Mexico

Country Overview

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal presidential republic in the southern part of North America. It borders the United States to the north and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast, with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. The country comprises 31 states and Mexico City, a federal entity and the national capital. Its history includes many Indigenous civilizations and continuing Indigenous nations, three centuries of Spanish colonial rule, independence secured in 1821, and the revolutionary settlement embodied in the Constitution of 1917. ^{[6] [7]}

Reference status: Contemporary edition • Verified: November 4, 2026 • Statistical years identify the data period, not the date of verification.

Identity and State Formation

Official name

United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos)

Common name

Mexico (México)

Capital

Mexico City (Ciudad de México), a separate federal entity

Continent / UN M49 subregion

North America / Central America. UN M49 places Mexico within the Central America subregion of the North America continent; this statistical classification does not imply that Mexico lies outside North America. ^[16]

Independence movement began

September 16, 1810: the uprising associated with Miguel Hidalgo and the start of the War of Independence. ^[6]

Independence secured

September 27, 1821: entry of the Army of the Three Guarantees into Mexico City; the Act of Independence followed on September 28. ^[6]

First federal constitution

October 4, 1824: Constitution of the United Mexican States established a federal republican constitutional system. ^[7]

Independence recognized by Spain

December 28, 1836: treaty of peace and friendship signed between Mexico and Spain (Santa María–Calatrava Treaty). ^[8]

Current constitutional order

Constitution of February 5, 1917, as subsequently amended. ^[7]

National day

Independence Day, September 16 (commemorates the start of the 1810 uprising)

ISO 3166-1 codes

MX (alpha-2); MEX (alpha-3); 484 (numeric)

Internet country-code domain

.mx

Historical context: Mexico developed from a landscape of diverse Indigenous societies, including Maya, Mexica, Zapotec, Mixtec, Purépecha, and many others. Spanish colonization brought coercive labor systems, religious institutions, and far-reaching political and demographic changes. The country experienced imperial and republican governments, territorial conflicts, nineteenth-century liberal reforms, and the Mexican Revolution beginning in 1910. No single date captures its entire process of national formation.

Geography and Population

Territorial surface area

1,964,375 km² (approximately 758,446 sq. mi.), comprising continental and island territory; not the much larger marine exclusive economic zone. ^[3]

Continental territory

1,959,248 km² in the Mexican government's geographic breakdown. ^[3]

Island territory

5,127 km² in the same official geographic breakdown. ^[3]

Estimated population

131,946,900 (2025; World Bank population series). This is an estimate, not the 2020 census count, and can differ from domestic population projections. ^[1]

2020 population census

126,014,024 residents enumerated by INEGI in the 2020 Population and Housing Census. ^[4]

Population density

Approximately 67 people per km², calculated from the 2025 World Bank population estimate and the geographic territory figure above; a derived approximation, not a separately published official figure

Largest urban region

Mexico City metropolitan area (the Valley of Mexico metropolitan region extends beyond Mexico City's administrative boundaries)

Major physical regions

Mexican Plateau (Altiplano); Sierra Madre Occidental; Sierra Madre Oriental; Sierra Madre del Sur; Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt; Yucatán Peninsula; Baja California Peninsula; Gulf and Pacific coastal lowlands

Principal water systems

Río Bravo/Rio Grande, Lerma–Santiago, Balsas, Grijalva–Usumacinta, Pánuco, and Conchos river systems

Neighboring sovereign countries

United States, Guatemala, and Belize (land borders)

Climate

Arid and semiarid in much of the north; temperate highlands; tropical wet and dry conditions in southern and coastal regions; alpine climates at high elevations

Geographic comparability: The 1,964,375 km² figure describes Mexico's continental and island territory, not its exclusive economic zone. The population denominator used in the calculated density is a 2025 international estimate. Population series issued by INEGI and other institutions may use different estimation methods.

