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Facts and Figures on Mexico from World Atlas, Population Reference Bureau
and Wikipedia
Population 109,610,000 (2009)
Capital City Mexico City (18.1 million)
Currency Mexican Peso (MXN)
Currency Converter here
Languages Spanish, regional indigenous dialects
National Day September 16
Religions Catholic (89%), Protestant (6%), others
Geographic Coordinates Latitude/Longitude (Capital City) 19º 24' N, 99º 09' E
Relative Location Mexico is in both the northern and western hemispheres. Dissected by the Tropic of Cancer, the country is positioned in North America, and bordered by Belize, Guatemala, the United States, and the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
Land Statistics
Coastline 5,797 miles (9,330 km)
Land Areas (land) 742,490 sq miles ( 1,923,040 sq km) | (water) 19,116 sq miles (49,510 sq km) | (TOTAL) 761,606 sq miles (1,972,550 sq km)
Mexico Climate
Updated Köppen-Geiger climate map
| Af Am Aw | BWh BWk BSh BSk | Csa Csb | Cwa Cwb | Cfa Cfb Cf |
The Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones.
Land north of the twenty-fourth parallel experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the twenty-fourth parallel, temperatures are fairly constant year round and vary solely as a function of elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather systems.
Areas south of the twenty-fourth parallel with elevations up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) (the southern parts of both coastal plains as well as the Yucatán Peninsula), have a yearly median temperature between 24 to 28 °C (75 to 82 °F). Temperatures here remain high throughout the year, with only a 5 °C (9 °F) difference between winter and summer median temperatures. Although low-lying areas north of the twentieth-fourth parallel are hot and humid during the summer, they generally have lower yearly temperature averages (from 20 to 24 °C or 68 to 75 °F) because of more moderate conditions during the winter.
Many large cities in Mexico are located in the Valley of Mexico or in adjacent valleys with altitudes generally above 2,000 m (6,600 ft), this gives them a year-round temperate climate with yearly temperature averages (from 16 to 18 °C or 61 to 64 °F) and cool nighttime temperatures throughout the year.
Many parts of Mexico, particularly the north, have a dry climate with sporadic rainfall while parts of the tropical lowlands in the south average more than 200 cm (79 in) of annual precipitation. For example, many cities in the north like Monterrey, Hermosillo, and Mexicali experience 40 °C (104 °F) or more in summer time. In the Sonoran desert temperatures reach 50 °C (122 °F) or more. While snowfall is common in the mountainous area in southern Mexico of the Sierra Madre del Sur region with 12,149 feet (3703 meters) at its highest point and at Pico de Orizaba that climbs to 18,406 feet (5,610 metres)- the highest point of Mexico. Northern Mexico is characterized by desert because it is located in a latitude where all deserts around the globe are formed.
Landforms The Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental mountain ranges border Mexico's elevated high desert, or Central Plateau (altiplano); the southern reaches of that plateau are crisscrossed by numerous valleys. Several smaller mountain ranges divide the landscape of southern Mexico, with the Sierra Madre del Sur the most significant.
A long line of volcanoes (many active) extends from the Pacific Ocean (north of Guadalajara) on eastward to the Gulf of Mexico, just to the south of Veracruz. Pico de Orizaba Volcano, the third highest mountain in North America, is located here.
The very narrow coastal plain along the Pacific Ocean coastline rise quickly into the foothills of the mountains, while the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coastlines are wider and rise gently into the interior.
The mountainous Baja Peninsula extends about 750 miles (1,200 km) south from the U.S. border. Mexico's limestone Yucatan Peninsula is tree-covered, with thick tropical jungles along it borders with Central America countries.
Mexico has nearly 150 rivers; most are small, unnavigable, and 70% drain into the Pacific Ocean; some of the large rivers include the Balsas, Conchos, Grijalva, Panuco, Papaloapan, Usumacinta.
The Rio Grande, rising in the San Juan Mountains of the U.S. State of Colorado, flows generally south to the Gulf of Mexico for 1,885 miles (3,000 km), and forms much of Mexico northern border with the United States.
Highest Pt. Volcan Orizaba - 18,701 ft. (5,700 m) in south-central Mexico. This snow capped cone is the third highest peak in North America after Mount McKinley, Alaska, and Mount Logan, Canada.
Lowest Pt. Laguna Salada (- 33 ft.) (-10 m) a vast dry lake (sometimes wet) in the Sonoran Desert of Baja California. It is shaped somewhat like an hour-glass, long and skinny and very narrow at the center approximately 60 km (37 mi) long and 17 km (11 mi) at its widest point.
Land Divisions 31 states and 1 federal district. States include: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan and Zacatecas. The federal district is Distrito Federal
Government The United Mexican States are a federation of thirty-one free and sovereign states, which form a union that exercises jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories. Each state has its own Constitution and Congress, as well as a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting, a governor for a six-year term, as well as representatives to their respective unicameral state congresses, for three-year terms.
The states are also divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or "municipal president", elected by its residents by plurality. Municipalities can be further subdivided into non-autonomous boroughs or in semi-autonomous auxiliary presidencies.
Constitutionally, Mexico City, as the capital and seat of the federal powers, is the Federal District, a special political division that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state, and as such, has more limited local rule than the nation's states. Since 1987, it has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy, and residents now elect a head of government and representatives of a Legislative Assembly directly. Unlike the states, the Federal District does not have a Constitution but a Statute of Government. Mexico City is coterminous and coextensive with the Federal District.
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