Country data

Location: North America

Time zone: CET – 7 (during summer time CET – 8)

Total area: 1,964,375 km²

Land area: 1,943,945 km²

Water area: 20,430 km²

Length of the state border: 4,353 km

including:
Belize: 250 km
Guatemala: 962 km
USA: 3,141 km

Coastline: 9,330 km

Capital: Mexico City

States: 32
Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas

Electric current: 110 V / 60 Hz

Telephone code: 00 52 (Source: Allcitycodes)

Highest point: Pico de Orizaba volcano 5,700 m

Population

Population: approx. 120 million residents (Countryaah, 2021)

Population growth: 1.2% per year

Population density (residents per km²): 61

Life expectancy: 73 (male), 78 (female)

Official language: Spanish

Religions:

• 83% Roman Catholic
• 4% Protestants
• 13% other

Climate

The climate in Mexico can be differentiated according to the respective altitude.

Up to 800 meters:

• it is tropical hot
• Daytime temperatures mostly above 25 ° C
• constant high humidity

From 800 to 2,000 meters:

• temperate climate zone
• Daytime temperatures around 20 ° C

Over 2,000 meters:

• cool climate zone
• Daytime temperatures around 15 ° C

In the rainy season from June to September, rainfall is usually short and heavy.

Currency / finance

Currency unit: Mexican Peso (MXN)

Classification: 1 Peso = 100 Centavos

ATMs: are available in major cities.

International credit cards: These are accepted by larger hotels and many shops.

Regulations: Foreign currencies can be imported and exported in unlimited amounts.

The local currency can be imported up to an equivalent value of US $ 10,000. The export is permitted in the amount of the declared import.

You should be very careful when using credit cards and never let them out of your sight. It happens again and again that cards are copied.

Customs regulations

The following may be carried duty-free:

• 400 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250 g tobacco
• 1 liter of alcoholic beverages
• small amounts of perfume

(Information applies to people aged 18 and over)

Tourists and people in transit can bring items of personal use with them duty-free.

The import and export of antiques, archaeological finds, gold, cacti and corals is prohibited.

There are heavy penalties for trafficking and possession of drugs. The quantity-independent minimum imprisonment is 10 years.

Travel advice

Travel to Tamaulipas State and the rural areas of Guerrero, Jalisco, and Michoacán states is not recommended.

Armed clashes between organized crime members and security forces occur regularly.

In the northern states in particular, the number of violent crimes has risen sharply.

Behavioral advice

The crime rate in Mexico is very high. Assaults on tourists and thefts are commonplace. Usually these take place by means of armed force.

• Do not resist an attack, as the perpetrators often use the weapon
• do not wear flashy jewelry
• only take money and valuables with you to the extent necessary
• use ATMs only in secured buildings (banks, shopping centers, hotels)
• drinking alcohol in public is prohibited

Economy

The numerous mineral resources are the reason for the strongly developed mining industry.

A large part of the population is concerned with the extraction and processing of natural resources.

Many companies have been privatized since the 1990s.

The export of crude oil and its derivatives bring in large export earnings. Mexico is the sixth largest producer of oil in the world.

Industries: building materials, chemistry, iron processing, vehicle construction, food production, tobacco production, textiles, tourism

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

Land use:

• Usable land: 12%
• Grain cultivation: 1%
• Pasture area: 39%
• Forests: 26%
• other: 22%

Plants

Many thousands of different plant species are not only saved from destruction in nature reserves.

In addition, there is also a large number of tree and bush species that are distributed all over the country.

Animals

Many native animal species have been almost completely wiped out by the destruction of their habitat and hunting.

In the protected areas you can still find monkeys, hummingbirds, lynxes, parrots, pelicans, pumas and turtles. In addition, there are still many rare creatures, especially in the waters.

Most interesting for tourists are the dolphins, which are common in the Gulf of Mexico.