Mexico Education

Education
Primary education is free and compulsory for all children through the age of 15. Parochial schools were legalized in 1991. Secondary schools emphasize vocational and technical training. Although adult illiteracy has been a major problem, successful government campaigns have raised the literacy rate from less than 50 percent in the early 1940s to more than 92 percent of people aged 15 or older in the late 1980s.

 

Elementary and Secondary Schools
Each year in the late 1980s some 14.7 million pupils attended about 82,100 primary schools in Mexico, and approximately 4.4 million students attended about 19,100 secondary schools. Vocational and teacher-training schools were about 6500, and they enrolled nearly 2.2 million students.

 

Universities and Colleges
Mexico has more than 1400 institutions of higher education, which together enrolled some 1.8 million students annually in the late 1980s. Among the notable universities are the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1551) and the National Polytechnic Institute (1936), both in Mexico City; the University of Guadalajara (1792); the Autonomous University of Puebla (1937); Veracruz University (1944) in Jalapa; and the Institute of Technical and Advanced Studies of Monterrey (1943).


 

Mexico, in full UNITED MEXICAN STATES (Spanish Estados Unidos Mexicanos), federal republic in North America, bounded on the north by the United States; on the east by the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea; on the south by Belize and Guatemala; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Mexican federal jurisdiction extends, in addition to Mexico proper, over a number of offshore islands. The area of the country is 1,958,201 sq km (756,066 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Mexico City.

The Land
Most of Mexico is an immense, elevated plateau, flanked by mountain ranges that fall sharply off to narrow coastal plains in the west and east. The two mountain chains, the Sierra Madre Occidental to the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental in the east, meet in a region called La Junta in the southeast. At La Junta the two ranges form the Sierra Madre del Sur, a maze of volcanic mountains containing the highest peaks in Mexico (see SIERRA MADRE). The Sierra Madre del Sur leads into the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which lies between the Bay of Campeche and the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
The prominent topographical feature of the country is the central plateau, a continuation of the plains of the southwestern United States. Comprising more than half the total area of Mexico, the plateau slopes downward from the west to the east and from the south, where the elevation varies from about 1830 to 2440 m (about 6000 to 8000 ft) above sea level, to the north with an elevation of about 1070 to 1220 m (about 3500 to 4000 ft). Two large valleys form notable depressions in the plateau: the Bolsón de Mapimí in the north and the Valley of Mexico, or Anahuac, in central Mexico.
The coastal plains are generally low, flat, and sandy, although the Pacific coast is occasionally broken by mountain spurs. Baja California, a long, narrow peninsula extending about 1225 km (some 760 mi) south from the northwestern corner of the country, is traversed by mountains that are a continuation of the coastal ranges in the U.S. state of California. The Yucatan Peninsula, which forms the southeastern tip of the country, is low and flat, averaging about 30 m (about 100 ft) in elevation.
 

Mexico has few major rivers, and most are not navigable. The longest river is the Rio Grande (called the Río Bravo del Norte in Mexico), which extends along the Mexican-U.S. border. Other important rivers include the Balsas Pánuco, Grijalva, and Usumacinta in the south and the Conchos in the north. Mexico has few good harbors. Tampico, Veracruz Llave, and Coatzacoalcos (Puerto México) are major Gulf of Mexico ports. Pacific ports include Acapulco de Juárez, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, and Salina Cruz. Lake Chapala, in the west, is the largest inland body of water. The Valley of Mexico contains several shallow lakes.

Climate
Mexico is bisected by the Tropic of Cancer; therefore, the southern half is included in the Torrid Zone. In general, climate varies with elevation. The tierra caliente (hot land) includes the low coastal plains, extending from sea level to about 914 m (about 3000 ft). Weather is extremely humid, with temperatures varying from 15.6° to 48.9° C (60° to 120° F). The tierra templada (temperate land) extends from about 914 to 1830 m (about 3000 to 6000 ft) with average temperatures of 16.7° to 21.1° C (62° to 70° F). The tierra fría (cold land) extends from about 1830 to 2745 m (about 6000 to 9000 ft). The average temperature range is 15° to 17.2° C (59° to 63° F). The average temperatures in Mexico City for the months of January and July are 12.6° C (55° F) and 16.1° C (61° F), respectively. The average temperatures in Monterrey for the same months are 14.4° C (58° F) and 27.2° C (81 ° F).
The rainy season lasts from May to October. Although sections of southern Mexico receive about 990 to 3000 mm (about 39 to 118 in) of rain a year, most of Mexico lacks adequate rainfall. Rainfall averages less than 635 mm (25 in) annually in the tierra templada, about 460 mm (about 18 in) in the tierra fría, and about 254 mm (about 10 in) in the semiarid north. Annual precipitation averages for Mexico City and Monterrey are 747 mm (30 in) and 588 mm (23 in), respectively.

