Mexico

Geography

Mexico borders the United States to the north and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast. To the west is the Pacific Ocean and to the east the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The landscape includes deserts such as the Sonora Desert in the north, mountain ranges such as the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental. The volcanic mountains of the Sierra Nevada rise in the south. The country's highest mountain, Citlaltépetl, is also located here at an altitude of 5,636 meters.

Mexico has a total area of 1.96 million square kilometers and a population of 127.50 million people. This results in a population density of 64.9 inhabitants per square kilometer, with around 81.3% of the population living in urban areas. Large parts of the deserts and mountains are practically uninhabited. The area is almost three times the size of Texas. This makes Mexico one of the largest countries in America and the 14th largest country in the world. The capital and largest city in the country is Mexico City. It is one of the most populous metropolitan regions in the world.

The geographical classification of the country is controversial and is stated differently depending on the source. From a geographical perspective, 88% of Mexico's land area belongs to North America. Mexico is also economically part of North America. Historically, culturally and linguistically (the national language is Spanish), however, the country is classified as Central or Latin America. The United Nations classifies Mexico as Central America according to the M49 standard.

Climate in Mexico

Due to its extensive land mass from the 15th to beyond the 32nd parallel, there are different climate regions in Mexico. Both the continental regions of the United States, as well as the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico located in the east have a significant influence on the country. It is driest and warmest in the northwest on the Baja California peninsula, with temperatures of up to 40°C. Much of the interior is shielded from the Pacific and the Caribbean by the two mountain ranges of the Sierra Madres, which means that the humid sea air is absent, creating large shrub steppes and desert areas. South of Mexico City, there is a tropical monsoon and savannah climate with lush vegetation due to the constant warm temperatures and high humidity.

• Detailed climate data for Mexico and 9 individual regions
• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes
• Tsunamis
• Hurricanes

Languages

Mother tongue	Distribution
Spanish	90.0 %
Mayan languages	1.9 %
Náhuatl	1.5 %
Zapotec	1.1 %
Mixtec	0.7 %
other	4.8 %

Religions

Religion	Distribution
Lutherans	5.0%
Pentecostals	1.6%
Roman Catholics	82.7%
Jehovah's Witnesses	1.4%
nondenominational	4.7%
Maya	0.7%
other	3.9%

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Economy

GDP:	1,465.85 bn $
Exportations:	626.30 bn $
Importations:	668.59 bn $
› Tourism receipts:	20.55 bn $
Debt rate:	40.86 %
› Unemployment rate:	2.81 %
› Inflation rate:	7.90 %
› Corruption index:	31 (bad)
› Energy consumption:	267.3 bn kWh

According to the definition from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mexico is a developing country because of its lower economic performance. Despite this classification, the country is currently also one of the emerging markets, i.e. countries with increasing industrialization.

With an average annual income of 10,820 USD Mexico is one of the upper middle-income countries.

Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries worldwide.

Land use

5% Urban areas:	102,418 km²
55% Agricultural areas:	1,078,245 km²
34% Forest:	663,762 km²
1% Water areas:	20,425 km²
6% Others:	119,949 km²

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Transport

Roadways:	817,596 km
Railways:	23,389 km
Waterways:	2,900 km
Reg. vehicles:	50,400,000
› Airports: