Mexico Description

Official Name: Estados Unidos Mexicanos

Population: 114.8 million

Area: 1,960,000 km2

Language: Spanish

Religion: No official religion; 90% of the population is catholic, 5% protestant, 5% others.

Life expectancy: 75 years men, 80 years women.

Capital: Mexico City (México D.F.)

President: Enrique Peña Nieto (PRI)

Ethnic composition: 60% mestizo (Indian + European), 30% Amerindian, 9% White, 1% other.

Main exports: oil, assembly plants, labor force (immigration), machinery and transport equipment, food and live animals.

Flag:

Meaning: [pic 1]

• Green represents Independence and hope.
• White represents faith (religion) and unity.
• Red represents union and the blood of the            national heroes.
• The coat of arms makes reference to an ancient Indian myth in which Huitzilopochtli (the most important God for Aztecs told them to settle  and build their city in the place where they found an eagle devouring a snake standing in a cactus)

Historic Background

• Colonized by Spain in 1521.
• Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16th, not on “Cinco de Mayo”.
• Ancient Indian cultures were extremely advanced in fields of astronomy, agriculture and science.
• National holiday on December 12th to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe (Virgin Mary’s appearance to San Juan Diego, an Indian man, during the colonization).

Economy

• Second largest economy in Latin America.
• Dramatic class distinctions (film suggestion “Nosotros Los Nobles”).
• Major oil producer and exporter.
• As of June 25th, 2015 1 US Dollar: 15.47 Mexican Pesos (1 Peso = 0.06 Dollar).
• Heavily dependent on the money sent home by the immigrant workers in the U.S.
• Drug business represents $13 billion dollars a year.

Politics

• Federal Republic.
• Presidents are non-re-eligible with a government lasting a 6 year period.
• 70+ year domination from PRI, since Mexico’s revolution in 1920 until 2000 when Vicente Fox from PAN was elected. PAN’s alternation lasted only 12 years with Enrique Peña Nieto from PRI being elected on 2012.
• Lots of political parties (PAN, PRI, PRD, PVEM, PT, Movimiento Ciudadano, Nueva Alianza, Morena, Partido Humanista, Encuentro Social).
• Mexican media, Drug business and Mexican government are supposedly colluded (film suggestion “La Dictadura Perfecta”).

Culture/Art/Languages/Education

• 92.7% of the population speaks Spanish, 6% indigenous languages, and 1.3% others.
• English is widely spoken by middle and upper classes.
• Public and private school systems.
• UNAM and ITESM are both some of the best universities in Latin America (UNAM charges a semester fee of about $0.50 pesos per semester while ITESM is about $85,000 pesos per semester)
• Important artists: Frida Kahlo,Diego Rivera, José Gualdalupe Posada, José Clemente Orozco, Octavio Paz (writer).
• Worldwide known by its Tequila and multiple comercial beers such as Corona.

Doing Business:

• Most business deals are based on friendly or family relationships, personal connections are very important.
• “Mañana” attitude instead of the time-is-money mentality.
• Americans live to work, Mexicans work to live.
• FO