Natural Resources
The mineral resources of Mexico are extremely rich and varied. Almost every known mineral is found, including coal, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, silver, gold, copper, lead, and zinc. Proven petroleum and natural-gas reserves are enormous, with some of the world's largest deposits located offshore, in the Bay of Campeche. Forests and woodland, which cover about 23 percent of the land, contain such valuable woods as mahogany, ebony, walnut, and rosewood. About 13 percent of the land is suitable for agriculture, but less than 10 percent receives enough rainfall for raising crops without irrigation.

Plants and Animals
Because of the wide range of temperature, the native flora of Mexico is extremely varied. Cactus, yucca, agave, and mesquite are plentiful in the arid north. The tierra caliente is thickly grown with an immense variety of plants, which form a dense tropical jungle in some areas. The trees in this zone include valuable hardwoods, as well as coconut palms, gum trees, and almond, fig, and olive trees. On the mountain slopes grow oaks, pines, and firs. Arctic vegetation is found at the highest elevations in Mexico.
Mexican fauna also varies according to the climatic zones. Wolves and coyotes are found in the north. The forests on the mountain slopes are inhabited by ocelots, jaguars, peccaries, bears, and pumas. Fur-bearing seals are found on the coasts. A wide variety of reptiles includes turtle, iguana, rattlesnake, and lizard. Birds, including sea and game birds, are numerous. Along the coast and in the estuaries of rivers fish abound.

Population
The Mexican population is composed of three main groups: the people of Spanish descent, the Native Americans, and the people of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry, or mestizos. Of these groups, the mestizos are by far the largest, constituting about 55 percent of the population. The Native Americans total about 30 percent. The society is semi-industrialized.

Population Characteristics
The population of Mexico (1993 estimate) was 90,419,606. The estimated population density in 1990 was 46 people per sq km (119 per sq mi). About 73 percent of Mexicans lived in urban areas.

Political Divisions
Mexico consists of 32 administrative divisions—31 states and the Distrito Federal (federal district), which is the seat of the federal administration.

Principal Cities
The capital and cultural center of the country is Mexico City, with a population, (1990) 8,236,960. Other important cities are Guadalajara (population, 1,628,617), a vital mining center; Puebla (1,054,921), one of the oldest cities in the country and a pottery manufacturing center; Ciudad Juárez (797,679), a commercial and manufacturing center; León (872,453), the center of an agricultural area; and Tijuana (742,686), a tourist as well as an industrial center.

Religion
Roman Catholicism is the faith of more than 93 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.

Language
The prevailing and official language is Spanish, which is spoken by the great majority of the population. Native American languages number about 13, with many different dialects, the chief of which is Nahuatl (see NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES), or Aztec. Other major dialects include Maya, spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, and Otomí, common in central Mexico. Successive governments have instituted educational programs to teach Spanish to all of the Native Americans.

Culture
Mexican culture is a rich, complex blend of Native American, Spanish, and American traditions. Rural areas are populated by Native Americans, descendants of the highly developed societies of the Maya, Aztec, and Toltecs, and by Spanish and mestizo farmers and laborers; each of these heritages has enriched the regional culture. In the cities both European, particularly Spanish and French, and North American influences are evident. Most contemporary Mexican artists are striving to produce identifiably Mexican work that blends Spanish, Native American, and modern European styles.

Literature
Mexican writing in Spanish dates from the 16th century, and many works make use of themes from the oral traditions of the country's indigenous peoples. Noted Mexican writers of the 20th century include the novelists Mariano Azuela, Martín Luis Guzmán, Andrés Henestrosa, Agustín Yáñez, and Carlos Fuentes; the playwrights Víctor Barroso and Rodolfo Usigli; and the poets and essayists Alfonso Reyes and Octavio Paz, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1990. See also LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE.

Music and Dance
The distinctive folk songs and dances heard from region to region are accompanied by several kinds of guitar-based ensembles. The ubiquitous mariachi, or popular strolling bands, consist of a standard group of instruments: two violins, two five-string guitars, and a guittarón, or large bass guitar, and usually a pair of trumpets. In Veracruz the usual musical ensemble is a harp and two small guitars. Marimba ensembles are found in the south. The corrido, a narrative folk ballad in rhymed quatrains derived from the Spanish romanza, is probably Mexico's most outstanding contribution to American folk music, as well as folk poetry. Some pre-Hispanic dances survive, with Hispanic-influenced music; they include the concheros and voladores dances.
In the field of concert or art music, Mexican musicians led by the composer and conductor Carlos Chavez have received critical acclaim throughout the world. The National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico was founded in 1928 by Chávez and the Ballet Folklórico in 1952 by the choreographer Amalia Hernández.

