Mexico’s Economy: Facts, Opportunites, Challenge, Research Paper Example

The following is an analysis of the country of Mexico. Various aspects are addressed in regards to a social, economic, cultural, linguistic, and geographic perspective. History, traditions, along with current events is addressed in the analysis of this country as well.

The country of Mexico is circumscribed by the northern neighboring country of the United States as well as the other neighboring countries of Guatemala and Belize which bind Mexico from the southeastern borders. Mexico’s geographical coordinates are 23° N and 102° W. In terms of a size comparison with the United States (US), the entire country of Mexico is only about one fifth or 20 percent the physical size of the US. Baja, California which is located in just west of Mexico is approximately an 800 mile range peninsula that structures itself as what is known as the Gulf of California. In the eastern locations of Mexico are the Gulf of Mexico, a minor ocean body, and the Bay of Campeche, another minor ocean body. These bodies of ocean are structured by the Yucatán, which is yet another peninsula located in Mexico. Located in the center of Mexico stands a massive high plateau, which is to the north. There are also chains of mountains located on both the east and western sides of Mexico along with ocean fronts beyond them. (Info, 2015)

Considering a current country population of approximately 119,713,000 as of 2014, the country of Mexico is the most regarded as the most populated Spanish speaking nation throughout the entire world. Mexico also holds the title for the second most populated country throughout Latin America just after the country of Brazil which is labeled for speaking Portuguese, as well as the second country in North America coming after the United States. Mexico is also the third largest in regards to population (not physical size) in the continents of the Americas after both Brazil and the US. Throughout the greater part of the 20th century, the population in Mexico was primarily categorized by its abrupt growth. Although this inclination has been conversed and the median yearly population expansion from the past 5 years was only under 1 percent, the demographic development is still working in progress, considering that Mexico still carries a great cohort of the youth. The greatest populated city in the country of Mexico is the capital of Mexico itself, which is Mexico City. The capital has a current population of approximately 9 million as of 2014. Also, its metropolitan area is the most populous with an estimated 20 million as of 2014. (Mundi, 2015)

Mexico stands as the 9th largest economy throughout the world. Its primary industries are with food & beverage, chemicals, tobacco products, iron & steel, petroleum oil, clothing materials, motor vehicles, tourism, as well as consumer durables. Mexico is also a primary exporter of silver, fruits & vegetables, cotton, coffee, and oil. Their current gross domestic product or (GDP) is $10,307 USD per capita. (Amadeo, 2015)

Mexico manufactures about 3 and a half million barrels of oil per day. Because of such a large production of oil, Mexico is the eighth largest exporter of oil on the globe. Sales revenues generated from oil account for approximately one third or 33 percent of all government revenue. (Amadeo, 2015)

Financial remittances coming from Mexican immigrants whom are living and working in the US back to their families are a significant source of income in Mexico. These remittances rank at second place for primary sources of income in Mexico, only being beat by oil. Financial remittances sent back to Mexican families in 2004 totaled to an estimated $16.6 billion USD. This accounted for a 28 percent incline from the years before. (Amadeo, 2015)

The country of Mexico is best known for many things relating to tourism, historical elements, land marks, foods & beverages, pop culture, holidays, celebrations, religion, drug crime, cartels, and even is greatly known for being a final destination for escaped convicts from the US. In 2014, the Mexican city of San Miguel was ranked as the number one tourist attraction in the entire world. San Miguel has a vast variety of tourist features and experiences that make it easy for tourist from all over the world to visit. (Everac, 2015)

From both an artistic and religious perspective, the country of Mexico is best known for their profound churches or “cathedrals”. These cathedrals are built as monuments and have in them very artistic features attributing to the history of their religious beliefs. The most famous holiday that Mexico is known for takes place on May 5^th every year. This holiday is called “Cinco de Mayo” and celebrates the Mexican independence which they won from Spain. Cinco de Mayo is considered to be the national equivalent to the US’s 4^th of July celebration. (Everac, 2015)

