Mexico is the northernmost country of Latin America. It
is located in the Western Hemisphere between the United
States to the north and Guatemala and Belize to
the south. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and
the Gulf of Mexico to the east and by the Pacific
Ocean to the west.
Mexico is slightly less than three times the size of Texas. It has a total area of 1,972,550 square kilometers, of which land is 1,923,040 square kilometers and water is 49,510 square kilometers.
The terrain of Mexico varies from high, rugged mountains to high plateaus, low coastal plains and deserts. It has volcanoes, tropical rain forests, and grasslands.
Mexico's ancient inhabitants were two cultures, the Aztecs in the Central Plateau and the Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula. These cultures were present when the first Spanish explorer, Hernan Cortes, landed in Mexico in 1519.
Spain controlled Mexico for the next 300 years, until Mexico won its war of independence in 1821 which it had waged for 11 years.
The current estimated population of Mexico as of July 2006 is 107,449,525. The largest ethnic group is mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) at 60 percent. The next largest is Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian at 30 percent. There are also white at 9 percent and other at 1 percent.
The dominant language is Spanish, with various indigenous languages such as Mayan and Nahuatl.
Most Mexicans are nominally Roman Catholic at 89 percent, with Protestant at 6 percent and other religions at 5 percent of the total population.
The type of government is a federal republic of 31 states. The chief of state and head of government is the president, who appoints a Cabinet, with the exception of the Attorney General, who must be appointed with the consent of the Senate. The president is elected by popular vote for a single six year term. The legislative branch is the National Congress, which consists of two chambers, the Senate and the Federal Chamber of Deputies, whose members are elected by popular vote. The judicial branch is the Supreme Court of Justice; the justices are appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.
The capital city of Mexico is Mexico City.
The currency is the Mexican peso.
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