Mexico (2005) | Germany (2003) | |
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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 | 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen |
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: 14.9% (male 6,312,614; female 5,988,681)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 28,213,316; female 27,240,648) 65 years and over: 17.8% (male 5,842,457; female 8,800,610) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products | potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, cabbages; cattle, pigs, poultry |
Airports | 1,833 (2004 est.) | 551 (2002) |
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: 328
over 3,047 m: 11 2,438 to 3,047 m: 54 1,524 to 2,437 m: 63 914 to 1,523 m: 69 under 914 m: 131 (2002) |
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: 223
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 31 under 914 m: 189 (2002) |
Area | total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
total: 357,021 sq km
land: 349,223 sq km water: 7,798 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than three times the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Montana |
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. | As Europe's largest economy and most populous nation, Germany remains a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. European power struggles immersed the country in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th century and left the country occupied by the victorious Allied powers of the US, UK, France, and the Soviet Union in 1945. With the advent of the Cold War, two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German Democratic Republic (GDR). The democratic FRG embedded itself in key Western economic and security organizations, the EC, which became the EU, and NATO, while the Communist GDR was on the front line of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War allowed for German unification in 1990. Since then, Germany has expended considerable funds to bring eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. In January 2002, Germany and 11 other EU countries introduced a common European currency, the euro. |
Birth rate | 21.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 8.6 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $160 billion
expenditures: $158 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
revenues: $802 billion
expenditures: $825 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Mexico (Distrito Federal) | Berlin |
Climate | varies from tropical to desert | temperate and marine; cool, cloudy, wet winters and summers; occasional warm foehn wind |
Coastline | 9,330 km | 2,389 km |
Constitution | 5 February 1917 | 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990 |
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: Federal Republic of Germany
conventional short form: Germany local long form: Bundesrepublik Deutschland local short form: Deutschland former: German Empire, German Republic, German Reich |
Currency | - | euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries |
Death rate | 4.73 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 10.34 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $149.9 billion (2004 est.) | $NA |
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 Daniel R. COATS
embassy: Neustaedtische Kirchstrasse 4-5, 10117 Berlin; note - a new embassy will be built near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin mailing address: PSC 120, Box 1000, APO AE 09265 telephone: [49] (30) 238-5174 FAX: [49] (30) 238-6290 consulate(s) general: Duesseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich |
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 Wolfgang Friedrich ISCHINGER
chancery: 4645 Reservoir Road NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 298-8140 FAX: [1] (202) 298-4249 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco |
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 - donor | - | ODA, $5.6 billion (1998) |
Economic aid - recipient | $1.166 billion (1995) | - |
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. | Germany's affluent and technologically powerful economy has turned in a weak performance throughout much of the 1990s and early 2000s. The modernization and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a costly long-term problem, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $70 billion. Germany's ageing population, combined with high unemployment, has pushed social security outlays to a level exceeding contributions from workers. Structural rigidities in the labor market - including strict regulations on laying off workers and the setting of wages on a national basis - have made unemployment a chronic problem. Growth in 2002 and 2003 fell short of 1%. Corporate restructuring and growing capital markets are setting the foundations that could allow Germany to meet the long-term challenges of European economic integration and globalization, particularly if labor market rigidities are further addressed. In the short run, however, the fall in government revenues and the rise in expenditures have raised the deficit above the EU's 3% debt limit. |
Electricity - consumption | 189.7 billion kWh (2002) | 506.8 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 98.65 million kWh (2002) | 43.9 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 367.7 million kWh (2002) | 44 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 203.6 billion kWh (2002) | 544.8 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 61.8%
hydro: 4.2% nuclear: 29.9% other: 4.1% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
lowest point: Neuendorf bei Wilster -3.54 m
highest point: Zugspitze 2,963 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 |
emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries contribute to air pollution; acid rain, resulting from sulfur dioxide emissions, is damaging forests; pollution in the Baltic Sea from raw sewage and industrial effluents from rivers in eastern Germany; hazardous waste disposal; government established a mechanism for ending the use of nuclear power over the next 15 years; government working to meet EU commitment to identify nature preservation areas in line with the EU's Flora, Fauna, and Habitat directive |