Architecture
Spanish colonial architecture, constructed in Gothic, plateresque (a 16th-century Spanish style suggestive of silver plate), classic, and baroque styles sometimes decorated with Native American motifs, is found throughout Mexico. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, first during the short reign of the Habsburg emperor Maximilian and later under President Porfirio Diaz, the French splendors of the second Empire style were introduced into the capital. Díaz also commissioned the ornate Palace of Fine Arts, completed in the 1930s. Since 1945 an architectural renaissance has occurred in Mexico, attracting worldwide attention. The new buildings erected at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, designed by a group of artists and architects under the direction of Carlos Lazo, feature outstanding murals in fresco and mosaic; among these are works by the architect and painter Juan O'Gorman. Another Mexican architect, Felix Candela, created highly original concrete shell designs for several churches and for the sports palace at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Art
A rich tradition of painting and sculpture existed in Mexico long before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. Combining this tradition with imported Spanish techniques, artists of the colonial period produced works of remarkable depth and purity. The late colonial years, however, were characterized by a purely academic output. One of the most significant artists of the present century was José Guadalupe Posada, who produced violent, powerful posters, lithographs, and woodcuts of contemporary scenes. His followers, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco, were the leaders of a remarkable group of distinctly Mexican artists who revived the art of fresco painting and produced important easel painting as well. Frida Kahlo used motifs from Mexican popular art in her paintings, which mix fantasy with autobiography and self portraiture. See also LATIN AMERICAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE.
As weavers, potters, and silversmiths, Mexican artisans produce a variety of beautiful and distinctive products, which attract connoisseurs throughout the world. These artisans are also noted for their work in wood, glass, and leather.

Performing Arts
The Mexican film industry now produces about 40 to 50 films each year. Mexican film actors, including Cantinflas (Mario Moreno), Pedro Armendariz, and Dolores Del Rio, achieved worldwide fame, as did the director Emilio Fernandez and the cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. Both theatrical and musical performances, especially opera, are popular in Mexican cities. The Ballet Folklórico, a troupe specializing in Mexican folk dances, is based in Mexico City but tours internationally. Bullfighting, a reminder of Mexico's Spanish past, has long been cultivated.

Libraries and Museums
Most good libraries in Mexico are found within the university system. The National Library, which houses a collection of rare documents, is affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. Mexico also has many governmental libraries that are connected with the various ministries.
Many museums are located throughout the country. The National Historical Museum, devoted to history since the Spanish conquest, is located in Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City. Mayan, Aztec, and other archaeological artifacts are found in the National Museum of Anthropology, also in Mexico City. Another noted archaeological collection is in Merida, Yucatán. All are attached to the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

Economy
Mexico reflects a shift from a primary-production economy, based on mining and agriculture, to a semi-industrialized nation. Economic achievements are the result of a vigorous private enterprise sector and government policies that have made economic growth a predominant objective. Traditionally, the government also emphasized Mexicanization of industry, and local control of companies engaged in mining, fishing, transportation, and exploitation of forests was required by law. More recently, however, foreign investment in new enterprises has been actively encouraged, and government controls on some sectors of the economy have been loosened.
Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 6.5 percent annually during the period from 1965 to 1980 but only 0.5 percent yearly during 1980 to 1988. Weak oil prices, rising inflation, a foreign debt of more than $100 billion, and worsening budget deficits exacerbated the nation's economic problems in the mid-1980s, although the economic picture brightened toward the end of the decade. In 1992 the GDP was $324.29 billion. The annual budget included $107 billion in revenue and $122 billion in expenditure.

Agriculture
About 26 percent of the Mexican labor force is engaged in agriculture, and a substantial number of agricultural workers are employed on ejidos, or communal farms. The government introduced land reform in 1915, and by the 1980s much land had been redistributed to the ejidos. Agricultural production has often been impeded by lack of rainfall. Irrigation projects, however, have increased land under cultivation, and soil conservation has increased yields. Mexico not only supplies most of its basic needs but also exports produce. In the early 1990s Mexico's chief agricultural products were (with yearly output in metric tons) maize (13.5 million), wheat (4.1 million), barley (584,000), rice (354,000), beans (1.4 million), potatoes (999,000), coffee (299,000), cotton (202,000), sugarcane (36.7 million), other fruits and vegetables, and livestock.
The livestock population in the late 1980s included about 31.2 million cattle, 16.5 million hogs, 10.5 million goats, 6 million sheep, 6.2 million horses, 6.3 million mules and asses, and 224 million chickens.

