. The nation’s capital, Mexico City, is one of the largest cities in the world. In Latin America, only Brazil has a larger population than Mexico.

Mexico is bordered by the United States on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on the east, and Guatemala and Belize on the south. It is characterized by an extraordinary diversity in topography and climate and is crossed by two major mountain chains, the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. The high central plateau between these two mountain ranges historically funneled most of the human population toward the center of this region. Mexico features volcanic peaks, snow-capped mountains, tropical rain forests, and internationally famous beaches. Mexico City is an enormous metropolitan area and dominates the rest of the country’s culture, economy, and politics. Nearly one-fifth of the nation’s population lives in the immediate vicinity of the capital. Mexico City is also a central hub for Mexico’s transportation network—including railroads, highways, and airlines.

Mexico and the United States share a border that is 3,100 km (1,900 mi) long, much of which is formed by the Rio Grande, a major river known as the Río Bravo in Mexico. This international border is the longest in the world between an economically developing country and one with a highly developed, industrialized economy. This proximity has influenced Mexico’s internal and external migration patterns, prompting several million Mexicans to move north to the border region or to the United States itself. It has also affected the culture of both Mexico and the United States, fostering the development of a number of communities along the border that mix the cultures of both nations. Mexico covers an area of 1,964,382 sq km (758,452 sq mi).

The people of Mexico reflect the country’s rich history. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century soon led to widespread intermarriage and racial mixing between Spaniards and Native Americans. As late as the early 19th century, Native Americans accounted for nearly two-thirds of the population in the region. During that century, however, the racial composition of the country began to change from one that featured distinct European (Spanish) and indigenous populations, to one made up largely of mestizos—people of mixed Spanish and Native American descent. By the end of the 19th century, mestizos, who were discriminated against during three centuries of Spanish colonization, had become the largest population group in Mexico. Mestizos now account for about 60 percent of Mexicans.

During the colonial era, many Native Americans and mestizos adopted the Spanish language and were converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of the Spanish colonizers. This has provided the country with a greater religious and cultural homogeneity than might have been present otherwise. The vast majority of Mexicans, about 90 percent, are Catholic and speak Spanish. Nearly 8 percent of Mexicans continue to speak one of many Native American languages, the most common of which is Nahuatl. In recent years, Mexicans have moved in large numbers from rural to urban settings; in 2005, 76 percent of Mexicans resided in urban areas, with half of those citizens living in cities of 100,000 or more.

Mexico has a rich heritage in art and architecture and is recognized internationally for the contributions of its 20th-century mural artists, who created murals that reflected not only Mexico’s history and culture, but also its current social issues. Mexico’s blend of indigenous and European influences has affected many of its traditions and much of its culture. This ethnic heritage has contributed to the development of notable musical styles, folk art, and cuisine, all of which are also now found throughout the United States.

Mexico’s economic achievements are many, but the country continues to face many obstacles as it tries to further develop its economy. Political instability prevented significant economic growth for much of the 19th century. The Mexican Revolution, a major social upheaval in the second decade of the 20th century, further delayed Mexico’s economic expansion. Since World War II (1939-1945), the country has moved away from an agrarian-based economy; its economy now relies heavily on light manufacturing and exports. The country’s enormous petroleum reserves rank it among the top ten countries in the world. Mexico is a major exporter of crude oil and remains one of the top producers and exporters of silver, a mineral resource that has been important since colonial times. Although petroleum dominated the economy in the 1960s and 1970s, recent governments have encouraged economic diversification. Manufacturing, tourism, and assembly industries in northern Mexico are now important sectors of the economy. Mexico’s economy is also of major importance to the United States, not only because of formal links through economic agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but also because Mexico is one of the largest trading partners of the United States. In turn, Mexico’s largest trading partner is the United States.

The history of Mexico revolves around the mixing of numerous cultural, ethnic, and political influences. These include contributions from several major indigenous civilizations, Spanish influences from the period of colonial rule, and a significant African heritage resulting from the slave trade of the early colonial era. Mexico’s postindependence period was characterized by violence and civil war, including European intervention and a long domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)—the most important event in 20th-century Mexican history. This revolution influenced Mexican culture and politics for decades to come.

Mexico’s political system emerged from this era and has provided political continuity from 1929 to the present, a record achieved by few other governments. Its political system is dominated by a strong president and executive branch, to the detriment of the judicial and legislative arms of government. Throughout most of the 20th century, the government was controlled by a single party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which dominated national elective offices. In 2000, however, the PRI lost the presidency for the first time since the party was formed in 1929.

II.

Land and Resources

Mexico extends along the entire southern border of the United States, from Tijuana, just south of San Diego, California, southeast to Matamoros, along the Gulf Coast of Texas just below Brownsville. The entire border between Texas and Mexico follows the Rio Grande. Mexico is more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) wide along its northern border with the United States, but narrows to only 210 km (130 mi) in the south, between the Bay of Campeche and the Gulf of Tehuantepec. In northwestern Mexico, the peninsula of Baja California extends southeast below California. In the southeastern part of the country, the Yucatán Peninsula extends northeast toward Cuba, separating the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea.

Mexico is a mountainous country with a large central plateau and relatively small amounts of naturally fertile land. Much of the country is characterized by a semiarid climate with limited rainfall. The varied topography and climate in other regions have contributed to regional diversity and uneven economic development.

The capital, Mexico City, has long served as the hub of the country’s development, and most major north-south transportation links pass through the city. Mexico’s population has historically been concentrated in the central regions of the country, with development moving northward along the central plateau. The south—characterized by dense forests, a tropical climate, a largely indigenous population, and a rural-based economy—is much less developed than the rest of the country.

Since World War II (1939-1945), the northern border states have been the focus of heavy government investment and have attracted increasing internal migration. Agricultural lands in these northern regions are often irrigated. Industrial enterprises, including border assembly industries, characterize much of this region. Due to the resources recently invested along Mexico’s northern border, as well as the proximity of the United States, northern Mexico and the border region now host some of the most economically advanced areas in Mexico.

A.

Natural Regions

Mexico can be divided into a number of main physical regions, based largely upon elevation. These include the immense central plateau, the Pacific lowlands, the Gulf Coast plains, the Yucatán Peninsula, the Southern Highlands, the Chiapas Highlands, and the Baja California Peninsula.

Mexico’s most distinguishing physical feature is the central plateau, which runs from the northern border with the United States as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The plateau is flanked by two major mountain ranges—the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental in the east—that fall off sharply to narrow coastal plains. These ranges come together about 240 km (about 150 mi) southeast of Mexico City. Both have historically been major barriers to transportation between the central plateau and the coastal plains.

The plateau generally ranges in elevation from about 900 m (about 3,000 ft) in the north to about 2,400 m (about 8,000 ft) in the south. Most of Mexico’s major peaks and inactive volcanoes are located on this plateau. These include Popocatépetl (5,452 m/17,887 ft) and Ixtaccíhuatl (5,286 m/17,343 ft), both of which are located near Mexico City, and the highest peak in Mexico, Pico de Orizaba (5,610 m/18,406 ft), located northwest of the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz. Many of Mexico’s major cities, including Mexico City, are located in smaller basins within the central plateau and are surrounded by mountains. The large basin where Mexico City is located has been known historically as the Valley of Mexico. As with California to the north, Mexico has frequent seismic activity, and earthquakes are fairly common in the capital city. In 1985 a major earthquake in Mexico City killed thousands and left nearly 30,000 homeless.

Between the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Pacific Ocean (including the Gulf of California) are the Pacific Coast lowlands. This western coastal plain ranges from about 50 km (about 30 mi) wide in the north to just a few kilometers wide south of Cape Corrientes, directly west of the city of Guadalajara. The plain widens again near the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south. The irrigated northern regions are used heavily for agricultural production.

The Gulf Coast plain, which lies between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Gulf of Mexico, is about 280 km (about 175 mi) wide at the border with Texas. It narrows to a width of just a few kilometers near Veracruz in the south, and then widens again at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The coast is characterized by swampy lowlands and numerous lagoons. The northern region is generally dry, and agriculture is possible only with the help of irrigation. Rainfall is more plentiful in the south, where there are tropical forests and some fertile farmland. The country’s most important port, Veracruz, is located in this region, which is also the site of many of Mexico’s petroleum discoveries.

The Yucatán Peninsula extends northeast from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a flat, low-lying region without surface rivers. The northwestern peninsula is dry and brushy and supports some agriculture; further south rainfall is plentiful and the peninsula is covered by tropical rain forests. The important international tourist center of Cancún is located along the eastern coast of the Yucatán.

The Southern Highlands, located south of the central plateau, are made up of a number of steep mountain ranges, deep valleys, and dry plateaus. The Sierra Madre del Sur range dominates this region, rising in the west near the mouth of the Balsas River. The range generally runs parallel to the Pacific coast until reaching the Gulf of Tehuantepec in the east; in many areas the mountains meet the sea, creating a rugged coastline. This scenic coastal region has become known as the Mexican Riviera and is the site of a number of coastal resort cities, including Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta. Inland valleys are hot and dry and support some irrigated agriculture.

South and east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, bordering Guatemala, are the Chiapas Highlands. Much of this region receives heavy rainfall and is covered by tropical forests. Some mountains in the Chiapas Highlands rise to more than 2,700 m (9,000 ft). Many of the residents of this sparsely populated area are Native Americans who work on subsistence farms or plantations.

In the far northwest of the country is the Baja California Peninsula. Stretching from the U.S. border southeast for 1,300 km (800 mi), the peninsula is extremely arid and mountainous, with a very narrow coastal plain. It is largely unpopulated, but has become increasingly attractive to U.S. tourists who visit coastal resorts along the northern Gulf of California and on the Pacific Ocean.

