Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc,
natural gas, timber
Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 39%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 22% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 61,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts
Environment—current issues: natural fresh water resources scarce
and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and
extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting
rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion;
desertification; serious air pollution in the national capital and
urban centers along US-Mexico border
Environment—international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography—note: strategic location on southern border of US
People
Population: 100,294,036 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 17,987,500; female 17,289,875)
15-64 years: 61% (male 29,610,813; female 31,216,342)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,873,986; female 2,315,520) (1999 est.)