Mexico - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Mexico.
note 1: strategic location on southern border of the US; Mexico is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire
note 2: some of the world's most important food crops were first domesticated in Mexico; the "Three Sisters" companion plants -- winter squash, maize (corn), and climbing beans -- served as the main agricultural crops for various North American Indian groups; all three apparently originated in Mexico but then were widely disseminated through much of North America; avocado, amaranth, and chili peppers also emanate from Mexico, as does vanilla, the world's most popular aroma and flavor spice; although cherry tomatoes originated in Ecuador, their domestication in Mexico transformed them into the larger modern tomato
note 3: the Sac Actun cave system at 348 km (216 mi) is the longest underwater cave in the world and the second longest cave worldwide, after Mammoth Cave in the United States (see "Geography - note" under United States)
note 4: the prominent Yucatán Peninsula that divides the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean Sea is shared by Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; just on the northern coast of Yucatan, near the town of Chicxulub (pronounce cheek-sha-loob), lie the remnants of a massive crater (some 150 km in diameter and extending well out into the Gulf of Mexico); formed by an asteroid or comet when it struck the earth 66 million years ago, the impact is now widely accepted as initiating a worldwide climate disruption that caused a mass extinction of 75% of all the earth's plant and animal species -- including the non-avian dinosaurs
Geographical data of Mexico
| Location | North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W |
| Map references | North America |
| Tarrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert |
| Natural Resources | petroleum, silver, antimony, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber |
| 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 volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana; see note 2 under "Geography - note" |
| Irrigated Land | 60,620 sq km (2020) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Rio Grande river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 3,057 km; Colorado river mouth (shared with US [s]) - 2,333 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains Aquifer |
| Land Boundaries | 4,389 km |
| Border Countries | Belize 276 km; Guatemala 958 km; US 3,155 km |
| Coastline | 9,330 km |
| Climate | varies from tropical to desert |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 1,943,945 sq km |
| Water Area | 20,430 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly less than three times the size of Texas |
| 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 |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,636 m |
| Lowest point | Laguna Salada -10 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,111 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 54.9% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1.4% (2018 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 41.7% (2018 est.) |
| Forest | 33.3% (2018 est.) |
| Other | 11.8% (2018 est.) |
Population Distribution
Most of the population is found in the middle of the country between the states of Jalisco and Veracruz; approximately a quarter of the population lives in and around Mexico City
People and Society
In Mexico, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (Indigenous-Spanish) 62%, predominantly Indigenous 21%, Indigenous 7%, other 10% (mostly European) (2012 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.72% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 14.3 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 6.5 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 6.2% of GDP (2020) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 1 beds/1,000 population (2018) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.79 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.88 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 73.1% (2018) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 56.6% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 4.3% of GDP (2018 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -0.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Mexican | Mexican(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 78%, Protestant/evangelical Christian 11.2%, other 0.002%, unaffiliated (includes atheism) 10.6% (2020 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 23.3% (male 15,647,805/female 14,754,004) |
| 15-64 years | 68.6% (male 43,651,105/female 45,983,174) |
| 65 years and over | 8.2% (2024 est.) (male 4,600,228/female 6,103,611) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 49.4 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 37.3 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 12.2 |
| Potential support ratio | 8.2 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 30.8 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 28.8 years |
| Female | 32.7 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 81.6% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 1.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 22.281 million MEXICO CITY (capital), 5.420 million Guadalajara, 5.117 million Monterrey, 3.345 million Puebla, 2.626 million Toluca de Lerdo, 2.260 million Tijuana (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 0.95 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.75 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 12.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 13.4 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 10.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 74.6 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 71.6 years |
| Female | 77.7 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 98.3% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99.7% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 1.7% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.3% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.9% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 96.4% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 99.2% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.1% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 3.6% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.8% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 4.25 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 3.72 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 13.1% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 19.9% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 6.2% (2020 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 3.6% |
| Women married by age 18 | 20.7% (2018 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Mexico
Want to know more about Mexico? Check all different factbooks for Mexico below.