B.

Rivers and Lakes

Mexico’s rivers are not navigable by large ships. Rather than serving as communications or commercial links, they have been harnessed as major sources of hydroelectric power, especially since the 1950s. Dams on these rivers also serve to prevent annual flood damage.

Among the country's most important rivers is the Grijalva, which originates in Guatemala but flows through the state of Chiapas and then empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Villahermosa. It is navigable in places by small boats. Another important river is the Usumacinta, which also originates in Guatemala. The Usumacinta takes a more easterly route through Chiapas and joins the Grijalva near the Gulf of Mexico. The Infiernillo dam, on the Balsas River southwest of Mexico City, forms one of the largest reservoirs in the country and makes up much of the border between the states of Guerrero and Michoacán. The Papaloapan River originates in the mountains north of the narrow neck of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Coatzacoalcos, which boasts another major river by the same name.

The Grande de Santiago and Lerma rivers together form the largest and most important river system in Mexico. The Lerma originates in the Sierra Madre Occidental and flows into Lake Chapala. The Grande de Santiago drains out of the lake and empties into the Pacific Ocean in the state of Nayarit. It is a significant source of hydroelectric power. The Río Bravo (known as the Rio Grande in the United States) delineates the entire Texas-Mexico border and provides water for major irrigation projects in both countries. Mexico does not have many large lakes. Lake Chapala, south of the city of Guadalajara, is the largest in the country at about 80 km (about 50 mi) long and about 13 km (about 8 mi) wide.

C.

Coastline

Mexico’s coastline totals about 9,330 km (about 5,797 mi) in length, with its western coast being about twice as long as its eastern coast. The country has few good harbors. Tampico, Veracruz, and Coatzacoalcos are major ports on the Gulf of Mexico. Important Pacific ports include Acapulco, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, and Salina Cruz.

D.

Plant and Animal Life

Much of northern Mexico is covered by desert vegetation, including mesquite, cactus, desert scrub, and some grasses. The higher regions are forested largely with hardwoods such as oak, and needle-leafed trees such as pine and fir. Expansive grasslands also cover large parts of this region. The low-lying areas of southern Mexico are typically covered by tropical rain forests that contain a great variety of trees and ferns. Much of the forests of central Mexico were destroyed before the Spanish conquest or during the colonial era. Between 1990 and 2005, deforestation continued at an average rate of 0.5 percent per year, and Mexico lost a total of 260,000 hectares (0.6 million acres) of forest.

Some of the animals found in Central and South America—such as monkeys, tapirs, and jaguars—remain in parts of southern Mexico. This is especially true in the rain forests of Chiapas and the southern Pacific coast, where human settlement is sparse and population densities have remained relatively low compared to the northern regions of the country. As a consequence, more of the natural flora and fauna have survived in southern Mexico.

The introduction of large numbers of domesticated animals in central and northern Mexico, as well as the density of human settlement, have considerably reduced the natural wildlife populations in these regions. However, bear, deer, coyote, peccary, and mountain lion remain in the rugged, mountainous regions of the Sierra Madre. Environmental groups have tried to protect Mexico’s endangered species, particularly marine turtles, from further exploitation and decline, but 57 bird species, 72 mammal species, 21 reptile species, 106 fish species, 41 invertebrates, and 190 amphibians have been deemed to be threatened in Mexico as of 2004.

E.

Natural Resources

Most of Mexico’s natural resources are below the soil. The country’s semiarid climate, its lack of rainfall, and its limited amounts of fertile land have made large-scale agriculture difficult. Only about 13 percent of Mexico’s land is cultivated. Forests cover approximately 34 percent of the nation, giving Mexico some of the world’s largest remaining forest reserves, despite the high levels of deforestation. Most of these forests are found in the Sierra Madre ranges, and in the rainy, tropical regions of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Chiapas Highlands. Mexico has large deposits of silver, copper, salt, fluorite, iron, manganese, sulfur, phosphate, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, gold, and gypsum. Petroleum is the country’s single most valuable mineral resource. Most of the major reserves have been discovered along the Gulf Coast, either inland or in the Gulf of Mexico.

F.

Climate

The climate throughout much of Mexico is characterized by high temperatures and moderate to low rainfall. The highland climates vary considerably with elevation, but the central plateau generally has a moderate climate with few extremes of hot or cold. Mexico City, for example, has an average July high temperature of 23°C (74°F) and an average January high temperature of 21°C (70°F). Cities at lower elevations on the plateau have somewhat warmer climates. The northern and central areas of the plateau are arid and semiarid, with the drier regions receiving about 300 mm (about 12 in) of rainfall annually. Rainfall increases in the southern regions of the plateau, which receive about 500 to 650 mm (about 20 to 26 in) of rainfall annually, with most of it typically falling in the summer. Traditional rainfall patterns in the Valley of Mexico have been altered by substantial industrial pollution, which has become so serious that the rainy and dry seasons no longer follow a regular annual cycle.

Much of northwest Mexico—including Baja California and the northern regions of the Pacific Coast lowlands—is quite arid, receiving less than 130 mm (5 in) of rain per year. The northern Gulf Coast plains are semiarid, receiving about 250 to 560 mm (about 10 to 22 in) of rainfall annually. As on the central plateau, rainfall increases toward the south on both the western and eastern coasts.

The Tropic of Cancer, which marks the northern limits of the tropics, passes through the southern tip of Baja California and crosses central Mexico. Much of southern Mexico has a tropical climate with distinct rainy and dry seasons; the Gulf Coast has more regular and abundant rainfall than the southern regions of the Pacific Coast. Temperatures in these coastal regions range between 21 and 27°C (70 and 80°F) during the year. Annual rainfall, which generally ranges between 1,500 and 2,000 mm (60 and 80 in), comes mainly during the rainy season of May to October. Mexico’s Gulf Coast is subject to hurricanes that pass through the region and often cause extensive damage.

The northern Yucatán Peninsula is hot and semiarid. Annual rainfall ranges between 500 and 1,000 mm (20 and 40 in). The extreme southern part of Mexico, including the Chiapas Highlands and the southern regions of the Yucatán Peninsula, is rainy and tropical. The climate in this region is generally hot and humid, with annual average temperatures of more than 24°C (75°F). Maximum precipitation occurs in summer, with average annual rainfall exceeding 2,030 mm (80 in) in some areas.

G.

Environmental Issues

Mexicans have become increasingly aware of environmental issues, ranging from water pollution to the potential side effects of nuclear power. The development of border industries along the northern frontier with the United States has drawn attention to these issues, as these industries have contributed heavily to numerous forms of pollution that have adversely affected both sides of the border. Groups in many border communities, as well as local governments in both countries, have worked together to improve environmental conditions, particularly those related to toxic waste disposal and water pollution.

In central Mexico, the most pronounced environmental problems are the dumping of toxins into local rivers and air pollution, especially in the capital city. High levels of dangerous air pollutants in Mexico City are exacerbated by its natural setting, located in a basin surrounded by mountains. Unless it rains or sufficient breezes occur, airborne particles create a heavy smog on most days. The government has tried to reduce pollution by controlling industrial emissions and limiting the number of automobiles that can be driven daily. Mexican citizens, unsatisfied with the pace and level of government efforts, have organized grassroots environmental groups. Some have begun to support political candidates at the national level who run on green, or environmentally friendly, campaigns. Domestic and international conservation groups are working in Mexico to create biological preserves, such as the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in the Lacandón rain forest on the border with Guatemala.

III.

People

At the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 1500s, numerous advanced Native American civilizations existed in Mexico. Among the most important were the Maya, who resided in the southern and southeastern part of what is now Mexico, including the present states of Chiapas, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán. Central Mexico was dominated by the Aztecs, who had developed an extensive capital surrounded by a lake at Tenochtitlán, Mexico City’s present site.

The Spanish ultimately conquered the Native American civilizations and extended their control over the entire region, calling it New Spain. Unlike British settlers in North America, the Spaniards quickly intermarried with the indigenous people, producing a growing population of mestizos, or people of mixed European and Native American ancestry. By the end of the 19th century, mestizos had become the largest ethnic group in the population.

After World War II (1939-1945), which saw the beginning of a period of sustained industrial growth, Mexicans migrated rapidly from rural communities to large urban centers. Many of these people moved to the Federal District, which includes the capital of Mexico City and grew to contain almost one-fifth of Mexico’s population. During this postwar period the relatively unpopulated northern states also attracted numerous immigrants, as the economic base of frontier cities such as Ciudad Juárez and Monterrey grew rapidly.

A.

Population

Mexico’s population grew rapidly after 1940, when improved living standards and preventive health-care measures produced a dramatic increase in longevity and a decrease in infant mortality. At the 1990 census, the nation’s population stood at 81,249,645. A decade later, at the 2000 census, the population had grown to 97,483,412. In 2007 Mexico had an estimated population of 108,700,891. Population density averaged 57 persons per sq km (146 per sq mi). The lowest density in 2000 was in the state of Baja California Sur (6 persons per sq km/15 per sq mi), and the highest was in the Federal District (5,565 persons per sq km/14,415 per sq mi). In 2007 the birth and death rates were 20 and 5 per thousand, respectively.

After President Luis Echeverría Álvarez took office in 1970, he argued that rapid population growth would make it difficult for the government to generate positive rates of economic growth per capita. The Mexican economy had not been creating enough new jobs to provide all of its people with employment. The situation was made worse by the fact that an increasing portion of Mexico’s population was under the age of 16, and therefore dependent on the economically active population for support. Consequently, the government began providing family planning information and education. These efforts, complemented by private programs and the increasing levels of education that resulted from migration to urban areas, contributed to a significant decline in population growth rates. These rates dropped from highs of around 3.7 percent per year in the 1970s to 1.1 percent in 2007.

