ABSTRACT
Mexico is the southernmost of the three large countries that make up the political map of North America. It is bounded on the north by the USA, on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south-east by Belize and Guatemala and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Cuba lies some 210km to the east of the Yucatán Peninsula. Area: 1,964,375sq km (758,449sq miles); capital: Mexico City (México, DF); population: 103.4m. (2002 estimate), the majority of mixed Spanish and Amerindian descent, at least 15% Amerindian and 9% European (mostly Spanish); official language: Spanish (at least 62 indigenous languages were still spoken in 2003); religion: 90% Roman Catholic, 7% Protestant. Constitution: Like the first republican constitution of the United Mexican States (1824), the 1917 Constitution established a federal, presidential republic, but with a distinctive feature. The principle of ‘no re-election’ means that the President, who has extensive powers, serves one six-year term only and cannot serve again. The federal legislature consists of a Senate, with two representatives from each of the 31 states, and a Chamber
A-Z 187
of Deputies, chosen by single-member, single-ballot by districts. States have a common model constitution but hold their elections at various times. They elect a governor, as chief executive, and a state legislature. History: The history of advanced civilizations in Mexico begins some 2,500 years ago. Tenochtitlán, in the Valley of Mexico, was founded by the Aztecs in 1325, and in less than 200 years they had established an empire trading as far south as modern Costa Rica. The conquest of Mexico in 1519 by Hernán Cortés and his followers led to a catastrophic fall in population over the next 80 years, largely as a result of European diseases such as measles and smallpox. By the 18th century Spanish settlement had spread as far north as California and as far east as Florida, and at independence in 1821 Mexico was the largest self-governing country in the world.
