Compare Laos (2004) - Mexico (2004)

Compare Laos (2004) z Mexico (2004)

	Laos (2004)	Mexico (2004)

Administrative divisions	16 provinces (khoueng, singular and plural), 1 municipality* (kampheng nakhon, singular and plural), and 1 special zone** (khetphiset, singular and plural); Attapu, Bokeo, Bolikhamxai, Champasak, Houaphan, Khammouan, Louangnamtha, Louangphrabang, Oudomxai, Phongsali, Salavan, Savannakhet, Viangchan, Viangchan, Xaignabouli, Xaisomboun*, Xekong, Xiangkhoang	31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); 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
Age structure	0-14 years: 41.9% (male 1,277,152; female 1,265,761) 15-64 years: 54.9% (male 1,642,895; female 1,688,175) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 87,995; female 106,139) (2004 est.)	0-14 years: 31.6% (male 16,913,290; female 16,228,552) 15-64 years: 62.9% (male 31,975,391; female 34,090,440) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 2,618,713; female 3,133,208) (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products	sweet potatoes, vegetables, corn, coffee, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, tea, peanuts, rice, water buffalo, pigs, cattle, poultry	corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products
Airports	46 (2003 est.)	1,827 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2004 est.)	total: 233 over 3,047 m: 12 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 84 914 to 1,523 m: 80 under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 35 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)	total: 1,600 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 69 914 to 1,523 m: 454 under 914 m: 1,075 (2004 est.)
Area	total: 236,800 sq km land: 230,800 sq km water: 6,000 sq km	total: 1,972,550 sq km land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Utah	slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Background	Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.	The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000 as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.
Birth rate	36.47 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)	21.44 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Budget	revenues: $298.5 million expenditures: $429.9 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)	revenues: $148.3 billion expenditures: $152.4 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003 est.)
Capital	Vientiane	Mexico (Distrito Federal)
Climate	tropical monsoon; rainy season (May to November); dry season (December to April)	varies from tropical to desert
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	9,330 km
Constitution	promulgated 14 August 1991	5 February 1917
Country name	conventional long form: Lao People's Democratic Republic conventional short form: Laos local long form: Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao local short form: none	conventional long form: United Mexican States conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico
Currency	kip (LAK)	Mexican peso (MXN)
Death rate	12.1 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)	4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Debt - external	$2.49 billion (2001)	$159.8 billion (2003 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia M. HASLACH embassy: 19 Rue Bartholonie, B. P. 114, Vientiane mailing address: American Embassy, Box V, APO AP 96546 telephone: [856] (21) 212581, 212582, 212585 FAX: [856] (21) 212584	chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5525-5040 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador PHANTHONG Phommahaxay chancery: 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-6416 FAX: [1] (202) 332-4923	chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona)
Disputes - international	demarcation of boundaries with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam is largely complete, but with Thailand several areas including Mekong River islets remain in dispute; ongoing disputes with Thailand and Vietnam over squatters; concern among Mekong Commission members that China's construction of dams on the Mekong River will affect water levels	prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; nationals from Central America slip into Mexico seeking work or transit into the US; undocumented Mexican nationals continue to enter the United States
Economic aid - recipient	$243 million (2001 est.)	$1.166 billion (1995)
Economy - overview	The government of Laos - one of the few remaining official Communist states - began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986. The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged 7% in 1988-2001 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian financial crisis beginning in 1997. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with a primitive infrastructure; it has no railroads, a rudimentary road system, and limited external and internal telecommunications. Electricity is available in only a few urban areas. Subsistence agriculture accounts for half of GDP and provides 80% of total employment. The economy will continue to benefit from aid from the IMF and other international sources and from new foreign investment in food processing and mining.	Mexico has a free market economy with a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector. Recent administrations have expanded competition in seaports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution, and airports. Per capita income is one-fourth that of the US; income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Real GDP growth was a weak -0.3% in 2001, 0.9% in 2002, and 1.2% in 2003, with the US slowdown the principal cause. Mexico implemented free trade agreements with Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and the European Free Trade Area in 2001, putting more than 90% of trade under free trade agreements. The government is cognizant of the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws, and provide incentives to invest in the energy sector, but progress is slow.
