Country Details
| Land Area |
1,923,040 sq km |
Population |
100349766 |
| Capital City |
Mexico |
People |
mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% |
| Language |
Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages |
Religion |
nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% |
| Government Type |
federal republic |
Life Expectancy |
71.76 years |
| HIV/AIDS Rate |
0.29% (1999 est.) |
GNP per Capita |
$9,100 |
| Currency |
Mexican peso (MXN) |
Major Exports |
manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, |
| National Holiday |
Independence Day, 16 September (1810) |
Dialing Code |
52 |
| Electricity |
110/220V |
Malaria Risk |
Moderate / Low Risk |
| Water Quality |
Unsafe |
Inoculations |
Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Cholera, Malaria |
| Crime |
|
Driving License |
National licence or Inter National Driving Permit |
| Photography |
|
Entry Regs |
Passport & Tourist card required issued by airline |
| Time Zone |
GMT-6 |
|
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The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.
