Mexico (2005) | Cape Verde (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 | 17 municipalities (concelhos, singular - concelho); Boa Vista, Brava, Maio, Mosteiros, Paul, Praia, Porto Novo, Ribeira Grande, Sal, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Sao Domingos, Sao Filipe, Sao Miguel, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente, Tarrafal |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 31.1% (male 16,844,400/female 16,159,511)
15-64 years: 63.3% (male 32,521,043/female 34,704,093) 65 years and over: 5.6% (male 2,715,010/female 3,258,846) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 40% (male 83,835; female 82,318)
15-64 years: 53.3% (male 106,846; female 114,312) 65 years and over: 6.7% (male 10,580; female 17,403) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | bananas, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts; fish |
Airports | 1,833 (2004 est.) | 7
note: 3 airports are reported to be nonoperational (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | 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.) |
total: 6
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | 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.) |
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total: 4,033 sq km
land: 4,033 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | slightly larger than Rhode Island |
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 uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century; Cape Verde subsequently became a trading center for African slaves and later an important coaling and resupply stop for whaling and transatlantic shipping. Following independence in 1975, and a tentative interest in unification with Guinea-Bissau, a one-party system was established and maintained until multi-party elections were held in 1990. Cape Verde continues to exhibit one of Africa's most stable democratic governments. Repeated droughts during the second half of the 20th century caused significant hardship and prompted heavy emigration. As a result, Cape Verde's expatriate population is greater than its domestic one. Most Cape Verdeans have both African and Portuguese antecedents. |
Birth rate | 21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 26.13 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $160 billion
expenditures: $158 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $252.9 million
expenditures: $269.9 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | Praia |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | temperate; warm, dry summer; precipitation meager and very erratic |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 965 km |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | new constitution came into force 25 September 1992; underwent a major revision on 23 November 1995, substantially increasing the powers of the president, and a further revision in 1999, to create the position of national ombudsman (Provedor de Justica) |
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: Republic of Cape Verde
conventional short form: Cape Verde local long form: Republica de Cabo Verde local short form: Cabo Verde |
Currency | - | Cape Verdean escudo (CVE) |
Death rate | 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 6.72 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $149.9 billion (2004 est.) | $325 million (2002) |
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) 5525-5040 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo, Laredo |
chief of mission: Ambassador Donald C. JOHNSON
embassy: Rua Abilio m. Macedo 81, Praia mailing address: C. P. 201, Praia telephone: [238] 61 56 16, 61 56 17 FAX: [238] 61 13 55 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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), Corpus Christi (Texas), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Omaha, Orlando, Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona) |
chief of mission: Ambassador Jose BRITO
chancery: 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 965-6820 FAX: [1] (202) 965-1207 consulate(s) general: Boston |
Disputes - international | prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally crossing the border with Mexico | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | $136 million (1999) |
Economy - overview | Mexico has a free market economy that recently entered the trillion dollar class. It contains 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. Mexico has 12 free trade agreements with over 40 countries including, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the European Free Trade Area, and Japan, 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. | This island economy suffers from a poor natural resource base, including serious water shortages exacerbated by cycles of long-term drought. The economy is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, tourism, and public services accounting for 72% of GDP. Although nearly 70% of the population lives in rural areas, the share of agriculture in GDP in 2001 was only 11%, of which fishing accounted for 1.5%. About 82% of food must be imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and tuna, is not fully exploited. Cape Verde annually runs a high trade deficit, financed by foreign aid and remittances from emigrants; remittances supplement GDP by more than 20%. Economic reforms are aimed at developing the private sector and attracting foreign investment to diversify the economy. Prospects for 2004 depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, tourism, remittances, and the momentum of the government's development program. |
Electricity - consumption | 189.7 billion kWh (2002) | 39.08 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 98.65 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 367.7 million kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 203.6 billion kWh (2002) | 42.03 million kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mt. Fogo 2,829 m (a volcano on Fogo Island) |
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 |
soil erosion; demand for wood used as fuel has resulted in deforestation; desertification; environmental damage has threatened several species of birds and reptiles; illegal beach sand extraction; overfishing |
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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | Creole (mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1% |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001), 9.456 (2000) | Cape Verdean escudos (CVE) per US dollar - 97.703 (2003), 117.168 (2002), 123.228 (2001), 115.877 (2000), 102.7 (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 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% |
chief of state: President Pedro PIRES (since 22 March 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister Jose Maria Pereira NEVES (since 1 February 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 11 and 25 February 2001 (next to be held NA February 2006); prime minister nominated by the National Assembly and appointed by the president election results: Pedro PIRES elected president; percent of vote - Pedro PIRES (PAICV) 49.43%, Carlos VIEGA (MPD) 49.42%; note - the election was won by only twelve votes |
Exports | 1.863 million bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | fuel, shoes, garments, fish, hides |
