merica

Area:
total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km
water: 49,510 sq km

Area--comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
total: 4,538 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,326 km

Coastline: 9,330 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: varies from tropical to desert

Terrain: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high
plateaus; desert

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m

Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc,
natural gas, timber

Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 39%
forests and woodland: 26%
other: 22% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 61,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and
destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on
the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts

Environment--current issues: natural fresh water resources scarce
and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and
extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting
rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion;
desertification; serious air pollution in the national capital and
urban centers along US-Mexico border

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography--note: strategic location on southern border of US

People

Population: 100,294,036 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 17,987,500; female 17,289,875)
15-64 years: 61% (male 29,610,813; female 31,216,342)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,873,986; female 2,315,520) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.73% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 24.99 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 4.83 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -2.84 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 m