Economy and International Trade

Economic system

Upper-middle-income mixed-market economy with substantial manufacturing, services, agriculture, mining, energy production, and international trade

Nominal GDP

Approximately US$1.83 trillion (2025; current US dollars; World Bank). ^[2]

Nominal GDP per capita

Approximately US$13,889 (2025; current US dollars; World Bank). GDP per capita is national output divided by population; it is not average personal earnings. ^[2]

Real GDP growth

0.6% (2025, annual percentage change; World Bank series). ^[2]

Average quarterly household current income

MX$77,864 (2024; INEGI National Household Income and Expenditure Survey, ENIGH; pesos at 2024 prices). This is a mean, not a median; it includes noncash components such as imputed housing rent. ^[12]

Currency

Mexican peso (MXN); symbol $ (often shown as Mex$ internationally)

Main economic activities

Automotive and transport-equipment production, electrical and electronic equipment, industrial manufacturing, retail and business services, tourism, agriculture, petroleum, natural gas, and mining

Merchandise exports

US$664.837 billion in 2025 (INEGI provisional full-year figures, customs merchandise trade; excludes services). ^[5]

Merchandise imports

US$664.066 billion in 2025 (same INEGI merchandise series; excludes services). ^[5]

Merchandise trade balance

Approximately US$0.771 billion surplus in 2025, on the same provisional merchandise-trade basis; subject to revisions. ^[5]

Manufactured exports

US$608.819 billion, approximately 91.6% of merchandise exports in 2025; automotive products were US$185.791 billion within manufactured exports. ^[5]

Largest export relationship

The United States is Mexico's dominant merchandise export market; 83.7% of Mexico's nonpetroleum merchandise exports in 2025 were destined for the United States. This is not a share of all goods and services exports. ^[5]

Principal Export Categories (2025)

INEGI reports the official annual categories as manufactured, petroleum, agricultural, and nonpetroleum extractive merchandise. The examples above group important products for reference; no services export total is combined with the INEGI merchandise values. Source [5].

People and Society

National-language framework

Spanish and Indigenous languages recognized under Mexico's General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples are national languages with the same legal validity under Article 4. Spanish is the predominant language of national public life; describing it as the country's sole federal official language would obscure the statutory recognition of Indigenous languages. ^[10]

Indigenous language diversity

INALI's catalogue recognizes 11 Indigenous language families, 68 linguistic groupings, and 364 linguistic variants; these categories are not interchangeable counts. ^[9]

Languages spoken

Spanish; Indigenous languages including Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya, Mixtec, Zapotec, Otomí, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Totonac, Mazatec, and many others; additional immigrant and foreign languages

Speakers of Indigenous languages

7,364,645 people aged 3 and older, or 6.1% of that age group, in the 2020 census. This is a language-use measure, not the total Indigenous-identifying population. ^[19]

Indigenous self-identification

Approximately 23.2 million people aged 3 and older (19.4% of the age group) self-identified as Indigenous in 2020; the definition differs from mother-tongue or language-speaker measures. ^[19]

Religious composition

2020 census, all ages: Catholic 77.7%; Protestant/Evangelical Christian 11.2%; other religions 0.2%; believers without a religious affiliation 2.5%; no religion 8.1%. Percentages are rounded, and the figures are from 2020 rather than a 2026 religious survey. ^[11]

Other religious and spiritual traditions

Judaism, Islam, Indigenous religious traditions, Afro-descendant traditions, spiritualist practices, and other faith communities; formal religious affiliation does not capture every syncretic or local practice

Median age

29 years in the 2020 census (not a 2025 or 2026 demographic estimate). ^[4]

Population diversity

Includes numerous Indigenous peoples, Afro-Mexican and Afro-descendant communities, populations with mixed ancestry, other historically established communities, and domestic and international migrants; categories of identity, language, and ancestry are distinct

Survey interpretation: The 2020 census religion percentages refer to the enumerated population, unlike adult-only sample surveys used in some other countries. Indigenous language speakers and people who self-identify as Indigenous are separate demographic groups and should not be treated as identical.