Exports - partners | US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004) | Portugal 31%, France 27.6%, UK 17.2%, US 17.2% (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 | three horizontal bands of light blue (top, double width), white (with a horizontal red stripe in the middle third), and light blue; a circle of 10 yellow five-pointed stars is centered on the hoist end of the red stripe and extends into the upper and lower blue bands |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $600 million (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2% services: 68.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 10%
industry: 16.5% services: 62.8% (2003) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2004 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 16 00 N, 24 00 W |
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 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site |
Heliports | 2 (2004 est.) | - |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
total: 1,100 km
paved: 858 km unpaved: 242 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002) |
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, 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 | used as a transshipment point for illicit drugs moving from Latin America and Asia destined for Western Europe; the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center |
Imports | 205,000 bbl/day (2004) | 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 | foodstuffs, industrial products, transport equipment, fuels |
Imports - partners | US 53.7%, China 7%, Japan 5.1% (2004) | Portugal 46.7%, Netherlands 9.1%, Belgium 3.8% (2003) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | 5 July 1975 (from Portugal) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2004 est.) | NA |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | food and beverages, fish processing, shoes and garments, salt mining, ship repair |
Infant mortality rate | total: 20.91 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 22.85 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 49.14 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 54.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 43.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2004 est.) | 3% (2003) |
International organization participation | 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 | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | 30 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) | Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Supremo Tribunal de Justia |
Labor force | 34.73 million (2004 est.) | NA (1980) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001) |
arable land: 9.68%
permanent crops: 0.5% other: 89.82% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | derived from the legal system of Portugal |
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 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 |
unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (72 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held NA December 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - PAICV 47.3%, MPD 39.8%, ADM 6%, other 6.9%; seats by party - PAICV 40, MPD 30, ADM 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years female: 78.1 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 70.14 years
male: 66.83 years female: 73.54 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: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 76.6% male: 85.8% female: 69.2% (2003 est.) |
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 | Western Africa, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal |
Map references | North America | Political Map of the World |
Maritime claims | 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 |
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total: 57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 649,389 GRT/942,766 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 6, chemical tanker 5, liquefied gas 5, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 26, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 4 (Denmark 1, Germany 1, UAE 1, United States 1) registered in other countries: 6 (2005) |
total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 5,395 GRT/6,614 DWT
by type: cargo 2, chemical tanker 1, passenger/cargo 1 foreign-owned: United Kingdom 1 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM)
Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004) |
Army, Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6.043 billion (2004) | $12.3 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.9% (2004) | 1.5% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 98,394 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 55,477 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | Independence Day, 5 July (1975) |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun: Cape Verdean(s)
adjective: Cape Verdean |
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 | prolonged droughts; seasonal harmattan wind produces obscuring dust; volcanically and seismically active |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | salt, basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish |
Net migration rate | -4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -12.07 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 (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | 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] | African Party for Independence of Cape Verde or PAICV [Jose Maria Pereira NEVES, chairman]; Democratic Alliance for Change or ADM [Dr. Eurico MONTEIRO] (a coalition of PCD, PTS, and UCID); Democratic Christian Party or PDC [Manuel RODRIGUES, chairman]; Democratic Renovation Party or PRD [Jacinto SANTOS, president]; Movement for Democracy or MPD [Agostinho LOPES, president]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Dr. Eurico MONTEIRO, president]; Party of Work and Solidarity or PTS [Isaias RODRIGUES, president]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Joao ALEM, president] |
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 | 106,202,903 (July 2005 est.) | 415,294 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2003 est.) | 30% (2000) |
Population growth rate | 1.17% (2005 est.) | 0.73% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Altamira, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Veracruz | Mindelo, Praia, Tarrafal |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) | AM 0, FM 15 (and 17 repeaters), shortwave 0 (2002) |
Railways | total: 17,634 km
standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
- |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs); Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene) |
Sex ratio | 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: 0.83 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | 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 Telmex 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) |
general assessment: effective system, being improved
domestic: interisland microwave radio relay system with both analog and digital exchanges; work is in progress on a submarine fiber-optic cable system which is scheduled for completion in 2003 international: country code - 238; 2 coaxial submarine cables; HF radiotelephone to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 15,958,700 (2003) | 71,700 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 28.125 million (2003) | 53,300 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 1 (and 7 repeaters) (2002) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic |
Total fertility rate | 2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.62 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.) | 21% (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004) |
- |