Internal migration has led to a substantial shift in population from rural to urban centers. In 1970 approximately 23 percent of Mexico’s population was living in cities of 100,000 or more people. By 1997 these large cities accounted for 44 percent of the population, indicating that large cities nearly doubled in size in two decades. In 2005 76 percent of Mexico’s population lived in urban areas. Mexicans continue to migrate to the cities to seek employment opportunities, as well as better educational opportunities and access to health care.

B.

Political Divisions

Mexico consists of 32 administrative divisions—31 states and the Federal District, which is the seat of the federal administration.

C.

Principal Cities

Mexico is a country dominated by what geographers call a primary city, a single metropolitan area that is larger than the next four cities combined. Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, had a population of 13,096,686 in 2000 and a population of 18.7 million (2003) in its metropolitan area. It has a concentration of economic, political, and cultural resources not seen anywhere else in the country. Much of Mexico’s manufacturing capacity is located in Mexico City or the Federal District, which surrounds it. Because political power is concentrated in the federal government, Mexico City dominates the country’s political life. These economic and political resources attract to the capital the majority of Mexico’s cultural resources. Most of the leading museums, prestigious educational institutions, skilled professionals, publishing firms, magazines, and newspapers are located in the capital.

Mexico’s second largest city, Guadalajara, with a population of 1,600,940 in 2005, is located about 465 km (about 290 mi) northwest of Mexico City. It was a colonial center of considerable religious and architectural importance and is now a major hub for commerce and industry. Guadalajara is second only to the capital in its importance as a cultural center. The city has produced numerous literary and cultural leaders.

Netzahualcóyotl (1,140,528) is located just east of the capital and is inhabited largely by skilled and unskilled blue-collar workers employed in nearby industrial operations in the state of Mexico and in the Federal District. Netzahualcóyotl suffers from serious problems, including inadequate housing, communications, and basic services.

Monterrey (1,133,814), located in the northern border state of Nuevo León, is the center of Mexico’s iron and steel industry and is for that reason often called “the Pittsburgh of Mexico.” Many residents of the city pride themselves on their entrepreneurial spirit and resent the domination of the capital. Monterrey is second only to the capital in its concentration of important, capital-intensive industries. It is a major center of economic activity, and a significant channel of commerce linking Mexico to the United States.

One of the oldest Mexican cities, located southeast of Mexico City in the neighboring state of Puebla, is the colonial town of Puebla (1,485,941). The state capital, it is an important commercial link between Mexico City and the major Gulf Coast port of Veracruz to the east. Finally, one of Mexico’s newer cities and an example of the rapidly growing north is Ciudad Juárez (1,313,338), a large border city with the United States and a major source of trade and transportation with its sister city, El Paso, Texas.

D.

Ethnic Groups

Mexico’s population is composed primarily of mestizos, who are approximately 60 percent of the population. Indigenous peoples make up approximately 30 percent of the population, and people of European ancestry, primarily Spanish, make up about 9 percent of the population. Africans contributed to the original racial mixture when approximately 120,000 slaves were brought to the region between 1519 and 1650. By the end of the colonial period, as many as 200,000 Africans may have entered New Spain. Blacks intermarried with Native Americans and mestizos and live on both the west and east coasts. Their primary influence is centered around the Gulf Coast port of Veracruz.

A variety of factors are used to identify an individual as indigenous in Mexico, including customs, language, dress, food, and residence. The Mexican government prefers to use language as its primary determinant when counting the number of Native Americans in the population. About 8 percent of all Mexicans speak an indigenous language. Among these citizens, there is a significant decline in the percentage who speak only an indigenous language. According to the 2000 census, only about 1 percent of people spoke exclusively an indigenous language.

Native Americans are concentrated in the regions of Mexico where indigenous civilizations were located at the time of the conquest. These regions are mainly in central, southern, and southeastern Mexico. For example, the state of Yucatán, where the Maya civilization was important, has the highest concentration of Mexicans who speak a Native American language (37 percent). The state of Oaxaca is second with 36 percent, followed by Yucatán’s neighboring states of Chiapas and Quintana Roo, with 25 percent and 23 percent respectively. The states of Hidalgo and Campeche also have significant proportions of Native Americans.

E.

Language

Spanish control of Mexico led to the dominance of Spanish, the official language. As many as 100 Native American languages are still spoken in Mexico, but no single alternative language prevails. About 80 percent of those Mexicans who speak an indigenous language also speak Spanish. The most important of the Native American languages is Nahuatl. It is the primary language of more than a million Mexicans and is spoken by nearly one-fourth of all Native Americans in the country. This is followed by Maya, used by 13 percent of Native Americans, and Mixteco and Zapoteco, each spoken by about 7 percent of Native Americans. No other indigenous language is spoken by more than 5 percent of Mexico’s Native Americans. See also Native American Languages.

F.

Religion

During the colonial period, the Spanish colonizers imposed the Roman Catholic religion on the indigenous population. They did not permit the exercise of any other religions, including Protestantism and Judaism. Consequently, the population has remained largely Catholic, although in practice Native American and rural versions of Catholicism differ considerably from the typical European and urban forms of the religion. These differences occurred because rural and indigenous peoples were never fully converted to Christianity, and because local priests and bishops tolerated the combination of some indigenous practices with the rites of Catholicism.

Mexico’s 1917 constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Major constitutional reforms in 1992 eliminated many of the severe restrictions on the Catholic Church and other religions. Reforms included the repeal of measures that had prevented clergy from voting. Although still prohibited from direct involvement in political affairs, Catholic bishops have recently become more vocal in criticizing economic policies and human rights abuses.

About 89 percent of the Mexican population identifies itself as Catholic, but in recent years Protestant religions have become more important, particularly in rural regions and among Native Americans. Most of the growth in Protestant religions has occurred among evangelical sects. Protestants account for approximately 3 percent of the population.

Although religious attendance declined significantly in the 20th century, religion is regaining its appeal among younger Mexicans. According to public opinion surveys, many Mexican Catholics who do not regularly attend church still describe themselves as quite religious.

G.

Education

Throughout most of Mexico’s history, beginning with the colonial period, education was the task of the Catholic Church. After independence, Mexicans were concerned about the church imposing its values and beliefs on the population and started a public educational system. Religious influences of any sort were banned in primary school (grades 1 through 6). The federal government controls the curriculum and provides the textbooks for primary schools.

In the 1917 constitution, public education became mandatory through grade six. School attendance is high among 6 to 14 year olds, and about 90 percent of all boys and girls are in class at that age. Attendance declines significantly after age 13, somewhat more so for girls. In 2000, 52 percent of the population 15 years old or older had received some secondary or college education.

Mexico has improved its literacy rate through public education programs. In 1970, for example, 74 percent of all Mexicans age 15 or older were literate. By 2005 the literacy rate had risen to 93 percent.

There are no significant differences in literacy rates based on gender. However, literacy rates are lowest in those states that have the highest poverty levels and, typically, high percentages of Native Americans. The lowest literacy rates for Mexicans age 15 or older are in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca. The most urbanized centers boast the highest literacy rates; the Federal District, for example, had a literacy rate of about 97 percent in 2000.

Mexican higher education is also dominated by public institutions, many of them in the capital city. Mexico’s leading institutions include the National Autonomous University of Mexico (founded in 1551), the National Polytechnic Institute (1937), the Colegio de México (1939), the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (1946), and the Ibero-American University (1943), all located in Mexico City. Other important universities include: the University of Guadalajara (1792); the Benemérita Autonomous University of Puebla (1937); Veracruz University (1944), located in the city of Jalapa Enríquez; and the Institute of Technical and Advanced Studies of Monterrey (1943), which is known by its Spanish acronym ITESM. Both the Ibero-American University and ITESM have established numerous branch campuses throughout the republic.

H.

Way of Life

Mexicans place a high value on family and traditional values. Although women make up an increasingly large portion of the labor force (35.2 percent in 2005), many women continue to work within the home. Children, especially in middle- and upper-income homes, typically remain at home longer than their counterparts in the United States. There are vast differences, however, in the daily lives of Mexican women depending on income level. Women in middle- and upper-income households typically have outside help with child care, cleaning, and meal preparation. Women in poor and working-class households often work both inside and outside the home, with many of them working at more than one outside job.

The typical Mexican dresses similarly to people in Europe and the United States, as fashion in Mexico is influenced by international trends. Rural families dress in more traditional clothes, and the indigenous dress worn by many Native Americans often distinguishes them from mestizos who generally wear European-style fashions.

Mexican food is unique and diverse, but income level and social class differences often affect culinary customs. The basic diet of working-class Mexicans relies heavily on corn or wheat tortillas, along with beans, chili peppers, and tomatoes. Middle- and upper-income Mexicans consume a wide array of dishes, influenced by trends in the United States and Europe. Ready-made products such as cold cereal, either produced in Mexico or imported into the country, are often found in Mexican kitchens. Mexico has one of the most highly developed carbonated beverage industries in the world, and per capita consumption of soft drinks is high. Mexican-produced beer is extremely popular in Mexico and is also sold throughout the United States. In recent years Mexico has increased the quality of its wine production, and liquors such as brandy and tequila are manufactured on a large scale.

Mexicans enjoy many of the leisure activities found in the United States, including television, movies, rock concerts, and sports. Soccer is the most popular national sport, and many Mexicans attend traditional bullfights.

I.

