Download 14th largest country in the world (area)

 14th
largest country
in the world (area)

About 3 times the size
of Texas
 Population
– about
114 million (11th
largest in the world)
 Mexico consists of
31 states and 1
federal district
 Shares
2,000 mile
border with the U.S.

Rio Grande/Rio Bravo
del Norte forms large
part of that border
 Country
dominated
by mountains
(largely created by
volcanic mountains)

Sierra Madres
 Plateau
– large
raised area of
mostly level land
 Most of Mexico’s
people live on the
country’s central
plateau area

Lies between the
Sierra Madres

Mountain Ranges cause
temperature differences
•
The Sierra Madre
Oriental = eastern coast.
The Sierra Madre
Occidental = western
coast.
The Sierra Madre del Sur
is = southwestern Mexico
Many of the mountains in
Mexico are volcanoes.
•
•

 Mexico
has three altitude zones:
tierra caliente, or “hot land;”
 tierra templada, or “temperate land;”
 tierra fría, or “cold land.”

 Limited
fresh water resources
 Water pollution from sewage disposal
 Widespread erosion, desertification, and
less farm land
 Considered national security issue
 Narrow
coastal plains provide limited
protection from severe weather
 Tsunamis
along the Pacific coast, hurricanes on the
Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts
 Tsunamis - a large ocean wave caused by an
underwater earthquake
 Mexico
City, located
in the federal
district, is Mexico’s
capital
 Mexico is led by a
President who is
elected for a 6-year
term

Enrique Peña
Nieto(currently)
 Similar
government
structure to the
U.S. (two houses in
legislative branch)
 Many
people consider
themselves to be a
mestizo – person of
mixed Spanish and
Native ancestry
 Largest Spanish
speaking country in
the world
 More than 90%
identify themselves
as Catholic
 Service
and
manufacturing jobs
are a huge part of
Mexico’s economy
 Less than 13% of
Mexico’s land can be
used for agriculture,
so they depend upon
other natural
resources
World leader in silver
production
 7th largest oil producer

 Still
relies heavily
on bartering –
trading goods and
services without
using Money
 Not a lot of money
– poor people need
to barter- rely on
bartering to
survive.
 Mexico
has three
distinct economic
regions: the north,
central Mexico, and
the south.
 Northern
cowhands,
vaqueros,
developed the
present-day tools
and techniques for
herding, roping, and
branding cattle.
$1.6 Trillion (12th in the world)
 GDP- Gross Domestic Product - total value
of goods and services made within the
country

 Gross
(Total) Domestic (Home) Product (Goods
and services)

Mexico’s GDP relies on Tourism and
Natural Resources
 Growing
urban areas
have made it more
difficult for people
to find jobs
 Many have found
work in
maquiladoras –
border factories
where U.S.
employers often pay
lower wages to
workers
 Large
industrial cities like Mexico City and
Guadalajara are located in prosperous
central Mexico.

Industrialization (service jobs)
 Much
of the south is made up of
subsistence farms - small plots where
farmers grow food to feed their families.
The south is the poorest economic region.
 Mexico’s
population has
increased rapidly,
straining the
country’s
resources.
 The
Mexicans who cannot find work in Mexico
cross borders when extra workers– or migrant
workers – are needed to plant and harvest
crops
 North
American
Free Trade
Agreement
 1994 agreement
that made it easier
to import and
export goods
between Mexico,
Canada, and the
U.S.
 Strong
due to
fertile soil
 Corn/ Maizethought to be
originated here!
 beans
 cotton
 Coffee
 CacaoChocolate/cocoa
 Mexico’s
history
dates back to some
of the earliest
ancient civilizations
 Spain sent
conquistadors to
conquer the earliest
people in area –
conqueror in charge
of gaining land and
wealth
 Mexico
began their
quest for
independence
from Spain in 1810
 1821 – Mexico
became an
independent
nation
 Three
countries are
interdependent of
each other – depend
on one another for
support

Economic, defense,
international, etc.
 The
leaders of all
three countries meet
each year at the North
American Leaders
Summit