By: Joey Blumer Kiski Area Middle School

Land Mexico has a land size of 1,964,375 sq. km. This is slightly less the 3 times the size of Texas. Mexico is the 14 th largest country in the world. Belize, Guatemala and the United states all border Mexico. 9,330 km of Mexico is coastline

Religion The most common religion in Mexico is Catholic. 99% of Mexicans are Catholic. The two biggest churches in Mexico are the Mexico City Cathedral and the Basilica de Guadalupe.

Food When people think of Mexican food, they think of its varied flavors and spices along with it’s beautiful colors and decorations. One of the most common ingredients in almost all Mexico's food is corn. Corn is used to prepare so many delicious foods in Mexico.

Major Transportation Roadways 72,577 miles of paved roadway is covered in Mexico. Many of the expressways are toll roads. Highways are assigned a one to three digit number. North to south highways are assigned even numbers and east to west highways would be odd. Railroads The Mexican railway system is now privatized with two major metros and a light rail system.

Major Transportation Cont. Air Extensive network of 1,834 airports. Mexico City International Airport has the most traffic. This is the 44 th largest in the world. Seaports Being Mexico is located next to an ocean, it has 76 seaports and 10 river ports. The four largest seaports make up 60% of the merchandise traffic. Two are in the Gulf of Mexico and two are in the Pacific ocean.

Industry The three main industries in Mexico are: Service=70.5%- (22 million workers/58%) -Transportation, trade, arts and entertainment, health, education, banks and telecommunications Industrial=25.6%- (10 million workers/24%) - Air craft, automobile, petrochemicals, construction, textiles, food and beverages, and mining Agricultural=3.9%- (about 6 million workers/18%) Horticulture, tropical fruits and vegetables

Language 92.7% of Mexicans speak Spanish only. 5.7% of Mexicans speak Spanish and indigenous, ie. Mayan and.8% speak indigenous only. Mexico recognizes 68 distinct indigenous languages as national languages in addition to Spanish. Spanish replaced indigenous languages in the 16 th century.

Government Mexico is a federal republic. There are three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial. There is a total of 31 Mexican states. The current President of Mexico is Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa. His term will end on November 30,2012. Presidents are limited to one 6-year term and can not be reelected.

Crime Drug Trafficking – this includes cocaine, heroine, and marijuana. 90% of cocaine in the United States is smuggled from Mexico. It is the second largest supplier of heroine and the #1 foreign supplier of marijuana. Drug Cartels - Gangs are used to traffic drugs. On May 17, 2012, 49 decapitated bodies were found outside of Monterrey, Mexico. Banners were placed on the dead bodies to send messages from the Zetas to the Gulf Cartel. These are two cartels that have been battling for a long time. Police Corruption- police are paid poorly so they turn to crime to add to their income. They are often involved in the crime and either cover up or do not report the crime. Rape is rarely reported or punished. 1 out of 10 crimes are reported, 1 out of 100 reported crimes goes to sentencing, which means only 1 out of every 1,000 crimes is punished.