Social Issues

Mexico is characterized by sharp class and social divisions. A small upper class controls much of the country’s property and wealth while the majority of Mexicans live in poverty. In 1998 the highest 20 percent of Mexico’s income earners received 58 percent of the national income. The lowest 20 percent received only 3 percent of the national income, while the middle 60 percent earned the remaining 39 percent.

Compared to the United States, Mexico’s middle class is relatively small. Many middle-class Mexicans have lifestyles similar to those of middle-class families in the United States—living in homes or apartments with modern amenities such as electricity and running water, owning one or more automobiles, and having access to educational and health-care facilities.

Most Mexicans, however, live in varying degrees of poverty. Although the Mexican government does not issue official poverty figures, national and international organizations have issued studies that attempt to paint a picture of the extent of poverty in Mexico. For example, a 1998 World Bank report said that 8 percent of Mexicans survived on less than U.S.$1 per day and 24 percent survived on less than U.S.$2 per day.

Mexico’s recent economic problems have hurt middle- and lower-income families much more than they have hurt wealthy families. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mexico’s highest income groups increased their overall wealth, while the earnings of poor Mexicans declined significantly. For lower- and middle-income families, this often meant that they had to reduce their already limited spending on food and other basic necessities.

Many poor Mexicans have little or no access to health care and live in housing that lacks one or more basic amenities such as running water or sewerage. Although the quality of housing has improved considerably since 1970, by 2000 about 10 percent of Mexican households still lacked access to safe water and one-quarter were without access to sanitation. Many children also suffer from malnutrition and drop out of school early in order to begin earning money for their families.

In addition, Mexico’s rapid population growth has severely strained government services, especially education and health care. This growing population has placed tremendous pressure on the government and economy to create new jobs. The economy has not been able to create enough jobs to keep up with population growth. Economic conditions have prompted thousands of skilled and unskilled workers to migrate north to the United States in search of employment.

Mexican cities suffer from many of the same social problems found in urban environments around the world. Poor economic conditions, however, have significantly increased the levels of urban crime in the country, especially in Mexico City. Drug abuse and juvenile crime have also increased in major cities in recent years.

IV.

Arts

Mexican culture is a fascinating blend of Native American traditions and Spanish colonial influences. Long before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the indigenous civilizations of Mexico had developed arts such as ceramics, music, poetry, sculpture, and weaving. After the conquest, the intricate designs and bright colors of many Native American arts were often mixed with European techniques and religious themes to create a hybrid and uniquely Mexican artistic style. Numerous churches constructed during the colonial era reflect the blending of Spanish architectural designs with the handiwork of Native American workers who built and decorated the buildings. Many of Mexico’s most popular modern crafts—such as textiles, pottery, and furniture making—borrow designs and techniques from Native American culture. Mexican painting and music have also been shaped by this heritage.

Indigenous influences were given a tremendous boost by the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). During and immediately after the revolution, many Mexican artists celebrated the nation’s unique mixture of races and cultures in their work. Political and social themes from the revolution—such as efforts at land reform and the right of common Mexicans to participate in the nation’s government—were also reflected in the arts.

Immediate postrevolutionary governments supported the arts and contributed to efforts to make them more accessible to average Mexicans, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. The individual most responsible for this support was José Vasconcelos, a leading intellectual who served as secretary of education in the first postrevolutionary government. The government was especially influential in promoting mural painting, commissioning artists to paint murals depicting Mexican history on public buildings. During the 1930s, painters came to Mexico from the United States to study the mural movement. Many people from Europe, the United States, and Latin America also visited Mexico as tourists in the 1930s and 1940s, increasing the popularity of native arts such as the making of silver jewelry.

A.

Literature

Mexican literature boasts a long and distinguished history. Notable pre-Columbian works include the Maya Chilam Balam and Popol-Vuh, which provide many insights into the origins of the myths and legends of the Maya. The Spanish conquest is described by Hernán Cortés in Cartas de Relación (first translated into English as Letters from Mexico in 1908), a collection of letters he wrote to the Spanish crown in the early 1500s. A detailed history of the conquest of Mexico, Historia Verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (True History of the Conquest of New Spain) was written by Spanish conqueror and author Bernal Díaz del Castillo in the 16th century. The book—started in 1568, published in three volumes in 1632, and translated into English in 1800—is famed for the objectivity of the writing. During the colonial period, Juana Inés de la Cruz, a female intellectual of considerable talent, contributed an extraordinary array of work, including lyrical poetry, plays, and mythology.

It was during the revolutionary period, however, that important groups of intellectuals, poets, and novelists began to develop significant literary movements in Mexico. The “generation of 1915” was one of the most important; many of this group became distinguished figures in public life. Mariano Azuela, a physician who participated in the Mexican Revolution under General Francisco “Pancho” Villa, authored the most widely read novel of that violent period: Los de Abajo (1916; translated as The Underdogs in 1929). The book portrayed the revolution in discouraging terms and is widely considered to be the best Mexican novel of that era.

Mexico has produced numerous writers, essayists, and poets of international renown, including Octavio Paz, who in 1990 became the first Mexican to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. Carlos Fuentes is another Mexican writer whose fiction is widely read in Europe and the United States. He often writes about social issues in contemporary Mexico, but his best-known work deals with the decades that followed the Mexican Revolution. See also Latin American Literature.

B.

Art

Mexican arts, with the exception of folk arts, generally followed European patterns during the colonial period and the 19th century. The Mexican Revolution was instrumental in fostering a new sense of nationalism and experimentation at the School of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Artists such as David Alfaro Siqueiros belonged to a group of painters who decided that content and form were as important as aesthetics. A number of these artists, including Siqueiros, were political activists as well as artists who aimed to inspire the lower classes in Mexico by creating paintings that dealt with revolutionary themes. They encouraged the development of public murals, so that ordinary Mexicans could view the work of leading artists. Painting with a permanent medium on large walls, these muralists—including Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Juan O’Gorman—dominated the Mexican art world in the 1920s and 1930s.

Other artists pursued a different tack. Frida Kahlo painted numerous small self-portraits which captured her own vision in strange, often surrealistic presentations. Kahlo fractured her spine and pelvis in a traffic accident as a teenager and began to paint while recovering from her accident. The constant pain Kahlo suffered due to her injuries, as well as her sadness over being unable to bear a child, are reflected in much of her work.

In the 1930s Rufino Tamayo combined native folk themes with European art forms such as cubism. His work reached a much larger foreign audience than that of other Mexican artists, particularly in Europe and New York City. Tamayo was an outspoken opponent of the painting style of the revolutionary muralists, arguing that their focus on political and social themes came at the expense of artistic quality. The intense colors of many of Tamayo’s paintings and his use of flattened two-dimensional figures—a style that is common in Mexican folk or pre-Columbian art—gave his work a distinctly Mexican flavor.

Manuel Alvarez Bravo, who associated with some of the leading creative photographers in the United States, such as Edward Weston and Tina Modetti, became the first Mexican photographer to reach a large international audience. He was influential in promoting photography as an art form in Mexico. See also Latin American Painting; Latin American Sculpture.

C.

Architecture

From the 16th through the 18th centuries, architecture overshadowed other forms of art in Mexico. The early buildings of the Spaniards tended to be simple and practical. In the 17th and 18th centuries, however, architecture in Mexico became highly decorative and elaborate. It was during this period that many of the country’s famous churches were built, including the Cathedral of Mexico in Mexico City. Examples of Spanish colonial architecture are found throughout Mexico.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the French splendors of the Second Empire style were introduced in Mexico City. This trend began under Emperor Maximilian, who ruled Mexico briefly during the 1860s, and later under President Porfirio Díaz. Díaz commissioned the ornate Palace of Fine Arts, which was completed in the 1930s. Since the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), many outstanding examples of modern architecture have been built in Mexico. The National Autonomous University of Mexico contains many spectacular modern buildings that feature murals in fresco and mosaic. It includes a multistory library almost completely covered by mosaics designed by Juan O’Gorman. Another Mexican architect, Félix Candela, created highly original concrete shell designs for several churches and for the sports palace at the 1968 Olympic Games. One of Mexico’s most internationally admired architects, Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, designed the renowned Museum of Anthropology and History in downtown Mexico City. See also Latin American Architecture.

D.

Music and Dance

Music and dance were affected by the same European and indigenous currents that influenced painting and literature. The Ballet Folklórico de México, a folk-dance group based in Mexico City, has integrated folk music with classical music. The group tours the world and works to preserve authentic folk dance in Mexico.

Carlos Chávez, Mexico’s best-known composer, is remembered for his Sinfonia India (1935). A close friend of the painter Diego Rivera, Chávez wanted to employ Native American themes in his music, just as the Mexican muralists had done with their paintings. Chávez introduced 82 Mexican works as conductor of the National Symphony from 1928 to 1949. He studied piano under Manuel M. Ponce, another major figure in Mexican music, who founded the Academy of Music in Mexico City in 1911. Ponce served as a mentor to generations of Mexican musicians. Another figure in Mexican music, originally from Spain, was Rodolfo Halffter, who did much to encourage new students as a professor at the National Conservatory of Music.

Mexican popular music, in the form of ballads and sidewalk performances, has contributed significantly to popular music in the United States. Examples include “La Bamba,” a Mexican folk song that was recorded in a rock-and-roll style by American singer Ritchie Valens in 1959, and the work of the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s and 1970s.

E.

Theater and Film

As in literature and art, Mexico’s motion pictures and theater have long dealt with social themes. A leading figure in the film industry was Emilio “El Indio” Fernández, whose first movie, The Isle of Passion, appeared in 1941. Fernández’s work won several international awards.

