MEXICO Humberto López. Introduction. Mexico, the United Mexican States, is a federal republic. Located in North America. Area of the country is 1,972,547.

MEXICO

MEXICO

Humberto López

Introduction. Mexico, the United Mexican States , is a

federal republic.Located in North America.Area of the country is 1,972,547 sq km,

(761,604 sq mi).

Political Division. Mexico consists of 32 administrative

divisions -- 31 states and the Distrito Federal (federal district), which is the seat of the federal administration.

Mexican Flag.

• Green: Hope. Fertility of the soil. White: Purity. Red: For the blood shed during Independence.

• According to the legend, the Aztecs in search of their promised land, were told by their god Huitzilopochtli, that when they would find the eagle devouring a serpent on a nopal cactus treee, they were to settle down in that place and found Tenochtitlan, which is today Mexico City.

Principal cities.• The capital and cultural center of the

country is Mexico City, with a population of 9,981,000.

• Guadalajara 5,000,000 • Monterrey and its metropolitan area

4,000,000 .

Religion.Roman Catholicism is the faith of more

than 90 percent of the people. Mexico's long tradition of official anticlericalism ended in 1991 with the passage of constitutional changes granting legal status to religious institutions and allowing parochial schools. Protestants represent a small but growing minority in Mexico

Languages.The prevailing and official language is

Spanish, which is spoken by the great majority of the population. Indian languages number about 13, with many different dialects, the chief of which is Nahuatl.

Most people in Monterrey speak english.

Monterrey.Monterrey is well known as the prosperous and industrious city of the north of Mexico. Monterrey is the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, located on the northeast part of Mexico, just two hours from Texas.

The future skyline of the Garza Garcia district, as envisioned by the Plan Monterrey development project which plans for the development of over 100 new buildings over 100 meters and the main building the Torre Fundidoras, standing at 500m. The project is about 24% completed as of 2010 with several buildings already open. The entire project is set to be complete by 2017

Safety.

Monterrey was ranked as the most secure city in Latin America in 2005 and 2006. However, the city has experienced violence related to turf battles between drug cartels in Mexico. Right now Monterrey is suffering from a huge security crisis. The year 2010 has been the most violent in history. Drug dealers are a major concern however military offenses and police captures of important drug cartels chiefs have given weaken drug cartels trying to settle in the city.

Climate.

Monterrey is known for its hot weather in summer reaching 35 °C (95 °F) or more for three consecutive months, being one of the warmest major cities in Mexico.

Its temperate in spring and autumn, is extremely hot in the summer, it can reach 35 °C (95 °F) and overnight lows of 23 °C (73 °F) and sometimes it can reach 25 °C (77 °F); the average high reaches 35 °C (95 °F) in August, with an average low of 23 °C (73 °F). Winters are mild. The average January high is 16 °C (61 °F) and the average low in January is 7 °C (45 °F); however, temperatures below freezing are rare

Economy.Monterrey is a major industrial center in

northern Mexico, producing a GDP of 78.5 billion US dollars (2007). The city's GDP per capita in 2010 was $607,042 Mexican pesos or $46,634 US dollars. The city was rated by Fortune magazine the best city in Latin America.