Electricity - consumption	824.7 million kWh (2001)	186.7 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports	400 million kWh (2001)	77 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports	0 kWh (2001)	2.068 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production	1.317 billion kWh (2001)	198.6 billion kWh (2001)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Mekong River 70 m highest point: Phou Bia 2,817 m	lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m
Environment - current issues	unexploded ordnance; deforestation; soil erosion; most of the population does not have access to potable water	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 note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues
Environment - international agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Ethnic groups	Lao Loum (lowland) 68%, Lao Theung (upland) 22%, Lao Soung (highland) including the Hmong and the Yao 9%, ethnic Vietnamese/Chinese 1%	mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1%
Exchange rates	kips per US dollar - 10,443 (2003), 10,056.3 (2002), 8,954.58 (2001), 7,887.64 (2000), 7,102.02 (1999)	Mexican pesos per US dollar - 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.3423 (2001), 9.4556 (2000), 9.5604 (1999)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Gen. KHAMTAI Siphadon (since 26 February 1998) and Vice President Lt. Gen. CHOUMMALI Saignason (since 27 March 2001) head of government: Prime Minister BOUNGNANG Volachit (since 27 March 2001); First Deputy Prime Minister Bouasone BOUPHAVANH (since 3 October 2003) Deputy Prime Minister Maj. Gen. ASANG Laoli (since May 2002), Deputy Prime Minister THONGLOUN Sisolit (since 27 March 2001), and Deputy Prime Minister SOMSAVAT Lengsavat (since 26 February 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president, approved by the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term; election last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007); prime minister appointed by the president with the approval of the National Assembly for a five-year term election results: KHAMTAI Siphandon elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA%	chief of state: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Vicente FOX Quesada (since 1 December 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a six-year term; election last held 2 July 2000 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Vicente FOX Quesada elected president; percent of vote - Vicente FOX Quesada (PAN) 42.52%, Francisco LABASTIDA Ochoa (PRI) 36.1%, Cuauhtemoc CARDENAS Solorzano (PRD) 16.64%, other 4.74%
Exports	NA (2001)	1.881 million bbl/day (2001)
Exports - commodities	garments, wood products, coffee, electricity, tin	manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton
Exports - partners	Thailand 20.7%, Vietnam 15.9%, France 7.3%, Germany 5.3%, Belgium 4% (2003)	US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Germany 1.2% (2003)
Fiscal year	1 October - 30 September	calendar year
Flag description	three horizontal bands of red (top), blue (double width), and red with a large white disk centered in the blue band	three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; the coat of arms (an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak) is centered in the white band
GDP	purchasing power parity - $10.32 billion (2003 est.)	purchasing power parity - $941.2 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 49.4% industry: 24.5% services: 26.1% (2003 est.)	agriculture: 4% industry: 26.4% services: 69.6% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita	purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2003 est.)	purchasing power parity - $9,000 (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	5.5% (2003 est.)	1.3% (2003 est.)
Geographic coordinates	18 00 N, 105 00 E	23 00 N, 102 00 W
Geography - note	landlocked; most of the country is mountainous and thickly forested; the Mekong River forms a large part of the western boundary with Thailand	strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico
Heliports	-	2 (2003 est.)
Highways	total: 21,716 km paved: 9,664 km unpaved: 12,052 km (1999 est.)	total: 329,532 km paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.2% highest 10%: 30.6% (1997)	lowest 10%: 1.6% highest 10%: 35.6% (2002)
Illicit drugs	world's third-largest illicit opium producer (estimated cultivation in 2003 - 18,900 hectares, a 19% decrease over 2002; estimated potential production in 2003 - 200 metric tons, a 11% increase from 2002); potential heroin producer; transshipment point for heroin and methamphetamine produced in Burma; illicit producer of cannabis; growing methamphetamine abuse problem	illicit cultivation of opium poppy (cultivation in 2001 - 4,400 hectares; potential heroin production - 7 metric tons) and of cannabis (in 2001 - 4,100 hectares); government eradication efforts have been key in keeping illicit crop levels low; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, accounting for about 70 percent of estimated annual cocaine movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center
Imports	NA (2001)	374,700 bbl/day (2001)
Imports - commodities	machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, consumer goods	metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts
Imports - partners	Thailand 59.4%, China 12.8%, Vietnam 10.2% (2003)	US 61.8%, China 5.5%, Japan 4.5% (2003)
Independence	19 July 1949 (from France)	16 September 1810 (from Spain)
Industrial production growth rate	9.7% (2001 est.)	-0.7% (2003 est.)
Industries	tin and gypsum mining, timber, electric power, agricultural processing, construction, garments, tourism	food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 87.06 deaths/1,000 live births male: 97.05 deaths/1,000 live births female: 76.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)	total: 21.69 deaths/1,000 live births male: 23.63 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	15.3% (2003 est.)	4.5% (2003 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)	APEC, BCIE, BIS, CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Irrigated land	1,640 sq km note: rainy season irrigation - 2,169 sq km; dry season irrigation - 750 sq km (1998 est.)	65,000 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee)	Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)
Labor force	2.6 million (2001 est.)	34.11 million (2003)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture 80% (1997 est.)	agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003)
Land boundaries	total: 5,083 km border countries: Burma 235 km, Cambodia 541 km, China 423 km, Thailand 1,754 km, Vietnam 2,130 km	total: 4,353 km border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km
Land use	arable land: 3.8% permanent crops: 0.35% other: 95.85% (2001)	arable land: 12.99% permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001)
Languages	Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages	Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages
Legal system	based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and socialist practice	mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Legislative branch	unicameral National Assembly (109 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms; note - total number of seats increased from 99 to 109 for the 2002 election) elections: last held 24 February 2002 (next to be held in 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LPRP or LPRP-approved (independent, non-party members) 109	bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote, also for three-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional representation seat
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 54.69 years male: 52.71 years female: 56.75 years (2004 est.)	total population: 74.94 years male: 72.18 years female: 77.83 years (2004 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 66.4% male: 77.4% female: 55.5% (2002)	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.)