Since the 1940s refugees from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) have contributed significantly to the expansion and quality of motion pictures in Mexico. Among the exiles working in the country, Luis Buñuel was one of the best known. His film Los Olvidados (The Forgotten, 1950), a film about juvenile delinquents in Mexican slums, is considered a classic. Although most Mexican films have not received widespread distribution outside of Mexico, some more recent work has achieved considerable international attention. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)—a film directed and produced by Alfonso Arau and adapted from the novel of the same name written by Laura Esquivel—was a hit in the United States and became one of the most successful films in Mexican history.

Theater also has a long tradition extending back to the colonial period, including the work of Juana Inés de la Cruz. Many of Mexico’s important directors and playwrights have been supported by various groups at the National University in Mexico City (now National Autonomous University of Mexico).

F.

Libraries and Museums

Mexico City is home to the country’s most important museums and libraries, due largely to the concentration of intellectual activity in the capital. Many good libraries in Mexico are found within the university system. The National Library, which houses a collection of rare documents, is affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. Other important libraries include the Archivo General de la Nación (National Archives), the library at the Colegio de México, and numerous government libraries connected with various ministries.

Mexico City boasts several world-famous museums, noted not only for the quality of their collections but also for the architecture of the buildings themselves. The National Museum of Anthropology, designed by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, exhibits a striking array of archaeological discoveries from Mexico’s pre-Columbian era. The Museum of Mexico City is an excellent source of historical and archaeological information on the capital itself. The National Museum of History, devoted to history since the Spanish conquest, is located nearby in Chapultepec Park. The Museum of Modern Art, also located in the park, contains the finest collection of Mexican painting from the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of internationally known masters such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo. Shortly before his death, Tamayo donated his personal collection of European and Mexican works, as well as many of his own paintings, to the Museum of Modern Art.

V.

Economy

Mexico—like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile—is a semi-industrialized country. The country is rich in industrial resources, including petroleum and several metals. Mexico’s manufacturing output increased greatly during the second half of the 20th century, and it includes many basic goods, such as steel, machinery, and petrochemicals, as well as a wide range of consumer goods. Agriculture still provides almost as many jobs as industry, however. Many farm families earn barely enough to survive, and many city dwellers are unable to find jobs.

After World War II (1939-1945), Mexico became known for its continuously growing economy. During that time, Mexico’s economy changed from a primarily agricultural one to an economy based on services and manufacturing. Beginning in the 1970s, however, the country’s economy began to stagnate as Mexico fell deeply into debt. In the late 1970s Mexico borrowed billions of dollars at extremely high interest rates in anticipation of increased oil revenues. When the oil prices dropped sharply in the early 1980s, Mexico’s oil revenues plummeted as well. This led to a large foreign debt, and the nation began to fall behind on its loan payments. Mexico soon faced a severe economic recession, forcing the government to renegotiate the nation’s foreign debt and begin instituting budget cuts and austerity programs.

The economic recession led the government to reexamine Mexico’s national economic policy, which had protected the nation’s young industries by imposing high tariffs on imported goods. These tariffs raised the price of goods imported from the United States, for example, and encouraged Mexicans to buy less expensive goods produced in Mexico. On the other hand, this policy reduced competition in the Mexican economy and induced many state-owned industries and private companies to become less efficient. The Mexican government began to replace this official protection of domestic industries with an aggressive policy of privatization, selling back government-operated and owned industries—including banks, utilities, airlines, and manufacturing companies—to the private sector. Privatization aimed to make Mexican companies and industries more efficient and competitive by allowing private owners, rather than government officials, to make decisions that would affect an industry’s profitability.

Mexico also began working to integrate its economy into the larger and much more competitive global economy. These efforts culminated in Mexico’s signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect in 1994. NAFTA is a trade pact between Canada, Mexico, and the United States that aims to foster free trade and eliminate tariffs among the three nations.

These free-trade policies were pursued aggressively in the late 1980s and early 1990s, resulting in moderate economic growth. But this growth was built upon an increasingly shaky economic foundation. Mexico allowed the peso to become overvalued in relation to the dollar in the early 1990s. This meant that the government’s official exchange rate did not accurately reflect the value of the peso. When the government devalued the peso in 1994 to more realistically reflect its worth, the value of the peso declined excessively. This prompted foreign and domestic investors to withdraw millions of dollars from the country, and Mexico’s economy went into a tailspin.

To support the peso and prevent a total economic collapse, the United States government, in conjunction with the World Bank, provided an emergency loan to Mexico in 1995. However, the economic crisis was the worst in Mexico since the global economic depression of the 1930s, and it resulted in negative economic growth in the country in 1995 and 1996. The economic crisis led to a serious decline in the standard of living for most Mexicans, as well as an increase in extreme poverty. The nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced domestically by a country, declined 6.2 percent from 1994 to 1995.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Mexican economy had improved, fueled by growth in its manufacturing and mining sectors. However, Mexico’s economy remained vulnerable to external factors, especially to the economic situation in the United States, with which Mexico shares considerable trade and investment. In 2005 the GDP was $768.4 billion.

A.

Labor

Due to explosive population growth, Mexico’s labor force has expanded rapidly since the 1970s. By 2005 the labor force had grown to 42.3 million people. Of these workers, 65 percent were male and 35 percent were female.

Official estimates of urban unemployment averaged about 3 percent in 2001, but most analysts believe that true rates of unemployment are much higher, and that underemployment in Mexico is significant. This situation has increased illegal immigration to the United States.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the structure of the Mexican workforce underwent major changes. Manufacturing and other industries—sectors of the economy that have traditionally provided stable jobs that pay good wages—saw little growth and created few new jobs. At the same time, the number of low-paying, service sector jobs increased. In 2005, services employed 59 percent of all of Mexico’s labor force. Industry (including construction, manufacturing, mining, and power) employed 26 percent of the labor force. Agriculture (including forestry and fishing) employed about 15 percent.

Less than one-fifth of Mexico’s labor force belongs to a union, the majority of which are controlled by the government. Rather than being aggressive advocates for workers, Mexican unions have typically played a crucial role in supporting the government-dominated Institutional Revolutionary Party. In doing so, the unions have often agreed to government economic pacts to control inflation, prices, and wage increases. Mexican unions are noted for their levels of corruption and subordination to government influence. The major unions are the Mexican Federation of Labor and the National Farmers Confederation.

B.

Agriculture

Much of Mexico is too dry or mountainous for agriculture; only 14 percent of the nation’s land is cultivated or used for plantations and orchards. Irrigation is required to farm in many regions. Most of the food consumed by Mexicans is raised on Mexican farms, although frequent droughts and a population that is growing faster than the amount of food produced have made Mexico dependent on agricultural imports, particularly grains and milk products.

Agriculture accounts for only a small percentage of Mexico’s GDP. Although agriculture employed one-fifth of the nation’s economically active population, it only accounted for 4 percent of the value of the GDP in 2005. This sector of the Mexican economy grew slowly during the second half of the 20th century. This was due both to the declining importance of agriculture among the labor force and to Mexico’s increasing industrialization during this period.

Many of Mexico’s agricultural workers are subsistence farmers, who produce only enough to feed their families. Although the Mexican government distributed millions of hectares of land to poor farmers between the 1920s and the 1970s, the plots were generally small and the quality of the land was often poor. In addition, many small farmers were unable to obtain the credit they needed in order to purchase the seeds, fertilizer, or equipment they required to stay in business. This led to high rates of migration from rural areas into the cities, as well as northward to the United States.

Mexican agriculture is highly productive in certain regions, especially near the capital and in the northwest. Corn and beans, the staples of the nation’s diet, are the primary food crops, and they grow best in the valleys and basins of the central plateau that surround Mexico City. Wheat is raised on irrigated land in central and northern Mexico and has replaced corn in the diet of many Mexicans. Other principal agricultural products grown for domestic consumption include barley, rice, soybeans, vegetables, and citrus fruits.

Large volumes of products such as coffee, cotton, citrus fruits, sugar, and tomatoes are grown for export, primarily to the United States. Most coffee is grown in the southern states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, cotton is cultivated mainly on irrigated land in northwest Mexico, and sugar plantations are scattered in various states, with the largest concentration in Veracruz.

The main forage and hay crops are alfalfa and sorghum. They are raised in arid regions, often with the use of irrigation, and are important to livestock farmers. Beef cattle are the most important Mexican livestock and beef is an important export. Chickens are raised throughout the country and consumed locally.

C.

Forestry and Fishing

Mexico has significant forest resources, despite the fact that much of the nation’s land is semiarid and many of the forests that existed prior to the arrival of Europeans have been lost to logging and erosion. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of what is now Mexico was covered by forests in the early 1500s; by 2005 forests covered only 34 percent of the country. Almost all logging has been placed under strict government supervision, but this has failed to halt deforestation. Between 1970 and 1985 Mexico lost about one-sixth of its woodlands.

The most commercially valuable woods are pine, spruce, cedar, mahogany, logwood, and rosewood. Other important forest products include pitch, resins, and charcoal. Mexico does not produce enough wood pulp to meet its demand for paper products and the country imports much of its paper and cardboard. Mexico’s pine and oak forests are found largely in the nation’s mountainous central and northern regions. Tropical hardwoods such as mahogany are found in the tropical rain forests of southern Mexico. The country’s most important timber resources are located in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Jalisco.

Fishing has increased in importance, symbolized by the fact that Mexico now devotes a cabinet-level agency to its development and protection. The most valuable fishery resources are found in the Gulf of Mexico, especially the states of Campeche and Veracruz; the Gulf of California, bordering the states of Sonora and Sinaloa; and the Pacific Ocean, notably off the coast of Baja California. The most important seafood export is tuna, and shrimp is increasingly valuable to the domestic market.

