Language: Spanish
Currency: Peso (MXN)
Mexico, whose official name is the United Mexican
States, is a sovereign country located in the southern part of North
America; Its capital and most populated city is Mexico City.
According to the current constitution, its form of government
consists of a representative, democratic, secular and federal
republic, composed of 32 federative entities (31 states and the
capital).
The Mexican territory has an area of 1,964,375 km²,
making it the thirteenth largest country in the world and the third
largest in Latin America. It borders to the north with the United
States of America along a border of 3,152 km, while to the south it
has a border of 956 km with Guatemala and 193 km with Belize. The
country's coasts are bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and
to the east by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, totaling
11,122 km of coastline.
Mexico is the tenth most populous
country in the world, with a population estimated at more than 130
million people in 2023. Most of them have Spanish as their mother
tongue, which the state recognizes as the national language along
with 68 indigenous languages of the country. country, although
around 287 linguistic varieties are spoken in the country.20 These
figures make Mexico the country with the largest number of Spanish
speakers, as well as the seventh country with the greatest
linguistic diversity in the world.
The human presence in
Mexico dates back to 30,000 years before the present. As a result of
thousands of years of cultural development, Mesoamerican,
Arid-American and Oasis-American cultures emerged in Mexican
territory. The current central territory of Mexico was the main and
largest stage of the Mexica people and, in the south, of the Mayan
people, two of the most important civilizations of pre-Columbian
America. For 300 years, the entire current territory was part of the
Viceroyalty of New Spain, with its capital in Mexico City, being one
of the most important entities of the Spanish Empire in America.
After Spanish domination, New Spain began the fight for its
political independence in 1810, which culminated in 1821.
Subsequently, for nearly a century the country was involved in a
series of internal wars and foreign invasions that had repercussions
in all areas. of the life of Mexicans. During much of the 20th
century (mainly the second third) a period of great economic growth
took place within the framework of politics dominated by a single
political party.
In macroeconomic terms, by gross domestic
product (GDP) it is the fourteenth economy in the world and the
eleventh by purchasing power parity (PPP) in 2022; On a regional
scale, it is the second economy in Latin America and the fourth on
the continent. According to the 2020 UN human development report, it
has a high human development index of 0.779, and ranks 74th in the
world .
Mexico is also one of the countries with the greatest
diversity of climates in the world, considered one of the seventeen
megadiverse countries on the planet, it is home to 10-12% of the
world's biodiversity and is home to more than 12,000 endemic
species.
According to the World Tourism Organization, Mexico
is the main tourist destination in Latin America and the seventh
most visited in the world in 2022. This is largely due to the
thirty-five cultural or natural sites that are considered World
Heritage by UNESCO. of Humanity, and in this sense it is the first
on the continent.
Mexico has 32 federal entities, including Mexico City, considered a unique entity:
Baja California ·
Baja California Sur
Baja
California is a Peninsula located in the west of the country, Mexico's
northwestern border with the United States. The El Vizcaíno Whale
Sanctuary and the rock paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco are
World Heritage Sites. Also in this territory is an enigmatic place
called the Zone of Silence, cradle of ancient stories and legends.
Chihuahua · Coahuila · Durango · Nuevo León · Sinaloa
· Sonora · Tamaulipas
It includes the extensive deserts and mountains
formed by two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Occidental and the
Sierra Madre Oriental, bordered to the north by the United States.
The Bajío
Aguascalientes · Guanajuato · Zacatecas · San Luis
Potosí · Querétaro
Historical states during the colonial era, after
the country's independence, mining would lead the region to its
architectural and urban splendor.
Mexico City · State of Mexico · Morelos
Central
zone, main scene of pre-Hispanic and colonial Mexico. One of the most
populated regions in the world.
Veracruz · Puebla · Tlaxcala · Hidalgo
It is the
best known and explored region of Mexico, being the most complex region
to describe due to the diversity of landscapes.
Colima · Jalisco · Michoacán · Nayarit
In Jalisco,
tourist attractions await you such as the Rotunda of the Illustrious
Jaliciences, the House of Dogs or the Plaza de Armas are one of the many
emblematic, tourist and ancient places that you can find in this city
also recognized as "the pearl of Guadalajara."
Oaxaca · Chiapas · Guerrero
The region is famous
for having deep roots in its traditions, crafts, festivities and rich
gastronomy. It has impressive archaeological areas. It also has
beautiful architectural gems such as Oaxaca de Juárez and magical towns
such as San Cristóbal de Las Casas; paradisiacal beaches like Acapulco
and modernist architecture in the most populated cities.
Campeche · Quintana Roo · Yucatán · Tabasco
Green
spaces and archaeological sites of the Mayan culture with coasts on the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In Yucatán, visit the enigmatic
area of Chichen-Itza, a tourist place that you cannot miss. There are
also other places that you should not miss: the Walled City of Campeche
or the Paseo Montejo of Yucatán.
These are some of the best-known cities in Mexico:
1 Mexico City is the capital of Mexico, one of the three largest cities
in the world and a sophisticated urban center with 700 years of history.
In Mexico City, you'll find everything from parks, Aztec ruins, colonial
architecture, museums, to nightlife and shopping.
2 Guadalajara is
the capital and most populated city of Jalisco, also home to traditional
mariachi music. The city has various attractions that include modern and
colonial architecture, and also includes birria and tequila in its
gastronomy.
3 Monterrey capital of Nuevo León.
4 Puebla de
Zaragoza, capital of the state of Puebla
5 Toluca is the capital of
the State of Mexico and has a variety of places of interest.
6
Guanajuato, capital of Guanajuato and headquarters of Cervantino.
7
Cancún is located in Quintana Roo and is one of the most popular tourist
destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean.
8 Tijuana, Mexico's busiest
border crossing for pedestrians and private vehicles, and a bargain
mecca for Southern Californians due to its proximity to San Diego.
9
Veracruz is considered the port of Mexico par excellence.
10
Acapulco: A sophisticated urban beach setting known for its world-class
nightlife, fine dining, and nightmarish traffic. Many of the older
concrete structures (pre-1990s) have suffered from tropical decay.
Frescoes with colorful depictions of a Mayan life survived at this ancient archeological site of Cacaxtla.
Ancient pyramids of Cantona archeological site seem to rise right from the Mexican desert.
Cascadas de Agua Azul are a series of splendid water cascades located 125 km Northeast of San Cristobalck, Chiapas.
Cempoala is an ancient archeological site located 44 km (27 mi) North of Veracruz in the state of Veracruz in Mexico.
Cenote Cho Ha is underground pool surrounded by beautiful geological formations in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.
Cenote Dzitnup is an underground pool in the Yucatan limestone formed after natural geological processes.
Magnificent ruins of Chichen Itza are located in Yucatan peninsula. It is largest and one of the most impressive Mayan city states.
Copper Canyon in the Mexican state of Chihuahua gets its name from a green color walls that look like a copper at a distance.
Mayan city of Coba is famous for numerous religious buildings including the highest pyramid constructed by the Mayan civilization.
Whether you like to explore ancient ruins, dive in the reefs or just bask in the sun, Cozumel has it all.
Massive Cueva de la Boca outside of Mexican city of Monterrey is a famous roosting home for thousands of bats.
El Tajin is a major Mayan city those remains are located in a magnificent condition in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Ek Balam or 'Black Jaguar' is a Yucatec- Maya city located just 30 km North of Valladolid in Yukatan peninsula Mexico.
Impressive ruins of an Aztec city of Malinalco is harmoniously combined with surrounding picturesque jungles.
Monte Alban is an impressive site of ancient Mayan ruins in a Mexican province of Oaxaca.
Museo Frida Kahlo is a former house of the famous Mexican artist on the outskirts of Mexican capital Mexico City.
Museo Leon Trotsky is a former house of Russian- Jewish revolutionary who was killed here by the orders of Stalin.
Nonoch Nah Chich in Quintana Roo state of Mexico is one of the largest flooded underground caves.
Paquime or Casas Grandes is an ancient archeological site in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico constructed before the arrival of Columbus.
Palenque that is located in Yucatan peninsula is one of the largest and mysterious of Mayan city states.
Paricutin Volcano started erupting in the early twentieth century and covered human structures. Some are still visible today.
Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve is a large nature preserve that protects diverse Mexican ecosystem.
Mysterious ruins of Teotihuacan still puzzle many historians with its origins, purpose of symbolism in its construction as well as life style of its residents.
Tula is an ancient archeological site situated 85 km North of Mexico city in the Mexican state of Hidalgo.
Tulum is an ancient Mayan city in Yucatan peninsula in Mexico that served as a harbor for trade.
Mayan city of Uxmal is famous for its unique architecture as well as great preservation state of the buildings.
Valladolid is a pleasant small town with Spanish architecture, small streets and several parks.
Xcaret Underground River is a natural geological formation that was worshipped by ancient Mayans as the entrance to the Underworld.
Xochicalco is a ancient Mayan archeological site situated 40 km Southwest of Cuernavaca in the Mexican state of Morelos.
- avoid marshy areas and take insect repellant. Insects might transfer several deadly diseases in addition to causing discomfort
- check weather conditions before visiting
- if you plan to camp in the jungle protect your equipment and food from water and moisture
- wear pants and water- resistant boots to reduce chance of a snake insect bite
- drink plenty of bottled water, prevent dehydration
January 1: New Year's Day
January 6: The Three Wise Men day,
celebrating arrival of the Three Wise Men to see and bring gifts to
the baby Jesus (not an official holiday).
February 2: The
Candelaria Day ("Day of the candles"), celebrated in many places
around the country (not an official holiday)
February 5:
Constitution Day (1917)
February 24: Flag Day (not official)
March 21: Birth of Benito Juárez (1806)
April 30: Kid's Day
May 1: Labor Day
May 5: Cinco de Mayo, the Battle of Puebla
against the French army, 19th century (not an official holiday)
May 10: Mother's Day
May 15: Teacher's Day
September 1:
Presidential Address Day
September 15: Grito de Dolores
September 16: Independence Day (celebrates the start of the fight
for the independence from Spain in 1810, achieved until September
27, 1821)
October 12: Day of the Race (not a public holiday)
November 2: Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos) (not a public holiday)
November 20: Mexican Revolution Day (1910)
December 12: Virgin
Mary of Guadalupe Day. Not a public holiday, but is one of the most
important Mexican holidays
December 24: Christmas Eve (not a
public holiday, but normally a full non-working day)
December 25:
Christmas
December 31: New Year’s Eve (not a public holiday, but
normally a full non-working day)
Easter is widely observed
nationwide, according to the yearly Catholic calendar (the first
Sunday after the first full moon in Spring). Actual non-working days
may shift to the Monday before the holiday, so check an up-to-date
calendar. Visitors from the U.S. may be surprised to notice that the
despite Cinco de Mayo being an important part of the cultural
identity of Mexican-Americans, it is not regarded as a major holiday
in Mexico, and hardly celebrated by Mexicans outside the state of
Puebla.
According to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretaria
de Relaciones Exteriores), certain foreign nationals who intend to
stay in Mexico fewer than 180 days for the purpose of tourism or 30
days for business can fill out a tourist card at the border or upon
landing at an airport after presenting a valid passport, for US$22.
If arriving via air, it is included in the price of the fare. This
service is available to citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Aruba,
Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bulgaria,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece,
Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia,
Malta, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Monaco, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal,
Puerto Rico, Romania, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United
States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela (see official list here).
Permanent residents of the United States, Canada, Japan, United
Kingdom, and Schengen area countries are also eligible for visas on
arrival regardless of citizenship.
The Mexican tourist card
is a Forma Migratoria Múltiple (Multiple Immigration Form), or FMM.
It has a perforation that divides the card into two parts, of which
the right side asks for some of the same information requested on
the left side. At entry, after reviewing your passport and
filled-out FMM, the immigration officer will stamp your passport and
the FMM, separate the FMM along the perforation and give the right
side of the FMM back to you with your passport. Keep the FMM
together with your passport at all times. It is your responsibility
to make sure the right side of the FMM is returned to the Mexican
government at time of departure so that the bar code can be scanned,
thus showing that you left the country on time. For example, if you
are flying with Aeromexico, they will ask for your passport and FMM
at check-in for your flight home, then staple your FMM to your
boarding pass. You are expected to then hand the boarding pass
together with your FMM to the gate agent as you board your flight.
If you lose your FMM during your visit to Mexico, you may be subject
to substantial delays and fines before you can leave the country.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, some foreigners who
wish to stay in Mexico less than 180 days for tourism reasons or 30 days
for business reasons can fill out a tourist card at the border or upon
landing at an airport after presenting a valid passport. , for 22
dollars. If they arrive by air, it is included in the ticket price.
This service is available to citizens of Argentina, Australia,
Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Germany,
Great Britain, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain,
United States, Trinidad and Tobago , Uruguay and Venezuela (see the
official list here). Permanent residents of the United States, Canada,
Japan, the United Kingdom, and Schengen area countries can also obtain
visas on arrival regardless of their citizenship.
The Mexican
tourist card is a Multiple Migratory Form (FMM). It has a perforation
that divides the card into two parts, of which the right side requests
some of the same information requested on the left side. Upon entry,
after checking your passport and the completed FMM, the immigration
officer will stamp your passport and the FMM, separate the FMM along the
perforation, and return the right side of the FMM with your passport.
Keep the FMM with your passport at all times. It is your responsibility
to ensure that the right side of the FMM is returned to the Mexican
government upon departure so that the barcode can be scanned, thus
showing that you left the country on time. For example, if you fly with
Aeromexico, they will ask for your passport and FMM upon check-in for
your flight home, and then staple your FMM to your boarding pass. You
are expected to hand over your boarding pass along with your FMM to the
gate agent upon boarding your flight. If you lose your FMM while
visiting Mexico, you may be subject to substantial delays and fines
before you can leave the country.
Electronic authorization to
travel to Mexico is available online for nationals of Russia, Turkey and
Ukraine. Other nationalities should contact a Mexican consulate to find
out the requirements for citizens of their country, and may have to
apply for and obtain a visa before traveling. If you need more
information, Mexico has diplomatic offices in the following cities
around the world.
If you cross the border by road, don't expect
authorities to automatically tell you to fill out your paperwork. You
will have to locate the border office yourself. The immigration officer
at your point of entry into Mexico may also ask you to prove that you
have sufficient financial solvency and a round-trip ticket. If you do
not intend to travel beyond the "border zone" and your stay does not
exceed three days, US and Canadian citizens only require proof of
citizenship. Re-entry into the United States generally requires a
passport, but a U.S. or Canadian enhanced driver's license (or enhanced
photo ID) or a U.S. passport card is acceptable for re-entry by land or
sea.
Mexico receives international flights from about 60 countries. The
Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) that serves Mexico City is the
main international access gateway to Mexico, receiving nearly 40 million
passengers annually and is followed by the airports of Cancún (CUN) and
Guadalajara (GDL). MEX is oriented to an international market with
flights from Europe, Asia, South America, North America, Central America
and the Caribbean. While GDL is focused on flights from Central America
and the United States and CUN is focused on Central America, South
America, North America and Europe.
It should be taken into
account that you must prepare the immigration procedures before
Immigration and customs at the first port of entry to the country even
if you are only at the airport for a few minutes on a connecting flight.
You will also need to re-check your luggage and go through security
again before proceeding to your next flight.
Traveling through Mexico is most practical by bus, car or plane.
Passenger transport by train is almost non-existent. Except the
Chihuahua Pacific Railroad which leaves every morning at both ends of
the line, one from Los Mochis on the Pacific coast, through Baja
California, and the other from Chihuahua in the east (south of El Paso ,
Texas). They intersect approximately halfway at the Divisadero and
Barrancas Copper Canyon stations at an altitude of 2,100 m (7,000 ft).
It is easy to get around any federal entity in Mexico, there are
common, practical and safe methods such as Metro, Taxi, Uber, renting
cars from agencies during your stay in the country or city, plus you can
rent them online, or search for information on sites insurance, reliable
travel agencies or on the website of the hotel where you are going to
stay.
In the towns, municipalities or small cities of Mexico, in
addition to the Taxi, there are collective transports such as trucks or
combis, which although they are a little more unsafe because you can
suffer an assault or common scam (to a lesser degree and depending on
the region in which that you find).
Mexico is a large country, and with the low-cost revolution that
began in 2005 following the breakup of CINTRA's monopoly, new (budget)
airlines entered and expanded, offering competitive fares that rival
buses travel long distances. With fuel costs rising, the days of
bargaining may be gone, but prices are even more reasonable than when
CINTRA operated Mexicana and Aeroméxico, as a monopoly, before 2005.
Major airline hubs for all or several of The airlines are in Mexico
City, Toluca, Guadalajara, Cancún and Monterrey. There are additional
point-to-point services from several other cities.
The main
airlines that provide service to more than 60 cities within Mexico are:
Aeromexico / Aeromexico Connect,☏ [55 5133-4000] (MX), toll-free:
[1-800-237-6639] (US). It is the 'national' and 'legacy' operator with
centers in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. They are also members
of the SkyTeam Alliance. (updated Apr 2016 | edit)
Aeromar,☏ [55
51-33-11-11], toll-free: 01 800 237-6627 (MX).
Magnicharters ,☏ [55
5678-1000] , [55 5678-3600] (DF), [81 2282-9620] , [2282-9621] (MTY).
The centers are located in Monterrey and Mexico City. It used to operate
only between Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Cancún. They had
since expanded to include other Mexican and American cities.
VivaAerobus. Low-cost airline similar to Ryanair with hubs in Cancun,
Monterrey, Mexico City and Guadalajara and new focus cities in Mérida
and Puebla. They expanded service to the US after 2011.
Volaris ,☏
[55 1102-8000], toll-free: [855 865-2747] (US). The centers are located
in Mexico City, Tijuana and Guadalajara, with focus cities in Cancún,
Monterrey and León. They also have an additional center in San José
Costa Rica and a focal city in Los Angeles, outside of Mexico. Since
Mexicana's demise in 2010, they have expanded and taken over many of
Mexicana's routes and airport slots within Mexico and the US. Since
then, they have expanded their services to more cities in the US. USA,
Costa Rica, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
There are also small
airlines that operate within certain areas, such as:
Calafia Airlines
,☏ [619 489-1439] (US), toll-free: 01800 5603949 (MX). It operates
scheduled flights between several cities in the Baja California
peninsula and from the Baja California peninsula to the states of
Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sonora and Sinaloa. They also connect the Baja
California peninsula with León (Guanajuato), Monterey (Nuevo León),
Mexico City and San Luis Potosí, all on smaller Embraer ERJ and Cessna
aircraft. They also connect Palenque and Tuxtla Gutiérrez (Chiapas) with
Mexico City and Cancún. They also offer charter and air taxi services.
Aerotucán,☏ [952 502-0840], toll-free: 01800 640-4148. Fly between
the city of Oaxaca, Ciudad Ixtepec, Huatulco and Puerto Escondido in the
state of Oaxaca with the Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft.
Mayair ,☏
(MX), (US and CA), toll-free: 01800 962-9247. It operates regional
flights from Cancun to Cozumel, Chetumal and Mérida and from
Villahermosa to Veracruz and Mérida on the smaller Dornier 228 aircraft
and the Fokker 50 aircraft.
TAR,☏ [55 2629-5272]. Hub in Querétaro
with focus cities in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Puerto Vallarta to
multiple destinations with Embraer ERJ145 aircraft throughout the
country and expanding.
Border crossing from Guatemala.
United States Cruises.
US auto insurance is not accepted in Mexico; However, it is easy to
obtain short-term or long-term tourist policies that include mandatory
liability coverage, theft and accident coverage for your vehicle and
often legal aid coverage. If you decide to drive to Mexico, the Ministry
of Transportation and Communications website has road maps that can be
downloaded for free.
Vehicles plated abroad must obtain the
necessary permits before being allowed to enter the interior of Mexico.
This can be done at border checkpoints by showing your vehicle title or
registration, as well as immigration documents and a valid credit card.
It is now possible to apply for your vehicle import permit online.
Vehicle permits will only be issued to the registered owner of the
vehicle, so the documents must be in the name of the applicant. The Baja
California peninsula and the northern part of the state of Sonora do not
require a permit.
Due to the incredibly large volume of drugs and
illegal immigration (to the US) and drug money and weapons (to Mexico)
crossing the US-Mexico border, expect long delays and extensive vehicle
searches upon arrival. cross the border. At some of the busiest
crossings, expect a wait time of 1 to 3 hours.
In large cities you should not hail taxis on the street because of
the risk of being robbed, but rather go to a taxi stand (sitio) or have
a taxi called from a hotel or restaurant. You hear this advice all the
time, everywhere, but in reality even locals often take taxis and always
hail the car on the street. It is important to either ask for the price
when boarding or to negotiate one. This becomes unnecessary if the
driver switches on the taximeter (more of an exception than a rule). If
he does, you can tip very generously; taxis are cheap.
In many
cities there are Taxi de Sitio, i.e. taxis that leave from a fixed taxi
rank and always return there. You can also use “Uber” and “Cabify” to
drive safely and safely through the capital via a smartphone app.
When traveling to the airport with large luggage, you should
“officially” order taxis, as it can happen that you get robbed. If you
got a ride home the day before, it's best to order the driver to the
hotel for the next day, it's cheap and safe.
The Mexican bus system is reportedly the most efficient in the world.
Buses are undoubtedly the backbone of personal intercity transportation
in Mexico, as private car ownership is much lower than in its northern
neighbor and trains primarily serve freight and tourism purposes.
Chances are you'll meet plenty of locals who travel by bus. Fares by
distance are generally comparable to Greyhound in the US, but there are
more departures and the system serves much smaller towns than its
American counterpart. There are many Mexico-based bus companies with
branches in major US cities, with some examples mentioned below:
Autobuses De Oriente (ADO), Omnibus Cristóbal Colón (OCC), Autobus
Unidos (AU) Connects the US border from Matamoros to the interior of
Mexico along the Gulf Coast and buses once a night from Cancun and
Merida to Belize City (two separate routes). At other times, passengers
connect to buses heading to Belize in Chetumal and to Guatemala in
Tapachula, Palenque and Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, near the Guatemalan border in
Chiapas.
Omnibus Mexicanos, Northeast, Omnibus Express Offers
intrastate travel from border areas to various cities within the US
state of Texas and from Texas to Georgia, North Carolina and Florida as
Omnibus Express
Autobus Americanos – co-branded between Grupo
Estrella Blanca and Greyhound Lines for cross-border travel between the
US and Mexico.
Greyhound Mexico connects Monterrey to Laredo, TX
through Nuevo Laredo. They also operate Cruises-USA connecting Tijuana
to Los Angeles through San Diego and Santa Ana.
Greyhound offers
tickets from the US to major Mexican cities with Grupo Estrella Blanca
further south of the border, including Monterrey, Querétaro, Durango,
Mazatlán, Torreón, Guadalajara and Mexico City. It is better (and
cheaper) to buy a Greyhound round-trip ticket as it may be more
difficult and expensive to buy a ticket from Mexico to a US destination
that is not a major city. When leaving Mexico, the local bus line
(usually Futura) will change the Greyhound-issued ticket at its own
expense, free of charge.
El Expresso: Houston-based company that
connects cities and towns in Mexico bordering Texas to Florida, the
southeastern part of the US, and Chicago from several Texas cities.
Turimex Internacional: Subsidiary of Grupo Senda for future connections
with Florida, the southeastern part of the United States and Chicago
through Texas.
TAP Royal A subsidiary of TAP that connects Tijuana
and Nogales with Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
TUFESA connects
Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California in northwest Mexico to multiple
cities in California, Arizona, Utah and Las Vegas NV via Los Angeles and
Phoenix.
El Paso-Los Angeles Limousines and Los Limousines Travel the
I-10 corridor along the US side of the border from El Paso to Los
Angeles and from El Paso to Denver via Las Cruces NM along I-10 and
I-25. It goes south from El Paso towards Torreón through Ciudad Juárez,
Chihuahua City, etc. along Federal Highway 45 as Los Limousines.
Los
Paisanos connects El Paso with several cities in California, Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. They also have direct service from El
Paso to Phoenix, Roswell NM, and Caldwell ID in the US. The same company
also offers service from El Paso to several cities in the state of
Chihuahua, the state of Zacatecas, and Querétaro in Mexico.
A
ticket to a major Mexican city from the southwestern US can be purchased
for as little as $60 round trip (San Antonio TX to Monterrey N.L.).
However, these companies primarily serve Hispanics or Mexican citizens
living in the US and operate primarily in Spanish.
In Mexico City
(main transportation hub), buses from the US border arrive at the North
Terminal. Buses to Chiapas and Quintana Roo leave from both the Oriente
Passenger Bus Terminal (TAPO) and the North Terminal (same as buses
bound for the US). If you are going between bus stations, there are taxi
ticket counters at all bus stations where passengers can purchase a
ticket for a taxi site to transfer to the next bus station. Likewise, if
passengers travel light, they can also use the metro which serves all
major bus stations for a fraction of the taxi fare.
Connections
to/from Guatemala through Tapachula and to Belize through Chetumal.
There are additional connections (by transport) between San Cristóbal de
las Casas and Antigua Guatemala (via Comitán, crossing through Ciudad
Cuauhtémoc / La Mesilla). Tickets on these transfers are purchased from
one of the many agents in San Cristóbal de las Casas. Passengers often
change vehicles at the border. The following offer regular first class
Pullman services from Tapachula to Central America:
Platinum
Central America Only serves Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and
Nicaragua from Tapachula along the CA-1 highway.
Ticabus' main
Central American bus line connecting the Central American capitals
(except Belize) and Tapachula from Panama City. Tapachula buses going to
Panama City pass through Guatemala City, San Salvador, Managua and S
Jose CR. Passengers going to Tegucigalpa on the Ticabus transfer in San
Salvador or Managua.
Trans Galgos Inter runs from Tapachula to
Guatemala City via Coatepeque and Retalhuleu in Guatemala 2 times a day
and an extra run from Retalhuleu to San Salvador.
Today, traffic is largely limited to freight traffic. After the USA
was able to install a neoliberal president that they liked, the state
network was sold off in the fall of 1999. Today there is only passenger
transport (suburban trains) in Mexico City with two lines to
Nezahualcóyotl, Cuautitlán, around Montenerry and a tram in Guadalajara.
Additional tourist routes: The rail connection through the “Copper
Canyon” (Barranca del Cobre) between Los Mochis and Creel offers a
particularly spectacular experience. The Chepe Express travels ten hours
in adventurous hairpin bends at over 2000 meters into the Sierra Madre.
In 2023 you'll simply pay mex$2,600 in the cheapest of the three classes
during the low season, with a surcharge of around twenty percent in the
high season. First class costs almost twice as much. Seasonally it runs
2-3 times a week.
Other smaller railway lines exist between
Puebla and Cholula de Rivadavia (only reopened in 2017) and between
Guadalajara and Tequila. A railway also runs sporadically on the
reactivated railway line (called "tren turistico") from Campo in
California via Tecate to Tijuana.
Plans for (high-speed)
passenger transport on a larger scale have been heard again and again,
but so far there have been only a few serious construction measures, so
a usable connection is not expected by the end of the decade. The usual
suspects are protesting against the particularly sensible Tren Maya,
which began in 2018: “human rights activists” and environmentalists who
prefer to let diesel exhaust fumes from buses be blown into the air.
Language
Rule of thumb (across Latin America): “If you speak English, all
doors open. When you speak Spanish, hearts open too.”
The people
speak Spanish. In tourist places such as B. Cancun, as well as in parts
of the population of the largest cities (especially students in Mexico
City), English is also spoken, but German is also spoken in large
hotels. In less touristy places, English is not common.
If you
can communicate in Spanish, you will be treated more friendly. Then
there are even better prices at street vendors and souvenir sellers.
With a few words of Spanish and if you make it clear that you are not a
gringo, you can live a much safer life in Mexico.
In Yucatán
there is a larger group of people who speak various Mayan languages. The
vast majority of them also speak Spanish and some also speak other
languages (especially if they work in tourism). Nahuatl, the language of
the Aztecs, is also widespread in the center of the country.
The annual Embalse de Toros, during which drunken bulls swim through the river, takes place in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz on February 2nd. Do-gooders have achieved that bullfights no longer take place in five states and the capital.
Currency
Exchange rate: €1 = mex$ 18.6. (As of: Jun 2023)
Coins come in denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 pesos, and banknotes come
in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 pesos, usually
abbreviated with the dollar sign ($). Series D banknotes from 1996-2000
should have been withdrawn from circulation by now. Series G came into
circulation in 2018. In 2022, it had not yet been finally decided
whether the 20-franc note would be abolished in the next few years and a
2000-franc note would be introduced. Pictures from the current series on
the central bank's website.
Exchange offices (casas de cambio)
have longer opening hours than banks and are less bureaucratic when
processing money. You don't actually need to change anything other than
US dollars, and euro exchange rates aren't excessive.
When making
purchases, in addition to the local currency, US dollars and, very
rarely, euros are also accepted as cash, especially in tourist areas. In
general, it can be said that the exchange rates for euros are worse than
for dollars and that coins are less often accepted than notes. You can
also pay with credit card in many places.
Currencies of Central
American countries are only accepted - if at all - at miserable rates
immediately close to the border. Outside these areas, it may even be
difficult to exchange them at banks.
Conversely, the Mexican peso
is sometimes accepted in Costa Rica, but in the USA it is only accepted
in the southwestern states and southern California and here too at
miserable rates.
Tobacco
Cigarettes of international brands
cost mex$ 62-70, fully taxed. In many states, thanks to the Cártel del
Tabaco, there are untaxed ones where you can satisfy your addiction for
half the price.
There are also Mexican cigars, which are rather
average. American tourists in particular buy goods that are forbidden to
them, namely Cuban ones. In the relevant specialist shop or at the
airport, these are hardly cheaper than in Europe. If you buy from a
small street vendor, they will often sell you Nicaraguan or similar
goods with a fake belly band. (As of: Jun 2023)
Souvenirs
Mexico is famous for tequila, and good quality can be purchased here at
low prices (compared to Germany).
Mexican cuisine is a mix of indigenous and European cuisine with
Caribbean and African influences here and there and is characterized by
contrasts: spicy-sweet, crunchy-creamy, sweet-salty.
The basic
ingredient of a Mexican meal is a corn flatbread called tortilla (not to
be confused with the Spanish potato egg dish of the same name), which
dates back to the Spanish natives. In the southern half of the country,
the tortilla is made from corn cooked and grated in lime water, and in
the northern half it is also made from wheat flour. The tortilla is
served as a filling side dish with every meal.
The tortillas are
used, among other things, to prepare tacos or enchiladas, which are
nothing more than flatbreads filled with chicken, meat or similar. For
the more adventurous, there are also tacos des tripas (with tripe) or
tacos de ojo (with beef eyes). There are also quesadillas that, despite
the name, do not necessarily contain cheese, but are often filled with
mushrooms, zucchini flowers, potatoes, chapulines (grasshoppers) or
huitlacoche (corn mold) and fried. In northern Mexico, burritos are
common, larger flour tortillas filled with beans or meat. Popular side
dishes include a refried beans called frijoles refritos, guacamole and
salads. Different chili sauces are also served with every meal.
Mexican cuisine offers a wide variety of dishes that are hardly known
abroad. One of the national dishes is mole, a mild chili-chocolate sauce
that is usually served with chicken and rice. The recipe goes back to
the native people's sauces prepared in a mortar. In its current form, it
dates back to the 16th century and the nuns of Puebla and Oaxaca, who
allegedly used up to a hundred ingredients to prepare it, in addition to
various dried chili peppers. Although mole is eaten throughout the
southern half of the country, these two cities still have the greatest
variety of preparation forms: in Puebla the classic “Mole Poblano” as
well as “Pipián verde” and “Pipián rojo.” In Oaxaca there are a total of
eight different moles, including negro, rojo, coloradito and amarillo,
as well as a mole with the beautiful name “Manchamanteles,” the
“tablecloth smearer.”
Another national dish is the Chiles en
Nogada, which is mainly eaten around the national holiday in September
and October. This dish was also invented by nuns who prepared a meal for
Emperor Itubrbide during his visit to Puebla in the national colors:
dark green chili peppers stuffed with meat (chile poblano), a white goat
cheese and nut sauce with red pomegranate seeds.
Contrary to
popular belief, the dish chili con carne does not come from Mexico, but
from the southwest of the USA, although this area belonged to Mexico or
the Spanish colonial empire until the 1840s. The fiery, spicy dish will
only be found on the US-Mexico border and in tourist resorts.
Mexican beer is not produced according to the Purity Law. Corona, in
particular, is world-famous because of aggressive international
advertising by the owner, the American thin beer brewery Anheuser-Busch,
which only becomes drinkable with a piece of lime. Additives include
corn, ascorbic acid and propylene glycol alginate. The Cuauhtémoc
Moctezuma brewery belongs to Heineken and also sells the Sol, Tecate and
Dos Equis brands as well as American Coors and Miller beer.
The
national liquor is mezcal, made from agave pulp mainly in the region
around the city of Oaxaca. Officially, the states of Guerrero, Durango,
San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas are also allowed to produce
it. A sub-form is tequila, a liquor made only from blue agave (Agave
tequilana) in the state of Jalisco.
Like elsewhere in Latin America, Mexico has a very lively nightlife.
There are a large number of European-level bars and clubs, especially in
the largest cities of Mexico City and Guadalajara.
Even in
smaller towns there are bars with a dance floor. So-called “cantinas”
are typical for Mexico. These are cheap bars that only serve drinks.
Mariachi is the stereotypical music of Mexico, but it actually comes
from the state of Jalisco. It is part of UNESCO's intangible cultural
heritage. Since the advent of television and the Internet, bands or
soloists performing in bars etc. have become less common.
Emergency call: 911 (also English)
In Mexico, the police are
often not the solution to the problem of crime, but the problem itself.
For Central Europeans, this is difficult to understand. Bribery is the
norm, torture and ill-treatment occur. The law does not provide for the
payment of fines in cash. The local police officers responsible for
traffic control in particular charge fantasy sums, often for made-up
offenses. You should never offer money to the police because it is a
crime as a bribe and then you will end up in trouble. If a “helpful
police officer” wants to accompany the gringo to the ATM because of the
fine, he is definitely corrupt. Even if you get a “receipt,” it is
worthless. In case of doubt, they ask him to accompany him to the police
station in order to clarify the affair. Polite, determined stubbornness
and knowledge of Spanish help here.
When dealing with state
police, you can occasionally see real crime fighting. This applies even
more to the national police (until 2022 Policía Federal, since then
Guardia Nacional) and its heavily armed Gendarmeria Mexico department,
which primarily deals with serious crimes.
In general, it is not
advisable to use ATMs in the evening, as robberies often occur. Virtual
kidnappings or blackmail are also common, in which a kidnapping or
accident of a relative is only faked. If you have unknown callers, you
should be cautious about providing personal information, stay calm and
try to contact the relative in question by another means.
The amounts that are considered “possession” are extremely small,
e.g. B. 5 g of cannabis, 2 g of opioids or 50 mg of heroin. Even this is
punishable by up to 7½ years in prison - and in Mexico prison still
means dungeon. For larger amounts the penalty is 25 years. Much more
common, however, is the situation where the small-time dealer who has
supplied a “gringo” with a small amount informs the police, who then get
a good bribe.
The northern states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Nuevo
León, as well as Zacatecas, Durango, Sinaloa, and Morelos are also
affected by the “narcos”; in particular large cities such as Tijuana,
Ciudad Juárez, Reynosa, Matamoros, Tampico, Acapulco and Torreón, as
well as increasingly the municipalities of the Estado de México
bordering Mexico City. In general, overland journeys to cities and
tourist areas should only take place during the day and only via the
motorway. In some cases, police or uniformed security personnel are also
involved in crimes or criminals pose as such.
The Popocatépetl volcano has been increasingly active since 2021. There is a 12 km exclusion zone around the crater. The Colima volcano is also active and closed to visitors.
Among other things, vaccinations against tetanus, polio, hepatitis A and B are recommended; a booster vaccination may only be necessary. Especially in the lowlands of Yucatán, it is advisable to take appropriate malaria prophylaxis if you leave the usual tourist path.
The warning about Montezuma's revenge is often exaggerated. Some
precautions are certainly helpful, but you shouldn't be overcautious or
you'll miss out on the best treats. In international hotels it is
completely safe to eat food; in small restaurants you should avoid
salads and raw vegetables; as a tourist you should avoid street stalls
that do not serve hot food. When it comes to fruit, it's best to only
eat fruit that can be eaten without the peel (bananas, citrus fruits,
mamey, zapote, chirimoya, cactus fruits, etc.). Unpeeled fruit should be
washed with food cleaning additives; in the supermarket there are 30ml
bottles of a product called BacDyn in the vegetable section. Take some
anti-diarrheal medication with you just in case.
The tap water is
not suitable for drinking, but it is safe for brushing your teeth. Avoid
using ice cubes in drinks unless they come from bulk packs. The ice
cubes are harmless in hotels and restaurants.
Both in the
highlands (due to the altitude and the supposedly low temperatures) and
in the lowlands (high evaporation), it is absolutely important to drink
a lot.
Most medications are available cheaply and without a prescription in farmacias; antibiotics require a prescription. The best place to buy medication is in large pharmacies, where drugstore supplies are also available. You should avoid the so-called similares, who sell copycat products, when buying antibiotics.
The best protection against animals is to shake out clothes and shoes
before putting them on, and do not walk barefoot. Boots are useful in
both the desert and the jungle.
The mosquito is often said to be
the most dangerous animal. Even if they do not transmit dangerous
diseases, they are very annoying and adequate mosquito protection is
important. There is only a risk of malaria on the coasts and on the
Yucatán Peninsula, and here too it is extremely low. Isolated cases of
dengue and Chagas fever have also been reported in coastal states.
Nevertheless, it is recommended to use mosquito repellent throughout the
country, especially in the evening and at night.
There are about
600 species of venomous snakes in Mexico. Very few of them are fatal to
humans; the toxic effect is always unpleasant. You should see a doctor
after every snake bite and, if possible, take a photo of the animal.
Rattlesnakes are familiar from American westerns and can also be found
in Mexican desert areas. You can avoid them through their threatening
gestures.
The smaller humpback crocodiles, up to 3.50 m long, are
found in the south, on Yucatán and along the Gulf of Mexico. The
American crocodiles, up to 7 m long, live throughout the south and along
the Pacific coast. The crocodiles are potentially dangerous to humans,
but attacks are very rare. Where the usual tourist goes into the water,
essentially tourist-developed cenotes, there are no crocodiles there. At
Celestún, excursions into the mangroves are offered, where you can watch
flamingos and crocodiles and swim. The bathing areas are used by locals,
which should be safe.
Jaguars and pumas are common in Mexico, but
there are only a few tens of thousands left. The wild cats are shy and
usually avoid people. Attacks only occur when cornered. The smaller
ocelot and jaguarundi do not pose a threat to the lives of humans. Note:
fur and similar products from these animals cannot be brought back into
the EU as souvenirs.
Constrictors like the rainbow boa do not grow
large enough to pose a threat to healthy adults. Humans don't fit into
the prey scheme because we are too big.
Sharks can be found on all
coasts of Mexico.
About a tenth of the native plants are protected
(details: Anexo Normativo III). This can be very expensive, especially
with cacti collected in the desert, if you do not have reliable
botanical knowledge.
Highlands (e.g. Ciudad de México or Taxco)
Due to the altitude,
sightseeing can be quite strenuous. This can cause cardiovascular
problems for travelers. In addition, there is a mild climate, which
means that solar radiation is underestimated. There is a risk of sunburn
and sunstroke, so wear light, covering clothing and a hat and stay in
the shade if possible at lunchtime.
Yucatan lowlands
It is
very hot and very humid here all year round (especially in summer). It's
extremely easy to work up a sweat, and visits to pyramids, for example,
can be really tiring.
Dry season is November to April. May to November is hurricane season,
when tropical storms and intense rainfall can be expected on all coasts.
Widespread flooding and landslides can be triggered.
While the
climate in the highlands is pleasant almost all year round, the weather
in the lowlands of Yucatán is often very stressful. Due to its location
in the tropics, the temperature differences between the seasons are only
slight.
Highlands: Usually pleasantly warm during the day, e.g.
at night. T. very cool. Warning: Mexico City suffers from smog,
especially in the dry months from October to May, which can make
breathing difficult. Large parts of the highlands are above 2000 meters,
which can also put strain on the organism.
Lowlands of Yucatán:
It is most pleasant here in winter (air and water temperature 26 °C in
January) because it is not so humid. In general it is very hot and the
humidity is very high. In Merida e.g. B. the monthly average fluctuates
between 28 and 35 degrees, but the perceived temperature can be
significantly higher due to the very high humidity.
Mexicans are generally very friendly and hospitality is very
important. If you speak Spanish (or at least try a few phrases) you'll
gain a lot of plus points. Conversely, Mexicans don't like Americans
(“gringos”); they are very unpopular and even hated in Mexico. If you
make it clear to the other person (preferably in Spanish) that you are
German, you will gain a lot of sympathy, as Mexicans are very
German-friendly. Mexicans are very proud of their country and their
unique culture and history. They really appreciate it if you as a
tourist are interested in it. In general they are very open and you
quickly get into conversation. One should not address sensitive issues
such as the drug war, rampant violence, high crime rates and (everyday)
corruption. One should also not speak disparagingly about the Catholic
Church, which still enjoys a very high reputation in Mexico. You won't
gain much respect among the locals if you only go on a hotel vacation in
Yucatán. The most important things for Mexicans are family and friends.
You spend a lot of time with them. Only really good friends are invited
home.
Indians in particular are reluctant to be photographed, so
you should definitely ask.
Often you can get further with a few words of Spanish and hands and
feet than with fluent English. US citizens are not the most popular
people there. If you have made it clear to your conversation partners
that you are European, English can also be very helpful. People have a
particularly positive attitude towards the Germans. A quick, casual hint
is often enough to open numerous locked doors.
Smoking is
prohibited in all public places in Mexico. This applies to public
transport, hotels and restaurants but also beaches and parks!
The state broadcaster is Televisa also with regional programs. In addition, the cultural channels Television Metropolitana - Canal 22 and Once TV - Canal 11. Private broadcasters must provide 12% of their broadcasting time to the government. There is the right-wing conservative TV Azteca and Imagen TV.
Letters to Europe take 1-2 weeks to travel. The former is more likely to be sent from large cities, the latter from the provinces. For shipping parcels domestically with MEXPOST, you pay different prices depending on weight, speed and distance. International prices are calculated at the US dollar rate, Europe is in Zone B.
The four providers are: Telcel, AT&T, Movistar and Virgin Mobile.
Telcel has the largest network. Domestic roaming charges, which
otherwise only exist in the USA and India, were abolished in 2014. Since
2015, there has been no distinction between local and long-distance call
rates in the landline network, and this also applies to calls to cell
phones. To put it more simply: all landline calls only cost local
network prices.
SIM cards are sold for mex$50-150. You can buy
credit anywhere. If you are staying in the country for a while and make
a lot of calls to the USA or Canada, you are in good hands with AT&T,
otherwise Telcel is recommended because of its coverage. 5G began to be
rolled out in 2022.
Fixed network speeds will reach a maximum of 50 Mb/s in 2022.
In some cities there is free public WiFi. In Mexico City e.g. B.
“Free_CDMX”
If there are still Internet cafés in 2023, they will
be recognizable by signs such as “Acceso a Internet,” “Cibernautica” or
“Cibercafe.”
Mexico is a place name of Nahuatl origin whose meaning is disputed.
It derives from the Nahuatl word Mexihko (AFI: [meːʃiʔkoˀ]), which
designated the capital of the Mexicas. According to Bernardino de
Sahagún (16th century) —who is the oldest documentary source—, the word
would mean 'the place of Mexih', from Mexitl, where metl 'maguey',
cihtli 'hare' and -co locative: Mexih o Mexitl, who was a legendary
Nahua priest, guided his followers in the search for an eagle on a
cactus for the founding of his city after leaving the also legendary
Aztlán.
However, currently the most widespread version of the
meaning of the word is: "the navel of the moon" or "in the place of the
lake of the Moon", from Metzxicco: metztli (moon), xictli (navel,
center) and -co (locative), according to Cecilio Robelo and Alfonso
Caso. Sahagún writes the origin of the word in the following way:
This Mexícatl name was formerly called mecitli, being composed of
me, which is metl for the maguey, and citli for the hare, and thus it
would be said mecícatl, and changing the c into x it is corrupted and
called mexícatl. And the reason for the name, as the old people tell it,
is that when the Mexicans came to these parts they brought a leader and
lord named Mécitl, who later after he was born they called citli, hare;
and because instead of a cradle he was raised in a large maguey field,
from then on he was called mecitli, ...and when he was a man he was a
priest of idols, who spoke personally with the devil (Huitzilopochtli),
for which he was held He greatly respected and obeyed his vassals, who,
taking their name from their priest, were called Mexica, or Mexicac,
according to the ancients.
Francisco Xavier Clavijero suggested
that the toponym should be interpreted as "[in the] place of Mexihtli",
that is, of Huitzilopochtli, since Mexihtli was one of the alternative
names for him. In the same text, Clavijero adds as a note that he
believed for some time that the word meant "in the center of the
maguey", but that through knowledge of the history of the Mexica he came
to the conclusion that the place name refers to the god guardian of the
Mexicans.
The first term or proper name with which the country
was referred to appeared on November 6, 1813 when the Congress of
Anáhuac issued the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of
Northern America. This name made a clear reference to the name used by
the Constitution of Cádiz, to delimit the territory of the Spanish
Empire that corresponded to the Viceroyalty of New Spain and its
dependent areas (Captaincy General of Guatemala, Cuba, Florida, Puerto
Rico and the Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo—today the
Dominican Republic—), thereby assuming that this was the geographical
space on which the new nation would be established.38 Subsequently,
the Constitutional Decree for the Freedom of Mexican America of October
22, 1814 He changed this name, adapting it with the term "Mexico" (used
as an adjective), and using it as a demonym in some articles.
The
documents that preceded the consummation of independence (Plan of Iguala
and Treaties of Córdoba) used the two aforementioned terms (Northern
America and Mexican America), but used a new one, which they credited as
the name of the new nation: « Mexican Empire." The Act of Independence
of the Mexican Empire, signed on September 28, 1821 upon consummation of
independence, definitively established the name as the Mexican Empire.
Since its formation as a federal State, the official name of the
country is the United Mexican States, although the Constitution of 1824
used the expressions "Mexican Nation" and "United Mexican States"
interchangeably. The Constitution of 1857 makes the use of the name
Mexican Republic official. , but in the text the expression "United
Mexican States" is also used. However, the widespread use of the
synthesis "Mexico", common to all previous denominations, allowed it to
prevail as a common name. The current Constitution, promulgated in 1917,
establishes that the official name of the country is "United Mexican
States." In its Nahuatl version, the official name is Mexika Sentik
Wexteyowalko, and in its Yucatec Mayan version, U Múuchꞌ Péetluꞌumiloꞌob
México.
The demonym "Mexican" has been used in the Spanish
language since contact between Iberians and Americans with different
meanings. For the Spanish of the 16th century, Mexicans were the
inhabitants of Mexico-Tenochtitlan and their language. During the
viceregal era, some Creoles and peninsulars living in New Spain used the
name to call themselves. The leaders of the War of Independence
hesitated both in the name of the country and its inhabitants. Starting
with the Iguala Plan, the country will definitively adopt the name of
Mexico and its inhabitants were all Mexicans.
The current territory of Mexico was discovered and inhabited by groups of nomadic hunters and gatherers more than 30,000 years ago. Around 9000 BC. the processes that led to the domestication of plants such as pumpkin and huaje developed in regions such as the Tehuacán Valley and the Tamaulipas mountains. The domestication of corn occurred around the 5th millennium BC and was a milestone that later led to the establishment of sedentary villages in Mesoamerica.
The Oasis-Americans were cultivators, although the weather conditions did not allow them to carry out very efficient agriculture and therefore they had to resort to hunting toads and turtles, and gathering them to complement their subsistence. They built large villages in New Mexico and the archaeological zone of Casas Grandes, in Chihuahua.
The inhabitants of the region known as Aridoamerica continued with their nomadic culture, although they maintained contact with the Mesoamericans. Some sites have continuous occupation since very ancient times, such as Cueva de la Perra (12,000 BC), Cueva de la Candelaria (8000 BC), El Conchalito (1000 BC) and the caves of the Sierra de San Francisco (10,500 BC).
The beginning of the Mesoamerican civilization is located between the
year 2500 BC, with the appearance of pottery and the first agricultural
villages, and 1500 BC. During the Middle Preclassic (15th-4th centuries
BC) the Olmec culture spread throughout Mesoamerica. Some of its most
important centers were La Venta and Tres Zapotes. They dedicated
themselves to agriculture, mainly to the cultivation of corn and cotton.
The oldest Olmec center recorded is San Lorenzo, it was built in
1150 BC in the current municipality of Texistepec, located in the
Coatzacoalcos River basin, in the state of Veracruz. The beginning of
the flowering of the Olmec culture at this site, a period from which
most of the sculptures and architectural elements that characterize the
Olmec culture date, many of which are preserved at the site. San Lorenzo
was sacked in the year 900 BC, and the monumental sculptures suffered an
attempted destruction; some were buried, and others were moved to the La
Venta ceremonial center.
La Venta was the most important
ceremonial center of this culture, this city is the first planned
architectural feature in ancient Mexico. Its great monumental
architecture stands out, and its offerings made of jade. It has the
oldest pyramid in Mesoamerica and colossal heads and thrones have also
been found, which deserve special recognition for the fact that they
were built.
The Tres Zapotes ceremonial center was the last to be
developed. It is the best known because it was the one that survived
until a closer period, but the Olmec civilization that developed here
was a culture already in decline, not the splendor that lived in the
previous ceremonial centers.
It is thought that the Olmecs were
invaded by some rival people, which caused the abandonment and
destruction of some cities; Therefore, it is thought that the Olmec
culture spread through migrations. They dispersed to different places:
some headed to the Mayan region, others marched to the center and others
to the north. Those who integrated into the center went to the city
Cuicuilco, but it disappeared due to the eruption of the Xitle volcano;
That is why they were forced to travel to other places so they reached
parts of the states of Morelos, Mexico, Oaxaca and Chiapas.
The classical period covers the year 200 to 900 AD. C., in this
period the Mesoamerican civilizations reached their maximum cultural
development. The largest pyramid bases in all of Mesoamerica were built,
such as the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacán in the current State of
Mexico or the Temple of the Double-Headed Serpent in Tikal.
The
cities in this period grew a lot until they reached their maximum
population, such as Teotihuacán (State of Mexico), Monte Albán in Oaxaca
and Tikal; These cities maintained close marital, commercial and
political alliances between the priest-kings and it is known because at
the entrance of each one there were stone monuments that meant that the
Teotihuacan ambassadors were coming; Likewise, Mayan and Zapotec
products such as ceramics, jade beads, shells and sea snails have been
found in Teotihuacán.
Teotihuacán became the main city of this
period, it was located in the central highland area, which allowed its
inhabitants to take advantage of natural resources such as obsidian to
manufacture weapons, tools and utensils. They also had gods of rain and
fertility such as Quetzalcóatl (which means 'feathered serpent') and
Tláloc (which means 'nectar of the earth', although they also venerated
this God in the Mayan and Zapotec culture).
The artisans obtained
different materials from the area such as: jade, gray obsidian, green
obsidian, black volcanic glass, shell and bone. With this they made
vessels, pots, plates, glasses, ornaments, knives, masks, necklaces and
different figures.
The Teotihuacans expressed what they saw
through sculpture, ceramics and painting. On facades they represented
the deity of Tláloc and the feathered serpent, related to rain and
fertility respectively, as well as other characters important to them.
The Teotihuacans were polytheists, they had the following gods:
Tláloc: He was the god of rain and there are theories that he was
also the god of fertility and the earth. He was depicted as
human-animal, with a feathered headdress and two large fangs as well as
two large, bulging eyes.
Quetzalcóatl: he was the god of the winds.
His name means: The Feathered Serpent, he was represented as a giant
snake.
Chalchiuhticue: she was the goddess of lakes and rivers. She
was depicted with a feather headdress, a necklace and orange fur.
Huehuetotl: He was the god of fire, husband of Chalchiuhticue. He was
represented as an old gentleman. He was the reincarnation of volcanoes
and wisdom.
The decline of the Teotihuacan culture is unknown;
some researchers say it could have been due to the overexploitation of
natural resources, invasions by other peoples and some internal
conflicts.
In his society it was divided into: priest-kings,
warriors, merchants, farmers, fishermen, artisans, war slaves and
sacrificial tributes.
The artisans obtained different materials
from the area such as: jade, gray obsidian, green obsidian, black
volcanic glass, shell and bone. With this they made vessels, pots,
plates, glasses, ornaments, knives, masks, necklaces and different
figures.
The city of Teotihuacán maintained a close relationship
with other cultures, such as the Mayan and Zapotec. They had marital
alliances with the Mayans, through trade agreements with
Teotihuacán-Palenque and Uxmal. They maintained a relationship with the
Zapotecs between Teotihuacán and Monte Albán.
Teotihuacán is
considered the main city of classical Mesoamerica, in addition to the
Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, the temple of
Quetzalcóatl also stands out.
