New Caledonia (2003) | Mexico (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | none (overseas territory of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 3 provinces named Iles Loyaute, Nord, and Sud | 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: 29.7% (male 31,990; female 30,695)
15-64 years: 64.2% (male 68,093; female 67,205) 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 6,016; female 6,799) (2003 est.) |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | vegetables; beef, deer, other livestock products | corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products |
Airports | 30 (2002) | 1,823 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
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) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 21
914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
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) |
Area | total: 19,060 sq km
land: 18,575 sq km water: 485 sq km |
total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km water: 49,510 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | slightly less than three times the size of Texas |
Background | Settled by both Britain and France during the first half of the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in 1853. It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864. Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s seems to have dissipated. | 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 | 19.45 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 21.92 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $861.3 million
expenditures: $735.3 million, including capital expenditures of $52 million (1996 est.) |
revenues: $136 billion
expenditures: $140 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Noumea | Mexico (Distrito Federal) |
Climate | tropical; modified by southeast trade winds; hot, humid | varies from tropical to desert |
Coastline | 2,254 km | 9,330 km |
Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 5 February 1917 |
Country name | conventional long form: Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies
conventional short form: New Caledonia local long form: Territoire des Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependances local short form: Nouvelle-Caledonie |
conventional long form: United Mexican States
conventional short form: Mexico local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos local short form: Mexico |
Currency | Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique franc (XPF); note - may adopt the euro in 2003 | Mexican peso (MXN) |
Death rate | 5.63 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | 4.97 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $79 million (1998 est.) | $150 billion (2000 est.) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of France since 1956 | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of France) | 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 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of France) | 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) |
Disputes - international | Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu | prolonged regional drought in the border region with the US has strained water-sharing arrangements |
Economic aid - recipient | $880 million annual subsidy from France | $1.166 billion (1995) |
Economy - overview | New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France - equal to more than one-fourth of GDP - and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for the next several years. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.5 billion kWh (2001) | 186.7 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 77 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 2.068 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 1.613 billion kWh (2001) | 198.6 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 76.3%
hydro: 23.7% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
fossil fuel: 78.7%
hydro: 14.2% nuclear: 4.2% other: 2.9% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Panie 1,628 m |
lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
Environment - current issues | erosion caused by mining exploitation and forest fires | 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, 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 |
Ethnic groups | Melanesian 42.5%, European 37.1%, Wallisian 8.4%, Polynesian 3.8%, Indonesian 3.6%, Vietnamese 1.6%, other 3% | mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish) 60%, Amerindian or predominantly Amerindian 30%, white 9%, other 1% |
Exchange rates | Comptoirs Francais du Pacifique francs (XPF) per US dollar - 135.04 (January 2002), 133.26 (2001), 129.44 (2000), 111.93 (1999), 107.25 (1998) | Mexican pesos per US dollar - 9.66 (2002), 9.34 (2001), 9.46 (2000), 9.56 (1999), 9.14 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President of France Jacques CHIRAC (since 17 May 1995), represented by High Commissioner Daniel CONSTANTIN (since 3 July 2002)
head of government: President of the Government Pierre FROGIER (since 5 April 2001) cabinet: Consultative Committee elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; high commissioner appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the government elected by the members of the Territorial Congress; note - last election held 28 November 2002 when Pierre FROGIER was reelected |
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% |
Exports | NA (2001) | 1.881 million bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | ferronickels, nickel ore, fish | manufactured goods, oil and oil products, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, cotton |
Exports - partners | Japan 20.6%, France 20.4%, Taiwan 16.3%, South Africa 11.3%, Spain 7.7%, South Korea 5.4%, Australia 5.4%, Italy 5.3% (2002) | US 82.7%, Canada 5.4%, Japan 1.1% (2002) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | the flag of France is used | 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 - $3 billion (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $924.4 billion (2002 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 5%
industry: 30% services: 65% (1997 est.) |
agriculture: 5%
industry: 26% services: 69% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $14,000 (2002 est.) | purchasing power parity - $8,900 (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA | 0.7% (2002 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 21 30 S, 165 30 E | 23 00 N, 102 00 W |
Geography - note | consists of the main island of New Caledonia (one of the largest in the Pacific Ocean), the archipelago of Iles Loyaute, and numerous small, sparsely populated islands and atolls | 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 | 5 (2002) | 2 (2002) |
Highways | total: 4,825 km
paved: 2,287 km unpaved: 2,538 km (1999) |
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%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.6%
highest 10%: 41.1% (2001) |
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 | NA (2001) | 374,700 bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs | metalworking machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts |
Imports - partners | France 52.8%, Australia 12.7%, Singapore 9.8% (2002) | US 70.6%, Germany 3.5%, Japan 2.7% (2002) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of France); note - a referendum on independence was held in 1998 but did not pass; a new referendum is scheduled for 2014 | 16 September 1810 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | -0.6% (1996) | 4.9% (2002 est.) |
Industries | nickel mining and smelting | food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 8.06 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
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.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | -0.6% (2000 est.) | 6.4% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ESCAP (associate), FZ, ICFTU, SPC, WFTU, WMO | 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 51 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 160 sq km (1991) | 65,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; County Courts; Joint Commerce Tribunal Court; Children's Court | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate) |
Labor force | 79,395 (including 15,018 unemployed, 1996) | 39.8 million (2000) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 7%, industry 23%, services 70% (1999 est.) | agriculture 20%, industry 24%, services 56% (1998) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
Land use | arable land: 0.38%
permanent crops: 0.33% other: 99.29% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 13.2%
permanent crops: 1.1% other: 85.7% (1998 est.) |
Languages | French (official), 33 Melanesian-Polynesian dialects | Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages |
Legal system | the 1988 Matignon Accords grant substantial autonomy to the islands; formerly under French law | mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
Legislative branch | unicameral Territorial Congress or Congres Territorial (54 seats; members are members of the three Provincial Assemblies or Assemblees Provinciales elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 9 May 1999 (next to be held NA 2004) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - RPCR 24, FLNKS 12, UNI 6, FCCI 4, FN 4, Alliance pour la Caledonie 3, LKS 1 note: New Caledonia elects 1 seat to the French Senate; elections last held 24 September 2001 (next to be held NA September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; New Caledonia also elects 2 seats to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 and 16 June 2002 (next to be held by June 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP 2 |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.52 years
male: 70.57 years female: 76.62 years (2003 est.) |
total population: 72.3 years
male: 69.26 years female: 75.49 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91% male: 92% female: 90% (1976 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.2% male: 94% female: 90.5% (2003 est.) |
Location | Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia | 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 | Oceania | North America |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
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 |
Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 1,261 GRT/1,600 DWT
ships by type: cargo 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: Malaysia 1 (2002 est.) |
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.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | - |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; French Armed Forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie); Police Force | National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA) (including Army and Air Force), Navy Secretariat (including Naval Air and Marines) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $192.3 million (FY96) | $4 billion (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 5.3% (FY96) | 1% (FY99) |
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 | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Independence Day, 16 September (1810) |
Nationality | noun: New Caledonian(s)
adjective: New Caledonian |
noun: Mexican(s)
adjective: Mexican |
Natural hazards | cyclones, most frequent from November to March | 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 | nickel, chrome, iron, cobalt, manganese, silver, gold, lead, copper | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) | -2.65 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 |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance pour la Caledonie or APLC [Didier LE ROUX]; Federation des Comites de Coordination des Independantistes or FCCI [Francois BURCK]; Front National or FN [Guy GEORGE]; Front Uni de Liberation Kanak or FULK [Ernest UNE]; Kanak Socialist Front for National Liberation or FLNKS [leader NA] (includes PALIKA, UNI, UC, and UPM); Parti de Liberation Kanak or PALIKA [Paul NEAOUTYINE and Elie POIGOUNE]; Rally for Caledonia in the Republic (anti independent) or RPCR [Jacques LAFLEUR]; Union Nationale pour l'Independance or UNI [Paul NEAOUTYINE]; note - may no longer exist, but Paul NEAOUTYINE has since become a president of Parti de Liberation Kanak or PALIKA; Union Progressiste Melanesienne or UPM [Victor TUTUGORO] | 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] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | 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 | 210,798 (July 2003 est.) | 104,907,991 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 40% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.38% (2003 est.) | 1.43% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mueo, Noumea, Thio | Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 851, FM 598, shortwave 16 (2000) |
Railways | 0 km | total: 19,510 km
standard gauge: 19,510 km 1.435-m gauge (2002) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 60%, Protestant 30%, other 10% | nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
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.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) |
Telephone system | general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
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) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 47,000 (1997) | 12.332 million (2000) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 13,040 (1998) | 2.02 million (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | 6 (plus 25 low-power repeaters) (1997) | 236 (plus repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | coastal plains with interior mountains | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert |
Total fertility rate | 2.39 children born/woman (2003 est.) | 2.53 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 19% (1996) | urban - 3% plus considerable underemployment (2002) |
Waterways | none | 2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals |