Mexico Chapter 1

^{MEXICO-CHAPTER
1}

^{DESTINATION
MEXICO}

^{Mexico is a land of extreme
diversity: the superficial glitz of fly-in fly-out tourist resorts coexists
with awe-inspiring ancient cities, and snow-capped volcanoes slope down
to pine forests, deserts and balmy tropical beaches. The bursting industrial
megalopolis of Mexico City is only a one hour flight from the southern
state of Chiapas, where a peasant rebellion recently took place on horseback,
and the disorienting tumult of Latin America merges with the air-conditioned
cultures of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.}

^{Mexico's landscape and its
people reflect the country's extraordinary history - part Indian, part
Spanish. One look at this country is enough to remind visitors that there
is nothing new about the so-called `New World'. Despite the considerable
colonial legacy and rampant modernization, there are still over 50 distinct
indigenous peoples, each with their own language, maintaining vestiges
of their traditional lifestyles.}

Back to Index

^{FACTS AT A GLANCE}

^{Full country name: Estados
Unidos Mexicanos}
^{Area: 1,972,000 sq. km}
^{Population: 93.7 million}
^{People: Approximately 80%
mestizo (mixed European and Indian descent) and}
^{10% indígena (Native
Americans or Indians - including Nahua, Maya, Zapotecs,}
^{Mixtecs, Totonacs, and Tarascos
or Purépecha)}
^{Language: Spanish and over
50 indigenous languages}
^{Religion: 90% Roman Catholic}
^{Government: Democracy dominated
by one party (PRI) at national level}
^{President: Ernesto Zedillo}

Back to Index

^ENVIRONMENT

^{Covering almost two million
sq. km, Mexico curves from north-west to south-east, narrowing to the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec then continuing to the Yucatán Peninsula. On the
west and south the country is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, with the Gulf
of California lying between the Baja California peninsula and the mainland.
Mexico's east coast is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, and the east coast
of the Yucatán Peninsula faces the Caribbean Sea. Mexico shares
borders with the USA (to the north), and Guatemala and Belize (to the south-east).}

^{It's a mountainous country
with two north south ranges framing a group of broad central plateau known
as the Altiplano Central. In the south, the Sierra Madre del Sur stretches
across the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
From the isthmus, a narrow stretch of lowlands runs along the Pacific coast
south to Guatemala. These lowlands are backed by the Chiapas highlands
which merge into a steamy tropical rain forest area stretching into northern
Guatemala. The flat, low Yucatán Peninsula is}
^{tropical savanna to its tip,
where there's an arid desert like region. Bridging temperate and tropical
regions, and lying in the latitudes which contain most of the world's deserts,
Mexico has an enormous range of natural environments and vegetation zones.
Its rugged, mountainous topography adds to the variety by creating countless
micro climates. Despite the potential for great ecological diversity, human
impact has been enormous. Before the Spanish conquest, about two thirds
of the country was forested.}
^{Today, only one fifth of
the country remains verdant, mainly in the south and east. Domesticated
grazing animals have pushed the larger animals, such as puma, deer and
coyote, into isolated pockets. However, armadillos, rabbits and snakes
are common, and the tropical forests of the south and east still harbor
(in places) howler and spider monkeys, jaguars, ocelots, tapirs, anteaters,
peccaries (a type of wild pig), deer,macaws, toucans, parrots and some
tropical reptiles, such as the boa constrictor, though even these}
^{habitats are being eroded.}

^{Mexico's climate varies according
to its topography. It's hot and humid along the coastal plains on both
sides of the country, but inland, at higher elevations, such as in Guadalajara
or Mexico City, the climate is much drier and more temperate. The hot,
wet season is May to October, with the hottest and wettest months falling
between June and September over most of the country. The low-lying coastal
areas receive more rainfall than elevated inland regions. December to February
are generally the coolest months, when north winds can make inland northern
Mexico decidedly chilly, with temperatures sometimes approaching}
^freezing.

Back to Index

PLEASE REPORT ANY MISTAKES, so that I can correct my job as soon as I can. If you have any kind of suggestions or further information to enrich my guides, don' t hesitate and contact me.

patat_online@geocities.com