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
@Mexico:People
Population: 100,349,766 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 34% (male 17,306,548; female 16,632,827) 15-64 years: 62% (male 30,223,317; female 31,868,213) 65 years and over: 4% (male 1,927,850; female 2,391,011) (2000 est.)