Government and Institutions

Form of government

Federal presidential constitutional republic; representative democratic system

Foundational law

Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, promulgated February 5, 1917, as amended. ^[7]

Head of state and government

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo (in office since October 1, 2024; term scheduled through September 30, 2030; verified November 4, 2026). ^[13]

Executive branch

President of the Republic and federal secretariats, agencies, and administrative institutions

Federal legislature

Bicameral Congress of the Union (Congreso de la Unión): Chamber of Deputies (500 members, generally three-year terms) and Senate (128 members, generally six-year terms). ^[14]

Judiciary

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation and other federal judicial bodies, alongside state judiciaries; judicial institutions and judicial selection rules have undergone recent constitutional reform

Administrative divisions

32 federal entities: 31 states and Mexico City. ^[15]

Federalism

Powers distributed among the federal government, states, municipalities, and Mexico City's constitutional institutions under the national constitutional framework

National elections

Presidential elections ordinarily every six years; Chamber of Deputies renewed every three years; Senate renewed every six years. ^[14]

Presidential re-election

Constitutional prohibition on an individual holding the presidency for a second term

International Profile

United Nations

Admitted November 7, 1945; an original participant in the United Nations founding process. ^[17]

Major international memberships

United Nations, G20, OECD, WTO, Organization of American States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Pacific Alliance, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund

Regional economic arrangement

United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA; known as T-MEC in Spanish), in force since July 1, 2020, replacing NAFTA. ^[18]

Leading trade relationship

The United States is Mexico's principal goods-trade counterpart, linked through highly integrated regional production and supply chains. ^[18]

Standard time zones

Several zones, including Northwest (UTC−8), Pacific (UTC−7), Central (UTC−6), and Southeast (UTC−5); local and seasonal time rules may vary, particularly near the northern border

International dialing code

+52

Sources and Verification

Editorial cutoff: November 4, 2026. The page uses completed 2025 economic and trade figures where available and older census-based results where appropriate. Estimates, census counts, and provisional customs figures are distinguished; publishers may revise their statistical series.

1. World Bank, Population, Total — Mexico — 2025 estimate of 131,946,900 residents; not a census enumeration.
2. World Bank, Mexico Country Data — 2025 nominal GDP, GDP per capita, and annual real GDP growth; rounded for display.
3. Embassy of Mexico in Austria, Basic Geographic Information — territorial, continental, and island surface area.
4. INEGI, Mexico's 2020 Population and Housing Census — population count, median age, and general census definitions.
5. INEGI, Merchandise Trade Balance of Mexico, January 27, 2026 Release — provisional full-year 2025 merchandise exports, imports, trade balance, export groups, and U.S. nonpetroleum export share; values may be revised.
6. National Institute of Historical Studies of the Revolutions of Mexico (INEHRM), Independence — 1810 uprising and 1821 culmination of the War of Independence.
7. INEHRM, Constitutions of Mexico — the 1824, 1857, and 1917 constitutions.
8. Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Spain — December 28, 1836 treaty of recognition.
9. National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI), Atlas of Indigenous Languages — 11 families, 68 linguistic groupings, 364 variants.
10. General Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 4 — statutory national-language recognition and legal validity.
11. INEGI, National Census 2020 Results — self-reported religious affiliations across the enumerated population.
12. INEGI, National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH), 2024 — average quarterly current household income in 2024 pesos.
13. Presidency of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Inauguration (October 1, 2024) and Federal Electoral Tribunal, Validated Presidential Term — identity and term dates of the president.
14. Congressional Television Channel, About Mexico's Congress — two legislative chambers, seats, and ordinary terms.
15. Mexico's Ministry of Public Education, Organization of Mexican Territory — 31 states and Mexico City as 32 federal entities.
16. United Nations Statistics Division, M49 Geographic Regions — continental and subregional grouping (Mexico within Central America under North America).
17. United Nations, Member States — November 7, 1945 admission.
18. Office of the United States Trade Representative, Mexico Trade Summary — U.S.–Mexico relationship and entry into force of USMCA on July 1, 2020.
19. INEGI, Statistics for the International Day of Indigenous Peoples (2022) — 2020 Indigenous self-identification and Indigenous-language speakers aged three and older.

Data conventions: Population is presented as a 2025 World Bank estimate, whereas the direct census count is from 2020. The dollar GDP figures are US dollars; household income is Mexican pesos. INEGI's 2025 trade totals cover merchandise only, not goods and services combined. Language, religion, and Indigenous-identification statistics retain their distinct legal or survey definitions and their reference years.