Mexico

Mexico is a federal republic, composed by 31 states and one federal district. In fact, the official name of Mexico is United Mexican States. These states, with their respective capitals are:

• Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes)
• Baja California (Mexicali)
• Baja California Sur (La Paz)
• Campeche (Campeche)
• Chiapas (Tuxtla Gutierrez)
• Chihuahua (Chihuahua)
• Coahuila (Saltillo)
• Colima (Colima)
• Distrito Federal / Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City)
• Durango (Durango)
• Estado de Mexico (Toluca)
• Guanajuato (Guanajuato)
• Guerrero (Chilpancingo)
• Hidalgo (Pachuca)
• Jalisco (Guadalajara)
• Michoacan (Morelia)
• Morelos (Cuernavaca)
• Nayarit (Tepic)
• Nuevo Leon (Monterrey)
• Oaxaca (Oaxaca)
• Puebla (Puebla)
• Queretaro (Queretaro)
• Quintana Roo (Chetumal)
• San Luis Potosi (San Luis Potosi)
• Sinaloa (Culiacan)
• Sonora (Hermosillo)
• Tabasco (Villahermosa)
• Tamaulipas (Cd. Victoria)
• Tlaxcala (Tlaxcala)
• Veracruz (Xalapa)
• Yucatan (Merida)
• Zacatecas (Zacatecas)

Some interesting facts:

• The federal entity with most income and also the smallest in terms of area is the Federal District, where Mexico City is located. It has an income of USD$168,164 billion (21.5% for all Mexico), and an area of only 1,499 square kilometers (571 sq mi), which accounts for only 0.1% of all Mexican territory.

• The three wealthiest states in Mexico are the Federal District, Nuevo Leon and Campeche, with an income per capita of USD$23,130 USD$16,342 and USD$15,175 respectively. These states have an income comparable to that of Portugal or Russia.

• On the other hand, the three poorest states are Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Chiapas, with incomes of USD$4,928 USD$4,003 and USD$3,657. These states have an income comparable to that of Guatemala, Indonesia and Iraq.

• Mexico State (Estado de Mexico) is the most populated state, with 14 million people; the least populated is Baja California Sur, with only half a million people.

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a ranking created by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to measure countries or regions according to three basic population parameters: health, education and income. For Mexico, the Federal District and Nuevo Leon had the highest HDI in 2004 (0.8837 and 0.8513, respectively), while the lowest corresponded to Chiapas (0.7185) and Oaxaca (0.7336). For comparision, the Federal District's HDI corresponds to that of the Czech Republic, while Oaxaca corresponds to that of Vietnam.

• On a municipality level, The Benito Juarez district (Federal District), the San Pedro Garza Garcia municipality (Nuevo Leon) and the San Sebastian Tula municipality (Oaxaca) have the highest HDI in Mexico (0.9509, 0.95, 0.9204, respectively) which correspond to the life quality levels of Norway, Australia and Spain.

• By contrast, four municipalities are included in the low-HDI group: Tehuipango (Veracruz, 0.4985), Coicoyan de las Flores (Oaxaca, 0.4768), Batopilas (Chihuahua, 0.4734) and Cochoapa el Grande (Guerrero, 0.4354). These correspond to the quality of life of countries such as Madagascar, Haiti, Kenya and Benin.

• The states which border the U.S. are, from west to east, Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. The states that border the the Gulf of Mexico are, in counterclockwise order, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. The states that border the Pacific Ocean and/or the Gulf of California are, starting from the northwest, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas. Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche border Guatemala, and Campeche and Quintana Roo border Belize.

• Baja California is the only state in the Pacific Time Zone, as is Clarion Island, which is part of the State of Colima. Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Nayarit are in what we call the Mountain Time Zone. The rest of the country is on Central Time. Mexico follows the same Daylight Saving Time schedule the U.S. and Canada followed from 1987 to 2006 (early April to late October), except for ten cities along the U.S.-Mexico border which change their clocks at the same times as the U.S. Sonora is the only state that does not observe Daylight Saving Time. (The last two paragraphs were added by HW.)

Mexico is a land of great contrasts, with regions having a quality of live comparable to Norway, as opposed to regions with income, education and life expectancy equivalent to that of the least developed parts of the Third World. As such, Mexican housing widely varies upon two things: climate and cost.

The destitute usually live on small cardboard shacks, in irregular settlements known as lost cities (Spanish: ciudades perdidas). These lack basic utility services, including electricity, running water and sewage, and are located on the outskirts of larger cities.

For low to middle class housing, palm shacks are found along the coast, adobe houses on desert climates or wood cabins in temperate climates; large prefab housing projects and single-family dwellings made of filler block are also common in major cities.

Medium income families can afford brick houses with a small backyard and sometimes, a front garage or lawn; in larger towns and cities, apartment buildings and condominiums are common, but most buildings have 5 stories or less.

Upper-class people in Mexico usually buy large departments and lofts (up to 2,000 sq ft) in tall apartment buildings (up to 15 stories high), or large housesin the suburbs with garage space for 2-3 vehicles and a backyard; some of these developments also have a swimming pool.

Mexico's top 1% has huge McMansions or departments in large residential projects and horizontal condos with spa and golf club. These are of course, within enclosed communities and are valued in millions of dollars -- and paid in American currency as well.

The closest beach to Mexico City is Tecolutla, in the state of Veracruz, 340 Kilometers (212 miles) northwest of the city. It is located on the shores of the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The most popular beach however, is the resort city of Acapulco, some 411 Kilometers (256 miles) south of Mexico City and located on the Pacific Ocean coast.

There are several of them, right at the US-Mexico border. These include:

• San Diego, CA
• Calexico, CA
• Yuma, AZ
• Douglas, AZ
• Columbus, NM
• El Paso, TX
• Presidio, TX
• Del Rio, TX
• Eagle Pass, TX
• Laredo, TX
• McAllen, TX
• Brownsville, TX

Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City) or Distrito Federal(Federal District).

Mexico City is the capital of a federal republic. As such, it sits within an independent entity, not belonging to any of Mexico's states. Such entity is known as DF and has the same attributes of Washington, DC.

True. The current war on drugs fought by Mexico on behalf of American interests has had as consequence, a spike in violence throughout several ports of entry, as well as major routes of transport and distribution of drugs into the United States.

Department Travel Warnings can help you determine which areas of the country are prone to these outbursts of violence, and avoid as necessary. Some (current) examples include the resort city of Acapulco, or the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Juarez.

Mexico has 11,122 kilometers (6,911 miles) of coastline, facing the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (via the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea):

On its western coasts, Mexico is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. Along its northwestern coast is the Gulf of California or Mar de Cortes, which is defined by mainland Mexico and the Baja California peninsula.

On its eastern shores, Mexico faces the Gulf of Mexicobetween the US-Mexico border and the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, close to the city of Cancun. Between Cancun and the Mexico-Belize border, the Yucatan Peninsula has coasts in the Caribbean Sea.