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: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% | German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian, Greek, Polish, Spanish) |
Exchange rates | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 11.286 (2004), 10.789 (2003), 9.656 (2002), 9.342 (2001), 9.456 (2000) | euros per US dollar - 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999), 1.76 (1998) |
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 Johannes RAU (since 1 July 1999)
head of government: Chancellor Gerhard SCHROEDER (since 27 October 1998) cabinet: Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor elections: president elected for a five-year term by a Federal Convention including all members of the Federal Assembly and an equal number of delegates elected by the state parliaments; election last held 23 May 1999 (next to be held 23 May 2004); chancellor elected by an absolute majority of the Federal Assembly for a four-year term; election last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006) election results: Johannes RAU elected president; percent of Federal Convention vote - 57.6%; Gerhard SCHROEDER elected chancellor; percent of Federal Assembly vote 50.7% |
Exports | 1.863 million bbl/day (2004) | 404,300 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, metals and manufactures, foodstuffs, textiles |
Exports - partners | US 87.6%, Canada 1.8%, Spain 1.1% (2004) | France 10.7%, US 10.3%, UK 8.4%, Italy 7.3%, Netherlands 6.1%, Austria 5.1%, Belgium 4.8%, Spain 4.6%, Switzerland 4.2% (2002) |
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 equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and gold |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $2.16 trillion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 4%
industry: 27.2% services: 68.9% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 1%
industry: 31% services: 68% (2002 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $9,600 (2004 est.) | purchasing power parity - $26,200 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2004 est.) | 0.2% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W | 51 00 N, 9 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 North European Plain and along the entrance to the Baltic Sea |
Heliports | 2 (2004 est.) | 40 (2002) |
Highways | total: 329,532 km
paved: 108,087 km (including 6,429 km of expressways) unpaved: 221,445 km (1999 est.) |
total: 230,735 km
paved: 230,735 km (including 11,515 km of expressways) unpaved: 0 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 35.6% (2002) |
lowest 10%: 3.6%
highest 10%: 25.1% (1997) |
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 | source of precursor chemicals for South American cocaine processors; transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and European-produced synthetic drugs |
Imports | 205,000 bbl/day (2004) | 3.081 million bbl/day (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 | machinery, vehicles, chemicals, foodstuffs, textiles, metals |
Imports - partners | US 53.7%, China 7%, Japan 5.1% (2004) | France 9.5%, Netherlands 8.2%, US 7.7%, UK 6.5%, Italy 6.4%, Belgium 5.2%, Austria 4%, China 4% (2002) |
Independence | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) | 18 January 1871 (German Empire unification); divided into four zones of occupation (UK, US, USSR, and later, France) in 1945 following World War II; Federal Republic of Germany (FRG or West Germany) proclaimed 23 May 1949 and included the former UK, US, and French zones; German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) proclaimed 7 October 1949 and included the former USSR zone; unification of West Germany and East Germany took place 3 October 1990; all four powers formally relinquished rights 15 March 1991 |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.8% (2004 est.) | -2.1% (2002 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism | among the world's largest and most technologically advanced producers of iron, steel, coal, cement, chemicals, machinery, vehicles, machine tools, electronics, food and beverages; shipbuilding; textiles |
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: 4.23 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.68 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2004 est.) | 1.3% (2002 est.) |
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 | AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BDEAC, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UPU, WADB (nonregional), WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 200 (2001) |
Irrigated land | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) | 4,850 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) | Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat) |
Labor force | 34.73 million (2004 est.) | 41.9 million (2001) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 18%, industry 24%, services 58% (2003) | industry 33.4%, agriculture 2.8%, services 63.8% (1999) |
Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
total: 3,621 km
border countries: Austria 784 km, Belgium 167 km, Czech Republic 646 km, Denmark 68 km, France 451 km, Luxembourg 138 km, Netherlands 577 km, Poland 456 km, Switzerland 334 km |
Land use | arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31% other: 85.7% (2001) |
arable land: 33.88%
permanent crops: 0.65% other: 65.47% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages | German |
Legal system | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations | civil law system with indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in the Federal Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 |
bicameral Parliament or parlament consists of the Federal Assembly or Bundestag (603 seats; elected by popular vote under a system combining direct and proportional representation; a party must win 5% of the national vote or three direct mandates to gain representation; members serve four-year terms) and the Federal Council or Bundesrat (69 votes; state governments are directly represented by votes; each has 3 to 6 votes depending on population and are required to vote as a block)