The Mayan culture is another important civilization that lasted for
millennia. The Mayan civilization developed exquisite art and
architecture, the most advanced writing system in the New World along
with much literature, as well as astronomical and mathematical
knowledge. Among the latter, the use of a more precise calendar than
that used in Europe at the time stands out, and it is one of the pioneer
civilizations in the use of the number zero.
It lived in a part
of the southern region of Mesoamerica, in the current territories of
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and in the territory comprised
by five states in the southeast of Mexico: Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana
Roo, Tabasco and Yucatán. The territory, because it was so large, was
divided into three:
The northern area: covers the Yucatán
Peninsula (comprising the states of: Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana
Roo), it is also known as Puuc.
The central area: it is the largest,
it includes the El Petén basin in Guatemala, extending to western
Honduras and eastern Chiapas, Tabasco and the south of the Yucatan
Peninsula.
The southern area: located on the Pacific coast, the
Highlands of Guatemala, part of Chiapas and El Salvador. It has a
mountainous area that runs through the south, southwest and southeast,
and covers the Central American Mountain Range. On the high plateau
there are several lakes that had their origin in the volcanic activity
of the region.
The Mayans used limestone to make pyramid bases,
temples, platforms and ball games; Although they also used that material
to make various monuments and sculptures, among these the steles stand
out, which were carved stone columns with important people along with
their name, date of birth or date of death.
In their mural
paintings they represented everyday scenes, such as fishing, festivals
and ritual ceremonies related to war.
For aesthetic reasons, the
Mayans used to deform the skulls of children and cause strabismus.
The Mayan religion was polytheistic, the rulers were those who
directed religious affairs (theocracy); Their gods were related to the
natural elements, the stars and human actions. Among the gods that stood
out are: Hanub Kú (the creator god of the Quiche Mayans), Itzamná (the
creator god of the Yucatecan Mayans), Ix Chebel Ya (god of embroidery
and painting), Kukulcán (Quetzalcóatl) (god of the wind ), Kin (god of
the sun), Ixchel (goddess of the moon), Chac (god of water), Yum Kaax
(god of corn and agriculture), Ah Puch (god of death).
The Mayan
cities were built from the astronomical positions related to the
movement of the Sun, Moon and Venus. The Center of some cities was
reserved for the rulers' family to live; The nobility lived around it,
whose buildings were related to commerce; finally beyond were the
farmland and the rest of the population.
The Mayans used
limestone to make pyramids, temples, platforms and ball games. They also
used it to make various monuments and sculptures, among which the steles
stand out where they put glyphs this time.
Other materials from
the region were used for daily life. They used wood, stucco, clay and
stones to make masks, necklaces, rings and small sculptures. In
addition, they made cotton fabrics for clothing and wove fiber baskets
to carry seeds.
The Mayans developed navigation, built docks,
canals and ports such as Xelhá, Xcaret, and Tulum; they were important
centers where they exchanged products such as salt and fish.
The Zapotec culture inhabited what is now the state of Oaxaca,
southern Guerrero and southern Puebla. It was distinguished by its
excellent weavers and potters, it had notable advances in its writing,
architecture and calendrical knowledge.
Its summit city was Monte
Albán, which had its splendor from the year 200 until its weakening
around 900. The ceremonial city of Monte Albán was built on top of a
mountain, with buildings oriented like the stars using the technique of
slope and board; Pyramid bases, ball courts and an arrowhead observatory
were built, located where the constellation of Orion is known today.
Like Teotihuacán, it is unknown why Monte Albán weakened.
Society
was divided into ruler-priests, merchants, warriors, artisans, war
slaves and sacrificial tributes. According to each person's duties, the
economy was controlled, and hence the control of agriculture and the
progress of the cities.
They had two calendars:
Iza, had 365
days grouped into 18 months and used for harvests, it was organized into
18 months of 20 days each, with a period of five days at the end.
Piye: it had 260 days divided into 13 months and was used to name
newborns, it was divided into months of 20 days.
They were
polytheists, their main god was called Xipe Totec, other gods were:
Pitao Cocijo: god of thunder and rain
Pitao Cozobi: god of corn
Pitao Cozana: god of the ancestors
Quetzalcoatl: god of the winds
Xonaxi Quecuya: god of earthquakes
Coqui Bezelao: god of the dead
Society was divided into: rulers-priests, merchants, warriors,
bricklayers, painters, stone carvers, potters, goldsmiths, peasants and
prisoners of war.
The postclassical period covers the year 900 to 1521 AD, this period
is characterized by a great increase in armed conflicts. The great
importance of war, codices and writings can be seen in the ceramics, in
addition to a notable detail being the architectural style of the
buildings.
The Toltec culture developed between 900 and 1150 AD.
The Toltecs dominated the Huasteca region, in part of what is now San
Luis Potosí and Zacatecas, as well as central Mexico such as Hidalgo,
where the ceremonial center and capital called: Tollan-Xicocotitlan,
better known as Tula, was located. The economy was based on an
agriculture of extensive fields irrigated by complex canal systems,
where corn, beans and amaranth were the main crops. Society was divided
into several groups, the most privileged were the: military, officials,
the supreme ruler and the priests, who were at the service of the
military caste and were in charge of attending to worship, calendars and
counting time. Traces of a fire have been found in Tula, so it is
thought that the end of this city was very violent.
Another postclassic culture is the Mixtec, which developed from 1300 to 1522 AD, concluding with the conquest of the Spanish. They covered a region called the Mixteca that included the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and parts of the state of Puebla and Chiapas. According to their mythology, the Mixtecs were descendants of the children of the Apoala tree. The main divinity of the Mixtecs was Dzahui, god of rain and patron of the Mixtec nation, another divinity of great importance was Nine Wind-Coo Dzahui, a civilizing hero who gave them the knowledge of agriculture and civilization. During the pre-Hispanic era, Mixtec society was characterized by its high hierarchy. The subsistence of the Mixtecs was based on agriculture, the ecological and topographic conditions of the territory of this town conditioned the development of certain crops adapted to the diversity of environments in the Mixteca.
Towards the middle of the 14th century, the Mexicas arrived in the
Valley of Mexico. According to myth, they came from a place to the north
called Aztlán and from there they took up elements of other cultures.
They were called the people of the sun, since it was the one they
venerated, thanks to their military power of the Mexicas (or Aztecs) and
they founded their great capital with great military power:
Mexico-Tenochtitlán. When they forged a great empire and formed the
Triple Alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan. War was a very common
practice to be able to extend their empire, the conquered peoples
delivered products such as gold, silver, jade and Quetzal feathers. They
developed knowledge that reflected religious beliefs.
War and
religion, at least for the Aztecs, were inseparable. They belonged to
each other. ...In order to obtain suitable prisoner-victims to sacrifice
to the gods, there were incessant small wars and even their weaponry was
arranged to incapacitate not to kill, all to obtain food for the gods'
blood and heart. Words from the book: History of Mexico.
The Mexica
culture came to an end in 1521 with the conquest of the Spanish.
After the expeditions of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517)65 and
Juan de Grijalva (1518), Hernán Cortés and his people arrived in Cozumel
and reached the coasts of Tabasco, where they were fought by the
Chontales, in Centla. In That region, Cortés founded the Villa de Santa
María de la Victoria and received as a gift the bilingual Nahuatl-Maya,
Malintzin, a slave who served together with Gerónimo de Aguilar as an
interpreter for foreigners.
The Spanish headed to the coast of
Veracruz, where they penetrated the interior of Mesoamerica. They
established alliances with some indigenous peoples and advanced to
Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Along the way they defeated the allies of the
Mexica, as happened in Cholula. Moctezuma
The Tlaxcaltecas,
Texcocanos and Totonecas formed a conglomerate that had allied
themselves with the Spanish, a decisive factor in the battles against
the Mexica. Cuauhtémoc, the last Tenochca tlatoani, was captured on
August 13, 1521, and executed in 1525. After occupying
Mexico-Tenochtitlan, the Spanish set out to conquer the rest of New
Spain in a process that lasted the entire viceregal period. The military
conquest was accompanied by the Christianization and acculturation of
the indigenous peoples, which led to a process of cultural syncretism.
Once Tenochtitlan was subdued, Spanish soldiers were able to subdue
the center of the territory. Hernán Cortés assumed the government as
captain general of New Spain.
In 1527 the Audiencia of Mexico was established. The first viceroy
was Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco and he ruled from 1535. New Spain was
governed by 63 viceroys during the almost 300 years of Spanish
domination. Spanish domination faced indigenous resistance, which was
manifested on some occasions by means of arms, such as in the Chichimeca
War (1546), the Mixtón War (1540-1551), the Pericúes Rebellion
(1734-1737) and the rebellion of the Mayans of Cisteil (1761).
The basis of the New Spain economy was mining. The discovery of
deposits, notably Zacatecas and Guanajuato, gradually allowed New Spain
to occupy a privileged position. Mining allowed the development of other
associated activities, especially workshops and agriculture, which
turned the Bajío regions and the valleys of Mexico and Puebla into
prosperous agricultural regions and incipient industrial activity.7
Minerals were minted exclusively in the Royal Mint of Mexico; The Real
de a 8 became, due to its amount, high quality and quality, the
preferred currency used in the international transactions of the Empire.
The center of government of the Viceroyalty of New Spain was Mexico,
which in turn governed Cuba, Spanish North America, and the Philippines.
The Philippines, in particular, was colonized through Mexico, as Mexico
was geographically closer than the more distant Spain. The Philippines
produced pro-Mexican supporters in the person of Ramón Fabié one of the
Filipino supporters of Mexican independence from Miguel Hidalgo .
Spain, therefore, deliberately severed ties between the Philippines and
Latin America by ruling them directly from Europe after the year 1821.
The viceroyalty's trade was carried out through two ports: Veracruz
(Gulf of Mexico) and Acapulco (Pacific Ocean). The Nao de China arrived
at the latter, transporting products from the Philippines to New Spain
and from there they were transported by land, arriving in Puebla, where
the oriental influence is notable in its crafts and in its traditions
such as that of the "china poblana". , to Mexico City and Veracruz from
where it was sent to Spain or to the Atlantic ports. Trade contributed
to the flourishing of these ports, Mexico City and the intermediate
regions. It should be noted that until the end of the 18th century, with
the introduction of the Bourbon reforms, trade between the Spanish
viceroyalties was not permitted. The viceroyalty was the basis of the
cultural and racial mosaic of current Mexico. Within it, indigenous and
European cultures merged over the course of 300 years. Likewise, there
was a large amount of racial mixing. Figures such as Sor Juana Inés de
la Cruz and Juan Ruiz de Alarcón stand out as its most notable
contributors to New Spain literature, as well as Manuel Tolsá in
architecture. Regarding financial institutions, Pedro Romero de Terreros
stood out, founder of the Sacro y Real Monte de Piedad de Ánimas,
predecessor of the National Monte de Piedad (also called Monte Pío), the
genesis of microcredit worldwide. Also noteworthy are the chemical
discoveries of Andrés Manuel del Río, discoverer of erythronium, later
renamed vanadium, in the periodic table of chemical elements.
The
majority of New Spain's society professed the Catholic religion, the
Holy Inquisition - which sought the suppression of heresy and apostasy -
had established its offices in the territory. The Indians were exempt
from inquisitorial jurisdiction, and their matters of faith were
attended to. first by the missionaries and then by a court dependent on
the bishops, who judged them with more tolerance for being considered
"neophytes" in the faith.
The territory of New Spain was large
enough for a large number of indigenous peoples and a great variety of
languages to exist, without excluding Europeans. During the three
hundred years of New Spain, there were different legal provisions that
affected the trade and prosperity of the people of New Spain. In
general, their level of prosperity was the highest in America,
especially the residents of Mexico City, Puebla de los Ángeles, Villa
Rica de la Veracruz, Acapulco and Zacatecas.
Although a policy of
integration was generally proposed, the political reality that imposed
the granting of important positions to the Spanish bureaucracy
(especially since the arrival of the Bourbons, who advocated the French
model of colonization, against which Creoles or children of Spaniards
born in Mexico began to resent it). In addition, divisions as serious as
castes were created in Yucatán. During the viceregal period, many of the
traditions and institutions were created that have evolved, in
accordance with the character of the Mexican people, into many of the
Mexican characteristics of today.
The French occupation of Spain triggered several sovereignty
movements in the American possessions. In 1808, a political crisis took
place in New Spain that concluded with the deposition of Viceroy
Iturrigaray through a coup d'état. In other parts of the viceroyalty,
conspiracies were hatched against Spanish rule, but they were
suppressed. On September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called the
town of Dolores (Guanajuato) to insurgency, starting the war of
independence. Hidalgo is responsible for the abolition of slavery in
Mexico. In 1811, he and the leaders of the movement were arrested and
shot.
The insurgent movement was strengthened in the center of
New Spain under the command of José María Morelos y Pavón, who stood out
for his ability as a military strategist. In 1813 he convened the
Congress of Anáhuac, which proclaimed the independence of North America
and gave the country its first constitution, promulgated in Apatzingán.
Morelos was captured and shot in 1815.
Beginning in 1815, the
independentistas entered into a defensive and fragmented war. Pedro
Moreno and Francisco Xavier Mina's campaign in 1817 advanced rapidly
from Tamaulipas toward central New Spain, but was ultimately defeated.
The pardon offered by Viceroy Apodaca encouraged the desertion of many
insurgents. The rehabilitation of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1820
affected the New Spain elite, who agreed with the insurgents for the
independence of the viceroyalty. Agustín de Iturbide supported Vicente
Guerrero and together they promulgated the Plan of Iguala in 1821. When
Juan O'Donojú - the last ruler appointed by the metropolis - arrived in
New Spain, he signed the act of independence of Mexico on September 28,
1821 .
After the signing of the Treaties of Córdoba, a provisional government was installed, which in accordance with the aforementioned document established a parliamentary Monarchy, first installing a regency as an executive power, which functioned until the coronation of Agustín de Iturbide as emperor in 1822. The economic and political situation of the Empire was weak and motivated the proclamation of the Casa Mata Plan, which proposed the establishment of a republic. The republican insurrection triumphed in 1823, causing the exile of Iturbide and the separation of Central America.
The Constituent Congress promulgated the Constitution of 1824, establishing a republican and federal regime in the country. The first president was Guadalupe Victoria. Starting with Victoria's government, the country had a conflictive political life due to the confrontation of different factions. The central character throughout the first half of the 19th century was Antonio López de Santa Anna. He rose to power eleven times; five of them as liberal and the other six as conservative. Conflicts between liberals and conservatives (in any of their variants as antagonistic sides: republicans against monarchists and federalists against centralists) caused coups d'état, revolts, mutinies and even civil wars. All of the above forced a large number of elected authorities to resign a few months after exercising responsibility, or to appoint a replacement while they reorganized the defense of the country or the regime.
In 1833, President Valentín Gómez Farías ordered a series of liberal reforms that provoked a conservative reaction, which led to the dissolution of the first federal republic and the installation of a centralist republic. The promulgation of the Seven Laws in 1835 provoked separatist movements in several departments, all repressed except in Texas, which achieved its independence in 1836. In 1841 Yucatán separated from Mexico and did not rejoin the country until 1848.
Mexico faced the American invasion between 1846 and 1848, as a result of the territorial claims of Texas which had been annexed to the United States in 1845. In the midst of the war, the Federalists reinstated the Constitution of 1824. At the end of the conflict, the Mexican government was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo by which he handed over more than half of the country to the United States (the current states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah; and portions of Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Wyoming). At the end of the war, clashes between political factions continued, which led to Santa Anna coming to power for the eleventh and last time (1853-1855), which he exercised with a dictatorial character. In 1854 the liberals took up arms led by Juan Álvarez; The insurrection deposed Santa Anna and installed the liberals in the government in the year in which the sale of La Mesilla became effective, a territory of current Arizona that the United States bought from Mexico in its expansionist desire.
The promulgation of the liberal Reform Laws affected the interests of various groups, particularly the Church. In 1857 the new Mexican Magna Carta was promulgated. Among other things, the document established a secular State in Mexico. After the self-coup of Ignacio Comonfort, Benito Juárez assumed the presidency. The Reform War then began, which concluded with a new defeat for the conservatives. Starting the following year, they would try again to seize power, supported by the French intervention that created the Second Mexican Empire, headed by Maximilian of Habsburg. The French invasion and the empire concluded in 1867 with the surrender of the conservatives and the execution of Maximilian in Santiago de Querétaro.
Benito Juárez continued as president until his death in 1872. The last years of his government were harshly criticized by the various liberal factions.Juárez was succeeded by Lerdo de Tejada. After a rebellion caused by Lerdo's intentions to be re-elected, Porfirio Díaz became president in 1876. This is how the Porfiriato began. During that period, foreign and national investment was favored with great privileges by the government, which favored economic development. In contrast, the living conditions of workers and peasants continued without major changes. The political opposition was eliminated by force, and the rebels were exiled or forced to work in places such as Valle Nacional, the Yaqui River valley or Yucatán.
Some social outbreaks, such as the Cananea (1906) and Río Blanco
(1907) strikes, revealed discontent with the regime. The presidential
elections of 1910 gave Díaz victory over Francisco I. Madero, who had
been imprisoned. Escaped from prison, he called to arms in the San Luis
Plan. On November 14, the revolution was advanced with the taking of
Cuchillo Parado. On November 20, numerous groups from various social
classes joined the rebellion, flying various flags. Other leaders of the
Revolution include Pascual Orozco, Álvaro Obregón, Francisco Villa,
Venustiano Carranza and Emiliano Zapata. Díaz resigned on May 24, 1911
and went into exile in France, where he died and was buried.
In
February 1913, Victoriano Huerta's coup d'état concluded with the
assassination of Madero and vice president José María Pino Suárez.
Huerta was deposed in 1914 with the Taking of Zacatecas. With the
purpose of unifying the revolutionaries, Carranza convened the
Aguascalientes Convention, which he ignored and defeated to become
president. In 1917 Carranza promulgated the Constitution that currently
governs Mexico. The conflict between factions culminated in the murders
of Zapata (Chinameca, 1919), Carranza (Tlaxcalantongo, 1920) and Villa
(Parral, 1923).
Carranza was succeeded by members of the "Sonora group", among whom there was no end of discord. In 1924, Plutarco Elías Calles came to power, creating the Bank of Mexico and facing the Cristero War. At the end of his term, Álvaro Obregón was elected president for the second time, but he was assassinated before taking office. The periods of the three presidents that followed are known as Maximato, because they governed under the line of Calles, who was called the Maximum Chief of the Revolution. In 1929, the National Revolutionary Party (PNR) was founded, the predecessor of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
In 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was elected president for the first
six-year period (1934-1940). Cárdenas banished Calles, promoted
education, Agrarian Reform and decreed the nationalization of oil. His
successor, Manuel Ávila Camacho, stopped the agrarian distribution,
reconciled with the nascent industrial bourgeoisie and faced the start
of the Second World War.
During the 1950s, Mexico experienced a
time of great economic development known as the Mexican Miracle. This
development was favored by the recovery environment within the post-war
framework. In 1960 the electrical industry was nationalized. Economic
development was reflected in the increase in infrastructure and public
and social protection services. As a consequence of the strengthening of
the State, a series of client corporations associated with the
government developed that caused conflict with independent
organizations. This was the case during the railroad strike of 1959. The
demand for greater political freedoms was expressed in various ways,
most notably by the student movement of 1968, which concluded with the
murder of students by the Army in Tlatelolco, and in the various
guerrillas that appeared in various parts of the country and were
violently repressed by the State.
At the end of the 1970s, the
Mexican economy showed signs of exhaustion that led to bankruptcy at the
beginning of the following decade, in the context of an oil boom. As a
result of opposition pressure, a political reform was introduced in 1977
that legalized the left-wing opposition. During the following years,
most parastatal companies were privatized. In 1985, several parts of the
central and western country were shaken by an earthquake that left
thousands dead or missing, most of them in the capital city. During the
government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari (1988-1994), Mexico experienced
an economic rebound based on the privatization of state companies and
the opening to foreign investment. In 1994, when NAFTA came into force,
the Zapatista uprising and the assassinations of the official candidate
for the presidency of the republic Luis Donaldo Colosio and that of
Senator José Francisco Ruiz Massieu shook the political scene in Mexico.
The economy entered a recession known as the "December error",
considered the first crisis of globalization.
It came to light in
the Mexican state of Chiapas on January 1, 1994 when a group of armed
indigenous people occupied several municipal seats on the same day that
the North American Free Trade Agreement came into force, during the
government of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, destabilizing the Mexican
political system and questioning its promises of modernity. Their goal
was the overthrow of the elected president and the establishment of a
participatory democracy. After the military repression of which his
revolution was subjected, he decided to undertake political activity
while maintaining a radical leftist character. Its command is called the
Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee-General Command (CCRI-CG)
of the EZLN. On December 22, 1997, 45 Tsotsile indigenous people were
murdered while praying in a church in the community of Acteal, in the
state of Chiapas. Those directly responsible for the massacre were
paramilitary groups opposed to the Zapatista National Liberation Army
(EZLN).
In 2000, the PRI lost the presidency after 71 years in
power, when Vicente Fox won the presidential election. He was succeeded
in the government by Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, who became president in
the midst of the disputed presidential elections of 2006. In that same
year, the war against drug trafficking began, which has left more than
350,000 dead, of which 15,273 occurred in 2010. The PRI returned to the
presidency in the 2012 elections, this time refuted by the opposition
for the irregular use of economic and media resources by the winning
candidate Enrique Peña Nieto. His six-year term took place within the
framework of a worsening of the War against organized crime, which
reached record levels of violence at the end of his term. At the same
time, different officials at various levels, including the president,
were involved in relevant cases of corruption that increased the levels
of social discontent.
The former head of Government of the
Federal District and presidential candidate of the Left in 2006 and
2012, Andrés Manuel López Obrador ran again in a presidential election,
this time with the Together We Will Make History coalition; He achieved
victory on election day on July 1, 2018 with 53.3% of the votes cast, in
addition to obtaining the majority in the chambers of deputies and
senators.
Mexico is a representative, democratic, federal and secular republic;
composed of free and sovereign States (and these of Municipalities) in
everything concerning their internal regime, and of Mexico City (capital
of the country); united in a federation established according to the
principles of its Constitution. According to this fundamental law,
sovereignty and public power are the origin and correspondence of the
people, and it is the people who decide to exercise it through a system
of separation of powers: President (executive), Congress of the Union
(legislative) and a judicial power, deposited in different institutions,
whose head is the Supreme Court of Justice. The Mexican political system
is historically characterized by the preeminence of the Executive Branch
over the other two.
The Mexican political system includes
autonomous bodies that serve as a counterweight in specific areas
(Attorney General's Office, CNDH, Superior Audit of the Federation, Bank
of Mexico, INEGI, Cofece, IFT and INAI).
The president of the United Mexican States is the head of the
executive power. He is, at the same time, head of State and head of
government. Likewise, he is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces.
He is elected by direct and universal vote. Once elected, he takes
office on December 1 of the year of the election. His position lasts for
a period of six years, with no possibility of re-election, not even if
he has served as interim, provisional or substitute. The Presidency of
the Republic can only be resigned for serious reasons, which must be
qualified by the Congress of the Union; The position may also be subject
to a revocation process through a popular vote. In the event of death,
dismissal or resignation, the head of the Secretary of the Interior
assumes the position immediately and provisionally (if the absence is
the day of the inauguration, the president of the Senate would be the
provisional president; if the absolute lack is the result of a
revocation of the mandate, the provisional exercise of the position
corresponds to the president of Congress), then, with the reservations
contemplated in the constitution , it is up to Congress to appoint a
substitute or interim. Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the president of
Mexico for the period 2018-2024.
The current Constitution of 1917
provides for this position in its third title, third chapter and is
addressed by fifteen articles. They specify the obligations, powers,
requirements and restrictions thereof. Specifications ranging from the
command of the armed forces; the ownership of foreign, economic, social
development and public security policy; the promulgation and execution
of laws issued by the legislative branch; propose appointments to
positions that require approval of the Senate or the Supreme Court; and
various prerogatives granted in other articles of the same Magna Carta
and federal laws.
The Congress of the Union is the custodian body of the federal
Legislative Power. This is made up of a bicameral assembly, divided
between the Senate - made up of 128 members - and the Chamber of
Deputies - which consists of 500 legislators.
The current 1917
Constitution provides for this body in its third title, chapter II,
sections I, II and III, and addresses it in twenty-eight articles. They
specify the obligations, powers, requirements and restrictions of the
legislative apparatus; mainly the exclusive power among the powers of
the union (and distributed between the two chambers) to study, discuss,
vote and issue the initiatives of laws, regulations, codes, standards
and reforms to all of this, that are presented during their periods of
sessions, that is, it has the deliberative action to legislate on all
matters of the Mexican State. Also its duties include determining the
composition of the political division of the national territory; the
power to change the headquarters of the powers of the union; approve the
president's declaration of war; the approval of initiatives,
accountability, demand for appearances and eventual removals of the
holders or members of the three powers of the Union, including the
president of the republic; the election of the interim or substitute of
the latter; and various prerogatives granted to it by other articles of
the Magna Carta and federal laws.
The exclusive powers of the
Chamber of Deputies include publishing the official declaration of the
president-elect issued by the Electoral Court; Coordinate and evaluate
the Superior Audit of the Federation; ratify the appointment of
Secretary of the Treasury; approve the National Development Plan;
legislative ownership in relation to the budget and income proposed by
the executive branch; the power to decide whether or not to proceed
against any member of the powers of the union (except the president, a
matter that corresponds to the Senate) in the event of committing a
crime, under the terms of article 111 of the constitution; appoint the
heads of the autonomous bodies (INE, CNDH, Superior Audit, Banco de
México, INEGI, Cofece and IFT).
The Senate's exclusive powers
include legislating foreign policy; approve or not the international
treaties and agreements signed by the President of the Republic;
authorize all types of movement of the Armed Forces, whether within the
national territory (through the National Guard) or outside it, as well
as the transit of foreign troops within the country; ratify all
executive appointments regarding the Armed Forces and Foreign Policy;
declare the disappearance of state powers, designating an interim
government and establishing the methods for its eventual replacement;
appoint the Ministers of the Supreme Court, this with the short list
proposed by the executive; legislate on national security matters,
including the approval of proposed government policy; appoint the
attorney general of the Republic; decide through decrees on border
limits of the states; the power to decide whether or not to proceed
against the President of the Republic in the event of committing a
crime, under the terms of article 110 of the Constitution.
The Judicial Branch of the Federation is made up of the Supreme Court
of Justice of the Nation - its highest court -, the Council of the
Federal Judiciary, the Electoral Tribunal of the Judicial Branch of the
Federation, the regional plenary sessions, the collegiate circuit courts
and of appeal, and district courts.
