:Mexico People
Population:
92,380,721 (July 1992), growth rate 2.3% (1992)
Birth rate:
29 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
5 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
-1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
30 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
69 years male, 76 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
3.3 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Mexican(s); adjective - Mexican
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo (Indian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%,
Caucasian or predominantly Caucasian 9%, other 1%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%
Languages:
Spanish; various Mayan dialects
Literacy:
87% (male 90%, female 85%) age 15 and over can read and write (1985 est.)
Labor force:
26,100,000 (1988); services 31.4%, agriculture, forestry, hunting, and
fishing 26%, commerce 13.9%, manufacturing 12.8%, construction 9.5%,
transportation 4.8%, mining and quarrying 1.3%, electricity 0.3% (1986)
Organized labor:
35% of labor force
:Mexico Government
Long-form name:
United Mexican States
Type:
federal republic operating under a centralized government
Capital:
Mexico
Administrative divisions:
31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito
federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche,
Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango,
Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit,
Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi,
Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas
Independence:
16 September 1810 (from Spain)
Constitution:
5 February 1917
Legal system:
mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of
legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday:
Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Executive branch:
president, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
bicameral National Congress (Congreso de la Union) consists of an upper
chamber or Senate (Camara de Senadores) and a lower chamber or Chamber of
Deputies (Camara de Diputados)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Carlos SALINAS de Gortari (since 1 December 1988)
Political parties and leaders:
(recognized parties) Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Genaro BORREGO
Estrada; National Action Party (PAN), Luis ALVAREZ; Popular Socialist Party
(PPS), Indalecio SAYAGO Herrera; Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD),
Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano; Cardenist Front for the National
Reconstruction Party (PFCRN), Rafael AGUILAR Talamantes; Authentic Party of
the Mexican Revolution (PARM), Carlos Enrique CANTU Rosas
Suffrage:
universal and compulsory (but not enforced) at age 18
Elections:
President:
last held on 6 July 1988 (next to be held September 1994); results - Carlos
SALINAS de Gortari (PRI) 50.74%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (FDN) 31.06%,
Manuel CLOUTHIER (PAN) 16.81%; other 1.39%; note - several of the smaller
parties ran a common candidate under a coalition called the National
Democratic Front (FDN)
Senate:
last held on 18 August 1988 (next to be held midyear 1994); results -
percent of vote by party NA; seats in full Senate - (64 total) number of
seats by party; PRI 61, PRD 2, PAN 1
Chamber of Deputies:
last held on 18 August 1991 (next to be held midyear 1994); results - PRI
53%, PAN 20%, PFCRN 10%, PPS 6%, PARM 7%, PMS (now part of PRD) 4%; seats -
(500 total) PRI 320, PAN 89, PRD 41, PFCRN 23, PARM 15, PPS 12
:Mexico Government
Other political or pressure groups:
Roman Catholic Church, Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), Confederation
of Industrial Chambers (CONCAMIN), Confederation of National Chambers of
Commerce (CONCANACO), National Peasant Confederation (CNC), UNE (no
expansion), Revolutionary Workers Party (PRT), Mexican Democratic Party
(PDM), Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC), Regional
Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM), Confederation of Employers of the
Mexican Republic (COPARMEX), National Chamber of Transformation Industries
(CANACINTRA), Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations (COECE)
Member of:
AG (observer), CARICOM (observer) CCC, CDB, CG, EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6,
G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU,
LAES, LAIA, LORCS, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Gustavo PETRICIOLI Iturbide; Chancery at 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20006; telephone (202) 728-1600; there are Mexican
Consulates General in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Los
Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Antonio, San Diego, and
Consulates in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Brownsville (Texas),
Calexico (California), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas
(Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Kansas City (Missouri),
Laredo, McAllen (Texas), Miami, Nogales (Arizona), Oxnard (California),
Philadelphia, Phoenix, Presidio (Texas), Sacramento, St. Louis, St. Paul
(Minneapolis), Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto
Rico), and Seattle
US:
Ambassador John D. NEGROPONTE, Jr.; Embassy at Paseo de la Reforma 305,
06500 Mexico, D.F. (mailing address is P. O. Box 3087, Laredo, TX
78044-3087); telephone [52] (5) 211-0042; FAX [52] (5) 511-9980, 208-3373;
there are US Consulates General in Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey,
and Tijuana, and Consulates in Hermosillo, Matamoros, Mazatlan, Merida, and
Nuevo Laredo
Flag:
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat
of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered
in the white band
:Mexico Economy
Overview:
Mexico's economy is a mixture of state-owned industrial plants (notably
oil), private manufacturing and services, and both large-scale and
traditional agriculture. In the 1980s, Mexico experienced severe economic
difficulties: the nation accumulated large external debts as world petroleum
prices fell; rapid population growth outstripped the domestic food supply;
and inflation, unemployment, and pressures to emigrate became more acute.
Growth in national output, however, is recovering, rising from 1.4% in 1988
to 4% in 1990 and again in 1991. The US is Mexico's major trading partner,
accounting for two-thirds of its exports and imports. After petroleum,
border assembly plants and tourism are the largest earners of foreign
exchange. The government, in consultation with international economic
agencies, is implementing programs to stabilize the economy and foster
growth. In 1991 the government began negotiations with the US and Canada on
a free trade agreement.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $289 billion, per capita $3,200; real growth rate
4% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18.8% (1991 est.)
Unemployment rate:
14-17% (1991 est.)
Budget:
revenues $41.0 billion; expenditures $47.9 billion, including capital
expenditures of $6.3 billion (1990)
Exports:
$27.4 billion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
crude oil, oil products, coffee, shrimp, engines, motor vehicles, cotton,
consumer electronics
partners:
US 68%, EC 14%, Japan 6% (1990 est.)
Imports:
$36.7 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
grain, metal manufactures, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment
partners:
US 69%, EC 13%, Japan 6% (1990)
External debt:
$98.4 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5.5% (1991 est.); accounts for 28% of GDP
Electricity:
26,150,000 kW capacity; 114,277 million kWh produced, 1,270 kWh per capita
(1991)
Industries:
food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining,
textiles, clothing, transportation equipment, tourism
Agriculture:
accounts for 9% of GDP and over 25% of work force; large number of small
farms at subsistence level; major food crops - corn, wheat, rice, beans;
cash crops - cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; fish catch of 1.4 million
metric tons among top 20 nations (1987)
Illicit drugs:
illicit cultivation of opium poppy and cannabis continues in spite of active
government eradication program; major supplier to the US market; continues
as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America
:Mexico Economy
Economic aid:
US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $3.1 billion; Western (non-US)
countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $7.7 billion;
Communist countries (1970-89), $110 million
Currency:
Mexican peso (plural - pesos); 1 Mexican peso (Mex$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
market rate of Mexican pesos (Mex$) per US$1 - 3,068.5 (January 1992),
3,018.4 (1991) 2,940.9 (January 1991), 2,812.6 (1990), 2,461.3 (1989),
2,273.1 (1988), 1,378.2 (1987)
Fiscal year:
calendar year