Mexico is also best known for their food & beverage culture. Foods such as enchilada’s, burritos, and tacos are all attributed to Mexican culture. These foods uniquely encompass the use of their popular tortilla, a type of flat bread. Many alcoholic beverages from Mexican culture are imported into the US. Some very popular beer chains are “Corona” and “Dos Equis”. (Everac, 2015)

Unfortunately, Mexico is also greatly known for corruption regarding law enforcement and drug trafficking. Many of the law enforcement officers are easily bribed by drug lords for money in exchange for special services. The primary drugs that are smuggled across the Mexican border into the US are cocaine, ecstasy, as well as crystal meth. In early 2015, about 4 dozen Mexican college students went missing. The citizens of Mexico rioted against the Mexican government believing that the government had been conspiring with the drug cartels to kill the college students for crime related reasons.

The ethnicities that can be found within Mexico’s population are actually very simple. The majority of the populations are of course referred to as Mexicans. Mexico consists of primarily Mexicans, or what they are officially classified as which is “Amerindian Spanish”. This is due to the fact that the Mexicans derived from Spain. They make up about 90 percent of the country’s population as of 2015. About 9 percent are Caucasian white, while the other 1 percent consists of other ethnicities. (Mundi, 2015)

The Mexican government uses the Spanish language for the majority of their official purposes. However, in regards to legislation, Spanish is not considered an official language of Mexico. The Law of Linguistic Rights institutes Spanish as one of Mexico’s national languages. (Mundi, 2015)

Like the majority of Americans speak English, the majority of Mexicans speak Spanish. There are of course other languages spoken in Mexico, English being one of them. Some other languages spoken in Mexico are Nahuatl which has about 1.4 million speakers in the country; as well as Yucatec, which spoken by more than 750 million people. (Mundi, 2015)

A vast array of ancient civilizations in Mexico existed for a prolonged period of nearly 2,500 years. This was up until the midst of the 16th century as a colonial group of Spanish pilgrims arrived at the shores on the Gulf of Mexico. This was under the orders of the Spanish Empire, which was to declare and colonize any newly discovered land that they found for the Empire. In the early 1800’s the colonial period for Mexico had ended when the fight for independence had begun. (Relations, 2015)

Under the index of economic freedom, Mexico is ranked at the 59^th freest economy in the world. Mexico is classified as the 15^th greatest exporter in the world with nearly 79 percent of their exports going to the US. Mexico is becoming an ever so increasing financial attraction to investors. The country’s GDP as a whole currently stands at $2.14 trillion USD.(Amadeo, 2015)

In conjunction with the US, Mexico’s most significant economic and social problem is that of immigration reform. This is also a problem for the US as it has been a continuous debate for decades. Many Mexicans desire to obtain citizenship in the US and it is very common for them to illegally cross the US border and find “immigrant work”. They then live in the US illegally, and work for money “under the table”, usually heavy manual labor jobs that don’t require identification or legal documents and pay in cash. Immigration reform has gotten better over the years but it still continues to carry the weight of controversy and social issues. (Amadeo, 2015)

References

Amadeo, K. (2015, April). Mexico’s Economy: Facts, Opportunites, Challenges. Retrieved from About News: http://useconomy.about.com/od/worldeconomy/p/Mexico_Economy.htm

Everac. (2015). What is Mexico Best Known For? Retrieved from Answers: http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_Mexico_known_for

Info. (2015). Mexico Geography. Retrieved from Info Please: http://www.infoplease.com/country/mexico.html

Mundi, I. (2015). Mexico Demographics. Retrieved from Index Mundi: http://www.indexmundi.com/mexico/demographics_profile.html

Relations, S. (2015). The Conquest of Mexico. Retrieved from Embajada de Mexico: http://embamex.sre.gob.mx/eua/index.php/en/meetmex/508-mexican-history?start=3