Its foundations are found in
Title III, Chapter IV (covering fourteen articles) of the Constitution
and in the Organic Law of the Judicial Branch of the Federation. The
courts of the States and of Mexico City can act in aid of the Federal
Justice, in the cases provided for by the Constitution and the laws.
The administration, surveillance and discipline of the Judicial
Branch of the Federation, with the exception of the Supreme Court of
Justice, is in charge of the Federal Judiciary Council.
In this
power and its set of bodies, the power to administer justice in all
institutional aspects of the Mexican state is deposited; the application
of legal norms and principles in conflict resolution; and in all areas
of the exercise of law and the interpretation of laws in society (civil,
criminal, constitutional, commercial, labor, administrative, fiscal,
procedural, etc.).
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is
the highest judicial body, constitutional court and head of the Federal
Judicial Branch. It is made up of eleven Judges or Magistrates, called
"Ministers"; one of whom is designated, for a period of four years, as
its "President", this being responsible for the direction of the
organization and the greatest representative before the other powers.
The current Constitution of 1917 provides for this body in its third
title, chapter IV, and addresses it in five articles. They specify the
obligations, powers, requirements and restrictions of the court; mainly
the exclusive power, among the bodies of the same judicial system, to
study, discuss, and issue final rulings in constitutional controversies
or unconstitutionality actions that arise between the powers of the
Union, the state powers, municipal authorities, the autonomous bodies,
or the contradiction of a norm with the Magna Carta. That is, it is
responsible for ensuring the order established by the Constitution and
maintaining the balance between the various government institutions. Its
duties also include, as a last legal instance, definitively resolving
judicial matters of great social relevance, through the jurisdictional
resolutions it issues. Due to the above, and since it is the main and
highest court of constitutional nature, there is no body or authority
that is above it or judicial appeal that can be filed against its
decisions.
The entities of the Mexican Federation are free and sovereign,
autonomous in their internal regime. They have the power to govern
themselves according to their own laws; They have their own constitution
that must not contradict the principles of the federal constitution. The
powers of its executive and legislative powers are understood as those
that are rights of the entities; such as the ownership of command of the
public force (state police and assigned national guard); the direction
and regulation of its own economic, social development and public
security policies; as well as the administration of those resources that
arise from their local taxes or own income.
States cannot make
alliances with other states, or with any independent nation, without the
permission of the federation. The minting of currency is also
prohibited; tax merchandise or transit of Mexicans and foreigners;
contract external debt; legislate on tax matters for those economic
aspects that are exclusive to the federal government and have its own
Armed Forces.
The political organization of each state is based
on a separation of powers: The legislative power falls on a unicameral
congress; The executive power rests on a governor elected by universal
suffrage; and the judicial power rests on a Superior Court of Justice.
Since the states have legal autonomy, each one has its own civil and
criminal codes, as well as public security bodies. However, it is up to
the Senate to resolve differences in territorial limits or declare the
disappearance of powers in case of serious alteration of the order; and
to the Supreme Court of Justice to resolve constitutional controversies
between the entities, or these with their municipalities, the federal
powers and the autonomous bodies.
The states are internally
divided into municipalities—or demarcations, in the case of Mexico
City—. Each municipality enjoys autonomy in its ability to elect its own
city council, which is responsible, in most cases, for providing all the
public services required by its population. This concept, which would
emerge from the Mexican Revolution, is known as "free municipality." The
city council is headed by a municipal president, elected every three
years. Each municipality has a council made up of councilors based on
their population size and union members according to the number
established by state law. In total in Mexico there are 2,459
municipalities (2,475 including the 16 districts of the capital); The
state with the largest number of municipalities is Oaxaca, with 570, and
the state with the smallest number is Baja California Sur, with only 5.
At the same time, municipalities are empowered by local
constitutions to organize themselves territorially; most of them calling
"Delegations" or "Tenencias" those communities located outside the urban
area that constitutes the so-called "Municipal Headquarters." Although
these do not have greater autonomy than the election of their delegate
and participation in community development projects; since the functions
of these administrative entities are merely executory of the
determinations of the city council.
They are also empowered to
coordinate their organization with those municipalities with which it
constitutes, according to the INEGI categorization, a metropolitan area.
Mexico City is the federal entity, headquarters of the Powers of the Union and capital of the country; It enjoys autonomy in everything concerning its internal regime and its political and administrative organization. In accordance with the characteristics of the states, the capital of the country deposits its local powers in a Head of Government, Congress and a Superior Court of Justice. It is divided into Demarcations that have the same executive powers of a municipality, but without the legislative powers (city council) of these.
The current structure and management of the territorial organization respond to that of a Federation, that is, sovereign territorial units; Furthermore, the central government is directly responsible for those territorial components assigned to it by law (airspace, seas and adjacent islands). Understanding this concept as an organization of political division, the country is made up of 32 federative entities (31 states and Mexico City, capital of the republic). And these at the same time are divided into Municipalities.
The representativeness of public power is mainly deposited in a
multi-party system, where political parties are the main entity of
citizen participation; all of this regulated by autonomous electoral
institutions (National Electoral Institute, Electoral Court and
Electoral Prosecutor's Office). The INE (under its previous name, IFE)
was created with the purpose of making the organization of elections in
the country more transparent, after the controversial federal electoral
process of July 1988, in which opposition parties accused manipulation
of the figures by the Ministry of the Interior. Under its model, each
state created an autonomous body with the purpose of organizing local
elections. Among other functions, the INE is in charge of matters
related to the Electoral Registry and of registering the political
parties that participate in federal electoral processes.
In 2023,
seven national parties were registered with the INE. These parties are
the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), the National Action Party
(PAN), the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the Labor Party
(PT), the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (Green), the Movimiento party
Ciudadano (MC) and the MORENA Party (National Regeneration Movement). If
a party obtains less than 3% of the votes cast in the elections, it may
lose its registration.
In its foreign policy, the Mexican State upholds several principles
that are defined in the country's Magna Carta. These principles are the
right to self-determination, the principle of non-intervention, the
peaceful resolution of conflicts, the prohibition of the threat or use
of force in international relations, the legal equality of states,
international cooperation for development and the fight for
international peace and security. The president has the power to
represent the country to conclude international treaties and in all
matters related to foreign policy.
In many ways, the principles
of Mexican foreign policy have their origin in the difficulties that the
country faced during much of the 19th century in search of international
recognition, particularly from European powers and the United States.
Therefore, in accordance with the Estrada Doctrine, Mexico refuses to
classify other governments favorably or unfavorably, since this practice
is considered to violate the sovereignty of other States. In other
words, it rejects the practice of recognizing de facto governments, but
reserves the "right of legation", that is, to maintain or break
diplomatic relations with other governments in favor of its national
interest or the causes with which it sympathizes. the country.
Throughout the 20th century, Mexico became a political reference in
Latin America. In observing the Estrada doctrine, the country maintained
political relations with Cuba after the socialist Revolution in that
country; In contrast, he broke relations with the dictatorships of South
America. During the 1970s it supported the causes of the Non-Aligned
Movement. In the 1980s, Mexico participated in the Contadora group,
which mediated the pacification processes of El Salvador, Guatemala and
Nicaragua.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Mexico's
foreign policy was aimed at projecting a new image of the country to the
world and favoring the relationship with the United States. He sought
prominence where he had not had it by his own decision, getting involved
in the organization of regional institutions or hosting international
summits. The rapprochement towards the United States was accompanied by
distancing itself from Latin America. Estrangement corrected in the last
decade (particularly with Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador).
However, all administrations privileged the economic aspect in Mexican
foreign relations.
Mexico maintains diplomatic relations of
different levels and intensity with the other 192 members of the UN, the
Holy See, Palestine and the European Union; in addition to
representative links with Catalonia, the Basque Country, Puerto Rico,
Quebec and Taiwan. It is a full member of the UN (and all related bodies
of the United Nations system, including five terms as a non-permanent
member of the Security Council), OAS, OECD, USMCA, G-20, G-5, APEC, G3 ,
GL, CIN, UL, ABINIA, Celac, OEI, AEC, Pacific Alliance, MIST, UFC,
Interpol, CIJEG and Unesco.
The country has 80 embassies, 67
consulates, 7 Permanent Missions to international organizations in the
world and 3 Liaison Offices. Mexico maintains a significant global
presence with more than 150 diplomatic representations, including 50
consulates in the United States (no other country in the world has a
similar number in a single host nation). Meanwhile, in the national
territory, there are 87 embassies, 7 representative offices and 66
consulates. Furthermore, both in the country and abroad, representations
from countries that do not have an embassy in Mexico attend and vice
versa.
The Armed Forces of Mexico are the set of military institutions
legally constituted to guarantee the sovereignty, territorial integrity,
independence and internal security of the country; in addition to
collaborating with the authorities to help the population in situations
of social emergency, as well as promoting civic or community benefit
actions. The president of Mexico is the "Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces", which makes him the only one authorized to dispose of them;
However, the normative legislation and the authorization of his actions
are subject to the Senate of the Republic.
They are made up of
354,180 elements in total, divided into three permanent military
institutions, grouped into two Secretaries of State, which are:
Secretariat of National Defense (in charge of the Mexican Army and the
Mexican Air Force) and Secretariat of the Navy ( in charge of the
Mexican Navy).
For the year 2023, the assigned budget was
153,789,780,870 (one hundred fifty-three thousand, seven hundred
eighty-nine million, seven hundred eighty thousand, eight hundred
seventy) pesos; 111 911 638 277 (one hundred eleven billion nine hundred
eleven million six hundred thirty-five thousand two hundred
seventy-seven) for SEDENA and 41 878 142 593 (forty-one billion eight
hundred seventy-eight million one hundred forty-two thousand five
hundred ninety-three) for the SEMAR.
The "Supreme Command", and
the only one empowered to dispose of the three forces, partially and
totally, is the president of Mexico. However, the administration and
high command correspond to the "General Secretary of Defense" (for the
first two branches) and the "Admiral Secretary of the Navy." The
operations of the Army and the Air Force are in charge of the "Chief of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the National Defense" and the "Commanders
of the Army and the Air Force" respectively; and in the case of the Navy
of the "Chief of General Staff of the Navy." Therefore, the president
may at any time coordinate with the other two branches, or with any
police authority, for the fulfillment of his general missions.
Mexican Army: 241,717 soldiers (2023). It is the land branch of the
Mexican Armed Forces and depends on the Secretariat of National Defense.
It is responsible for the defense of national territory and sovereignty,
guaranteeing internal security and implementing the DN-III-E Plan in the
event of disasters. Its members come from voluntary military service and
national military service, which is also its reserve force.
Mexican
Navy: 81,947 sailors (2023). It is the maritime branch of the Mexican
Armed Forces and depends on the Secretary of the Navy. It is responsible
for the surveillance and safeguarding of the coasts, the territorial
sea, the exclusive economic zone and the maritime airspace of Mexico, in
order to guarantee national sovereignty and internal security; It is
also in charge of inspecting inland waters, navigable waterways and
lakes, and implementing the "Marine Plan" in case of disasters.
Mexican Air Force (FAM): 30,516 (2023). It is the air branch in the
Mexican Armed Forces and depends on the Secretariat of National Defense.
It is responsible for the defense of airspace, territory and national
sovereignty, guaranteeing internal security and implementing the
DN-III-E Plan in the event of disasters.
The latter is the only
branch of the Mexican Armed Forces that has participated in war actions
outside national territory in an external conflict. This occurred when
Squadron 201 was formed as the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, and
acted in combat during the Battle of Luzon, within the framework of
World War II.
Mexico is located between the coordinates 32° and 14° north and 86°
and 118° west; almost the entire surface of the country is located on
the North American plate, although with some parts of Chiapas on the
Caribbean plate and the peninsula of Baja California on the Cocos plate
and the Pacific plate; Additionally, in the exclusive economic zone of
Mexican waters in the Pacific Ocean is the Rivera Plate, geophysically,
some geographers include the territory east of the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec in Central America. However, geopolitically, Mexico is
considered within North America, along with Canada and the United
States.
The country covers a total area of 1,964,375 km², of
which 1,959,248 km² correspond to its continental surface and 5,127 km²
to its island surface.18 On its surface, it also has 3,269,386 km² of
maritime area in its exclusive economic zone, which borders the
exclusive economic zone of five countries, these are the United States,
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Cuba. On land, it borders to the north
with the United States along 3155 km, while to the southeast it shares a
border with Guatemala at 958 km and with Belize at 276 km. It has 11,122
km of continental coastlines, so it occupies second place on the
American continent, only after Canada; the extension of its The coasts
are divided into two slopes: to the west, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf
of California; and to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean
Sea, which are part of the Atlantic Ocean basin. On the Atlantic Ocean
the country has 3,294 linear kilometers of coastline and 7,828 km more
on the Pacific Ocean, including the Sea of Cortez. ; 17 of the 32 states
of Mexico have a coast: Baja California, Baja California Sur, Colima,
Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sinaloa, Sonora,
Yucatán, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Quintana Roo; the
first eleven in the Pacific Ocean. These 17 coastal states constitute
56.3% of the country's continental surface, and in them there are 153
municipalities with a coastal front made up of 35,626 localities.
The Mexican relief is characterized by being very rugged and hosting
multiple volcanoes. Due to its geomorphology, the country is divided
into 15 physiographic provinces, these are the Baja California
peninsula, the Sonoran Plain, the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierras
and Plains of North America, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Great Plain
of North America, the Pacific Coastal Plain, the Northern Gulf Coastal
Plain, the Mesa del Centro, the Neovolcanic Axis, the Yucatan Peninsula,
the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Coastal Plain of the Southern Gulf, the
Sierras of Chiapas and Guatemala and the Central American Mountains.
The territory is crossed by the Madre Oriental and Madre Occidental
mountain ranges, which are an extension of the Rocky Mountains. The
Sierra Madre Occidental ends in Nayarit, at the confluence with the
Neovolcanic Axis. From there, parallel to the Pacific coast, runs the
Sierra Madre del Sur.
The Neovolcanic Axis crosses the territory
from west to east, until it joins with the Sierra Madre Oriental in the
Mixtec Shield or Zempoaltépetl (at 3395 m a.s.l.). In the Neovolcanic
Axis, with great volcanic activity as its name indicates, are located
the highest peaks in Mexico: Pico de Orizaba or Citlaltépetl (5610 m
a.s.l.), Popocatépetl (5462 m a.s.l.), Iztaccíhuatl (5286 m a.s.l. ),
the Nevado de Toluca (4690 m a.s.l.), La Malinche (4461 m a.s.l.) and
the Nevado de Colima (4340 m a.s.l.). The birth of Paricutín, the
youngest volcano in the world, took place in this geological province.
The southeastern extensions of the Sierra Madre Oriental are known
as Sierra Madre de Oaxaca or Juárez, which ends with the Sierra Madre
del Sur on the isthmus of Tehuantepec. To the east of this region extend
the Central Table of Chiapas and the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, which has
its highest point in the Tacaná volcano (4117 m a.s.l.).
The most
visible geographical features of the Mexican territory are the Baja
California peninsula, in the northwest, and the Yucatán peninsula, to
the east. The first is crossed from north to south by a mountain range
that is called the Sierra de Baja California, the Sierra de San
Francisco or the Giganta. Its highest point is the Tres Vírgenes volcano
(2054 m a.s.l.). The Yucatan Peninsula, on the other hand, is an almost
completely flat limestone platform.
Located between the Madre
Oriental and Occidental mountain ranges, and the Neovolcanic Axis, is
the Mexican Plateau, which in turn is divided into two parts by small
mountain ranges such as Zacatecas and San Luis. The northern part is
more arid and lower than the southern part. The Chihuahua Desert and the
Zacatecas semi-desert are located there. To the south of the transverse
mountain ranges is the fertile Bajío region and numerous valleys of cold
or temperate land, such as the Purépecha Plateau, the valleys of Toluca,
Mexico, and the Poblano-Tlaxcalteca. Most of the Mexican population is
concentrated in this southern half of the highlands.
Between the
Neovolcanic Axis and the Sierra Madre del Sur are located the Balsas
Depression and the Tierra Caliente of Michoacán, Jalisco and Guerrero.
To the east, crossing the intricate Sierra Mixteca, are the Central
Valleys of Oaxaca, surrounded by steep mountains that complicate access
and communications.
Spread across its territorial sea are
numerous islands, among which the Revillagigedo archipelagos (Socorro,
Clarión, San Benedicto, Roca Partida) and the Marías Islands, in the
Pacific, stand out; those of Guadalupe, Cedros, Ángel de la Guarda,
Coronado, Alijos rocks, Tiburón Island, Carmen Island, in front of the
Baja California peninsula and the coast of Sonora; and those of Ciudad
del Carmen, Cozumel, Mujeres, and the Alacranes reef, in the Atlantic
basin. Together they have an area of 5127 km².
Mexico is a country with great climatic diversity. The geographical
location of the country places it in two well-differentiated areas,
separated by the Tropic of Cancer. This parallel divides the country
into two zones whose climates would be clearly different (a tropical
zone and a temperate zone) if it were not for the fact that the relief
and the presence of the oceans greatly influence the configuration of
the climate map in the country. .
In this way, in Mexico it is
possible to find cold high mountain climates a few hundred kilometers
from the hottest climates of the coastal plain. The most notable for its
variations is the climate of the state of Chihuahua, where the lowest
temperatures in the country occur, sometimes reaching −30 °C, and the
highest in the desert of Mexicali, Baja California, which sometimes
exceeds 50 °C. The warm rainy zone includes the low coastal plain of the
Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific. In this region, temperatures range
between 15.6 °C and 40 °C. A warm zone includes land located between 614
m above sea level. n. m. and 830 m above. n. m. Here, temperatures range
between 16.7 °C in January and 21.1 °C in July. The cold zone goes from
1830 m above sea level. n. m. up to 2745 m above sea level. n. m. of
altitude.
The temperate subhumid or semi-dry climate reaches
temperatures that range between 10 and 20 °C and has rainfall of no more
than 1000 mm per year. At an altitude greater than 1500 m above sea
level. n. m., the presence of this climate depends on the latitude of
the region. In areas with this type of climate, frost is a constant that
occurs every year, as well as the presence of annual sleet and snowfall
that tend to be more common in the north of the country and in
mountainous areas.
A second type of climate is warm-humid and
warm-subhumid. In areas with this climate, it rains during the summer or
throughout the year. The rainfall reaches an index of 1500 mm, and has
an annual thermal average that ranges between 24 and 26 °C. The areas
with this type of climate are located in the coastal plains of the Gulf
of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the north
of Chiapas and in the Yucatan Peninsula.
The dry tropics presents
varieties of previous climates. It is located in the slopes of the
Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental, the upper basins of the Balsas and
Papaloapan rivers, as well as in certain regions of the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec, the Yucatán Peninsula and the state of Chiapas. The dry
tropics are, therefore, the largest area of extreme hot climates in
Mexico.
Temperate zones are regions where annual precipitation is
less than 350 mm. The annual temperature varies between 15 and 25 °C,
and its precipitation rate is also highly variable. Most of the Mexican
territory, located north of the Tropic of Cancer, is an area with these
types of characteristics.
The wet season extends between the
months of May and October. On average it rains for 70 days a year. The
dominant trend, however, is the lack of rain in most of the territory, a
fact related to the obstacles that the high mountains that frame the
Mexican Plateau represent to rain clouds. In the temperate highland zone
of the country, the average rainfall is 635 mm per year. The coldest
area, in high mountains, registers rates of 460 mm. Meanwhile, the
semi-desert of the northern Altiplano barely reaches 254 mm of annual
rainfall. In contrast to the aridity of this territory (which
concentrates 80% of the Mexican population), there are some regions that
can receive almost 1000 mm and up to 3000 mm.
The average
temperature for the country is about 19 °C. However, Mexico City
presents its extreme averages in the months of January (12 °C) and July
(16.1 °C). In contrast to Ciudad Juárez, Mexicali, Culiacán, San Luis
Potosí, Hermosillo, Chihuahua, Torreón, Saltillo and Monterrey where the
temperatures are really extreme.
The rivers of Mexico are grouped into three slopes. The Pacific
slope, the Gulf slope and the interior slope. The longest of the Mexican
rivers is the Bravo, on the Gulf side. This has a length of 3,034 km
(1,885 miles), and serves as the border with the United States. Other
important rivers are: the Usumacinta, which is the largest in Mexico and
serves as the international border with Guatemala; the Grijalva River,
the second largest in the country, both rivers join in the Tabasco
plain, forming the largest hydraulic basin in Mexico; and the Pánuco
River, to whose basin the Valley of Mexico belongs.
The Lerma,
Santiago and Balsas rivers flow into the Pacific, which are of vital
importance for the cities of the highlands of Mexico; the Sonora,
Fuerte, Mayo, Yaqui and Piaxtla rivers, which support the prosperous
agriculture of the northwest of the country, and the Colorado River,
shared with the United States. Inland rivers, that is, those that do not
flow into the sea, are usually short and have little flow. The Casas
Grandes river in Chihuahua, and the Nazas, in Durango, stand out. Most
of Mexico's rivers have little flow, and almost none of them are
navigable.
Mexico is home to numerous lakes and lagoons in its
territory, but of modest size. The most important inland body of water
is Lake Chapala, in the state of Jalisco, which is at risk of
disappearing due to overexploitation. Other important lakes are Lake
Pátzcuaro, Zirahuén and Cuitzeo, all of them in Michoacán. In addition,
the construction of dams has led to the formation of artificial lakes,
such as the "Thousand Islands" lake in Oaxaca.
Mexico is one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. With
around 200,000 different species; It is home to 10 to 12% of the world's
biodiversity. It is ranked first in reptile biodiversity with 864 known
species, second in mammals with 564 species, fourth in amphibians with
376 species, eleventh in birds with around 1,128. species and fourth in
flora, with 26,000 different species. Mexico is also considered the
second country in the world in ecosystems and the fourth in total
species. Approximately 2,500 species are protected by Mexican
legislation. The Mexican government created the National Biodiversity
Information System, which is responsible for studying and promoting the
substantial use of ecosystems.
In Mexico, there are 187 federally
protected natural areas of which 148 have exclusively land surface, 31
have land and marine surface and 6 exclusively marine that represent
90,958,494 hectares, of which 21,499,881 hectares correspond to land
surface protected area that represents 10.94% of the national land
surface, in terms of marine surface, 69,458,613 hectares are protected,
which corresponds to 22.05% of the marine surface of the national
territory. Included are 44 biosphere reserves (unaltered ecosystems), 67
national parks, 5 natural monuments, 42 areas to protect flora and
fauna, 9 natural resource protection areas and 18 sanctuaries (areas
with rich diversity of species), in addition There are 41 biosphere
reserves declared by UNESCO and 6 of them have been declared natural
heritage of humanity. There are also 384 areas voluntarily designated
for conservation that protect 631,743.49 hectares.
Climate change in Mexico refers to the effects of climate change in
Mexico. Projections indicate that Mexico will suffer a significant
decrease in annual precipitation and increases in temperatures. This
will put pressure on the economy, people and biodiversity in many parts
of the country, which have large arid or hot climates. Climate change
has already affected agriculture,206 biodiversity and farmers'
livelihoods, pushing migration. Also affected have been "water, health,
air pollution, disruption of traffic due to flooding and the
vulnerability of homes to landslides".
Altered precipitation
patterns and rising temperatures have led to economic insecurity in
Mexico, particularly for small farmers who produce Mexico's economically
and culturally important crops: corn and coffee. The impacts of climate
change are especially severe in Mexico City due to increased air
pollution. The ecological impacts of climate change within Mexico
include reductions in landscape connectivity and changing animal
migration patterns. Furthermore, climate change in Mexico is linked to
global trade and economic processes that are directly related to global
food security.
In 2012, Mexico passed a comprehensive climate
change bill that set a goal for the country to generate 35% of its
energy from clean energy sources by 2024 and reduce emissions by 50% by
2050. using 2000 emissions as a baseline. During the 2016 North American
Leaders Summit, the goal of 50% of electricity being generated from
renewable sources by 2025 was announced. Various efforts have been
implemented climate mitigation throughout the country. Mexico is
considered a leading country in climate mitigation and adaptation.
During the colonial era and the 19th century, Mexico was a country
dedicated to primary economic activities, highlighting agriculture,
especially those native products unknown in Europe. Most of its income
from foreign sales came from mining exploitation, especially silver. Of
this mineral, Mexico has occupied first place in the world in production
for more than two centuries. At the same time, it developed intense
commercial exchange activity with Asia through the Philippines with the
famous Nao of China.
The industrialization process of Mexico
during the Colony and the first century of independent life was
extremely slow. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, colonial laws
prevented the development of manufacturing in New Spain as in the rest
of the Spanish Empire. These had to be imported from the metropolis,
which in turn acquired them mostly from the industrialized nations of
northern Europe. During most of the 19th century there were attempts to
provide the country with an industrial plant. The goverments tried to
attract foreign bussinesmen, without much success. During the 1830s,
Lucas Alamán established the Banco de Avió, intended for industrial
development. However, all these attempts bore little fruit.
At
the end of the 19th century, during the Porfiriato, the textile industry
was the most developed. He had settled in the Puebla valley, in the
Orizaba region and the valley of Mexico. The government of Porfirio Díaz
gave great privileges to foreign capital with the intention of
attracting direct investment in the construction of communications and
transportation infrastructure, and in the growth of the industrial
plant. However, the benefits went to a few foreigners and local
businessmen close to the dictator, while the majority of Mexicans lived
in conditions of misery and exploitation.
In that period of more
than thirty years, between 1876 and 1910, the railway network grew
intensively: it reached 20,000 km of tracks. On the other hand, the
first hydroelectric plant in the nation called Necaxa in Puebla was
built and the exploitation of oil fields began, which placed Mexico in
the first place in oil exports in the world in the 1910s. It is worth
mentioning that The rich oil fields of Faja de Oro and Cerro Azul,
located in the north of the state of Veracruz, were brutally exhausted
by the Standard Oil Company, Royal Dutch Shell and their Mexican
subsidiaries, with a meager benefit for the Mexican treasury.
After the triumph of the Revolution, a second period of industrial
expansion began in Mexico, favored, among other things, by the
nationalization of oil and the Second World War. In the decades that
followed the conclusion of that international conflict, the Mexican
economy had a mixed character, that is, investment came from both
private initiative and the State. Strategic sectors were converted into
parastatal industries, such as mining, steel, electricity production,
road infrastructure, among others. With the intention of promoting
technology transfer, the government allowed many international firms to
establish subsidiaries in the country, although always associated with
national capital. Agriculture, on the other hand, was heavily subsidized
by the State, which became the main intermediary of agricultural
products. During the period between 1940 and 1970, Mexico's economy grew
at a rate of 6.27% annually, in what was called the Mexican Miracle.