D.

Mining

Mining, especially of silver and copper, has historically been the most important extractive industry in Mexico. Although petroleum production has surpassed the mining of metals in importance, Mexico remains a major producer and exporter of silver. It also operates one of the largest salt extraction facilities in the world in Guerrero Negro in the state of Baja California Sur. Its chief mining regions are Chihuahua, Durango, Hidalgo, and Zacatecas. In 2001 Mexico ranked fifth in the world in crude petroleum production. It is also among the world’s top producers of celestite, silver, sodium sulfate, antimony, white arsenic, bismuth, fluorite, and graphite.

Of the nation’s natural resources, petroleum far exceeds in value all other resources combined. In 1982 petroleum accounted for 80 percent of the value of Mexico’s total exports. As Mexico developed its manufacturing sector, petroleum became a smaller percentage of the country’s value of total exports, accounting for only 8 percent in 2001. However, petroleum is still an important part of the Mexican economy.

Until the 1930s many of Mexico’s natural resources were primarily controlled and operated by foreigners. After the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), the nation began to nationalize many of its basic resources and industries. The nationalization of the petroleum industry in 1938, which had been owned primarily by U.S. firms, signaled the new lengths Mexico was willing to go to assert its sovereignty and regain control of its resources. Petroleum in Mexico is extracted, processed, and sold by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), a government-owned company. Although most mining firms that the Mexican government once owned have been privatized, or sold to private investors, the petroleum industry remains largely in government hands.

Oil revenue is important to the Mexican economy. In the 1970s reliance on petroleum earnings contributed to the country’s huge national debt. During this period, the government borrowed money at high interest rates and used the loans to finance the development of manufacturing and service industries. The government anticipated that it would be able to pay the loans off quickly with oil revenues. When the price of oil dropped steeply in the early 1980s, the Mexican government was unable to meet its loan payments and was forced to cut spending on economic development and social services.

In early 1998 a world oil surplus prompted Mexico to join forces with Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, other leading oil-producing countries, to restrict oil production. The surplus had caused a drop in oil prices, lessening Mexico’s earnings from petroleum. The reduced oil revenue led the government to cut $1.05 billion from the country’s budget.

E.

Manufacturing

Mexico has moved away from an economy dominated by oil revenues in the early 1980s, to one in which diversified manufacturing plays a much more significant role. In 2005 manufacturing accounted for 17.7 percent of the nation’s GDP. The development of manufacturing in Mexico has included two important subsectors: an assembly and light manufacturing sector (whose businesses are known as maquiladoras in Spanish) that is concentrated largely along the country’s northern border with the United States, and a capital-intensive sector that includes industries such as steelmaking and automobile manufacturing.

Many large foreign companies, owned primarily by U.S. and Japanese investors, have located hundreds of maquiladoras in Mexico. These businesses produce specific parts of products to be sold in or exported from the home country, or they import parts from abroad, assemble the products in Mexico, and then ship the completed products back to the home country. This sector has been one of the fastest growing in the Mexican economy, contributing significantly to economic growth, and providing new employment even during the years that followed the 1994 economic crisis.

Mexican factories produce motor vehicles, cement, sulfuric acid, petrochemicals, metals, rubber products, plastics, paper products, and a variety of consumer goods, including cigars and cigarettes, textiles, clothing, shoes, glassware, beer and soft drinks, household appliances, and radios and televisions. Mexico built a thriving iron and steel industry after World War II, with much of this manufacturing capacity located in the city of Monterrey. Mexico doubled its steel production between 1970 and 1980, although production remained stagnant throughout the 1980s. In recent years Mexico’s capital-intensive industries, such as steelmaking, have become more competitive as modern factories with automated equipment have been built. Production of steel began to grow again in the 1990s, and some Mexican businesses acquired control over foreign companies.

Mexico’s most important manufacturing centers include the combined urban area of the Federal District and Mexico State, as well as the cities of Monterrey and Guadalajara. Since the late 1970s, Mexico has attempted to decentralize its manufacturing base and to encourage foreign investment in areas of central Mexico outside of Mexico City or the Federal District. While the nation has achieved some success in this area, most of Mexico’s poorer, rural regions have not attracted industry.

F.

Energy

Most electricity in Mexico is produced by thermal power plants that burn coal or oil. In 2003 these plants accounted for 83 percent of the nation’s electrical generation. Hydroelectric power, the next largest source, accounted for 9 percent. Nuclear power generated 5 percent, and geothermal and other sources produced the remainder.

The nation’s major hydroelectric plants can be found in five mountainous states: Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, Puebla, and Mexico. The Federal Electric Commission is responsible for the development of hydroelectric power. Natural gas, stored in small propane tanks, is widely used by Mexican households for cooking and heating water. Although the nation has major natural gas supplies, it has not developed the underlying infrastructure to supply its manufacturing industries or businesses.

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) directs the extraction and production of petroleum-based energy. Mexico’s major petroleum-processing plants are located in the cities of Minatitlán in Veracruz State, Ciudad Madero and Reynosa in Tamaulipas State, Salamanca in Guanajuato State, and Atzcapotzalco in the Federal District. Most of Mexico’s oil fields are located in the Gulf of Mexico or along the Gulf Coast. Until 1994 gasoline for use in automobiles was sold only in government-franchised retail stations; after 1994 privately owned retail stations were permitted to operate in the country.

G.

Foreign Trade

Foreign trade is a crucial element in Mexico’s economic growth. By signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States and Canada in 1992, Mexico’s leaders decided that the nation’s economic future lay with trade and with developing a competitive, export-oriented economy. The treaty led to a lowering of tariff barriers in all three countries. Despite the fact that Mexican labor costs are far lower than those in the United States, many Mexican businesses producing products for the Mexican market could not compete with their U.S. counterparts and were forced out of business. Most of these were medium and small companies, but their closings have contributed significantly to unemployment rates since 1994.

As a consequence of Mexico’s major economic crisis in 1994, and the subsequent decrease in the relative cost of goods produced in Mexico, the country’s export sector played an essential role in its economic recovery. The depressed economy produced a favorable balance of trade with Mexico’s largest trading partner—the United States. This meant that the value of goods exported from Mexico to the United States exceeded the value of goods exported from the United States to Mexico. In 1994, the first year that NAFTA was in effect, trade between the United States and Mexico totaled more than $100 billion, reflecting an increase of 23 percent over the previous year. Mexico’s prolonged economic crisis resulted in a drop in trade between the two countries in 1995. Nonetheless, the value of U.S. exports to Mexico in 1995 was still 11 percent higher than it was in 1993, the last pre-NAFTA year.

The economic effects of NAFTA have been hotly debated in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Mexican government and NAFTA supporters in the United States claim that the growth of export industries slowed Mexico’s economic slide in 1996, and that exports actually helped to launch an economic recovery by the end of that year. The output of Mexico’s border assembly factories, or maquiladoras, from January to August 1996 was 17 percent higher than the output for the same period in 1995. Similarly, multinational auto manufacturers operating in Mexico saw a sharp increase in export activity—the production of passenger cars for export rose by 23 percent in 1995 and the production of trucks for export leapt 132 percent during the year.

Critics of the trade pact claim that NAFTA has primarily benefited multinational companies operating in Mexico, while doing little to benefit the vast majority of Mexico’s citizens. While Mexico’s overall economic indicators showed an increase in foreign trade after the institution of NAFTA, real wages continued to fall throughout the country and poverty rates remained constant. Living conditions for many Mexicans worsened after NAFTA was put into place. NAFTA opponents say this is possible because export-oriented companies can take advantage of cheap Mexican labor without relying on the purchasing power of Mexican families. Since the products are being sold abroad, the success of the export industries does not hinge on Mexican citizens being paid enough to be able to buy their products.

Mexico’s chief trading partners, in terms of the value of Mexico’s exported goods, are the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, Spain, Chile, and Brazil. Most of the goods imported into Mexico come from the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Mexico is also one of the largest trading partners of the United States (along with Canada and Japan), even though the Mexican economy is much smaller than that of either of those two countries.

In addition to NAFTA, Mexico is a member of a number of other trade organizations or agreements. Mexico belongs to the Latin American Economic System (known in Spanish as the Sistema Económico Latinoamericano, or SELA), an organization founded in 1975 to promote cooperation between the member countries in Latin America and to accelerate economic and social development within these countries. In 1980 Mexico became a party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a treaty and trade organization that worked to reduce tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers between nations. Mexico is also a member of the Latin American Integration Association (known in Spanish as the Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración, or ALADI), an organization founded in 1981 to foster balanced economic development in Latin America. In 1993 Mexico became the first Latin American member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, an organization dedicated to promoting global free trade. In 1994 Mexico joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which seeks to promote economic growth through global cooperation and trade. The next year, Mexico became a founding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO replaced GATT and aims to promote and enforce global trade laws and regulations.

H.

Currency and Banking

Mexico’s currency is the peso. The U.S. dollar is widely used in Mexico, due primarily to geographic proximity and extensive American tourism. The peso is currently allowed to float freely (measured in terms of its value to the dollar) and has fluctuated between 5 and 9 pesos to the dollar since 1994. In 2005 the exchange rate averaged 10.90 pesos per U.S.$1.

The Mexican government has instituted a number of peso devaluations since the 1970s. These devaluations reduce the rate at which the peso is exchanged for foreign currency. A peso devaluation is usually prompted by an economic situation in which the cost of goods and services in Mexico, measured in U.S. dollars, exceeds their actual value, thereby discouraging foreign tourism and the purchase of Mexican goods on the global market. Peso devaluations generally produce an increase in exports from Mexico, while bringing about higher prices for Mexican citizens. The peso was officially devalued by the Mexican government in 1994, prompting a 45 percent drop in the value of the peso against major world currencies. The steep drop in the value of the peso induced many domestic and foreign investors to withdraw their money from the country, which brought on a severe economic crisis in early 1995.