elections: Federal Assembly - last held 22 September 2002 (next to be held NA September 2006); note - there are no elections for the Bundesrat; composition is determined by the composition of the state-level governments; the composition of the Bundesrat has the potential to change any time one of the 16 states holds an election election results: Federal Assembly - percent of vote by party - SPD 38.5%, CDU/CSU 38.5%, Alliance '90/Greens 8.6%, FDP 7.4%, PDS 4%; seats by party - SPD 251, CDU/CSU 248, Alliance '90/Greens 55, FDP 47, PDS 2; Federal Council - current composition - NA |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 75.19 years
male: 72.42 years female: 78.1 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 78.42 years
male: 75.46 years female: 81.55 years (2003 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: 99% (1977 est.) 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 | Central Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark |
Map references | North America | Europe |
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 |
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 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: 337 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 6,036,397 GRT/7,334,067 DWT
ships by type: cargo 94, chemical tanker 15, container 203, liquefied gas 3, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 5, railcar carrier 2, refrigerated cargo 1, roll on/roll off 4, short-sea passenger 7 note: includes some foreign-owned ships registered here as a flag of convenience: Chile 1, Finland 5, Iceland 1, Netherlands 3, Switzerland 1 (2002 est.) |
Military branches | Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena): Army and Air Force (FAM)
Secretariat of the Navy (Semar): Naval Air and Marines (2004) |
Army, Navy (including naval air arm), Air Force, Medical Corps, Joint Support Service |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $6.043 billion (2004) | $38.8 billion (2002) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 0.9% (2004) | 1.38% (2002) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 20,509,838 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 17,399,936 (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age (2003 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 472,946 (2003 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) | Unity Day, 3 October (1990) |
Nationality | noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
noun: German(s)
adjective: German |
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 | flooding |
Natural resources | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber | iron ore, coal, potash, timber, lignite, uranium, copper, natural gas, salt, nickel, arable land |
Net migration rate | -4.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 2.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 28,200 km; petroleum products 10,150 km; natural gas 13,254 km; petrochemical 1,400 km (2003) | condensate 325 km; gas 25,289 km; oil 3,743 km; refined products 3,827 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] | Alliance '90/Greens [Angelika BEER and Reinhard BUETIKOFER]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Angela MERKEL]; Christian Social Union or CSU [Edmund STOIBER, chairman]; Free Democratic Party or FDP [Guido WESTERWELLE, chairman]; Party of Democratic Socialism or PDS [Lothar BISKY]; Social Democratic Party or SPD [Gerhard SCHROEDER, chairman] |
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 | employers' organizations; expellee, refugee, trade unions, and veterans groups |
Population | 106,202,903 (July 2005 est.) | 82,398,326 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.17% (2005 est.) | 0.04% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Altamira, Manzanillo, Morro Redondo, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Veracruz | Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Luebeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Rostock, Stuttgart |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 850, FM 545, shortwave 15 (2003) | AM 51, FM 787, shortwave 4 (1998) |
Railways | total: 17,634 km
standard gauge: 17,634 km 1.435-m gauge (2004) |
total: 45,514 km (21,000 km electrified)
standard gauge: 45,276 km 1.435-m gauge (20,084 km electrified) narrow gauge: 214 km 1.000-m gauge (16 km electrified); 24 km 0.750-m gauge (2002) |
Religions | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% | Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3% |
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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 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: Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems; as a result of intensive capital expenditures since reunification, the formerly backward system of the eastern part of the country, dating back to World War II, has been modernized and integrated with that of the western part
domestic: Germany is served by an extensive system of automatic telephone exchanges connected by modern networks of fiber-optic cable, coaxial cable, microwave radio relay, and a domestic satellite system; cellular telephone service is widely available, expanding rapidly, and includes roaming service to many foreign countries international: Germany's international service is excellent worldwide, consisting of extensive land and undersea cable facilities as well as earth stations in the INMARSAT, INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, and INTERSPUTNIK satellite systems (2001) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 15,958,700 (2003) | 50.9 million (March 2001) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 28.125 million (2003) | 55.3 million (June 2001) |
Television broadcast stations | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) | 373 (plus 8,042 repeaters) (1995) |
Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert | lowlands in north, uplands in center, Bavarian Alps in south |
Total fertility rate | 2.45 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 3.2% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2004 est.) | 9.8% (2002 est.) |
Waterways | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004) |
7,500 km
note: major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea (1999) |