However, protectionism and the closure of the Mexican market, as
well as the debt fever of the 1970s that ended with the debt crisis of
the 1980s, ended the period of growth of the Mexican economy. In 1982,
the country was bankrupt, and unable to pay its international debts.
Something similar was happening in the rest of Latin America. To get out
of the trance, the government changed its policies and began the period
known in Mexico as the technocrats, within the framework of neoliberal
policies; marked in this period by austerity in social spending, the
push given to the privatization of large parastatal companies (of which
only two remain to date: Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission),
and a growth economic dependent on manufacturing exports (basically, to
the United States).
In the last 25 years, within the framework of
the so-called era of neoliberalism, significant reforms and structural
adjustments to the economy have been carried out in Mexico. The first
economic reforms were carried out between 1989 and 1994, during the
administration of Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the most important and
transcendent, due to its multiple impacts on the country's economic
structure - some positive and others negative - being the controversial
negotiation of the agreement of free trade with the United States and
Canada (the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA), which came into
force on the first day of 1994, officially leaving behind the exhausted
developmental model of import substitution growth, whose golden era is
located in the fifties and sixties of the last century, and a neoliberal
model oriented to the “exterior”, promoting exports, prevailed. The
latest economic reforms are recent, and were carried out between 2013
and 2014, under the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto. Due to its
potential impact on the growth rate, the energy sector stood out, since
since 2015 the private sector, national and foreign, was actively
participating in the tasks of exploration and exploitation of crude oil
and gas, as well as in the generation of electrical energy. , activities
previously reserved for the State. These structural reforms,
controversial and controversial, generated – each one at its time –
favorable expectations regarding the future growth of the Mexican
economy, which, however, did not fully materialize.
Despite the
limitations of the Mexican economic system coming from general social
conditions, the context of the so-called War on Drug Trafficking,
dependence on the US economy and corruption rates caused the stagnation
of the economy, which even with its commercial diversification, It
continued to be sustained by the effects of oil revenues and remittances
from Mexicans residing in the United States, mainly. However, in the
recent five years, economic consistency and stability, especially in
macroeconomic indicators, has benefited from a set of internal and
external factors such as the record increase in remittances, the record
increase in foreign investment, as well as of international reserves,
the strengthening of the exchange rate against the dollar, whose effect
was colloquially called “super peso” and the rise of the phenomenon
known as “nearshoring” in Mexico (in the context of the United
States-China trade war ), which has increased the transfer of
investments from Asia to the Spanish American country.
Considered an “emerging economy,” as countries whose growth has been
sustained in recent years are called, it had a GDP growth rate of 3.1%
in 2022. According to data from the International Monetary Fund, in 2022
it is the fourteenth world economy and eleventh by purchasing power
parity (PPP); On a regional scale, it is the second economy in Latin
America and the fourth on the continent. The basic profile of the
Mexican economy places it as a market economy focused on the production
and export of manufacturing, although with strong support from the oil
industry and tourism activity.
In 2022 Mexico was the thirteenth
largest exporter in the world; Since the mid-1980s, the country has
leaned towards a strong commercial opening towards other markets, which
has made it the world leader in free trade agreements, having signed
agreements of this type with 50 countries in 14 different treaties. Its
main trade association is the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement
(USMCA, substitute for NAFTA), which it signed with the United States
and Canada. It also has a free trade agreement with the European Union,
with the bloc called EFTA (Luxembourg, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and
Norway); and more recently a similar commitment was also sealed with
Japan.
Mexico is the first country in Latin America to be
included in the World Government Bond Index, which recognizes credit
rating, liquidity and macroeconomic policies.
52.49% of the country's total area is suitable for agriculture, the confluence of climates and reliefs in the national territory allow the diversification of the types of products harvested. There are around 88 million hectares with some type of agricultural use and five million agricultural producers in three variants: export (mainly in the north), for the domestic market (mainly in the center and west) and for subsistence (especially in the south); Around 71 percent are small and medium producers; The working population in the sector is around 27 million workers. Total production in 2022 was 271 million tons, the main products being: corn, sugar cane, avocado, grasses, sorghum, green chili, tomato, beans, barley and wheat; The fruits include orange, banana, apple and lemon, and the vegetables include onion and red tomato. Mexico is the world's main exporter of tomato, watermelon, cucumber, avocado, onion, lemon, papaya, tequila and beer; second of asparagus, chickpeas, shelled walnuts, confectionery and Brussels sprouts; and overall it ranks seventh in the world.
58% of the surface area dedicated to agricultural activities is used by livestock. The type of soil and climate favors the suitability of large areas in plains, plains and plateaus that allow livestock raising, in order of national production size: swine, cattle, sheep and goats. There are around 110 million heads of livestock in the country, 600 million animals in the poultry sector and two million hives in the beekeeping area; Just as happens with agriculture, in three variants, for export, for the domestic market and for subsistence. Total production in 2022 was almost eight million tons of meat, the main products being: chicken, beef and pork, far above goat, sheep and turkey; Of the derivatives, in the same year, 3 million tons of eggs, 40 million tons of milk and 65,649 tons of honey stand out. At the international level, Mexico is seventh as a world power in livestock products, ranking fourth in egg production, sixth in beef and poultry, as well as eighth in pork.
Fishing
Mexico has more than 11,000 kilometers of coastline, all located in tropical areas, guaranteeing the diversity of species, which gives it great fishing potential. There are 17,338 producers in 23,293 fishing establishments in 37 seaports and various inland water areas (rivers, lakes and lagoons). In 2021, total production was 3.8 million tons, highlighting in order: sardine, shrimp, tuna, anchovy and mojarra. At an international level it occupies the 18th position among producers and the same among exporters.
Mexico has around 55.8 million hectares of forests and jungles, 80% of these are under the communal property regime through 8,500 ejidatarios and communities, the vast majority of indigenous origin and in socioeconomic conditions of marginality or poverty, a situation that On the one hand, it allows the extension of sustainable areas and the conservation of ecosystems through systems of uses and customs, but it has also caused problems for community members when they face the illegal alienation of their lands by large landowners and criminals. The volume of forestry production in 2021 was around 9.35 million cubic meters, while foreign sales reached 3,846 million dollars.
The mining-metallurgy sector in Mexico is an important activity that contributes to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), the mining-metallurgy sector represented 8.6% of industrial GDP and 2.5% of national GDP in 2021; Production amounted to around 153 million cubic tons, which represented income of 1.21 billion pesos. There are 2,930 mineral producers in the country; Mexico is the main producer of silver (6,300 tons in 2022) worldwide and is among the top 10 positions in the world production of 17 minerals, including fluorspar, sodium sulfate, wollastonite, celestite, lead, molybdenum, barite, diatomite , magnesium sulfate, zinc, salt, gypsum, cadmium, gold and feldspar.
The history and trajectory of the oil industry in Mexico have a
sociopolitical significance that transcends its immediate economic
function; Various social and historical processes have made its exercise
a symbolism of national sovereignty over natural resources; To this is
added that in the times of greatest oil boom, almost half of public
income and expenses came from this sector. That is why, and according to
the current constitution, the oil industry in Mexico constitutes a
system of majority participation of the state (exploration, refining,
marketing and export) through the state company Pemex (Petróleos
Mexicanos); It should be noted that the same fundamental norm states
that public companies in the energy sector do not constitute monopolies,
and therefore are not subject to laws and economic positions contrary to
this system. The energy reforms of 2008 and 2013 began to open the
sector in a minimal way, but legal adjustments in 2019 reversed this.
Pemex is not only the largest parastatal in Mexico, it is also the
main company in any sector in the country, with revenues, in 2022, of
2.38 billion pesos; it is the sixth oil producing company in the world,
the sixth in sales oil companies, and is the largest company in any
branch in Latin America.
As for the country in general, it is
11th in production (2.9 million barrels per day), 12th in exports (1.2
million barrels per day) and 24th in proven reserves.
The proximity to the United States, the diversity of regions with certain economic features and the strategic geographic location on the continent allow for the breadth of industrial sectors that range from the simple transformation of raw materials into manufactured products to the development of technologies, including satisfaction of the entire production chain. Beyond the energy sector, which is the most profitable, the country's main industries are metallurgy, mining, mechanics (specifically the automotive sector standing out in this sector), aerospace, construction, lumber and food. The main industrial centers of the country are located near the metropolitan areas of Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, in addition to the Bajío area and the border areas with the United States. As for finished products, those most manufactured in Mexico are: electronic devices, petroleum products, medical devices, automobiles, textile supplies, beverages and food.
Mexican foreign trade is an important part of the country's economy,
together with the domestic market it generates around half of the total
gross domestic product. The country has been characterized by having a
strategic position in international trade. As mentioned above, it is the
thirteenth largest exporter in the world and has 14 free trade
agreements with 50 countries. Immersed in the largest exchange market in
the world, with the United States and Canada. The geographical
conditions of an extensive coastline and a long border with the largest
economy on the planet also favor the exchange of goods with the two
other important markets, the European Union and the Asia-Pacific.
Mexican foreign trade is based on the import and export of products
and services. This is a priority for the country, since it allows the
exchange of products, merchandise and monetary resources. It is
characterized by having a good production capacity due to the high
internal and external demand for certain goods and services. In 2022,
the total value of Mexican exports was 578,193 million dollars; The main
products sold abroad were, in order of profits: automobiles, computers,
auto parts, cargo trucks, crude oil, televisions and insulated cable. As
for imports, in the same year, their total value was 604,614 million
dollars; The main products purchased from abroad are: gasoline, heavy
machinery, electrical machinery, motor vehicles, plastics,
pharmaceutical products and mechanical equipment. According to the
previous data, it is recorded that Mexico's trade balance is in deficit.
Tourism is an important economic activity for the country and makes
it one of the most notable nations worldwide, placed seventh in terms of
international tourist arrivals, with 38 million visitors in 2022, the
highest figure after the pandemic, since in 2019 it had received 45
million tourists. It is the first destination for foreign tourists
within Latin America. In that year, tourism contributed 7.5% of the
national GDP, and represented 14.2% of direct and indirect jobs in the
Mexican economy. For the same cycle, income from foreign tourists
reached USD 28,016,000,000 (twenty-eight thousand sixteen million).
Mexico's main tourist attractions are the archaeological sites of
Mesoamerican cultures, colonial cities and beach resorts. The natural
wealth and historical cultural heritage—the fusion of European culture
(particularly Spanish) with Mesoamerican culture; They also make Mexico
an attractive tourist destination worldwide. The vast majority of
foreign tourists who visit Mexico come from the United States, Canada
and Colombia. The next largest group are visitors from Europe and Asia.
A small number of tourists also come from the rest of Latin American
countries.
However, local tourism has generated an important
economic impact for the country, where service providers seek greater
dissemination and attention to national tourists, creating new tourist
and recreational centers sponsored by FONATUR (National Fund for the
Promotion of Tourism) who The task of studying the preferences and
tastes of Mexicans on their days of rest has been given; Communication
and transportation routes have been improved and rehabilitated,
remodeling of the busiest airports, updating of telecommunications
systems, opening of credits for new hospitality infrastructure and
provision of services, opening of casinos or betting houses, health
improvement and greater security in recreational activity areas.
In the 2022 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)
classification, which measures factors that make it attractive to make
investments or develop businesses in the travel and tourism sector of a
specific country, Mexico reached 40th place. worldwide, being the first
ranked among Latin American countries and the third in the American
continent.
In Mexico, 36.3% of the total inhabitants live in poverty, according
to the Poverty Measurement in Mexico 2022, made by the National Council
for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval), which is
equal to 46.8 million people. On the other hand, the situation of people
in extreme poverty is equivalent to 7.1% of the total inhabitants.
According to the same organization, only 27.1% of the Mexican population
is neither poor nor vulnerable.
According to the 2020 UN human
development report, Mexico has a human development index of 0.779,
ranking 74th in the world. Historically, it has made great progress
alongside countries such as Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand and South
Africa, considering the fact that in 2010 it had a human development
index of 0.743. However, its inequality-adjusted human development index
is 0.609; considered medium.
According to data from Scopus, a bibliographic database of summaries
and citations of articles in scientific journals, Mexico is positioned
27th in the world in terms of scientific publications, being the second
in Latin America after Brazil and the second among Spanish-speaking
countries, after Spain. It also occupies 34th place in countries
ordered by the h-Index with a score of 232. According to the World
Innovation Index, run by the World Intellectual Property Organization,
in its editions In 2022 and 2023, Mexico was ranked 58th in innovation
among 132 countries in the world. Mexico is one of the countries with
the most awards from the UNESCO Science Prize.
However, in terms
proportional to its economy and population size, Mexico's participation
in science and technology is scarce.286287288 For example, Mexico is
the OECD country that invests the least in research and development with
an approximate 0.47% of GDP289; while the OECD average is close to
2.5%. Only one Mexican citizen has received a Nobel Prize in science
(Mario Molina, chemistry 1995), for work carried out abroad. Although
the ancient Mayans achieved sophistication in his mathematics and his
astronomical calculations, no modern Mexican has been awarded the Fields
medal, the Abel Prize or the Turing Prize.
In Mexico, basic
research is carried out almost entirely by public organizations, such as
universities, hospitals and some government centers. Among the most
active organizations are the National Autonomous University of Mexico
(UNAM), founded in 1910, the National Institute of Public Health (INSP)
founded in 1987, the International Center for the Improvement of Maize
and Wheat (CIMMYT) founded in 1943, the Center for Research and Advanced
Studies (Cinvestav) of the National Polytechnic Institute, founded in
1961 and 1936 respectively; and the College of Mexico (COLMEX) in social
sciences and humanities, founded in 1940. Likewise, since 1970 there has
been the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies
(CONAHCYT), the government agency in charge of regulating and promoting
scientific and technological advancement. technology of the country, and
which also provides its own research centers. There are also societies
such as the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the National College, which
carry out consulting and dissemination work in science and the arts.
Among the most notable specific discoveries and inventions that
Mexico and Mexicans have contributed to humanity are: the discovery of
vanadium (Andrés Manuel del Río), the invention of one of the first
semi-automatic and automatic firearms (the Mondragón rifle) , the
independent development of the vaginal histology method known as
Papanicolaou staining (Eliseo Ramírez Ulloa),295 pioneering research on
cosmic rays (Manuel Sandoval Vallarta), the synthesis of the first
contraceptive pill (Luis Miramontes and the Syntex company), the first
color television system (Guillermo González Camarena), the discovery of
the Herbig-Haro nebulae where stars form (Guillermo Haro), the calcium
hypothesis of neurotransmitter release (Ricardo Miledi), the
transformation of eigenstates of the oscillator quantum harmonic and
diffraction in time (Marcos Moshinsky), contributions to the study of
stellar atmospheres and contributions to the instrumentation of various
NASA probes (Guido Münch), the so-called "green revolution" that
developed fundamental biotechnology for agricultural productivity world
(Norman Borlaug), collaboration in the creation of the Google PageRank
algorithm, RAID storage and distributed databases (Héctor García-Molina)
and the discovery of the causes of the deterioration of the ozone layer
(Mario Molina).
In Mexico, energy generation is in charge of a parastatal company,
the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), an organization that as of
October 2009, in an action that generated much controversy, took control
of the geographical area (center of the country). which until then was
managed by the Central Light and Power Company (LFC). The CFE is in
charge, as its name indicates, of the operation of electricity
generating plants and their distribution throughout the national
territory. The other company in charge of the exploitation of energy
resources is Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), organized into divisions that
are in charge of specific aspects of the oil industry.
The main
form of energy generation in the country is combined cycle
thermoelectric, primarily using natural gas, which in 2021 produced 55%
of the country's total electricity. Among the most important plants of
this type is Los Azufres, in the state of Michoacán, and its
infrastructure represented 51.9% of the total. Hydroelectric energy
follows, at a distance, with a volume of 9.7% of the energy generation
structure. Other types of generation are core electricity, geothermal,
coal, solar, wind and bioenergy.
Mexico has an installed
capacity to produce 918 MW (October 2021) of geothermal energy. This
represents 3.24% of the total electricity generated in the country.
There is the largest geothermal energy plant in the world, the Cerro
Prieto geothermal energy plant.
According to the National Water Commission in Mexico, there are more than 5,000 dams and drainage ditches; Of these, 180 are classified as large, with a storage volume of more than 150,000,000,000 (one hundred and fifty billion) cubic meters of water. Among the most relevant dams, the dam is located in the state of Chiapas. La Angostura dam, which has the largest reservoir in the country. In terms of electricity generation, the Chicoasén dam is the one with the greatest power in the country, with 2,400 megawatts, which has one of the largest curtains. highest in the world.
The drinking water, sewage and sanitation service is operated by
microenterprises that work exclusively with each city in the nation;
which manage storage entities such as canals, wells, hydraulic towers,
among others. Although Mexico boasts of having some of the best drinking
water and sanitation operating organizations in Latin America, it also
has some whose performance is poor. Access, efficiency and quality of
water and sanitation services vary greatly from one locality to another,
largely reflecting the different levels of development across the
country. In general, the Mexican water and sanitation sector is marked
by the following problems:
Low technical and commercial efficiency in
the provision of services;
Inadequate quality of water supply
services;
Poor quality of sanitation services, especially regarding
wastewater treatment;
Insufficient coverage in the poorest rural
areas.
The petrochemical industry in Mexico is a branch of productive activity that includes establishments dedicated to the production of basic chemical substances derived from natural gas, oil and coal, such as acyclic hydrocarbons: ethane, hexane, ethylene, propylene, etc. Mexico has an extensive infrastructure for the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, refineries, gas processing complexes and petrochemical complexes for the transformation of hydrocarbons. Currently, it has fifteen refining plants that have a total refining capacity of 818,000 barrels per day. The petrochemical industry serves as a platform to support the development and growth of Mexico, in addition to forming productive chains. This industry supplies more than 40 branches of industrial activity and demands goods and services from 30 industries. The main chains that are supported by petrochemicals are: textile, automotive/transport, detergents and cosmetics, footwear, packaging/beverages and food, agriculture, construction and clothing.
The total length of the land road network in the country was 810,129
kilometers in 2022. Of these, a third corresponds to covered gaps, and
just over 10,000 kilometers corresponds to four-lane roads. The roads in
Mexico are classified as federal, which are in charge of the SCT, are
free and make up just over 40,000 kilometers; state roads, which are
free and built by the state governments; and toll highways, managed by a
consortium called Caminos y Puentes Federales (CAPUFE), which collects
the resources from the toll, which are reinvested in the maintenance of
the highways. Some of these high-speed roads are the most expensive in
Mexico, such as the one that connects Mexico City with Toluca, or the
Autopista del Sol, which links Mexico City with the port of Acapulco.
In the recent decade, significant works were built with the purpose
of making land transportation faster between the different regions of
the country. Perhaps the most emblematic work of these is the Chiapas
Bridge, built on the Malpaso dam, on the Grijalva River, and which
allows a saving of up to six hours in the transfer from Mexico City to
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the capital of Chiapas.
Most of the railway
network is currently used for freight transport. After the privatization
of Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, the parastatal company formed
after the nationalization of this transportation system with the purpose
of operating and maintaining the railway network, the concessionaires
were dedicated exclusively to the transportation of goods, and the
network has remained practically unchanged. for more than two decades.
The country had a total of 17,360 kilometers of railway tracks in 2022.
The Chihuahua to the Pacific Railway transports passengers, taking
advantage of the fact that the route through the Sierra Madre Occidental
has important tourist value due to its natural landscapes.
In the
21st century, Mexico returns to passenger rail transportation due to
vehicular traffic congestion, the inaugurations of the Valley of Mexico
Suburban Train in 2008 and the Mexico-Toluca Interurban Train in 2023
have allowed formalization in other places in projects such as the
Tula-Buenavista, 306 Pachuca-Buenavista Tlajomulco de
Zúñiga-Guadalajara-Zapopan routes, and the largest section of the
Adames-Aguascalientes-Peñuelas suburban train with 80 kilometers in
length that runs throughout the state from north to south . Other
projections are the Guanajuato-Querétaro, Tijuana-Mexicali,
Querétaro-San Luis Potosí and Coatzacoalcos-Salina Cruz intercity
trains, which are being studied to recover the railway infrastructure,
reduce the transportation time of passengers and goods for ecological
purposes and technological.
In the current decade, the return of
passenger trains has been proposed, a means of transportation and
communication that has been present in the country since the time of the
Porfiriato and that fell into disuse since their privatization during
the government of Ernesto Zedillo. The plan would consist of the use of
existing tracks and their expansion to create eleven lines: Pacific
Train, with an extension of 4,700 kilometers (from Chiapas to Baja
California); El Chepe (673 kilometers, from Sinaloa to Chihuahua);
Western Train (2250 kilometers, from Guerrero to Chihuahua); Eastern
Train (2000 kilometers, from Guerrero to Coahuila and Nuevo León);
Transversal Train (1200 kilometers, from Sinaloa to Tamaulipas); Gulf
Train (1650 kilometers, from Tabasco to Tamaulipas); Tren del Bajío
(1500 kilometers, from Veracruz to Jalisco covering the west of the
country); Train of the Center (1300 kilometers, from Veracruz to
Jalisco, covering the center of the country); Tehuantepec Isthmus Train
(300 kilometers); Oaxaca Train (750 kilometers) and as the project
began, the 1800 kilometer Mayan Train. The plan projected for the year
2050 began with works to adapt or modernize existing roads, especially
in suburban areas.
Like the rest of the transportation systems,
airports and seaports were also privatized during the six-year term of
Carlos Salinas de Gortari. In 2022, it was the third country with the
most landing strips worldwide, only after the United States and Brazil,
having 1,714 of these structures. Among airports, the most important due
to the level of people who use them and air traffic, They are the Mexico
City International Airport and the Cancun International Airport. The
first of them is going through serious saturation problems, and the
construction of the New Mexico City International Airport in the federal
zone of Lake Texcoco was proposed in 2016, however, in 2018 after a 10%
progress in the work and after a failed national consultation, in
addition to political and environmental issues, President Andrés Manuel
López Obrador canceled the work and moved the project to the Santa Lucía
air base in Zumpango, State of Mexico, five days after taking office as
president. from Mexico. The construction of the Felipe Ángeles
International Airport (AIFA) began on October 17, 2019. President Andrés
Manuel López Obrador announced a year before that construction would be
in charge of the Secretariat of National Defense. The new commercial
airport would serve the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico. It
was inaugurated on March 21, 2022 by the president, and named in honor
of the hero of the Mexican Revolution.
On February 14, 2007, the
Mexican Senate approved the creation of the Mexican Space Agency,
successor to the National Outer Space Commission.
Like railways,
most marine traffic is freight. Mexico has 108 ports, fifty-four in the
Gulf and the same number in the Pacific. The most important are
Veracruz, on the Atlantic coast, and Manzanillo, in the state of Colima
on the Pacific coast.
The media in Mexico also remained in the hands of private initiative,
starting in the 1990s. Previously they were operated by parastatal
companies, such as Telefonos de México. The Mexican Postal Service and
Mexican Telegraphs remain in the hands of the State.
Regarding
television, there was the Mexican Television Institute (Imevisión),
although from the beginning individuals had the right to concessions.
The main private television networks in Mexico are the duopoly Televisa
and TV Azteca. Televisa is also the largest producer of Spanish-language
content in the world, mainly traditional "soap operas." Grupo Imagen
Multimedia is a media conglomerate that owns the third national
television network: Imagen Televisión. Grupo Multimedios is another
Spanish-speaking media conglomerate that broadcasts in Mexico, Spain,
and the United States. The federal government operates Channel 22 of the
Ministry of Culture, Channel Fourteen of the Public Broadcasting System
of the Mexican State and Channel Once; the latter, through the National
Polytechnic Institute attached to the Ministry of Public Education.
Likewise, states have the power to operate television stations through
decentralized organizations created for this purpose. In Mexico there
are 885 television stations, some of them with national coverage.
Meanwhile, 72% percent of Mexican households have some restricted
television service (cable, satellite or online).
In radio, there
are multiple private companies, the most important of which are based in
Mexico City; In many cities of the republic there are local stations.
The Federation operates the Mexican Radio Institute (IMER), and some of
its agencies operate other stations, such as Radio Educación, dependent
on the Ministry of Public Education, and the many indigenous radio
stations, which depended on the National Indigenous Institute, converted
in the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples.
Several universities also have their own radio stations, among which
stands out Radio Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, from UNAM,
whose coverage reaches almost the entire national territory, and can be
heard on the international band and the Internet. There are 1017
amplitude modulated radio stations in Mexico, 814 frequency modulated
radio stations and 10 shortwave radio stations.
Fixed telephony
is operated by a few companies, of which Telmex is by far the largest.
Telephone coverage has also been steadily increasing. It is estimated
that 80% of Mexican homes have a landline, and in many small communities
there are community telephone booths. There are around 24.5 million
fixed telephone lines and almost 124 million mobile lines; the latter
with greater market diversification than residential lines, although
with considerable weight, especially in coverage, of the Telcel company.
Regarding the use of new communication technologies (Internet), the
number of users in Mexico is estimated at 98,800,000 (ninety-eight
million, eight hundred thousand) users in 2022, around 76% of the
population. In order to guarantee free internet access, the Federal
Electricity Commission created a division in charge of building the
fiber optic infrastructure necessary to support said plan. In the recent
five years, 10,979 antennas were installed to provide network access to
schools, parks, health centers and other public places.
Mexico tops the list with the highest concentration of media worldwide and ranks third among the OECD countries that offer the most expensive services. In this framework, the telecommunications market in Mexico is dominated by Grupo Televisa and Grupo Carso.
Newspapers printed in Mexico are an important source of information
and news for the population. The written press in Mexico has a long
history that dates back to colonial times. Currently, printed newspapers
are published in different formats, such as standard, tabloid and
Berliner. Printed newspapers also differ in their frequency, which can
be daily, weekly or monthly.
In Mexico, there are several
companies that publish printed newspapers. Some of the largest companies
are Grupo Reforma, which publishes newspapers such as Reforma and Mural;
Grupo Milenio, which publishes Milenio Diario and Milenio Jalisco; and
Mexican Editorial Organization (OEM), which publishes newspapers such as
El Sol de México, Esto and El Sol del Bajío. In Mexico, the newspapers
with the greatest circulation (in alphabetical order) are El Universal,
La Jornada and Diario Reforma, with a center, left and right editorial
line, respectively. In the most important states and cities there are
local newspapers with greater circulation than national newspapers.
There are popular newspapers that are widely read, such as El Grafico,
Metro and La Prensa. The main sports newspaper is called Récord, with
circulations higher than even the general information newspapers. There
are also free newspapers that summarize the most important events of the
day and are distributed through so-called "fliers." An example is La
Crónica or El Publimetro.
