The following information is obtained from the US CIA World Factbook:

Area:
total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km
water: 49,510 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin

Climate:
varies from tropical to desert

Terrain:
high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m

Natural resources:
petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber

Land use:
arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31%
other: 85.7% (2001)

Irrigated land:
65,000 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts

Environment - current issues:
scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural fresh water resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion

Population:
106,202,903 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 31.1% (male 16,844,400/female 16,159,511)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 32,521,043/female 34,704,093)
65 years and over: 5.6% (male 2,715,010/female 3,258,846) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 24.93 years
male: 24.04 years
female: 25.85 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.17% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
-4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.85 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 18.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years
female: 78.1 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.3% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
160,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
5,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican

Ethnic groups:
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:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2%
male: 94%
female: 90.5% (2003 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico
local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos
local short form: Mexico

Government type:
federal republic

Capital:
Mexico (Distrito Federal)

Administrative divisions:
31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district; Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, 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, Zacatecas

Go to the Mexico General Summary page for introductory information about Mexico's geography, people and resources: