Mexico (2003) | Solomon Islands (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | 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 | 9 provinces and 1 capital territory*; Central, Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Honiara*, Isabel, Makira, Malaita, Rennell and Bellona, Temotu, Western |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 32.3% (male 17,298,964; female 16,617,728)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 32,217,513; female 33,932,603) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 2,145,252; female 2,695,931) (2003 est.) |
0-14 years: 42.4% (male 113,183; female 108,816)
15-64 years: 54.4% (male 144,157; female 140,769) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 8,058; female 8,634) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit; cattle, pigs; timber; fish |
Airports | 1,823 (2002) | 33 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 231
over 3,047 m: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 28 1,524 to 2,437 m: 83 914 to 1,523 m: 82 under 914 m: 27 (2002) |
total: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 1,592
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: 1,067 (2002) |
total: 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 9 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total: 28,450 sq km
land: 27,540 sq km water: 910 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Background | 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. | The UK established a protectorate over the Solomon Islands in the 1890s. Some of the bitterest fighting of World War II occurred on these islands. Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later. Ethnic violence, government malfeasance, and endemic crime have undermined stability and civil society. In June 2003, Prime Minister Sir Allen KEMAKEZA sought the assistance of Australia in reestablishing law and order; the following month, an Australian-led multinational force arrived to restore peace and disarm ethnic militias. The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has been very effective in restoring law and order and rebuilding government institutions. |
Birth rate | 21.92 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 31.6 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $136 billion
expenditures: $140 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
revenues: $38 million
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA (2001) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | Honiara |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 5,313 km |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | 7 July 1978 |
Country name | conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Solomon Islands former: British Solomon Islands |
Currency | Mexican peso (MXN) | Solomon Islands dollar (SBD) |
Death rate | 4.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 4.04 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $150 billion (2000 est.) | $162.5 million (2001 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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) 5080-2005, 5080-2834 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales |
the US does not have an embassy in Solomon Islands (embassy closed July 1993); the ambassador to Papua New Guinea, Ambassador Robert W. FITTS, is accredited to the Solomon Islands |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Juan Jose BREMER Martino
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), Corpus Christi, Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Louis, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Collin David BECK
chancery: 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400L, New York, NY 10017 telephone: [1] (212) 599-6192, 6193 FAX: [1] (212) 661-8925 |
Disputes - international | prolonged regional drought in the border region with the US has strained water-sharing arrangements | Australian defense personnel are dispatched at the invitation of the Solomon Islands' Government to restore law and order on the islands and reinforce regional security |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | $28 million annually, mainly from Australia (2001 est.) |
Economy - overview | 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, natural gas distribution, and airports. Income distribution remains highly unequal. Trade with the US and Canada has tripled since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Following 6.9% growth in 2000, real GDP fell 0.3% in 2001, recovering to only a plus 1% in 2002, 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. Foreign direct investment reached $25 billion in 2001, of which $12.5 billion came from the purchase of Mexico's second-largest bank, Banamex, by Citigroup. | The bulk of the population depends on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for at least part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead, zinc, nickel, and gold. However, severe ethnic violence, the closing of key business enterprises, and an empty government treasury have led to serious economic disarray, indeed near collapse. Tanker deliveries of crucial fuel supplies (including those for electrical generation) have become sporadic due to the government's inability to pay and attacks against ships. Telecommunications are threatened by the nonpayment of bills and by the lack of technical and maintenance staff many of whom have left the country. The disintegration of law and order left the economy in tatters by mid-2003, and on 24 July 2003 more than 2000 Australian soldiers entered the Solomon Islands to restore order and to facilitate the restoration of basic services. |
Electricity - consumption | 186.7 billion kWh (2001) | 29.76 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 77 million kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 2.068 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 198.6 billion kWh (2001) | 32 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 78.7%
hydro: 14.2% nuclear: 4.2% other: 2.9% (2001) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Makarakomburu 2,447 m |
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
note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues |
deforestation; soil erosion; many of the surrounding coral reefs are dead or dying |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | Melanesian 93%, Polynesian 4%, Micronesian 1.5%, European 0.8%, Chinese 0.3%, other 0.4% |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 9.66 (2002), 9.34 (2001), 9.46 (2000), 9.56 (1999), 9.14 (1998) | Solomon Islands dollars per US dollar - NA (2003), 6.7488 (2002), 5.278 (2001), 5.0889 (2000), 4.8381 (1999) |
Executive branch | 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 NA 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% |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Nathaniel WAENA (since 7 July 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Sir Allan KEMAKEZA (since 17 December 2001); Deputy Prime Minister Snyder RINI (since 17 December 2001) cabinet: Cabinet consists of 20 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the advice of Parliament for up to five years; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually elected prime minister by Parliament; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister from among the members of Parliament |
Exports | 1.881 million bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | timber, fish, copra, palm oil, cocoa |
Exports - partners | US 82.7%, Canada 5.4%, Japan 1.1% (2002) | China 25.2%, South Korea 17.6%, Japan 13.4%, Philippines 8.4%, Singapore 5.9%, Thailand 5.9% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | 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 | divided diagonally by a thin yellow stripe from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper triangle (hoist side) is blue with five white five-pointed stars arranged in an X pattern; the lower triangle is green |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $924.4 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 million (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 26% services: 69% (2001 est.) |
agriculture: 42%