In Mexico, open television stations are operated mainly by private companies: Televisa, Televisión Azteca and Grupo Imagen. There is also the decentralized public body: Public Radio Broadcasting System of the Mexican State (SPR). In addition to private companies, there are other public and private operators with less coverage networks (highlighting Multimedios Televisión) as well as various local operators, including state governments and universities. The programming of television stations is regulated for broadcast through the General Directorate of Radio, Television and Cinematography, an institute dependent on the Ministry of the Interior of Mexico, which determines the schedules for the transmission of recorded material.
There are 1,017 amplitude modulated radio stations in Mexico, 814
frequency modulated radio stations and 10 shortwave radio stations. The
states with the most stations are: Sonora and Oaxaca (they have up to
100 stations throughout the state). The state with the fewest radio
stations is Tlaxcala (only six).
In some cities in Mexico there
are radio groups that occupy all the frequencies for their stations,
such as in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. The three cities of
Baja California (Ensenada, Mexicali and Tijuana) also have their
respective stations that are on all frequencies.
Radio in Mexico
is diverse in content, but it has been documented that this industry is
dominated by approximately seven families that operate radio groups.
Which are:
ACIR Group: which has a news format called "Information
that serves", a romantic format called "Amor" and a format that
transmits music in English called "Mix", among others.
Radiorama
Group: is a group that has more than 300 radio stations in Mexico in
which it made alliances with Grupo Formula, Televisa Radio and Radio
S.A. to link their chains to the entire republic.
Radiopolis Group:
previously known as Televisa Radio, XEW stands out, its motto is: "the
voice of Latin America." It is a concessionaire of Ke Buena, Los 40
Principales México and W Radio.
MVS Radio: is the concessionaire of a
channel that has coverage of up to 50 cities in Mexico, the channel is
"Exa FM" (Formerly FM Globo) and it also has another format that has
existed over the years. This network was known as "Stereorey", but in
2002 it was already known as "Best FM" and in 2004, several stations
already had another format called "La Mejor FM". They are currently in
23 cities in Mexico, but they have had bad results with the "La mejor"
chain.
Formula Group: has two formats that transmit news throughout
Mexico and the United States, its announcers are those who work on
television.
Grupo Radio Centro: this radio group is the
concessionaire of 11 radio stations in the Federal District, but links
to 130 stations throughout Mexico to transmit the newscast that they
broadcast at 1 in the afternoon, among others.
Mexican Radio
Institute: it is the concessionaire of the first Mexican radio station,
which was XEB, which currently continues to transmit under the tutelage
of the government. This indicates that it is a public medium. In some
states, there are state radio stations that belong to local governments;
There are also stations operated by the IMER, or stations that broadcast
in indigenous communities.
In Mexico, five mobile telephone operators operate, with their
respective customer service centers, among which are:
Telcel: With
the company name Radio Móvil DIPSA, it is a company founded in June 1926
as a distributor of telephone directories. It changed its industry by
operating mobile telephony in 1977. It is owned by América Móvil, in
turn belonging to Grupo Carso.
AT&T México: It was founded in 1987 as
Iusacell, originally belonging to Grupo IUSA. Due to the December error
that devalued the Mexican peso, Iusacell suffered a huge debt for its
postpaid system. It was purchased in 2001 by Vodafone and its subsidiary
Verizon Communications. It was owned by Grupo Salinas until 2014 when it
was sold to the American company AT&T.
Unefón: Company founded in
1998 by Ricardo Salinas Pliego that operated independently until 2006,
belonging to Grupo Saba. In 2007, it began to use the Iusacell network.
Thanks to this, they share the same network and have intercompatible
telephone devices. In essence, Iusacell and Unefón were the same
company. After the transition of the former to become AT&T México,
Unefón continues to operate as the prepaid brand of the American firm.
Movistar México: Company founded in 2000, after being formed through the
merger of Cedetel, BajaCel, Norcel, Movitel and Pegaso PCS. It belongs
to Grupo Telefónica. Its facilities are located in Monterrey, Nuevo
León.
Virgin Mobile México: It is a virtual mobile operator that
offers mobile telephone services under the Virgin Mobile brand in
Mexico. It is part of the Virgin Group conglomerate, owned by British
tycoon Sir Richard Branson. It began operations in June 2014.
The most recent general population and housing census, implemented by
the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, was in 2020. At the
time of its execution, its results showed that the total population of
Mexico was 126,014,024 inhabitants (11th). worldwide), 51.2% correspond
to women and 48.8% to men, the average age is 29 years, the percentage
of growth compared to the 2010 census was 1.2%, the fertility rate is
2.1 and around 1.2 million inhabitants were not born in the national
territory.
Throughout the 19th century, Mexico's population had
barely doubled. This trend continued during the first two decades of the
20th century, and even in the 1920 census a loss of nearly 2 million
inhabitants was recorded. The phenomenon can be explained because during
the decade from 1910 to 1920 the Mexican Revolution took place.
The growth rate increased drastically between the decades of 1930 and
1980, when the country recorded growth rates greater than 3%
(1950-1980). The Mexican population doubled in twenty years, and at that
rate it was expected that by the year 2000 there would be 120 million
Mexicans. Faced with this situation, the federal government created the
National Population Council (CONAPO), with the mission of establishing
birth control policies and conducting research on the country's
population. The measures were successful, and the growth rate dropped to
0.7 in 2020. Life expectancy went from 36 years (in 1895) to 75 years
(in 2020).
The face of Mexicans also changed. At the beginning of
the 20th century, about 90% of the population lived in rural locations
(towns, rancherías, hamlets). The 1960 census showed data in which the
urban population was greater than the rural population for the first
time (50.6% of the total). The number of people living in their home
state in 1895 constituted 96.6% of the country's total population. In
the 1920 census they amounted to just over 90%. Thirty years later they
made up 80% and currently just over 18% of Mexicans live outside the
state in which they were born. Both trends can be explained by the
industrialization process of large and medium-sized cities, as well as
by the gradual impoverishment of the countryside, caused by the
recession in agricultural activities. The federal entities that
concentrate the largest population are the State of Mexico, Mexico City,
Veracruz, Jalisco and Puebla. On the other hand, the least populated are
Baja California Sur, Campeche and Quintana Roo. This last state is one
of those with the highest population growth rate in the country, due to
Cancún's tourism industry, which concentrates 50% of the Quintana Roo
population.
On the other hand, the population speaking
indigenous languages (the only criterion contemplated in the INEGI
methodology to count the country's indigenous population) fell from 17%
in 1895 to just 9.4% in 2020. However, in absolute numbers there was an
increase , since it went from just over one million to twenty-three in
the 2020 census. It is the indigenous communities that expel a larger
population. Indigenous emigration, until 1980, had as its main
destinations medium and large cities close to the regions of origin.
Starting in the 1990s, indigenous migration took on an international
face, and today it heads mainly to the United States.
Metropolitan areas have traditionally been defined as the group of
municipalities or cities that interact strongly with each other,
normally around a city core. In 2004, in a joint effort between CONAPO,
INEGI and SEDESOL, it was agreed to define the areas metropolitan cities
for the first time.
On October 19, 2023, the Secretariat of
Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, CONAPO and INEGI, published
the document Metropolis of Mexico 2020, which establishes the new
official guidelines to determine the metropolitan areas of the country,
as well as the plans, programs and projects that will guide public
policies on the matter. The new delimitation determined three
definitions:
Metropolitan area: Group of municipalities whose
relationship is based on a high degree of inter-municipal or interstate
physical or functional integration and the total population of the
municipalities that comprise it is 200 thousand inhabitants or more. The
urban locality or conurbation that gives rise to the metropolitan area
has 100 thousand inhabitants or more.
Municipal metropolis:
Municipality that is not part of a metropolitan area, however, has a
total population of 300 thousand inhabitants or more and is economically
or politically relevant to the state. The urban locality that gives rise
to the municipal metropolis has 200 thousand inhabitants or more.
Conurbation area: Group of municipalities whose relationship is based on
a high degree of physical or functional inter-municipal or interstate
integration. The urban locality or conurbation that gives rise to the
metropolitan area has between 50 thousand and 100 thousand inhabitants.
According to this new delimitation, Mexico has 92 metropolises made
up of 421 municipalities that are classified into: 48 metropolitan
areas, 22 municipal metropolises and 22 suburban areas; The 48
metropolitan areas are made up of 345 municipalities in which 67.6
million people reside; 12 million live in the 22 municipal metropolises;
and 2.9 million live in the 54 municipalities that make up the 22
metropolitan areas. Thus, 82.5 million people, 65.5 percent of the
national population, live in these metropolises.
If the municipalities are considered as isolated entities and unrelated to metropolitan areas, according to the 2020 census data, the most populated municipality in the country is Tijuana, with 1,922,523 inhabitants, followed by the municipality of Iztapalapa, with 1,835. 436 inhabitants, while León occupies third place with 1,721,215 inhabitants. They are followed on the list by Puebla and Ecatepec, which have very similar populations (1,692,181 and 1,645,352 respectively). It should be noted that strictly speaking Iztapalapa, which occupies second place, is a territorial demarcation of Mexico City. At the opposite pole are several municipalities in the state of Oaxaca, whose populations do not exceed a thousand people.
Mexico is ethnically diverse; According to article 2 of the Mexican
Constitution, the country is defined as a multicultural nation founded
on the principle of indigenous peoples. The institutional discourse in
the construction of the Mexican identity imaginary is based on the idea
of the "mestizo nation." » or, inspired by the expression of José
Vasconcelos Calderón (1925), a «melting pot of all races», which
identifies the construction of «miscegenation» as the basis of
homogenization both culturally and from an ethnic point of view. This
idea has been criticized by academic experts in studies on the
construction of raciality, considering it a form of "social engineering"
to determine a "racial policy" that ends up being exclusive.
The
predominant policy of Mexico's first century of independent life was
racist. After the triumph of the Revolution, several thinkers considered
that Mexico was a culturally mestizo nation, and then social policies
were aimed at "assimilating" indigenous particularities to the
construction of a new "national culture" of republican style. The
consequences were the reduction in absolute and relative terms of people
who spoke indigenous languages and of Afro-Mexican peoples.
The
language criterion has been used to determine the number of indigenous
people in the country. However, this has been criticized, since ethnic
identity is not given only by linguistic identity, as Guillermo Bonfil
Batalla pointed out in his work Méxicodeep.
According to the 2020
census organized by the INEGI, in Mexico there are 23.2 million people
aged three years and older who self-identify as indigenous, which is
equivalent to 19.4% of the total population in that age range; of which
16.1 million do not speak indigenous languages. The total population in
indigenous households in 2020 was 11,800,247 people, which is equivalent
to 9.4% of the country's total population. The average size of
indigenous households was 4.1 people. The 2020 Population and Housing
Census identified that in Mexico there were 7,364,645 people aged three
years and older who spoke indigenous languages, which represented 6.1%
of the country's total population in that age range. Of the 7.4 million
people aged three and older who speak an indigenous language, 6.4
million (87.2%) also spoke Spanish and 866 thousand (11.8%) did not.
Currently, 68 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico. The most
frequent are Nahuatl (22.4%), Mayan (10.5%) and Tseltal (8.0%).
The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples recognizes 68 indigenous
ethnic groups distinguished from each other on the basis of linguistic
criteria. The largest, in demographic terms, are the Nahua, the Mayan,
the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Otomí and the Purépecha. They are all
descendants of the ancient Mesoamerican peoples. The least numerous
groups are the Kiliwa, settled in the north of Baja California, and the
Lacandon of Chiapas, with just a few dozen members.
In Mexico
there are also 2,576,213 Afro-descendants (2 out of every 100
inhabitants) according to the 2020 Population and Housing Census of the
INEGI, the majority in communities on the Costa Chica of Guerrero and
Oaxaca.
A study by the National Laboratory of Genomics for
Biodiversity indicated that up to a third of people sampled from the
state of Guerrero had significantly more Asian ancestry than most
Mexicans, mainly Filipinos or Indonesians.
The United States is the country where the most Mexicans live after
Mexico. The Mexican presence in the northern neighbor begins with the
annexation of the northern half of the country's territory in 1848. Some
of the Mexicans who remained on the other side of the border returned to
Mexico, but others stayed there, and preserved their language and
traditions. They were joined by a good number of braceros, who went to
settle in the United States, some temporarily, through a labor agreement
between the governments of Washington and Mexico during the Second World
War. The latest economic crises in Mexico have favored emigration to the
north, and it is estimated that at the beginning of the 21st century,
nearly 38 million Mexicans or descendants of Mexicans live in the United
States. Most of them are concentrated in California, Texas, New Mexico
and Illinois.
The second destination is Canada, reaching position
62 in foreign communities with 126,745 Mexicans. The European country
with the largest number of Mexicans is Spain, the third destination
that, in 2021, had 66,092 Mexican residents, mainly for kinship, marital
and educational reasons; According to the Institute of Mexicans Abroad
(2021), the fourth country in the world to have the most Mexicans is
Brazil, with around 24,171 individuals, mainly to carry out business,
commercial, industrial and tourist activities; The fifth destination is
the United Kingdom, which is the second in Europe with the largest
number of Mexican residents, in 2021 it had 18,000 Mexicans; Germany is
the sixth destination and one of high growth in a short time. Other
important communities of Mexicans abroad are those of Bolivia, the
Netherlands, Argentina, Chile, France and Japan; Recently, Mexican
communities have been increasing in Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican
Republic, Guatemala, Venezuela and Cuba.
Regarding immigration to Mexico, it was not massive as in the United
States or Canada but it received countless communities from very distant
nations, for example from the Asian continent. Immigration to Mexico is
rather compared to that of other Latin American countries such as Peru,
Chile, Colombia, Venezuela and Paraguay. Among the main foreign
communities with a strong presence in the national territory for many
years are the American, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, British,
Cuban, French, Chinese, Russian, Lebanese, Jewish, Gypsy, Japanese,
Chilean, Peruvian, Korean, Filipino, Greek, Irish, Swiss, Hungarian,
Polish, Syrian, Turkish, among others.
Immigration in Mexico has
not had an overwhelming impact on the total population compared to other
countries, but there has been a considerable increase in the foreign
population since Mexico was consolidated as an independent nation.
Mexico is a country of increasing immigration in recent years. years.
Due to the geographical position of Mexico, the immigrant arrives in the
national territory for family, educational, economic, climatological,
cultural and transit reasons, which has led to the permanence of
foreigners throughout the territory. The country has not historically
sought mass immigration but it has suddenly begun to occur. In previous
years, the foreign attraction of more selective immigration had been
sought, to which was added an old tradition of political asylum due to
religious or ideological persecution; That is why intellectuals,
scientists and artists from other nations reside in Mexico and have
contributed to various scientific and artistic fields in the country on
a par with Mexicans who stand out in the same fields.
Mexico is
also a country of emigrants, it is a peculiar case; 75% of emigrants
seek the United States as their final destination; for every ten
Mexicans who leave their country, four foreigners enter Mexico legally
and illegally; and decide to stay in the country indefinitely. The
National Immigration Institute and INEGI are the only institutions that
compile official statistics on foreigners who have a legal stay of more
than six months since they entered the country, however the difficult
control situation at national borders and customs prevents having a
exact count of foreigners entering, their origin and destination. 80% of
foreigners living in Mexico come from neighboring countries (United
States and Guatemala), other important communities come mainly from
Spanish-speaking nations, of which the Spanish, Colombian, Argentinian,
Cuban communities among others stand out, the rest of the Immigration
comes from various regions of the world. The entity with the largest
foreign population is Baja California, followed by Nuevo León, Jalisco,
Mexico City, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, Chiapas, State of Mexico, Baja
California Sur and Sonora.
At the beginning of the 21st century,
there were important changes in Mexican politics that had an impact on
the increase in resident and naturalized foreigners. Mexico has often
not been a final destination country like the United States, but it has
an important geographic and strategic location that has generated
bilateral and international relations with the United States and Canada
regarding immigration control. Globalization, multiculturalism, work and
an accelerated rate of mobility of human beings will continue to
increase the foreign population legally and illegally within Mexican
territory.
Mexico is the second country that contributes the highest number of
violent deaths to the total number of intentional homicides committed in
the world. Official statistics from the Mexican National Public Security
System estimate that the number is 20,824 intentional homicides in 2016.
Although the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) based
in London differs with the figure, as it recorded the death of 23,000
people in 2016.
Mexico, in 2017, experienced its most violent
year with 25,339 homicides, according to figures from the NGO Citizen
Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice. This NGO differs
slightly in figures from those provided by the Executive Secretariat of
the National Security System. Public (SESNSP), which is 25,324
intentional homicides.
Missing
Figures from 2006 to August
2019:
Missing people: 40,180
Clandestine graves: 3024
Unidentified bodies in forensic service: 26 000353
Figures as of
January 2020:
Missing persons: 61 637354
Mexico is the second country with the largest number of Catholic
people in the world, after Brazil. Despite this, the Mexican State is
officially secular since the separation between religious institutions
and the political administration of the nation was enshrined in the
Constitution of 1857, and was ratified in the current Constitution of
1917. José María Morelos indicated in his writings that there should be
no tolerance for any other religion and the Constitution of 1824
declared that the official religion of the Republic would be Catholic.
Starting in the second half of the 20th century, a process of
introducing creeds other than Catholic ones began.
The 1920s were
marked by a religious conflict known as the Cristero War, in which many
peasants encouraged by the clergy confronted the federal government that
had decided to put into effect the constitutional laws of 1917. Among
the measures contemplated by the Magna Carta There were the suppression
of monastic orders and the cancellation of all religious worship. The
war ended with an agreement between the parties in conflict (Catholic
Church and State), through which the respective fields of action were
defined. Until the mid-1990s, the Mexican constitution did not recognize
the existence of any religious group. In 1993, a law was enacted through
which the State granted them legal personality as religious
associations. This fact allowed the reestablishment of diplomatic
relations with the Holy See, which the Mexican State did not recognize
as a political entity.
According to the 2020 Population and
Housing Census, it captured 97.9 million Catholic people, which
represents the largest religious group in the country. They are followed
by Protestants/Evangelical Christians, with just over 14 million people.
The religion of the Jewish group is made up of almost 59 thousand
believers; and those who practice religions with ethnic and Afro roots
together represent just over 74 thousand people. The spiritualist
religious group groups almost 37 thousand people; while the followers of
the Islamic religion make up almost eight thousand practitioners. Other
religious groups have a population of around 70 thousand people. Those
who declared themselves believers without religious affiliation
represent 3.1 million and the population without religion corresponds to
10.2 million people.
According to Jacobo Grinberg-Zylberbaum (in
texts edited by the National Autonomous University of Mexico), the
survival of magical-religious rituals of the ancient indigenous groups
is notable, not only in the current indigenous people but also in the
mestizos and whites who make up the rural and urban Mexican society.
There is frequently a syncretism between shamanism and the Catholic
tradition. Another religion of syncretism popular in Mexico (especially
in recent years) is Santeria. This is mainly due to the large number of
Cubans who settled in the territory after the Cuban Revolution (mainly
in states such as Veracruz and Yucatán). Although Mexico was also a
recipient of black slaves from Africa in the 16th century, the heyday of
these cults is relatively new.
The proportion of Catholics is
variable in different social areas. In the cities it is usually lower,
although there are some indigenous regions where members of Protestant
faiths reach 30%. Even in some areas of Chiapas the community of
indigenous Muslims numbers about 5,000 believers. The greatest religious
diversity occurs in the northern part of the country, bordering the
United States, and in the southeast, whose population has a strong
indigenous component. The center, and especially the Bajío region, is an
area with an almost absolutely Catholic predominance. For example, in
the state of Guanajuato 90.8% declare themselves Catholic, while in
Zacatecas 92.3% and in Aguascalientes 89.3% are Catholic. Also important
is the number of people who do not profess any religion, totaling more
than ten million. population.
In certain regions, the profession
of a faith other than Catholic is seen as a threat to community unity.
It is argued that the Catholic religion is part of the ethnic identity,
and that Protestants are not willing to participate in traditional uses
and customs (tequio or community work, participation in patron saint
festivals and similar issues). The Protestants' refusal is due to the
fact that their religious beliefs do not allow them to participate in
the worship of images. In extreme cases, tension between Catholics and
Protestants has led to the expulsion or even murder of Protestants in
several towns. The best-known cases are those of San Juan Chamula, in
Chiapas, and San Nicolás, in Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo.
A similar
argument was presented by a committee of anthropologists to request the
government of the Republic to expel the Summer Linguistics Institute
(ILV), in 1979, which was accused of promoting the division of
indigenous peoples by translating the Bible into vernacular languages
and evangelize in a Protestant creed that threatened the integrity of
popular cultures. The Mexican government heeded the call of the
anthropologists and canceled the agreement it had signed with the SIL.
Conflicts have also occurred in other areas of social life. For example,
since Jehovah's Witnesses are prohibited from honoring national symbols
(something that is done every Monday in public schools in Mexico),
children who have been educated in that religion were expelled from
public schools. These types of problems are only resolved with the
intervention of the National Human Rights Commission, and not always
with favorable results for children.
There are some religious
minorities such as practitioners of the Muslim faith with constant
growth, estimated at around 8,000 believers from countries such as
Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Chile and
Spain. The first mosque in Mexico was built. built in the city of
Torreón, Coahuila, under the sponsorship of a Lebanese businessman.
A strong qualitative rather than quantitative presence of believers
of the Jewish religion is also recognized, with an estimated population
of 58,876 individuals, especially in the capital and its metropolitan
area (in Polanco, Tecamachalco, Interlomas, Santa Fe, Satélite and in
the Historic Center), in large urban centers such as Guadalajara,
Monterrey and in some coastal port areas such as Veracruz and Cancún.
In the north of the Republic there are somewhat hermetic Mormon
communities in states such as Chihuahua and Puebla; There is also a
strong presence of Mennonites, whose greatest concentration is in Ciudad
Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, although there are also important communities in
other cities in the north and southeast of the Republic, as well as in
the country's capital.
In many parts of the country but more
frequently in the cities, there are practitioners of religious
denominations other than the traditional variants of Christianity, such
as Buddhism (Zen and Tibetan), Hinduism, Sikhism, Sufi Islam, Hare
Krishna, Unitarian Universalism, Rastafarianism, pranic healing
movements, etc.
The impact of the Catholic religion in Mexico has
also caused a fusion of elements. Beyond churches and religious
denominations, a phenomenon persists in Mexico that some anthropologists
and sociologists call popular religion, that is, religion as it is
practiced and understood by the people. In Mexico, one of the religious
components of everyday life is the Catholic religion, to which elements
of other beliefs have been adhered to, whether of pre-Hispanic, African
or Asian origin. In general, “popular religiosity” is viewed negatively
by institutionally structured religions. One of the most exemplary cases
of popular religiosity is the cult of Santa Muerte. The Catholic
hierarchy insists on classifying it as a "satanic cult", however, most
of the people who profess this cult declare themselves Catholic
believers, and consider that there is no contradiction between the
tributes they pay to the White Girl. and the worship of God. Other
examples are the representations of the Passion of Christ and the
celebration of the Day of the Dead, which are carried out within the
framework of the Catholic Christian imagination, but under a very
particular reinterpretation of its protagonists.
The General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognizes
Spanish and 68 indigenous Mexican languages as national languages.
Spanish is the dominant language in official affairs and is the mother
tongue of the majority of Mexicans. At the same time, it should be noted
that this is the country that is home to the largest number of Spanish
speakers in the world.
7% of the population speaks an indigenous
language. The government officially recognizes 68 indigenous
languages—grouping together similar varieties that for some linguists
should be considered different languages. Among the indigenous
languages, those with the largest number of speakers are Nahuatl and
Yucatec Mayan; Together, they number more than two million people.
The opposite case is that of the Lacandon Mayan, whose number of
speakers does not reach 100. Even more evident is the case of languages
such as Kiliwa, whose speakers are estimated between 10 and 50
individuals (the information varies according to the various sources), A
problem that is accentuated due to the geographical isolation of the
Kiliwa families, equally significant is the case of the speakers of the
Zoque Ayapaneco dialect who, due to recent research, are known to be
only two individuals who also do not use the language and therefore both
are considered extinct. The SEP has established bilingual education
systems in indigenous and rural communities due to the de facto need for
communication with the Spanish-speaking majority; A considerable
percentage of the indigenous population is bilingual or trilingual.
Due to the proximity to the United States, the presence of English is
constant, especially in urban centers, in music and in cinema; It is
also very common in the business environment due to the economic
activities that Mexico has with the rest of the world.
Of the
languages brought to Mexico by non-Spanish European immigrants, the case
of Chipileño Veneto, spoken in Chipilo, a city in Puebla founded in 1882
by Italian immigrants, draws attention. Today, almost all residents of
the city use Veneto in their daily activities. Veneto is also heard in
Veracruz, in Huatusco and Colonia Manuel González. In Mexico there is
the dialect variant most similar to the language currently spoken in
Venice; In addition, Mexico is among the first places in number of
Venetian speakers, next to Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Another
similar case is that of Plódich (or Plautdietsch), a language classified
as Low Saxon (or "Low German") spoken in Mennonite communities in the
states of Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Durango and Campeche.
French is
also heard in the state of Veracruz, with French colonization in this
state, particularly in the towns of Jicaltepec, Perote, San Rafael and
Mentidero. The Italian spoken in Zentla, the Riviera Maya, the Baja
California peninsula and Mexico City. Another case is the German one in
the area of Soconusco, Chiapas, where German colonies were established
and in the capital of the state of Puebla, since the Volkswagen assembly
plant is located there, there is also a presence of German communities
in Sinaloa such as those in Mazatlán and Culiacán .
There is a
significant presence of bilingual Spaniards in Mexican territory, this
occurred in the context of the Spanish civil war and the consequent
republican exile under the government of former president Lázaro
Cárdenas del Río; The linguistic legacy of this and migrations after the
reestablishment of relations in 1979, allowed the settlement of groups
with languages from the historical communities of the Spanish people,
highlighting Catalan, Basque and Galician.
The number of Arabic
speakers is estimated to be more than ten thousand, almost all of them
from Lebanon and the majority bilingual. There are also Syrian,
Moroccan, Egyptian, Algerian, Palestinian and Iraqi minorities. There is
also a high number of Hebrew, Yiddish and Sephardic speakers since the
Jewish community has a large presence in the country and whose total
population is estimated at more than 50,000 individuals. They are also
bilingual.
There are also numerous Chinese colonies in Mexico
City, Mexicali, Tijuana, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate, San Felipe and San
Quintín; of Japanese, Koreans and Filipinos, mainly in the capital;
where the language of origin and Spanish is spoken.
