1. Mexico: A Social Demographic Profile Population: 104,959,594 (July 2004 est.) Growth Rate: 1.18% (2004 est.) Birth Rate: 21.44 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) Death Rate: 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) Sex Ratio: –total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) Life Expectancy: –male: 72.18 years female: 77.83 years (2004 est.) Total Fertility Rate: 2.49 children born/woman (2004 est.)

2. Profile Continued… Natural Resources: –petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber 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 Ethnic Groups: –mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%

3. Profile Continued… Languages: –Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages Capital City: Mexico City Government Type: federal republic Religion: nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%

4. History of Mexico In 1519, the Mexican population totaled around 10 – 25 million people People lived in Hamlets and Villages called “calpulli” Houses were one or more windowless, four-sided rooms, constructed of abode or stone with a smoke hole in the centre of a thatched roof. Doorways opened onto a rectangular courtyard or patio; arranged around this patio were other houses occupied by relatives. Villages usually included a maize grainary, a sweathouse, and a small alter for religious offerings No form of alphabetical writing. They expressed themselves through various medias

5. History Continued… Early women worked as marketers, doctors, artisans, priests and occasionally rulers, and were therefore had high social status. But they were rarely seen like this because men dominated the society and were thought of as merely housewives most often. Mexican women’s status declined from the Pre-Hispanic Period until the beginning of thee 18 th century Mexico was conquered and ruled by the Spanish explorers during the course of the 16 th to the 19 th centuries. Spanish arrived finding primitive groups inhabiting the southern margin of the country and nomadic tribes living in the north Franciscans arrived in 1523 with campaigns of evangelization Christian marriages began soon after the missionaries arrived –Monogamous marriages Plague swept Toluca Valley in the late 1750’s and early 1760’s

6. History Continued… Lake Texcoco became the largest agglomeration of the American world at the time with a population of about 200,000 people. In 1620, central Mexico’s population reached a stunning 730,000 people Languages and traditions were changed as the Spanish tried effortlessly to change the Native people to God-fearing Roman Catholics. Temples were torn down and traditional celebrations and ceremonies were outlawed. Many people practiced their own faith on their own or with a small group in hiding.

7. History Continued… War of Independence began on September 16, 1810 –Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rings church bells and calls for parishners to march against the tyranny –Captured and executed 9 months later (now known as the “father of his country”) –Independence was gained on October 27, 1821 –Following independence, Mexico was beset by a new lot of trials; economic decline, internal dissent, and civil war plagued the early years of the nation.

8. Migration “migrants develop an ever-growing dependency on foreign labour, not in order to promote productive family enterprises but to engage in consumption that increases their status in the community” –Richard C. Jones

9. Migration Continued… U.S. migration established itself in the 1890’s and accelerated with the Mexican Revolution, the Bracero epoch and the economic collapses of the 1970’s and 1980’s During the 1990’s: –Large portion of the population was employed in agriculture and small portion in manufacturing –Small part of the population in urban areas –Population growth is low because of the out migration of men in their reproductive years –Internal migration is prevalent

10. Migration Continued… Today… –Government projections show that, by the next two generations, more than 25 percent of the U.S. population will be of Latin American origin –Emigrants are migrating to the U.S. for work Mexican minimum wage is 47cents/hour U.S. minimum wage is $5.75/ hour –About 2 million Mexicans (some illegal immigrants) cross the U.S. – Mexico border a year and remain there permanently –Net Migration: -4.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) More people are emigrating than immigrating from the U.S. border mainly

11. Economy Economic improvement is the main reason for most migration free-market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994 Free trade agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and the European Free Trade Area in 2001 More than 90% of trade under free trade agreements GDP: $941.2 billion GDP per capita: $9,000 GDP growth rate: 1.3%

12. Economy Continued… Employment by sector: –agriculture 18% –industry 24% –services 58% 40% of the population is living below the poverty line Agricultural Products: –corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products Industrial Products: –food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism

13. Economy Continued… Export Partners: US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Germany 1.2% Import Partners: US 61.8%, China 5.5%, Japan 4.5% Since NAFTA agreement in 1991, Canadian trade with Mexico has increased a great deal. Mexico is now seen as a region of growth and potential rather than economic and political crises. With economy growing, urban population is also growing quite rapidly –Problems Water supply Sewage treatment Traffic congestion Unemployment poverty Wealthiest region of country is along the southern border because of Maquiladora industry

14. Environment Before the Spanish conquest, about two-thirds of the country was forested. Today, only one- fifth of the country remains verdant, mainly in the south and east. Maquiladora’s have a huge effect on Mexico’s environment –creating an overload on the region's urban infrastructure and its fragile ecology –undisciplined and illegal disposal of their waste material

15. Environment Continued… The CIA World Fact Book considers the following to be the biggest threats to Mexico ’s environment: –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.

16. Environment Continued… North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) mandates that Mexico raise its environmental protection standards to those in the United States pollution control measures that went into effect in the mid-1990s have succeeded in visibly improving air quality in Mexico City Mexico City has the worst air pollution in the country and ranks among the most polluted cities in the world Overcrowding has also become a major problem in Mexico City, and traffic concentrations, combined with the surrounding valley's atmospheric conditions and Popocatépetl's sulfur dioxide emissions, have resulted in heavy air pollution Koyoto Agreement (September 2000) - Because of its status as a developing nation, Mexico is exempted from the need to reduce carbon emissions.

17. Mexico City

18. Northern Mexico