industry: 11% services: 47% (2000 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 0.7% (2002 est.) | -10% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 8 00 S, 159 00 E |
Geography - note | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico | strategic location on sea routes between the South Pacific Ocean, the Solomon Sea, and the Coral Sea |
Government - note | - | June 2003 Prime Minister Sir Allen KEMAKEZA sought the intervention of Australia to aid in restoring order; parliament approved the request for intervention in July 2003; troops from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga arrived 24 July 2003 |
Heliports | 2 (2002) | - |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
total: 1,360 km
paved: 34 km unpaved: 1,326 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 41.1% (2001) |
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
Illicit drugs | 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; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; growing producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center | - |
Imports | 374,700 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts | food, plant and equipment, manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals |
Imports - partners | US 70.6%, Germany 3.5%, Japan 2.7% (2002) | Australia 29.7%, Singapore 21.9%, Fiji 4.7%, New Zealand 4.7% (2003) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | 7 July 1978 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 4.9% (2002 est.) | NA |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | fish (tuna), mining, timber |
Infant mortality rate | total: 23.68 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 26.78 deaths/1,000 live births female: 20.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
total: 22.09 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 25.15 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.87 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.4% (2002 est.) | 9% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, ECLAC, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNU, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 51 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) | Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 39.8 million (2000) | 26,840 (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 20%, industry 24%, services 56% (1998) | agriculture 75%, industry 5%, services 20% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 1.1% other: 85.7% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 0.64%
permanent crops: 2% other: 97.36% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English is official but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population
note: 120 indigenous languages |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | English common law, which is widely disregarded |
Legislative branch | 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 NA 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held NA 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 15, PVEM 5, PT 1, CD 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 224, PAN 153, PRD 95, other 28 |
unicameral National Parliament (50 seats; members elected from single-member constituencies by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 5 December 2001 (next to be held not later than December 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - PAP 40%, SIACC 40%, PPP 20%; seats by party - PAP 16, SIACC 13, PPP 2, SILP 1, independents 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.3 years
male: 69.26 years female: 75.49 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 72.38 years
male: 69.9 years female: 74.98 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA |
Location | 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 | Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea |
Map references | North America | Oceania |
Maritime claims | contiguous zone: 24 NM
continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 636,271 GRT/933,686 DWT
ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 1, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, liquefied gas 3, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 8, short-sea passenger 3 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Canada 2, Denmark 1 (2002 est.) |
none |
Military branches | National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA) (including Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (including Naval Air and Marines) | no regular military forces; Solomon Islands National Reconnaissance and Surveillance Force; Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $4 billion (FY99) | NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1% (FY99) | NA |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 27,751,539 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 20,123,970 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - military age | 18 years of age
note: starting in 2000, females were allowed to volunteer for military service (2003 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 1,093,752 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | Independence Day, 7 July (1978) |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun: Solomon Islander(s)
adjective: Solomon Islander |
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 | typhoons, but rarely destructive; geologically active region with frequent earth tremors; volcanic activity |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc, nickel |
Net migration rate | -2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Dulce Maria SAURI Riancho]; 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 [Amalia GARCIA Medina]; Party of the Nationalist Society or PSN [Gustavo RIOJAS Santana]; Social Alliance Party or PAS [Guillermo CALDERON Dominguez]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez] | Association of Independents [Snyder RINI]; People's Alliance Party or PAP [Allan KEMAKEZA]; People's Progressive Party or PPP [Mannaseh Damukana SOGAVARE]; Solomon Islands Alliance for Change Coalition or SIACC [Bartholomew ULUFA'ALU]; Solomon Islands Labor Party or SILP [Joses TUHANUKU]
note: in general, Solomon Islands politics is characterized by fluid coalitions |
Political pressure groups and leaders | 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 | NA |
Population | 104,907,991 (July 2003 est.) | 523,617 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2001 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.43% (2003 est.) | 2.76% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz | Aola Bay, Honiara, Lofung, Noro, Viru Harbor, Yandina |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 851, FM 598, shortwave 16 (2000) | AM 3, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Railways | total: 19,510 km
standard gauge: 19,510 km 1.435-m gauge (2002) |
- |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | Anglican 45%, Roman Catholic 18%, United (Methodist/Presbyterian) 12%, Baptist 9%, Seventh-Day Adventist 7%, other Protestant 5%, indigenous beliefs 4% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: low telephone density with about 12 main lines per 100 persons; privatized in December 1990; the opening to competition in January 1997 improved prospects for development
domestic: adequate telephone service for business and government, but the population is poorly served; domestic satellite system with 120 earth stations; extensive microwave radio relay network; considerable use of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, and mobile cellular service international: 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) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 677; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 12.332 million (2000) | 6,600 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2.02 million (1998) | 1,000 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 0 (1997) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | mostly rugged mountains with some low coral atolls |
Total fertility rate | 2.53 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 4.19 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | urban - 3% plus considerable underemployment (2002) | NA |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals |
- |