Mexico

There is a little bit for everybody in Mexico:

There are many resort beach areas, around the three seas that touch Mexico, such as Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and the Mayan Riviera on the Caribbean coast; Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo or Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast and even some nice but undeveloped beaches near the port cities of Veracruz or Tampico in the Gulf of Mexico. All of them include water sports and outdoor activities: fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving or kayaking are some of them.

There are many ancient Mayan ruins and pyramids, such as Chichen Itza, Tulum or Uxmal on the Yucatan Peninsula. There are also many other ruins in or around central and southern Mexico, such as Teotihuacan, Monte Alban or The Tajin, belonging to other ancient civilizations such as the Teotihuacans, Zapotecs or Olmecs.

There is a vibrant night life in and around major cities, including discos, casinos, bars and restaurants on Cancun, Cozumel, Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara or Tijuana.

There are many beautiful natural landmarks in Mexico, including the Copper Canyon or Barranca del Cobre in the state of Chihuahua, the Cañon del Sumidero in Chiapas or La Bufadora in Baja California, as well as many national parks and biologic reserves such as El Chico, La Malinche, El Vizcaino or El Cielo biosphere and natural reserves. You can go for outdoor biking, hiking or mountain climbing in many of these places.

All throughout Mexico you can look for their culture and traditions, including gastronomy - which has nothing to do, and is much tastier, than the 'Mexican food' you are accustomed to. There are also many handcrafts you can find and take home such as the ponchos or zarapes, fashionable huipilclothing, the all-too-famous Mexican sombreros, Oaxacan black pottery, Taxco silver jewelry, Chiapas amber jewelry or Zacatecan gold trinkets.

If you want to find out about the history of Mexico, you should go to Mexico City, where you can find some of the largest repositories of Mexican memory, including the Castillo de Chapultepec Museum, the National Museum of Anthropology, the Templo Mayor Aztec ruins and many other museums throughout Mexico City, such as Frida Kahlo's Museum, Museo de Bellas Artes or Modern Arts Museum, which are devoted to the arts.

The "official" national Mexican sport is the Charreada or Charreria, which is the original rodeo developed in Mexico based on the working practices of charros or the working hands.

There are, however, many other sports played in Mexico, Soccer being the most popular. Baseball and Basketball are commonly played, especially among youngsters. There is also a college football league (ONEFA - Organización Nacional Estudiantil de Futbol Americano). Mexican sport is also known for its boxing tradition, including International Boxing Hall of Fame members such as Ruben "El Puas" Olivares (1991), Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez (2006) or Jose "Pipino" Cuevas (2002).

Due to historic reasons (Mexico was once a colony of Spain), Bullfighting and Basque Pelotaare widely engaged. Bullfighting has lost many followers due to international criticism on animal cruelty, but is still popular among tourists and many nationals alike. As for Basque Pelota: Mexico hosted the world championships in 1982, 1998 and 2006. Mexico gave its best performance at the 2006 games when they led all nations with 6 gold medals.

A popular sport followed by many Mexicans is professional Wrestling, or "Lucha Libre", with many international stars including El Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras.

Finally, the Mesoamerican ball game, played by Aztecs and Mayas some 3,000 years before contact with Europeans was made. It was a game similar to racquetball or volleyball, where the object was to keep a solid rubber ball in play. In formal games, the losing team members were sacrificed to the ancient Mesoamerican gods. Due to the extremely brutal game mechanics - even without the human sacrifice - it is now played just for representation purposes.

Yes, they do. Almost 15 million women old enough to work (14 and older) are part of the Mexican work force, which totals 44.71 million (2007). This means a little more than a third of all Mexican workers are women.

As a side note, the number of women working outside of home has increased dramatically, from 2 million in 1960 up to 6 million in 1990 and now 15 million approaching the 2010. This is a good notice, as it means gender equality in Mexico is gaining momentum.

Similar because:

• Mexico and Brazil are developing countries.
• Mexico and Brazil are newly industrialized countries.
• Mexico and Brazil are the biggest economies in Latin America.
• Mexico and Brazil have the biggest population in Latin America.
• Both countries are in the G-20 group.
• Mexico and Brazil have excellent diplomatic relations.
• Both countries have oil.
• Mexico and Brazil have the bigger and best infrastructure in Latin America.
• Mexico and Brazil are the most visited countries in Latin America.

Dissimilar because:

• In Mexico the people speak Spanish; in Brazil Portuguese.
• Mexico was colonized by Spain; Brazil by Portugal.
• Brazil is bigger than Mexico in territory (Mexico is slightly bigger than Alaska, while Brazil is almost the size of the United States).
• In the HDI (Human Development Index) Report 2009 Brazil is in place 75; Mexico in 53.
• By GDP (Gross Domestic Product) Brazil is the 10th largest economy in the world, Mexico the 13th.
• Brazil is in South America, Mexico in North America.
• Brazil will organize the Olympic Games in 2016, Mexico organized them in 1968.
• Brazil is better in soccer than Mexico.
• In Brazil the capital (Brasilia) isn't the most important city, it is Rio or Sao Paulo; in Mexico the capital (Mexico City) is the most important city.
• Brazil is recognized by "carnivals", Mexico by the "mariachis".

By the way, Mexico and Brazil have many similar characteristics but dissimilar things too :)