Except for
Spanish, no other European language is considered a national language,
even if its number of speakers is greater than that of any indigenous
language. Therefore, they are not considered in matters such as public
education, nor in the administration of justice.
It is estimated that there are between 87,000 to 100,000 people who
practice Mexican Sign Language, between 400~500 Yucatec Mayan Sign
Language; 13 from Tijuana Sign Language and 11 from Chatina Sign
Language. .
To date, there is no estimate of the number of
people using American Sign Language, used by American and Canadian
residents, as well as by children of Mexican immigrants. There are also
no figures for Spanish immigrants who use Spanish sign language; nor of
Guatemalan immigrants who use Guatemalan sign language.
In 2020, there were a total of 2,688,252 people with a degree of visual disability (43.5% of the total number of disabled people nationwide) so it is believed that only 10% of these people read the Spanish Braille alphabet, that is , approximately 270,000. The number of English Braille readers residing in the country is unknown.
Mexico has one of the oldest traditions in education in the world,
dating back to the Mexica empire, which was the first recorded
civilization that imposed mandatory universal education for all its
citizens, although with differences depending on the sex of the
individuals. Although the Mexica and Mayans already had their own
writing, language, art and culture, it was after the Spanish conquest,
in the 16th century that the Spanish language was introduced;
Furthermore, since that century, an entire European-style educational
system was created, replacing the Aztec system.
The Constitution
of Mexico establishes in its third article that the state will provide
preschool, primary, secondary and upper secondary education in a
secular, free and compulsory manner; for this purpose, the Ministry of
Public Education was created on October 3,
Illiteracy levels in
the country have been significantly reduced in the last 50 years, going
from 25.8% in 1970 to 4.7% in 2020. In terms of schooling, the
percentage of attendance for each educational level with respect to the
total of the population age group is 63.3% for the preschool level,
93.8% for basic education (primary and secondary) and 45.3% in upper
secondary or higher education (high school diplomas of all types and
bachelor's level studies and engineering); The average level of
schooling is 9.7 years, equivalent in Mexico to practically completing
the first year of high school.
On September 21, 1551, the first
university in Mexico was created, which was the Royal and Pontifical
University of Mexico, inaugurating its courses on January 25, 1553. 385
On September 22, 1910, the National Autonomous University of Mexico was
founded, with the name of the National University of Mexico, considered
the highest educational institution in the country, and which currently
has three Nobel Prize laureates: Octavio Paz (literature), Alfonso
García Robles (peace) and Mario J. Molina (chemistry). 388 UNAM is
currently considered the second best university in Latin America.
In higher education, the National Polytechnic Institute and the
Metropolitan Autonomous University in the country's capital also stand
out, while in the interior of the country there are public and private
institutions such as the University of Guadalajara, the Autonomous
University of Nuevo León, the Autonomous University of Puebla, the
Tecnológico de Monterrey, the University of Guanajuato, the Michoacana
University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo, the Autonomous University of the
State of Morelos, the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí and the
Autonomous University of Baja California, all of them classified among
the 100 best in Latin America.
Although there are also other
private institutions such as the Institute of Technology and Higher
Studies of Monterrey, University of the Americas of Puebla, Universidad
Anáhuac, Universidad La Salle, Universidad Panamericana, Universidad
Iberoamericana, Universidad Regional del Sureste, Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México, Universidad Tecnológica of Mexico, University of the
Valley of Mexico, among others.
The educational model of
technological universities is a link in the Mexican higher education
system, a product of the studies carried out by the SEP, which compared
the teaching schemes in Mexico with those used by developed countries.
By 2023 there were 169 technological universities. throughout the
country.
The anthem, the flag and the national coat of arms are the patriotic symbols of Mexico that represent the identity of the country and reinforce the feeling of belonging that seeks the union of those who inhabit the country. This category includes the symbols that the laws recognize as belonging to the Mexican Nation, which have changed throughout history.
Academic music
Some renowned Mexican composers of academic music
have been:
Miguel Bernal Jimenez
Julian Carrillo
Ricardo Castro
Sofia Cancino de Cuevas
Carlos Chavez
Manuel de Sumaya
Manuel
Enriquez
Carlos Jimenez Mabarak
José Pablo Moncayo
Melesio
Morales
Aniceto Ortega
Manuel M. Ponce
Silvestre Revueltas
Juventino Rosas
Luis Sandi
Felipe Villanueva
In 1711, the opera La Partenope premiered in Mexico City, with music
by Manuel de Sumaya, master of the cathedral chapel along with Francisco
López Capillas and Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla, one of the greatest
Mexican baroque composers. The special importance of this opera is that
it is the first composed in North America, this opera begins the
fruitful and still little studied history of Mexican operatic creation,
uninterrupted since then for three hundred years.
The opera
Guatemotzín, by Aniceto Ortega, is the first conscious attempt to
incorporate native elements into the formal characteristics of the
opera. Among the Mexican operatic production of the 19th century, the
opera Agorante, rey de la Nubia by Miguel Meneses stands out, premiered
during the commemorative festivities for the birthday of Emperor
Maximilian I, the operas Pirro de Aragón by Leonardo Canales, Keofar by
Felipe Villanueva and ante all the operatic production of Melesio
Morales, the most important Mexican opera composer of the 19th century,
whose works were very successful among the audiences of Mexico City and
were premiered in Europe. In the first half of the 20th century, Julián
Carrillo, Sofía Cancino de Cuevas, José F. Vásquez among others stand
out in Mexican operatic creation, all of them were relegated by the
official musical historiography that only recognized the work of
nationalist composers.
Since the end of the 20th century there
has been a growing interest among composers in writing opera. Among the
Mexican composers of the early 21st century who stand out with their
operas, we must mention Federico Ibarra, Daniel Catán, Víctor Rasgado,
Luis Jaime Cortez, Julio Estrada, Gabriela Ortiz among others.
Some notable artists have been the trumpeter Rafael Méndez, the keyboardist and composer Juan García Esquivel, the drummer Tino Contreras, the pianist and composer Eugenio Toussaint and the drummer Antonio Sánchez.
Mexican music is the result of diverse influences. Very little is
known about pre-Hispanic music, although there are numerous groups that
claim this tradition throughout the country. The Dance of the Deer, of
the Yaqui Indians of Sonora and Mayo of Sonora and Sinaloa, is one of
the few testimonies of pre-Hispanic music that have persisted to the
present day, both in its instrumentation and in its lyrics; although
there are also records of custom sounds from other ethnic groups such as
the Tének of San Luis Potosí and their tigrillo dance or the Huaves of
Oaxaca and their turtle sounds, etc.
In pre-Hispanic peoples, the
only string instrument used was the percussion bow and the music was
more rhythmic and creating atmospheres than melodic. The eeneg
(monochord), from the chordophone family, is also used by the komkaak.
Among the instruments that were used are the teponaztli and the
huehuetl, the first being an idiophone instrument and the second a
membranophone instrument; clay or reed ocarinas and flutes, bone or
wooden scrapers, and bells. After the arrival of the Spanish, the
indigenous people learned European music from the missionaries. Many of
the Conquista dances that are practiced in the country's indigenous
communities have their origins in that time; as well as certain genres
associated with Catholic worship, such as the Matachines dance and the
Concheros son, among others. In Tabasco, in the city of Tenosique, the
carnival is celebrated every year, which many say is the strangest in
the world, which begins with the pochó dance. Endemic indigenous music
was also strongly influenced by the dances of slaves and maroon blacks,
something that is easier to appreciate in the music of the indigenous
communities of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Tabasco, among others.
Internationally known is the mariachi ensemble, associated with the
great figures of the Mexican ranchera song, which had its flowering
period between the decades of 1940 to 1970. Coming from western Mexico,
specifically from the state of Jalisco, the mariachi was originally a
folkloric and indigenous group, and their clothing had nothing to do
with that of the charro (that is, the costume of the rich cattle
ranchers). They performed "mariachi sones" until their arrival in Mexico
City, at the beginning of the 20th century, where they transformed (and
continue to do so) and began to play "bravado songs", corridos and
boleros, adapting them to their style. Lucha Reyes was one of the first
figures to record hits accompanied by mariachi. In the so-called Golden
Age of Mexican cinema, mariachis became known to the world with the
films of Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante. With Javier Solís, the bolero
accompanied by mariachi became fashionable; With Miguel Aceves Mejía,
the falsetto of the huapango was incorporated, and with José Alfredo
Jiménez the regional values of the working class in the cities were
taken up. Currently, ranchera music, accompanied by mariachi, continues
to have important performers and composers who have surpassed national
borders, emerging its own musical genre that year after year various
singers receive awards, among the most recognized contemporary singers
for their career and popularity in many parts. of the world were Vicente
Fernández and Juan Gabriel.
Son is a music in which indigenous,
Spanish and African influences are mixed, even Asian in some cases. It
is a genre with a 6/8 rhythm, whose instrumentation varies from region
to region. In addition to the already mentioned mariachi sounds, there
are son jarocho, son huasteco (huapango), son abajeño and many more.
Genres that appeared later are jarana and Yucatecan trova, which are
cultivated in the Yucatan Peninsula, and which received Caribbean
influence (especially Cuban son) and even Andean (Colombian bambuco);
and the Chilean, originally from the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, the
Chilean of Costa Chica was influenced by the Chilean cueca and the
Peruvian marinera.
The syrup is a continuous succession of sounds
and dances (something like a Mexican "suite"). The name comes from the
time when "apothecaries" (pharmacists) made remedies by combining
various elements called "syrups." There are syrups from Tapatío, Mixtec,
del Valle, Tlaxcalteca, Michoacano, etc.
At the beginning of the
20th century and until the end of the 1930s, with the influence of late
romanticism, the so-called "fine Mexican song" (a term not very clear)
had its rise, very much in popular taste, despite the fact that it was
performed by singers. lyricists, such as Pedro Vargas, Álvaro Carrillo
Alarcón and Nicolás Urcelay. Some of the most notable composers were
Agustín Lara, María Grever and Consuelo Velázquez, influenced by the
style of Mexican and Italian composers of the late 19th century.
The bolero, which came from the Caribbean to Mexico through Yucatán,
became one of the public's favorite genres. During the decades from 1940
to 1960, many harmonized guitar and vocal trios, such as Los Panchos,
were celebrated. Recently the bolero has regained popularity.
Among the great singers of Mexican folk music are Óscar Chávez, Tehua
(María del Rosario Graciela Rayas Trejo), Gabino Palomares, author of
the emblematic song The Curse of Malinche, Guillermo Velázquez and
Amparo Ochoa, who base their songs on indigenous roots and at the same
time they compose songs dealing with problems of indigenous cultures.
Erasmo Palma was a Rarámuri violinist who managed to stand out in other
countries with his traditional music and songs in his native language
and in Spanish.
Other performers of traditional Mexican music
are: Jaramar, Alejandra Robles, Susana Harp, Geo Meneses and Lila Downs,
the latter singing in various languages, mainly Spanish and English. In
his musical style he claims the roots of the Mexican indigenous peoples,
including Mixtec, Zapotec, Purépecha, Mayan and Nahuatl, in addition to
regional music from Mexico and the world such as ranchera music, son,
Chilean music, Colombian cumbia. , bolero, pop-rock, jazz, bossa nova,
among other rhythms and musical genres.
Endogenous music includes mariachi, norteño (grupero) and wind band.
Modern music made its appearance in the 1950s, as well as the rock and
roll movement in Mexico and was sung in Spanish as part of the global
musical phenomenon. Mexican rock was developed through the growing urban
culture in the late 1960s, which revolutionized thought and dance in a
free style of expression. Mass events and festivals were born in the
1970s, as is the historical case of the Avándaro festival. From then on,
contemporary artistic manifestations were censored and repressed.
Contemporary music, in addition to Mexican rock (or national rock,
represented by Maná, El Tri, Zoé, Molotov, Caifanes, Café Tacvba,
Julieta Venegas and Panda, among others), is represented in heavy metal,
electronic music, pop , punk, reggae and alternative music. Hip-hop or
rap is also widely heard in Mexico, those who mainly represent it are
the group Cartel de Santa, singers such as Pato Machete, C-Kan, MC Davo,
and the late Adán Zapata of Mente En Blanco. As part of global
multiculturalism in the 1980s, new styles, attitudes and sounds
appeared, such as progressive rock with fusion of symphonic and ethnic
instruments, heavy metal, punk, reggae, etc. These come to be combined
with Mexican sounds, giving rise to various musical manifestations
within the same field.
Mariachi in its most commercial form has
been modified to give rise to arrangements (mariachi light) and perform
songs more similar to a ballad than to a son or a ranchera song. Its
interpreters are products of large television companies.
Banda
music is a media and commercial phenomenon, also urban due to the
incessant migration of farmers to big cities. Along with the band, the
most widespread genre is northern music, with instrumentation based on
basso Segundo, accordion, electric bass and drums.
Tropical music
occupies a large fan space in several regions of the country, derived
mainly from the arrival of tropical rhythms from the island of Cuba
since the 1920s, popularized in the films of the golden age of Mexican
cinema, such as Cha-cha. -cha and Mambo invade the radio of the 1940s
and 1950s, mimicking the idiosyncrasy of the Mexican, Dámaso Pérez Prado
composes Mambos dedicated to the largest educational institutions in
Mexico, the UNAM and the IPN, Sonora Matancera becomes an icon of Cuba
in Mexico. The Mexican musician Tony Camargo is one of the greatest
representatives of this music and a pioneer of it in the country, his
success "El Año Viejo" took him to the top and became a classic to this
day.
However, other tropical rhythms arrive in the country,
Guaguancó, Boogaloo among others, begin to be recorded by Mexican
artists, Sonora Santanera becomes the most popular by imitating the
style of Cuban orchestras with tropical boleros among other rhythms, but
from In the 1960s, Salsa arrived from other Caribbean countries and also
from the United States; in addition, miniature music arrived from
Colombia. All of these rhythms together were assimilated by Mexican
musical groups, forming the "tropical genre", the popularity of which
Over several decades, local tropical variants have been formed that have
been mixed with Mexican folk music. Examples such as Mexican cumbia are
part of this fusion, of which the most successful group in recent years
has been Los Ángeles Azules. . The sonidero phenomenon and its street
dances are also derived from this love of tropical music in the country.
The dance of the people of Mexico has a sacred knowledge of natural
phenomena, deities, living beings and everyday life. Music or the sound
of some object accompanies the body movement of the human being to
express his feelings about the movement of his body. The Deer Dance is a
ritual dance celebrated by the Yaqui and Mayo Indians of the Mexican
states of Sinaloa and Sonora. This dance is a dramatization of the deer
hunt, a cultural hero of these people, by the paskolas (hunters).
During the colony, the Spanish and Creole landowners held
magnificent parties for Carnival; Mestizos and indigenous people were
denied access to these festivals. During the holidays, the richest
people made a display of their wealth using clothes full of decorations
and fabrics. As a satire, the segregated castes began to make costumes
and celebrate to parody white people; To do this, they used pink masks
with a very prominent chin (so as not to be recognized), costumes
imitating the sumptuous ones used by white people with exaggerated
ornamentation of mirrors, beads and beads, as well as conical hats.
Among the most notable dances are the chinelos in Morelos, the
parachicos in Chiapas and the carnivals of Tlaxcala.
Also in the
viceregal stage, the syrup was spread throughout much of western,
central and southeastern Mexico. The reason why this name has been
imposed on both the dance and the dance that accompanies it is
uncertain. It has been proposed, for example, that it is a word of
Arabic origin that designates happiness or celebration. The possibility
has also been raised that the name of the genre comes from its nature as
a mixture of several musical styles in a single piece. Carnivals are
another European cultural heritage with a very marked syncretism of
Hispanicity and indigenism, since carnivals were the popular expression
of comparsas and pagan music to express the feelings of the people
before beginning the celebrations of Holy Week; Thus, the pre-Hispanic
roots are shown in the Tenosique Carnival in Tabasco, the image of the
Spanish face is shown in the colonial dances and carnival troupes of
chinelos in Morelos, huehues in Tlaxcala and parachicos in Chiapas.
Since 1849, the Chimalhuacán Carnival has been celebrated, one of the
oldest in the country. Other Mexican carnivals of great importance are:
the Tlaxcala Carnival, which stands out for its Hispanic and indigenous
elements.
Of all the Mexican syrups, the best known
internationally is perhaps the Tapatío syrup, originally from Jalisco,
and performed by the group called mariachi. There are other Mexican
syrups such as Michoacán syrup, Guerrero syrup, Mixtec syrup or Mazahua
syrup. In the Porfiriato, rhythms come from Europe such as polkas and
mazurkas danced in Poland and the former Czechoslovakia that adapt to
the popular dance of the northerners of Mexico, in the Baja California
peninsula the chaveranes that come from Arkansas in the United States
are danced. . The waltz that came from Austria and spread among Mexican
society at the time, acquiring its own identity in this country. The
danzón, the Cuban son and the double step were quickly incorporated into
the popular dance of Mexicans; orchestras and wind bands accompany the
steps of these dances.
In the Baroque period stand out authors such as the playwright Juan
Ruiz de Alarcón (who emigrated to Spain), Diego de Ribera, Alonso
Ramírez de Vargas, Ioseph de Valdés, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora.
In the classicist and illustrated
period shine authors such as: Diego Jose Abad, Francisco Javier Alegre,
Francisco Javier Clavijero, Rafael Landivar, Jose Mariano Beristain and
Souza, Jose Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi "The Mexican thinker" and Fray
Servando Teresa de Mier.
In the nineteenth century, romantic
writers such as: Jose Maria Lacunza, Guillermo Prieto, Manuel Carpio,
Andres Quintana Roo, Jose Joaquin Pesado, Ignatius Rodriguez Galvan,
Ignatius Ramirez; and neoclassical or academic writers such as: Ignacio
Manuel Altamirano, Manuel Acuña, Manuel M. Flores, Vicente Riva Palacio,
Joaquin Arcadio Pagaza, Justo Sierra, Manuel Jose Othon and the
playwright Fernando Calderon and Beltran.
In the 20th century,
authors of quality such as Amado Nervo, Alfonso Reyes, Jose Juan
Tablada, Martin Luis Guzman, Xavier Villaurrutia, Rodolfo Usigli,
Salvador Novo, Juan Rulfo (one of the two Prince of Asturias Awards,
along with Sources) are projected. , Elena Garro, Octavio Peace, Jose
Revueltas, Rosario Castellanos, Juan Jose Arreola, Jaime Sabines, Carlos
Monsivais, Pita Love, Carlos Fountains, Jose Augustine, Jose Emilio
Pacheco Carlos Montemayor. Alongside them, it is possible to include
also the Spanish writer and filmmaker Luis Buñuel and the French
novelist Marguerite Duras, who at various times in their lives have
lived and edited in Spanish for Mexican publishing houses; in the same
way that, in the political sphere, Marxism theorist Leon Trotsky lived
in Mexico City and edited his last work. Many of Mexico’s great authors
have seen their work edited by the Economic Culture Fund.
In the
narrative genre, the writer Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi is considered
the author of the first novel in independent Mexico; the most prominent
Mexican representatives of this genre in the contemporary era are Juan
Rulfo, Juan José Arreola, Agustín Yáñez, Elena Poniatowska, Jose Emilio
Pacheco, Carlos Fuentes, Sergio Pitol (these four, along with Paz
winners of the Cervantes Prize), Fernando del Paso, Jose Augustin,
Rosario Castellanos, Elena Garro, Juan Villoro, Parmenides Garcia
Saldana, Daniel Sada, Jorge Volpi, among others
The stages of philosophy in Mexico are subdivided in relation to the history of Mexico and the institutions of the Mexican state, as follows: pre-Columbian thought, colonial thought, nineteenth-century thought, the Mexican Revolution and period of professionalization of philosophy (a from the fact that philosophy reaches the Universities as a discipline of professional study). Within philosophy in Mexico there is a group of works considered specifically as «Mexican philosophy», that which took as object of study Mexican social and political reality. It is within this group where many of the prominent Mexican philosophers appear such as Jose Vasconcelos, Leopoldo Zea, Luis Villoro, Octavio Paz, Emilio Uranga, Samuel Ramos, Arnaldo Cordova, Carlos Pereyra, Roger Bartra, Alfredo Lopez Austin, Bolivar Echeverria, Enrique Semo, Pablo Gonzalez Casanova, Alonso Aguilar Monteverde, Angel Bassols Battle, Adolph Sanchez Vazquez, Jose Revueltas and Eli de Gortari
Painting is one of the oldest arts in Mexico. Cave painting in
Mexican territory is around 10,000 years old, and has been found in the
caves of the Baja California peninsula. Pre-Hispanic Mexico is present
in buildings and caves, in Mexica codices, in ceramics, in clothing,
etc.; Examples of this are the Mayan mural paintings of Bonampak or
those of Teotihuacán, those of Cacaxtla and those of Monte Albán.
Mural painting flourished significantly during the 16th century,
both in religious buildings and in ancestral homes; such is the case of
the convents of Acolman, Actopan, Huejotzingo, Tecamachalco and
Zinacantepec. It is said that it was mainly indigenous painters led by
friars who created them. These were also manifested in illustrated
manuscripts such as the Mendocino Codex.
For a time it was
believed that the first European painter to live in New Spain was
Rodrigo de Cifuentes, an apocryphal artist to whom works such as The
Baptism of the Caciques of Tlaxcala, painting of the main altarpiece of
the Ex Convent of San Francisco in Tlaxcala, were even attributed. .
Among the native painters was Marcos Aquino. The religiosity of the New
Spanish people made painting important for the evangelization of
society, the friars realized the graphic skills of the indigenous
people, who enriched the baroque and mannerist style. The arrival of
multiple European painters and some students from New Spain was
relevant, such as Juan Correa, Cristóbal Villalpando or Miguel Cabrera,
who made the walls and altarpieces the main source of ideological and
political expression of the artists.
19th century painting had a
very marked romantic influence, landscapes and portraits were the
greatest expression of this era. Hermenegildo Bustos is one of the most
appreciated painters in the historiography of Mexican art. Also notable
in these years were Santiago Rebull, José Salomé Pina, Félix Parra,
Eugenio Landesio and his famous disciple, the landscaper José María
Velasco Gómez, as well as Julio Ruelas.
Mexican painting of the
20th century has achieved world renown with figures such as David Alfaro
Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Joaquín Clausell, Rufino
Tamayo and Frida Kahlo, a generation of idealists who marked the image
of modern Mexico in the face of strong social and economic criticism.
The Oaxacan school quickly gained fame and prestige, dissemination of an
ancient and modern culture, the freedom of design is observed in terms
of color and texture of the canvases and murals as a transition period
between the 20th century and the 21st century.
Throughout
history, several prominent painters of different nationalities have
captured the face of Mexico in their works. Among the most notable we
can mention Daniel Thomas Egerton, Carl Nebel, Thomas Moran, Edouard
Manet, Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington.
Sculpture in Mexico is strongly manifested in the pre-Columbian
Mesoamerican cultures (Mayans, Olmecs, Toltecs, Mixtecs, Aztecs) and is
generally religious in nature.
Since the Spanish conquest, civil
and religious sculpture has been worked on by indigenous artists, guided
by masters from the peninsula, which is why some pre-Hispanic features
are shown. Since the 17th century, mestizo and Creole sculptors have
been creating works with a marked influence of European classicism.
Romanticism tended to break the strict rules and models of
classicism, as it pursued ideas influenced by realism and nationalism.
Religious sculpture was reduced to sporadic imagery, while secular
sculpture continued into portraits and monumental art of a civic nature.
Between 1820 and 1880 the predominant themes were, successively:
religious images, biblical scenes, allegories to the symbols of the
insurgency movement and scenes and characters from pre-Cortesian
history, and portraits of the ancient aristocracy, the nascent
bourgeoisie and champions of the pre-revolution. . The transcendent
thing consisted of introducing civil motives, the first national types
and glimpses of a current of self-expression.
During the 20th
century, great exponents of Mexican sculpture are Juan Soriano, José
Luis Cuevas, Enrique Carbajal Sebastián, Leonora Carrington.
The presence of human beings in Mexican territory has left important
archaeological findings of utmost importance for the explanation of the
habitat of primitive man and contemporary man. The Mesoamerican
civilizations managed to have great stylistic and proportional
development on the human and urban scale, the form evolved from
simplicity to aesthetic complexity; In the north of the country, adobe
and stone architecture and multi-family housing are evident, as we can
see in Paquimé; and troglodyte dwelling in caves of the Sierra Madre
Occidental.
Urban planning had a great development in
pre-Hispanic cultures, where we can observe the magnitude of the cities
of Teotihuacán, Tollan-Xicocotitlan and México-Tenochtitlan, within
environmental urbanism the Mayan cities stand out as they are
incorporated into the monumentality of their buildings with the
thickness of the jungle and complex networks of roads called sakbés.
With the arrival of the Spanish, architectural theories of the
Greco-Latin order with Arab influences were introduced. Due to the
process of evangelization, when the first temples and monastic convents
were built, their own models were planned such as mendicant monasteries,
unique in architecture. The interaction between Spaniards and indigenous
people gave rise to artistic styles such as the so-called tequitqui
(from the Nahuatl; worker or builder). Years later, Baroque and
Mannerism prevailed in large cathedrals and civil buildings, while in
rural areas, haciendas or stately estates with Mozarabic tendencies were
built.
In the 19th century, the neoclassical movement emerged as
a response to the objectives of the republican nation. One of its
examples is the Hospicio Cabañas, where the strict plasticity of the
classical orders is represented in its architectural elements. New
religious, civil and military buildings also emerge. that demonstrate
the presence of neoclassicism. The romanticists for a past seen through
archeology show images of medieval, Islamic Europe and pre-Hispanic
Mexico in the form of architectural elements in the construction of
international fair pavilions, seeking an identity of the national
culture. Art nouveau and art deco were styles introduced into the design
of the Palace of Fine Arts to mark the identity of the Mexican nation
with Greco-Roman and pre-Hispanic symbology.
Modern architecture
in Mexico has an important development in the plasticity of form and
space, José Villagrán García develops a theory of form that sets the
teaching pattern in many architecture schools in the country within
functionalism. The emergence of the new Mexican architecture was born as
a formal order of the policies of a nationalist state that sought
modernity and differentiation from other nations. Juan O'Gorman was one
of the first environmental architects in Mexico, developing the
"organic" theory, trying to integrate the building with the landscape
within the same approaches as Frank Lloyd Wright. In the search for a
new architecture that does not similar to the styles of the past, it
achieves a joint manifestation with mural painting and landscaping.
The Jalisco School was a proposal of those sociopolitical movements
that the country demanded. Luis Barragán managed to combine the shape of
the space with forms of the vernacular rural architecture of Mexico and
Mediterranean countries (Spain-Morocco), integrating an impressive color
that manages light and shadow in different tones and opens a look at
international minimalism.