Mexico’s federal reserve bank is the Bank of Mexico, a government-owned central bank that was created in 1925. The Bank of Mexico is the nation’s bank of issue, meaning that it controls Mexico’s total money supply by monitoring the banking system’s reserve requirements and by allocating credit to other banks. Although all domestic banks were nationalized in 1982, the administration of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994) sold them back to private investors. The bank nationalizations had given the Mexican government more control over the nation’s economy, angering many businesspeople in the private sector. The privatizations helped to alleviate the distrust of the Mexican government that had developed among many Mexican investors in the early 1980s. They also allowed the government to direct the revenue made from selling the banks toward a number of social-spending projects.

As a result of NAFTA, Mexico opened its banking system to foreign competition and began allowing retail branches of foreign banks to operate in the country. Mexico’s banks have been criticized for inefficiency. Many major banks have exceedingly high levels of debt because their clients cannot repay their loans. Mexico has a stock exchange (Bolsa de Valores), located in Mexico City, and some of the stock of companies on this exchange is also traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

I.

Transportation

Mexico’s rapid population growth since the 1950s has placed considerable pressure on its transportation infrastructure. Its topography has made transportation difficult in some regions, particularly between the western coastal plains and the central plateau. Mexico’s railroads were extremely important in the economic development of the country in the 19th century. The state-owned and operated system received little investment and was inadequately maintained after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), however, leading to an outdated railroad system in need of significant improvement. In the late 1990s Mexico privatized its national railway, granting private firms 50-year concessions to operate the rail lines.

The growth of Mexico’s trucking industry has put pressure on the government to improve the highway system. Most of Mexico’s major highways are still only two lanes wide. Under President Carlos Salinas (1988-1994), the government encouraged private contractors and investors to build toll roads. Although a number of these were constructed throughout Mexico, their costs were so high compared to the public system, especially during the economic crisis that began in 1994, that most are not economically viable.

Mexico has a well-developed airline system that serves domestic and international destinations through links to every major U.S. and European carrier. The country’s major airports are located in Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta, Cancún, Acapulco, and Tijuana.

Mexico’s long-standing urban transportation problems, especially in the Federal District, are gridlock and air pollution. Although there is a modern, efficient bus and subway system in the capital, cars remain the most popular form of transportation. The government has been forced to institute severe restrictions on automobile use in an attempt to reduce air pollution.

J.

Communications

The most important recent change in Mexican communications was increased competition within the telephone system, which was one of the first major utilities to be sold to private investors in the 1990s. Changes in the industry dramatically improved telephone service, which had been plagued by long waits for new phone service in Mexican homes and businesses. This was especially true in the cellular phone business, which saw a dramatic increase in usage beginning in the 1990s. The television industry has also seen increased competition in recent years and Televisa, the chain of television stations that had been dominant in Mexico for decades, now sees increased competition from Televisión Azteca.

Mexico City has a large number of newspapers, which creates extreme competition among papers and results in a relatively small readership for each publication. Many of these papers are read nationally. Among the most influential are La Reforma, Excélsior, El Financiero, and La Jornada. Several magazines, noted for their independence and criticism of the government, are also published in Mexico City. These include Proceso, a left-of-center weekly, and two intellectual magazines, Vuelta and Nexos. The government has tried, on occasion, to censor the print media, primarily by threatening to withhold government advertising. Television and radio are regulated by the government, which authorizes the production of programs on state-owned radio and television networks, as well as on a number of commercial broadcast networks. Talk radio, however, is increasingly independent. Many Mexicans use computers and e-mail, but the growth of the Internet is currently limited by the country’s relatively undeveloped system of telephone lines. Communication links from many parts of Mexico still must first pass through the capital, which slows both computer and telephone connections between regions of the country.

K.

Tourism

Mexico’s tourism industry is an essential component of the economy, often helping to sustain economic growth during times when growth is slow in other economic sectors. The government has long had a cabinet-level agency devoted exclusively to expanding and improving tourist facilities. In terms of foreign exchange earnings, tourism often ranks third in importance behind petroleum and manufacturing. Tourists spent $11.8 billion in Mexico in 2005.

Mexico’s most important tourist destinations, other than the capital city itself, are numerous beach resorts. These include: Cancún, an island and resort town just off the Yucatán Peninsula in the state of Quintana Roo; Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlán, all resort cities on Mexico’s Pacific coast; and Los Cabos, a sport fishing and resort center at the end of the peninsula of Baja California in the state of Baja California Sur. Mexico’s border cities are also important tourist attractions and are visited by residents in nearby U.S. states. The most popular of these destinations is Tijuana, just across from San Diego, California. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens regularly visit this community and other border cities on weekends. In 2005 Mexico tallied 21.9 million visits by tourists, with most of the visitors coming from the United States and Canada, other countries in Latin America, or Europe.

VI.

Government

Mexico’s political model theoretically has much in common with that of the United States. As with the U.S. government, Mexico’s government is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. In Mexico, however, the executive branch dominates the other branches to such an extent that the country effectively has a political system that is controlled by its president. For most of the 20th century, only one political party, the government-controlled Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), played an influential role in politics or in the decision-making process. After it was founded in 1929, the government party monopolized most national political offices. The PRI did not lose a senate seat until 1988 or a gubernatorial race until 1989. It lost the presidency for the first time in 2000, when Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) defeated the PRI candidate.

Given the dominance of the executive over the legislative and judicial branches, interest groups and lobbyists similar to those found in the United States have not developed in Mexico. Groups and individuals who wish to influence policy do so primarily through the executive branch, seeking contacts with agency heads and cabinet figures and, on occasion, with the president himself.

A.

Executive

The president is elected by direct popular vote every six years and cannot be reelected. Presidents acquire tremendous authority because they also control the selection of candidates in their party for elective office at the national level. Therefore, most members of Mexico’s congress owe their political careers to the president. The executive also can exercise great influence simply because many Mexicans have come to expect a strong president. The president is the chief policy maker, and the executive branch has initiated 90 percent of Mexico’s legislation. Members of the president’s handpicked cabinet are the most influential members of the executive branch. Until President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León took office in December 1994, no president had selected a member of an opposition party as a cabinet official. The cabinet is divided into smaller groups, such as an economic or national security cabinet, which make policy recommendations to the president or respond to his policy initiatives.

B.

Legislature

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate make up Mexico’s bicameral legislative body. Members of the 500-member Chamber of Deputies are elected for three-year terms, 300 of them from single-member districts, just as in the United States House of Representatives, and 200 on the basis of a complex formula related to the percentage of votes cast for each party’s candidates. The 128-member Senate is elected every six years. Since the year 2000, all members of the Senate have been on the same election cycle. Sixty-four members represent geographic areas (two are elected from each state and the Federal District) and 64 are elected on the basis of the number of votes cast for each party. Senators and deputies may be reelected, but not in consecutive terms.

The Chamber of Deputies has the power to pass laws, impose taxes, and verify elections. The chamber has at times disregarded election vote totals and simply declared certain candidates as winners. The Senate also ratifies treaties and approves certain presidential appointments. It may also authorize the intervention of the federal government in a state by declaring that constitutional order no longer prevails.

C.

Judiciary

As with the legislative branch, the judiciary has played a very minor role in Mexico’s political process. At its apex is the Supreme Court, appointed by the president with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. Unlike its counterpart in the United States, the Supreme Court rarely invalidates or shapes laws through judicial precedent, a legal practice in which courts interpret new legislation by looking at previous court decisions and deciding how the earlier rulings apply to the new laws. This limits the ability of the Mexican Supreme Court to change or modify the country’s laws and leaves the court with little influence over important policy matters. The decisions of the Supreme Court usually follow the policies of the president and the executive branch. As a result of reforms initiated by President Zedillo that aimed to strengthen the court’s powers in 1995, the court can now review newly passed legislation within a short time period, if one-third of the members of the national legislature request such an appraisal.

D.

Local Government

The organization of local government in Mexico is somewhat similar to that of local government in the United States. Mexico has 31 states and the Federal District, where the national capital of Mexico City is located. Each state is administered by an elected governor, who serves a six-year term. The head of the Federal District government, commonly called the mayor of Mexico City, is also elected. Prior to 1997 the head of the Federal District was a member of the federal cabinet and was appointed by the president. Each state is divided into municipalities. Within each municipality, a city functions as an administrative center, much as a county seat does in the United States. This city collects and distributes local revenues for the municipality. Local governments exercise much less power than they do in the United States, however, because most revenues are collected by federal tax agencies, not by state or local governments.

E.

Political Parties

Although Mexico long had a political system dominated by one party, the PRI, opposition parties existed for many decades. In 2000 one of these opposition parties, the National Action Party (PAN), won the presidency, defeating the PRI, which also lost control of the congress.

The PAN was founded in 1939 by dissident leaders from the PRI. It occupies the center right of the political spectrum in Mexico, favoring rapid political reform and integrity in government. The party also calls for privatizing state-owned industries and resources and decreasing government spending on social services such as health care. In the 2000 election the party was led by Vicente Fox.

Another major opposition party is the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The PRD was founded by dissident PRI and left-of-center party leaders in 1989. It dominates the center left. The PRD also favors rapid political reform, but cooperates less with the PRI than does the PAN. Members of the PRD are often critical of some of the consequences associated with economic policies or trade pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Some of these consequences include increased foreign control of Mexico’s economy after state-owned industries and resources are sold to foreign investors, and the failure of many Mexican businesses since NAFTA was first enacted in 1994.