Location	Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam	Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US
Map references	Southeast Asia	North America
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	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
Merchant marine	total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 2,370 GRT/3,110 DWT by type: cargo 1 (2004 est.)	total: 50 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 649,389 GRT/942,766 DWT by type: bulk 1, cargo 3, chemical tanker 3, combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas 5, petroleum tanker 25, roll on/roll off 9, short-sea/passenger 3 foreign-owned: Denmark 1, Germany 1, Greece 1, Marshall Islands 1, Netherlands 2 registered in other countries: 13 (2004 est.)
Military branches	Lao People's Army (LPA; including Riverine Force), Air Force	National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) (including Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (including Naval Air and Marines)
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$10.9 million (2003)	$5,168.3 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	0.5% (2003)	0.9% (2003)
Military manpower - availability	males age 15-49: 1,456,500 (2004 est.)	males age 15-49: 27,374,153 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service	males age 15-49: 783,800 (2004 est.)	males age 15-49: 19,755,614 (2004 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually	males: 68,563 (2004 est.)	males: 1,055,368 (2004 est.)
National holiday	Republic Day, 2 December (1975)	Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Nationality	noun: Lao(s) or Laotian(s) adjective: Lao or Laotian	noun: Mexican(s) adjective: Mexican
Natural hazards	floods, droughts	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
Natural resources	timber, hydropower, gypsum, tin, gold, gemstones	petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
Net migration rate	0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)	-4.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
Pipelines	refined products 540 km (2004)	crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km (2003)
Political parties and leaders	Lao People's Revolutionary Party or LPRP [KHAMTAI Siphandon, party president]; other parties proscribed	Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Roberto MADRAZO Pintado]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Luis Felipe BRAVO Mena]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Leonel GODOY]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]
Political pressure groups and leaders	noncommunist political groups proscribed; most opposition leaders fled the country in 1975	Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic or COPARMEX; Confederation of Industrial Chambers or CONCAMIN; Confederation of Mexican Workers or CTM; Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce or CONCANACO; Coordinator for Foreign Trade Business Organizations or COECE; Federation of Unions Providing Goods and Services or FESEBES; National Chamber of Transformation Industries or CANACINTRA; National Peasant Confederation or CNC; National Union of Workers or UNT; Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers or CROM; Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants or CROC; Roman Catholic Church
Population	6,068,117 (July 2004 est.)	104,959,594 (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	40% (2002 est.)	40% (2003 est.)
Population growth rate	2.44% (2004 est.)	1.18% (2004 est.)
Ports and harbors	none	Acapulco, Altamira, Bahias de Huatulco, Cabo San Lucas, Coatzacoalcos, Dos Bocas, Ensenada, Guaymas, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Puerto Progreso, Puerto Madero, Puerto Vallarta, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz (2003)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 12, FM 1, shortwave 4 (1998)	AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003)
Railways	-	total: 19,510 km standard gauge: 19,510 km 1.435-m gauge (2003)
Religions	Buddhist 60%, animist and other 40% (including various Christian denominations 1.5%)	nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.)	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: 0.84 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)
Telephone system	general assessment: service to general public is poor but improving with over 20,000 telephones currently in service and an additional 48,000 expected by 2001; the government relies on a radiotelephone network to communicate with remote areas domestic: radiotelephone communications international: country code - 856; satellite earth station - 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)	general assessment: low telephone density with about 15.2 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development, but Telemex remains dominant domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; mobile subscribers far outnumber fixed-line subscribers; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable and coaxial cable international: country code - 52; satellite earth stations - 32 Intelsat, 2 Solidaridad (giving Mexico improved access to South America, Central America, and much of the US as well as enhancing domestic communications), numerous Inmarsat mobile earth stations; linked to Central American Microwave System of trunk connections; high capacity Columbus-2 fiber-optic submarine cable with access to the US, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Morocco, Spain, and Italy (1997)
Telephones - main lines in use	61,900 (2002)	15,958,700 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular	55,200 (2002)	28.125 million (2003)
Television broadcast stations	4 (1999)	236 (plus repeaters) (1997)
Terrain	mostly rugged mountains; some plains and plateaus	high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
Total fertility rate	4.86 children born/woman (2004 est.)	2.49 children born/woman (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate	5.7% (1997 est.)	3.3% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2003)
Waterways	4,600 km note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)	2,900 km note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004)

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