Mexican architecture is a cultural
phenomenon that was born from the ideology of nationalist governments of
the 20th century, which shaped the image of identity due to its color
and variety of ornamental elements inherited from ancestral cultures,
classical, monumental and, later, forms. , the incorporation of
modernism and avant-garde trends of an international nature.
The objects created in the hands of the artisans represent the
cultural diversity and personality of the different regional communities
of the country, covering various craft areas such as pottery and
ceramics, textiles, wood, chandlery, metalwork, goldsmithing, jewelry,
vegetable fibers, cardboard and paper. , saddlery and leather work,
maque and lacquer, lapidary and stonework, bone and horn, shell and
snail, glass and plumeria, silver and copper, and popular painting and
engraving.
Some representative crafts are:
Cardboard
alebrijes. (Mexico City)
Copal alebrijes. (Oaxaca)
Talavera.
(Puebla)
Huichol art. (Nayarit and Jalisco)
Black Mud. (Oaxaca)
Rebozos. (San Luis Potosi)
Tree of Life. (Mexico state)
Sarapes.
(Coahuila)
Blown glass. (Baja California Sur)
Spheres and string
instruments. (Michoacan)
Hammocks and guayaberas. (Yucatan)
Silversmith's. (Warrior)
Clay Works. (Guanajuato)
Amber and
marimbas. (Chiapas)
Hats. (Jalisco)
String instruments (Veracruz)
Mexican films from the golden age of the 1940s and 1950s are the
largest examples of Latin American cinema, with a huge industry
comparable to Hollywood of those years. Mexican films were exported and
exhibited throughout the Latin America and Europe. The film María
Candelaria (1944) by Emilio Fernández, winner of La Palme d'Or at the
Cannes festival. Famous actors and actresses from this period include
Dolores del Río, internationally famous actress, Hollywood silent and
sound film actress, image of Mexican cinema, and the pioneer and most
important figure of the golden age of Mexican cinema, Sara García, Pedro
Armendáriz, Pedro Infante, Ignacio López Tarso, Lilia Prado, Silvia
Pinal, María Félix, Katy Jurado, Jorge Negrete, Fernando Soler, Ninón
Sevilla, the silent actors Ramón Novarro or Lupe Vélez and the comedians
Joaquín Pardavé, Cantinflas and Tin Tan. The films from the Golden Age
of Mexican cinema make up the majority of the 100 best films of Mexican
cinema, a list prepared by Somos magazine in 1994, with the
participation of the most renowned critics of national cinema, such as
the writer Carlos Monsiváis. and the photographer Gabriel Figueroa.
It is worth mentioning the Spanish nationalized Mexican director,
Luis Buñuel, and his contributions to surrealist cinema: Un Chien
Andalou and L'age D'Or, both co-produced with Salvador Dalí and which he
made in France; Later, in Mexico, he made Los Olvidados (declared Memory
of the World by UNESCO in 2003), which earned him its revaluation at the
Cannes Festival, as well as Subida al cielo, Nazarín and Simón del
Desierto, which also obtained worldwide recognition through Cannes. In
Spain he would make Viridiana for which he won the Palme d'Or, and he
would return to France to film, among others, Le charme discret de la
burgeoisie with which he won the Oscar for best foreign film.
Contemporary Mexican cinema includes notable figures such as directors
Arturo Ripstein, Felipe Cazals, while internationally Alejandro González
Iñarritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón among others, as well as
photographer Emmanuel Lubezki, stand out.
The first Mexican daguerreotypist was called José María Díaz González, he was a student at the Academy of San Carlos, and in 1844 he opened a studio on Santo Domingo Street, Mexico City, where he made oil miniatures and daguerreotypes. Later, when the daguerreotype technique was surpassed, there are reports of the use of paper in photography in Mexico since 1851. Prices drop, the private sphere is no longer its exclusive space. Photography is also used as political promotion. Following the death of President Benito Juárez, "the company Cruces y Campa sells an edition of 20,000 copies of his portrait in business card format." At the beginning of the 20th century, Jesús Hermenegildo Abitia was a studio and outdoor photographer, and a cameraman for documentary and fiction films. Agustín Víctor Casasola was a photographer who managed to establish himself as the quintessential portraitist of the ruling class: Porfirio Díaz, Francisco Villa, Huerta, among others. The photographs of Manuel Álvarez Bravo emerge in the corners, managing to scrutinize what others cannot detect, while the photographer Nacho López was able to transfer his scripts and stories to his photographs.
In 2005, Mexico presented the candidacy of its gastronomy for a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, being the first time that a country had
presented its gastronomic tradition for this purpose. However, in the
first instance the result was negative, since The committee did not
place adequate emphasis on the importance of corn in Mexican cuisine.
Finally, on November 16, 2010, Mexican gastronomy was recognized as
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The origin of current
Mexican cuisine is established during Spanish colonization, being a
mixture of the foods of Spain and the native Indians. Of indigenous
origin is corn, chili (known in almost the entire Spanish-speaking world
as "ají") , beans, pumpkins, avocados, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cocoa,
turkey and many more fruits and condiments. Likewise, some cooking
techniques used today are inherited from pre-Hispanic peoples, such as
the nixtamalization of corn, cooking food in ground-level ovens, and
grinding in molcajete and metate. With the Spanish came pork, beef and
chicken; pepper, sugar, milk and all its derivatives, wheat and rice,
citrus fruits and another constellation of ingredients that are part of
the daily diet of Mexicans.
From that meeting of two culinary
traditions that are millennia old, pozole, mole, barbacoa and tamales in
their current forms, chocolate, a varied range of breads, tacos, and the
wide repertoire of Mexican snacks were born. Drinks such as atole,
champurrado, milk chocolate and fresh waters were born; desserts such as
citron (biznaga) and the entire range of crystallized sweets, eggnog,
cajeta, jericaya and the wide repertoire of delicacies created in nuns'
convents in all parts of the country.
Some Mexican drinks have
crossed their borders and are consumed daily in Central America, the
United States, Canada, Spain and the Philippines; Such is the case of
Jamaica water, rice horchata, root water, margaritas and tequila itself.
The history of the country and its links with other peoples allowed
the incorporation of other cuisines into Mexican cuisine. The Nao de
China, which was actually a Manila galleon, brought from the East a
range of various spices and, above all, rice. A good poblano mole is
unthinkable without Mexican-style rice. Arab cuisine came to Mexico
indirectly through the conquering Spanish. The relationship with Latin
American countries also left its mark on popular cuisine, perhaps the
best-known cases are the ceviches and the moros with Christian debtors
of Cuban gastronomy, which have been assimilated and reworked with
ingredients from Mexico.
The invasions left their mark on all of
Mexican culture, and cuisine is no exception. The taste for ground beef
arrived with Charlotte's Belgian army. Box bread was, according to
legend, an invention of the American troops who came to Mexico in 1847.
The arrival of immigrants from other latitudes throughout the 19th and
20th centuries also participated in the construction of Mexican
gastronomy. As an example, the Italian cheeses and polenta that are
manufactured today in Chipilo, Puebla; or the French from Orizaba just
like their bread and the Germans (Mennonites) from Chihuahua. The
English miners of Mexico laid the foundations for paste, a puff pastry
that today is filled with cheese and potatoes as well as green mole of
pumpkin seeds.
Tortas are sandwiches made with bread called
telera and, like tacos, various foods such as ham with cheese, carne al
pastor, cochinita pibil, and chicken meat. They are said to have
originated during the Reform War when a way to distribute food to
Mexican troops needed to be found.
There are many drinks typical
of Mexican cuisine: fresh waters, atoles, chocolate, mezcal, tequila,
wine, tepache, charanda, tejuino, beer.
Antonio López de Santa
Anna met with Thomas Adams to sell him a shipment of chewing gum to make
tires and boots. When Adams remembered that Santa Anna loved to chew it,
he added sugar and created the chicle empire in 1876.
To date, three Mexicans have received the Nobel Prize:
1982 Peace:
Alfonso García Robles.
1990 Literature: Octavio Paz.
1997
Chemistry: Mario Molina.
In Mexico, according to information from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), in October 2023, 49,347 archaeological sites were registered. They are those where evidence of previous human occupation has been found, and do not necessarily correspond to pre-Hispanic sites, (of which 193 are recorded in total), although most of them are. For example, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, there is a museum on industrial archeology. In Mexico City, material remains have been rescued from a colonial convent that was located on the same site where the Palace of Fine Arts is currently located. As has been said, there are numerous sites belonging to pre-Hispanic peoples, thousands of them, although not all of them are open to the public. The area that concentrates most of these sites is the Mayan area, followed by Central Mexico and the valleys of Oaxaca.
Mexican law considers historical monuments to be those built between the 16th and 19th centuries, that is, from the arrival of the Spanish until the previous century. Both the archaeological zones and the historical monuments are considered heritage of the Mexican nation, and are guarded by the INAH and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). The original centers of several important towns in the country are part of the complex of historical monuments, such as Mexico City, Guanajuato, Puebla de Zaragoza, Oaxaca de Juárez and San Francisco de Campeche, all of them also recognized as Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. In addition to these large agglomerations, there are numerous buildings scattered throughout the country that are part of the INAH catalogue.
Although the Ministry of Public Education includes the teaching of
physical education in the schools under its responsibility, as do the
state agencies in charge of instruction, in the country organized sports
are not a common activity among the people. The most widespread is
perhaps soccer, although in the north of the country basketball,
baseball and softball have a greater presence, the latter two also being
very well accepted in the south of the country; In the south of Mexico
City, the amateur practice of fronton and Basque pelota is very
important, and has given luster to Mexican sport at an international
level.
With the growing increase in a market of both children and
youth players, the extreme racket sport, racketball, is enjoying
constant development. Figure skating and ice hockey are sports practiced
by wealthy Mexican youth, showing constant growth. Other sports that are
very popular in Mexico are volleyball, which is practiced as one of the
basic sports at the school level, as well as American football, which is
practiced in an organized manner in various leagues that are members of
the ONEFA.
Charrería is often called the national sport of Mexicans. This sport
is derived from the work of foremen on cattle ranches. Its origin dates
back to colonial times, and Maximilian of Habsburg is attributed with
the creation of the charro suit in its definitive form.
Some
sports have an origin in the pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica. Such
is the case of the Tarascan pelota, the Purépecha pelota, the Mixtec
pelota of Oaxaca and the ulama of Sinaloa, all of these linked to the
ancient ball game played by the Mesoamerican peoples. This ball game
dramatized the movement of the stars in the firmament, and in theory
their current descendants also do so; Of course, now defeated teams are
not sacrificed to the gods.
In Chihuahua, the Tarahumara perform
ritual races called rarajípara and ariweta. The first is for men, and is
played in teams that take turns to complete a journey of several
kilometers through the mountains by kicking a small ball. The second is
for women, and they must make the journey pushing a hoop.
The most popular and widely spread sport in the country is soccer or,
as it is written and pronounced in the country itself, futbol. The
Mexican league is made up of four divisions, these are the Liga MX, the
Liga de Expansión MX, the Second Division, and the Third Division; in
addition to a Women's League.
The Mexican team has participated
in seventeen editions of the Soccer World Cup, where it has obtained
notable results in the competitions it played as host in 1970 and 1986,
where it reached the quarterfinals and finished in sixth place in both
tournaments. Its greatest achievement at the international level has
been the title of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup, a tournament in
which it hosted. This trophy makes it the only senior team, of those not
affiliated with Conmebol or UEFA, to win a tournament organized directly
by FIFA. Other notable performances are the runners-up of the Copa
América in Ecuador 1993 and Colombia 2001, a competition in which it
participated as a guest, precisely from the 1993 edition to 2016. In
addition, FIFA distinguishes it as the team that has participated in the
most official competitions. disputed in history with ten. The official
stadium for their host games is the Estadio Azteca, home of one of the
nationally recognized soccer teams: Club América; which holds the
greatest number of international titles with ten in total: seven in the
Concacaf Champions League, one in the Concacaf Giants Cup and two in the
Inter-American Cup. In turn, it occupies 9th place in world level in
terms of most international titles won.
The Olympic team won the
gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020
Tokyo Olympics, while the U-17 soccer team was crowned twice in the U-17
World Cup. -17 in Peru 2005, and Mexico 2011. The under-20 team was
runner-up in the 1977 World Championship in Tunisia, and third place in
Colombia 2011. On the part of the women's representatives, the under-17
team was runner-up in the world in Uruguay 2018. The beach soccer team
was second in the 2007 World Cup.
Another sport with a great professional tradition is baseball
(written and pronounced beisbol, locally), which according to the latest
surveys is the third most popular sport in Mexico. Baseball is the most
popular sport in the northern and southeastern regions. Mexico has
several professional leagues, among which the Mexican Baseball League
(LMB) and the Mexican Pacific League (LMP) stand out. The popularity of
the LMB is due to the fact that the teams it has are distributed
throughout almost the entire country; It is the one with the greatest
tradition, as it was founded in 1925; and has provided the majority of
Mexican players who reach the Major Leagues, it is affiliated with the
Minor Leagues of the United States under the 'AAA' classification and
has its own academy talent development located in El Carmen, Nuevo León;
It is currently made up of 18 teams divided into two zones (North Zone
and South Zone). The LMP is played in winter, so its season is shorter
and it receives some of the players (Mexican and foreign) who are
playing in the Major Leagues in the summer; It is made up of ten teams
from Baja California, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Sinaloa and Sonora, it has
importance at the national level, because the champion team represents
Mexico in the largest baseball event in the region, the Caribbean
Series, in which The champions of the leagues of Colombia, Panama,
Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama and Cuba also play.
This tournament has been won nine times by Mexican teams.
Other
recognized leagues in Mexico are the Veracruzan Winter League (LIV),
whose champion team represented Mexico in the Latin American Series, the
Nayarita Winter Baseball League (LIBN), the Northern League of Mexico
(LNM), the Northern League of Sonora (LNS), the La Laguna Major Baseball
League (LMBL), the Chihuahua State Baseball League (LEB), the Coahuila
Northern League (LNC), the Mexican Winter League (LIM), the Peninsular
Baseball League (LPB), the Merida Winter League (LMI), the Veracruz
State Baseball League (LVEB), whose champion team currently represents
Mexico in the Latin American Series, and the Tabasco Baseball League
(LTB); which are of a lower level, because most of their players are
veterans or young players in development who in the future will reach
the LMB and LMP.
In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, the Mexican
team gave the pleasant surprise by advancing first in its group, only to
be eliminated in the next round by losing to Japan and South Korea, but
not before eliminating the United States, the host. of the event. In the
2009 edition, Mexico hosted Foro Sol in the preliminary round. In the
2017 edition, Mexico once again had the opportunity to host the
preliminary round, with the Pan American Stadium in Zapopan being the
stage that hosted the games belonging to Group D, made up of the
national teams of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Italy. However,
his best performance was third place in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
In the Baseball World Cup, Mexico has 4 silver medals and one
bronze, it hosted the event in the 1951 edition.
Around 129
Mexican players have played in Major League Baseball, notable among them
Roberto Ávila (1954 American League batting champion), Fernando
Valenzuela (1981 Cy Young Award in the National League), Aurelio
Rodríguez, Vinicio Castilla and Adrián González.
The second most practiced team sport in the country is basketball,
(written and pronounced basketball, in the country itself); However, it
is the fourth most popular, after soccer, boxing and baseball. Currently
the most important league in the country in this sport is the National
Professional Basketball League (LNBP), and in the women's branch the
Liga Mexican Women's Professional Basketball Association (LMBPF); in
addition to some regional leagues such as the Pacific Coast Basketball
Circuit (CIBACOPA) and the Pacific Basketball Circuit (CIBAPAC) which,
as their names indicate, are made up of teams from that area, as well as
the Basketball League of the Southeast (LBS), which includes the teams
from that part of the country, the Northeast Basketball Circuit
(CIBANE), which as its name indicates, is made up of teams from that
region, the Premier Basketball League (LPB) and the Chihuahua State
Basketball League (LBE), both based in the state of Chihuahua. These
regional leagues participate in the rest months of the LNBP which, by
the way, will once again have competition before the imminent return of
the Mexican Basketball Circuit (CIMEBA), which was, for a long time, the
main basketball league. professional in Mexico. The greatest success of
Mexican basketball is the bronze medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
Five Mexicans have played in the NBA: Horacio Llamas, Eduardo
Nájera, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez and Juan Toscano-Anderson.
In 2013, the Mexican Volleyball League (LMV) was formed with the endorsement of the Mexican Volleyball Federation (FMVB), which came into force in 2014 in both branches, giving rise to the Mexican Men's Volleyball League (LMVV). and the Mexican Women's Volleyball League (LMVF). This was with the aim of both circuits being the basis for integrating the national teams for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic cycle, since teams were formed from various parts of the country in order to observe them. However, this was not the first attempt at a professional volleyball league in Mexico, since previously the Premier Volleyball League (LPV) also developed in both branches. The greatest successes of Mexican volleyball were the gold and silver medals in the women's and men's branches respectively of the 1955 Pan American Games.
In 2016, the Professional American Football League (LFA) was formed,
with the support of the Mexican American Football Federation (FMFA),
which came into effect in February of that year with 4 teams, 3 from
Mexico City. and 1 from the State of Mexico, with the Jesús Martínez
"Palillo" Stadium of the La Magdalena Mixiuhca Sports City as its
headquarters. Currently it is made up of ten teams, two of them from
Mexico City, two from Chihuahua, and one from the State of Mexico,
Coahuila, Nuevo León, Puebla, Jalisco and Querétaro. Additionally, in
2018, the Mexican American Football League (FAM) was founded, which is
currently made up of five teams from the entities of Chihuahua, Mexico
City, State of Mexico, Jalisco and Querétaro.
In parallel, there
is the National American Football Student Organization, which since 1930
and under different names has organized national championships of this
sport.
Fourteen Mexicans have played in the NFL.
The Mexican Elite Hockey League (LMEH) was inaugurated on October 2, 2010 with the objective of establishing Mexican ice hockey at a high international level. This was achieved with the joint participation of private investment and the professional hockey teams already existing in the country. The league was made up of four teams, all of them from Mexico City, however it has not been resumed after the break for the covid-19 pandemic.
Basque pelota in Mexico has been practiced since approximately 1895,
and is represented by the Mexican Frontón Federation, A.C. It is
currently made up of 17 specialties with international participation,
and 26 are practiced in the country, in total.
Suffice it to say
that in Mexico, in 1916, a new specialty emerged within the ball,
frontenis. Since its inception, Mexican representations have won in all
editions of the 19 World Championships that have been held to date,
except Havana 1990.
Currently there is a development whose
structure has at its base two children's and three youth categories,
made up of athletes between 8 and 21 years old. A National Championship
is held for each specialty and category that is divided into three
phases, thus achieving a total of 120 annual events, which also
contemplates the development of the first force, in some second and
third, in addition to the veterans, there is a score classification
system which is firmly supported to form the national selections and
preselections.
The Mexican Federation of Fronton, A.C.
contemplates two modalities: doubles and singles for the specialties of
basket punta (men), Cuban fronton (men), hand fronton with a hard ball
on three walls and in ratchet (men), short shovel (men ), paddle with a
leather ball on three walls and in a ratchet (men's), paddle with a
rubber ball in three walls (men's) and in a ratchet (women's and men's);
as well as frontenis (women's and men's).
Mexico City has the
most fields for playing Basque pelota in the world.
It is the
sporting discipline that has awarded the most medals and titles in world
championships (1952-2022) to Mexican sport with a total of 133 medals
(53 gold, 44 silver and 36 bronze), half of the gold metals come from
the discipline created in Mexico: frontenis. Mexico is one of the three
world powers of this sport, along with Spain and France, with whom it
always disputes the medal table of the world championships of the
specialty. It was an exhibition discipline at the 1968 Mexico Olympic
Games and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. On those occasions Mexico
won 2 gold medals and 3 bronze medals in 1968, as well as 3 gold, 2
silver and 2 bronze medals in 1992.
Boxing and wrestling also enjoy a good reputation and popularity. In the first discipline, Mexican boxers have been world and Olympic champions, such as Salvador Sánchez, Julio César Chávez, José Luis Ramírez, Carlos Zárate, Rubén Olivares, Érik "el Terrible" Morales, among others. Today in boxing there are fighters like Saúl "El Canelo" Álvarez, Julio César Chávez Jr., Wrestling is a sport with a large fan base, full of great myths like El Santo, masked in silver, or his rival Blue Demon; and more recently Sin Cara and Alberto del Río; Although lately the main wrestling companies have left aside the sporting aspect to turn it into a spectacle, no less attractive to the public.
Bullfighting is also very popular, especially in the center of the
country, with the most important plaza being: The Monumental Plaza de
Toros de México, known as Plaza México.
Other sports practiced in
Mexico include horse racing, which takes place at the Hipódromo de las
Américas in Mexico City as its main venue, and greyhound racing at the
Galgódromo de Agua Caliente in Tijuana and in Ciudad Juárez.
Mexico had its first participation in Olympic skiing at the 1984
Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, participating with the German-born
Mexican Hubertus Von Hohenlohe, in the alpine skiing category.464 The
few Mexicans who have competed in the Olympic Games of winter have never
won a medal. Skiing in Mexico is considered an elite sport, very few
Mexicans practice winter sports due to the lack of diffusion and
facilities within the territory of that country. Ice hockey and ice
skating have begun to be spread throughout the national territory, the
first schools and facilities have been forming, at the moment there are
only temporary demonstrations with quite young Mexican athletes who
venture into these sports.
Mexico has hosted the World Paddle
Championship in 2002, in Mexico City and in 2010, in Cancun. Mexico also
hosted the VIII World Polo Championship 2008.
Among the sports that are practiced professionally in Mexico are
motorsports whose main stage is the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Likewise, in recent years official dates have been held within the
official calendar of the World Rally Championship, which is the most
important automobile competition in the Rally category in the world and
has the approval of the FIA (International Automobile Federation). in
French), and takes place in the cities of León de los Aldamas, Silao de
la Victoria and Guanajuato, in the state of Guanajuato. This competition
each year has managed to attract more fans of the category from the
country and the world in addition to generating important economic
benefits for the state.
Since 2015, the Autódromo Hermanos
Rodríguez has hosted a Formula 1 race. Six Mexican drivers have competed
in this category: Ricardo Rodríguez de la Vega, Pedro Rodríguez de la
Vega, Moisés Solana Arciniega, Héctor Rebaque, Sergio Pérez and Esteban
Gutiérrez.
Despite not having an established Olympic committee, Mexico
participated for the first time in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1900.
Three brothers: Manuel, Pablo and Eustaquio Escandón Barrón participated
in the Polo Tournament obtaining third place in The Grand Prix of the
Exhibition . This victory is officially considered Mexico's first
Olympic medal.
Mexico was the first country in Latin America and
the Spanish-speaking world to host the Summer Olympic Games in 1968. The
opening ceremony was held on October 12, in commemoration of the arrival
of Christopher Columbus to the so-called "New World." Among the
novelties presented by the Organizing Committee is the fact that the
so-called "Olympic flame" was lit for the first time by a woman;
Enriqueta Basilio, the Baja California gazelle, track athlete. In the
Olympic Games, her best participation was precisely on this occasion,
when she won nine medals, three of each metal. Perhaps the most
remembered of them are those of Felipe "El Tibio" Muñoz, gold in
swimming; and that of Sergeant José Pedraza, who won silver in walking
in a disputed race against the Soviets Vladimir Golubnichy and Nikolav
Smaga.
Other memorable figures of Mexican Olympics are:
Joaquín Capilla (diver), the top Mexican Olympic medalist with four (one
gold in the 10 m platform in Melbourne 1956, one silver in the 10 m
platform in Helsinki 1952 and two bronze in the 10 m platform and 3 m
springboard in London 1948 and Melbourne 1956, respectively).
Humberto Mariles Cortés in horse riding, who is the only Mexican winner
of two gold medals, in the individual jumping and team jumping events in
London 1948, in addition to the bronze medal in the three-day team
event, with which who is the only Mexican who has won three medals in
the same Olympic event.
Ernesto Canto, who by winning the gold medal
in the world athletics championship in Helsinki 1983 and the gold medal
in Los Angeles 1984, became the first Mexican athlete to be Olympic and
world champion, in addition to being the only winner of all the official
competitions of the called the Olympic cycle (Central American Games,
Pan American Games, World Championship and Olympic Games), by winning
gold in Havana 1982 and Caracas 1983.
María del Rosario Espinoza
would be the second to win the double crown with the world championship
in Beijing 2007 and the Olympic championship in Beijing 2008, and the
second to win all official competitions, with gold in Mayagüez 2010 and
Guadalajara 2011, although Unlike Canto, he did not do it in the same
Olympic cycle.
Guillermo Pérez, by obtaining first place in
taekwondo in Beijing 2008, broke the streak of 24 years without a gold
medal in men since Los Angeles 1984. In the field of female
participation is Soraya Jiménez (weightlifter), the first woman Mexican
to win a gold medal, in Sydney 2000 and Belem Guerrero who won an
Olympic medal in track cycling in Athens 2004. Another woman who has
various international participations is Ana Gabriela Guevara, who won
the IAAF Golden League in athletics in 2002 and was the winner. of 2
gold medals at the 2002 Madrid World Cup and the gold medal at the 2003
World Athletics Championships in Paris.
On the other hand, Mexico
has hosted the 1970 Soccer World Cup and also the 1986 Soccer World Cup.
The latter had been awarded to Colombia, which could not fulfill the
commitment. In the first, the representative of Brazil was crowned
champion, winning the Jules Rimet Cup. In 1986, the champion was
Argentina. Mexico has also hosted the Pan American Games on three
occasions: 1955 and 1975 in Mexico City and in 2011 in Guadalajara; of
the Central American and Caribbean Games, in four events: 1926, 1954 and
1990 in Mexico City and in 2014 in Veracruz; and, from the 1979
Universiade; fulfilling notable participations in all of them.
Mexico was the first country to organize the Olympic Games (1968) and a
World Soccer Championship (1970) in a period of two years (Later,
Germany would achieve it: Olympic Games in 1972 and the 1974 World Cup;
the United States: 1994 World Cup and the 1974 Olympic Games. 1996; and
Brazil: 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games).
The winter
Olympic editions where Mexico has been present are St. Moritz 1928,
Sarajevo 1984, Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Salt
Lake City 2002, and in all since 2010; this in the disciplines of Alpine
Skiing, Bobsleigh, Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating on Ice and
Skeleton.
Mexico has been present in the summer Paralympic Games
since the Heidelberg 1972 edition; and, in winter in Turin 2006 and
Vancouver 2010. He has attended other sports events such as the Youth
Olympic Games, in all summer editions since Singapore 2010 and winter in
Innsbruck 2012; He has also attended several editions of the Chess
Olympics.