Mexico

By: Jimmy Wolpert

Geography

• Mexico is the world’s 14th largest country by total area

• Because it is divided by the Tropic of Cancer Mexico has one of the most diverse climates in the world

• The topography of Mexico also varies wildly with elevations ranging from 1,000 m to well over 2,000 m in some places

Geography

• The Rio Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) marks the north eastern border between Mexico and The United States of America

• The Gulf of Mexico borders the east coast of the country

• Mexico, because it is nearly surrounded by water is highly susceptible to hurricanes

Geography• Mexico has two major

mountain ranges, The Sierra Madre Oriental and The Sierra Madre Occidental, which are extensions of the Rockies of the western United States

• The center of the country is crossed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

• A fourth major mountain range is the Sierra Madre del Sur

• Most central and northern Mexican cities are at high altitudes

• Mexico City and some other major urban cities however, are located in valleys

People

• As of the 2010 census Mexico is the largest Spanish speaking country in the world

• Much of Mexican culture comes from the mixing of ancient Mexican and European traditions because most modern Mexicans are the product of both cultures

• A study by the Mexican Genome Diversity Project found that the amount of European and Indigenous DNA in the Mexican population were about even

People• Catholicism is the most

common religion in Mexico• Mexico’s 92 million Catholics

represent the second largest population of Catholics in the entire world, Brazil containing the first

• Religion is a very important part of these people’s lives

• Most towns and cities hold an annual feast day which many regard as the most important religious holiday of the year

• 47% of Catholic Mexicans attend church on a weekly basis

People

• Population in Mexico has been increasing over the past decades in line with the rest of the world

• Though Spanish is the most common language Mexico has no official language

• Many Indigenous languages are still spoken in certain parts of the country

History• The earliest human artifacts

found in Mexico are about 9,000 years old

• The most famous cultures from early Mesoamerica are the Aztec and Mayan peoples however there were many other cultures in the region

• There are pyramids in Mexico still around today that were built in ancient times

• Tenochtitlan (The Island City) was the capital of the Aztec Empire when the Spanish invaded Mexico in the early 16th century

History

• Once Spain conquered Mexico they destroyed much of the culture of the indigenous people

• Spain ruled Mexico for nearly 300 years, during this time a lot of modern Mexican culture evolved

• In 1810 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared Mexican independence from Spain

• It was not until 1821 that Mexico gained its independence

History• Plutarco Elías Calles founded

the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), which would later become the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and stay in control of Mexican politics for over 70 years

• From the 1940s to the 1980s the Mexican economy grew substantially, this period of growth was known as “The Mexican Miracle” by some historians

• In 2000 Vicente Fox won the Presidential Election as a member of another party

Sources

• Wikipedia