In the 1980s, the PRI lost much of its popularity due to economic policies that had led to a steep decline in the standard of living of ordinary Mexicans. In 1987 a number of dissident PRI members were expelled from the party. Their leader, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, ran for president in the 1988 elections at the head of a coalition of leftist parties. Cárdenas and many international election observers claimed that he won, but the election was marked by widespread fraud on behalf of the PRI candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Salinas was finally declared the winner, but opposition parties gained 240 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, ending the PRI’s 60-year reign of unchallengeable one-party rule. Due to the strong showing by Cárdenas, as well as subsequent electoral reforms, the size and strength of opposition political parties has grown considerably in recent years.

F.

Social Services

Mexico was the first nation in the world to include the term social security in its constitution (1917), but the program was not implemented until 1943. Mexico’s social security system—which includes subsidized medical and hospital care that is available to all citizens—is much more comprehensive than that found in the United States. However, these medical services are often unavailable in smaller, isolated communities, and many Mexicans from rural locations or predominantly indigenous communities have limited access to health care. In addition, public facilities are generally inferior to private ones, but private care is too expensive for most Mexican households.

The average life expectancy for men and women in Mexico is 73 and 79 years, respectively. This is significantly lower than the average life expectancy in the United States (75 years for men and 81 years for women). The infant mortality rate in Mexico in 2007 was 20 per 1,000 live births. This compares to 6 per 1,000 in the United States. Intestinal diseases are endemic in many parts of Mexico and are the most common cause of death among children.

G.

Defense

The Mexican armed forces is organized into three major branches: the army, which had 144,000 troops in 2004; the navy, with 37,000 members; and the air force, with 11,770. Mexico’s military, measured in terms of the percentage of economic resources allocated per capita, is one of the smallest in the world. Military service, which typically involves some informal training and practice, is compulsory for males reaching age 18 but is widely ignored in practice. The military is subordinate to civil authority; however, the military has the potential to become involved in Mexican politics because it performs many internal police tasks. It has been responsible for pursuing the Zapatista rebels and for combating drug traffickers operating in Mexico.

H.

International Organizations

Mexico belongs to the United Nations (UN) and participates in many of its agencies, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Mexico is also a member of the Organization of American States (OAS), the most important regional diplomatic group; the Rio Group, a regional diplomatic organization that grew out of efforts by Latin American leaders to mediate conflicts in Central America during the 1980s; and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

VII.

History

A.

Early Civilizations

Ancient Mexico and Central America were home to some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in the Western Hemisphere. This region is known historically as Mesoamerica, a term that refers to the geographic area and cultural traditions of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Evidence indicates that hunting and gathering peoples populated Mesoamerica more than 15,000 years ago and that crop cultivation began around 8000 bc. The bottle gourd, useful for holding water and other liquids, is believed to have been one of the earliest domesticated crops; corn, beans, and squashes became the basis of the Mesoamerican diet during the period between 8000 and 2000 bc.

Mesoamerican civilization began to emerge around 2500 bc, as agriculture increasingly provided a reliable food source that could support larger and larger populations. Freed from having to constantly search for food, the formerly nomadic peoples were able to establish permanent settlements. The shift from a hunting-gathering existence to one that revolved around agriculture and village life also gave people more time to devote to architectural and cultural pursuits. This made possible large public projects such as irrigation canals and temples, as well as the creation of fired clay objects such as dishes and containers.

One of the first major Mesoamerican civilizations was established by the Olmec, a people who flourished between about 1500 and 600 bc in the swampy lowlands of what are now the Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz. Many scholars consider Olmec civilization to be one of the primary cultures from which subsequent Mesoamerican civilizations drew many of their beliefs, traditions, and architectural styles. The Olmec appear to have been the source of the widespread worship of several Mesoamerican deities. They began developing mathematics and a system of writing, used a calendar based on observation of the planets, and produced a variety of intricate jade figurines. Between 900 and 400 bc the major sites of the Olmec were destroyed.

The city-state of Teotihuacán, located in the Valley of Mexico about 40 km (25 mi) northeast of modern-day Mexico City, in turn became a powerful cultural center. Teotihuacán flourished as an important commercial and religious center between about ad 100 to 650. It had a population of at least 125,000 at its height, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Teotihuacán’s wealth and productivity enabled its inhabitants to construct great monumental structures, including the Pyramid of the Sun, more than 60 m (more than 200 feet) high, and the slightly smaller Pyramid of the Moon. Teotihuacán’s influence declined around ad 650, and the city was destroyed by a natural disaster or invasion. The fall of the “city of the gods” dispersed its people and culture across Mesoamerica.

The Zapotec people began building their religious center and capital at Monte Albán around 500 bc. Located on a mountaintop in what is now the state of Oaxaca, Monte Albán was one of the first cities in the Americas and rivaled Teotihuacán as a center of Mesoamerican culture. At its height, about ad 500, the city was home to approximately 25,000 people. The Zapotecs developed one of the earliest writing systems in the Americas, using pictorial characters known as hieroglyphics to convey simple ideas. They left numerous hieroglyphic inscriptions on the buildings and temples of Monte Albán.

Maya civilization flourished in southern Mexico and Central America between ad 300 and 900, a time known as the Classic period. The Maya built large religious centers that included ball courts, homes, and temples. They developed a method of hieroglyphic notation and recorded mythology, history, and rituals in inscriptions carved and painted on stone slabs or pillars known as stelae. Maya religion centered around the worship of a large number of nature gods and chronology among the Maya was determined by an elaborate calendar system. Although highly complex, this calendar was the most accurate known to humans until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century.

About ad 900, the Maya centers were mysteriously abandoned, and some Maya migrated to the Yucatán Peninsula. During the Postclassic period, from 900 to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, Maya civilization was centered in the Yucatán. A migration or invasion from central Mexico strongly influenced Maya culture and art styles during this period. Chichén Itzá and Mayapán were prominent cities.

The Toltecs rose to power in the 10th century ad and are the first people in Mesoamerica to leave a relatively complete history. Their capital of Tula, whose ruins are located near the town of Tula de Allende 75 km (47 mi) north of Mexico City, extended its political influence over much of central Mexico. Other groups paid them tribute. The Nahuatl-speaking Toltecs established colonies along their northern frontier, protecting the region against hostile groups and greatly expanding the amount of land given over to agriculture. In the 12th century droughts in the north central region weakened the Toltec hold on the region. Desperate and starving people from the north surged southward, eventually overwhelming the Toltecs and forcing them to abandon Tula. Toltec survivors migrated south to the Valley of Mexico, where they joined with other peoples.

Not all Native American groups reached the complex levels of culture achieved by those of southern and central Mexico. In general, as one moved northward the indigenous peoples tended to be more tribal and nomadic, with exceptions such as the Pueblo in what is now the southwestern United States. Native Americans in northern Mesoamerica, typically warlike and nomadic, could not be easily conquered and resisted intruders until well into the 19th century in some areas.

B.

The Aztec Empire

A century after the collapse of the Toltec civilization, several allied tribes of Nahuatl-speaking people moved into the Valley of Mexico from the north. The principal tribe was known as the Mexica and collectively the tribes came to be known as the Aztecs. The Mexica eventually dominated the other tribes and became the major force in the establishment of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico. The name Mexico is derived from the word Mexica. Aztec civilization, drawing on the cultural advances of the Toltec and other peoples that had lived in the region, reached high levels of artistic, economic, and intellectual development.

When the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico, most likely in the mid-13th century, they were surrounded by powerful neighbors who exacted tribute from them. They were forced to occupy a swampy area on the western side of Lake Texcoco, where their only piece of dry land was a tiny island surrounded by marshes. According to legend, the Aztecs established their settlement on the site where they observed an eagle with a serpent in its grasp on top of a cactus. The eagle and the serpent are the state symbol of modern Mexico and can be found on the nation’s flag and currency.

B.1.

Tenochtitlán

As the Aztecs grew in number, they established powerful military and civil organizations. Their island settlement, known as Tenochtitlán, soon grew from a small village of huts into a large city of adobe houses and stone temples. It became the Aztec capital, serving as the center for Aztec trade and military activity throughout the region. It is estimated that at the time of the Spanish invasion in the early 1500s, the city was one of the largest in the world and supported a population of about 200,000 people.

Tenochtitlán’s military strength increased, and under Itzcoatl, the first Aztec emperor, the Aztecs extended their influence throughout the entire Valley of Mexico. By the 15th century, the Aztecs had become the preeminent power in central and southern Mexico.

The political organization of the Aztec Empire extended far beyond Tenochtitlán and rested on a triple alliance between the city-states of Tenochtitlán, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. The alliance, which was established in the mid-1400s, was soon dominated by the Aztecs. A series of military campaigns extended the Aztecs’ power and influence well beyond the central valley and across Mesoamerica. On the eve of the Spanish conquest, Aztec-controlled territory reached west to the Pacific Ocean, east to the Gulf of Mexico, and south nearly to the modern-day border with Guatemala. Because of resentment against Aztec rule and internal strife within the far-flung Aztec Empire, Spanish invaders would later be able to ally with a number of Native American peoples who would help them to defeat the Aztecs.

C.

Religion

As an agricultural society, Aztec civilization was greatly affected by the forces of nature; Aztec mythology, consequently, revolved around the worship of gods who represented the Earth, rain, and the Sun. The appeasement of such gods through human sacrifice, a practice already well established in Mesoamerica, was an indispensable part of Aztec religion. According to one Aztec belief, the Sun required daily offerings in order to ensure that it would rise again the next day.

Aztec priests typicall