Capital city: Mexico (Distrito Federal)
Nationality: Mexican(s)
Population: 104,907,991 (July 2003 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: Total population: 23.8 years; Male: 22.9 years; Female: 24.6 years (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups that make up the population: mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%

Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%

Languages: Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages

Literacy rate (Definition: age 15 and over can read and write):total population: 92.2% ;male: 94%; female: 90.5% (2003 est.)

Legal system: mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Industries & Agriculture: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism/ corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products

GDP: $924.4 billion (2002 est.)

GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2002 est.)

Currency: Mexican peso (MXN)

Misc. interesting facts: The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.

References: CIA Fact book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
World’s Flag Database: http://www.flags.net/