Forestry and Fishing
About 23 percent of Mexico is forested. Because of earlier abuse of rich timber stands, all timber cutting is strictly regulated by the government. Roundwood production in the late 1980s annually totaled about 21.9 million cu m (about 773 million cu ft). Mexico manufactures considerable amounts of forestry products; among these products are lumber, chicle, pitch, resins, and turpentine.
The most important fisheries are found off the coast of Baja California. The fishing industry is primarily controlled by cooperative societies that are granted monopolies of certain species. The principal species caught are abalone, bass, pike, red snapper, tuna, cichlids, pilchard, sardines, anchovies, shrimp, oysters, and mackerel. The annual catch in the late late 1980s was approximately 1.4 million metric tons.

Mining
Formerly, almost all mining companies in Mexico were foreign-held. Most, however, cooperated with government efforts in the 1960s to Mexicanize the industry, and majority control of each company is now held by Mexicans. The most valuable mineral resource is petroleum, produced chiefly in Veracruz, Tabasco, and Chiapas states; production is controlled by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), a government agency. Also important is silver, which is found in every state. Rich gold fields are located on the Pacific slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental; copper ore is mined near Guanajuato; iron ore is found in Coahuila and in Durango. In the late 1980s annual output (in metric tons) included 5.6 million of iron ore, 780,550 of fluorite, 250,000 of copper ore, 170,650 of lead, 288,150 of zinc, 670,950 of phosphorite, 2550 of silver, and 8 of gold. Production of crude petroleum was 920 million barrels; natural gas, 22.8 billion cu m (805 billion cu ft); and coal, 11.1 million metric tons. Significant quantities of antimony, barites, graphite, manganese, sulfur, and tungsten also were recovered.

Manufacturing
Mexican industry is among the most developed in Latin America. Until the late 1980s, most new factories were built in northern Mexico as maquiladoras, labor-intensive plants assembling imported parts into finished goods for export; more recently, however, U.S. firms have invested heavily in well-equipped modern facilities producing motor vehicles and other consumer items for the U.S. market. Major industrial plants in Mexico also include factories turning out machinery and electronic equipment; petroleum refineries; foundries; meat-packing plants; paper mills; cotton mills; tobacco-processing plants; and sugar refineries. Other industrial products include clothing, iron and steel, chemicals, beverages, fertilizer, chemicals, cement, glass, pottery, and leather goods. Estimated yearly manufacturing output in the late 1980s included 232,500 passenger cars, 6.9 million metric tons of crude steel, 2.4 million metric tons of wheat flour, and 1.9 million metric tons of sulfuric acid.

Energy
About 78 percent of Mexico's electricity is produced in thermal installations, 18 percent by hydroelectric facilities, and 4 percent from geothermal sources. In the late 1980s electricity generating capacity was about 26.8 million kilowatts, and annual output of electricity was some 104.8 billion kilowatt-hours.

Commerce, Banking, and Trade
The Mexican unit of currency is the peso, consisting of 100 centavos. The peso was officially devalued by the Mexican government in December 1987 (free-market rate, 3.31 pesos equal U.S.$1; 1994). The central bank and bank of issue is the Bank of Mexico (1925), which is modeled after the U.S. Federal Reserve System. Mexico's commercial banking system, nationalized in 1982, was restored to private control in the early 1990s.
Annual exports in the late 1980s were valued at about $20.7 billion, and imports in the same period cost approximately $18.9 billion per year. Major exports include crude petroleum, natural gas, cotton, sugar, tomatoes, coffee, shrimp, cattle, zinc, textiles, clothing, chemicals, transportation equipment, and machinery. The country's chief imports include machinery, transportation equipment, telecommunications apparatus, chemicals, petroleum and petroleum products, agricultural commodities, and iron and steel. The great bulk of Mexico's trade is with the United States; other important trade partners are Japan, Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, Spain, and Great Britain. Tourism, border trade, foreign investments, and remittances from Mexican workers in the United States are significant sources of foreign exchange revenue.

Transportation
The Mexican railway system, which is nationalized, includes about 26,300 km (about 16,340 mi) of operated railroad track. The highway system includes about 235,430 km (about 146,290 mi) of roads, of which some 45 percent are paved. Several highways traverse the country, including four main routes between the U.S. border and Mexico City, which form part of the Pan-American Highway system. Air services have been intensively developed, and the country now has more than 1700 airports and landing fields. Mexico's chief airlines are Aeroméxico and Compañía Mexicana de Aviación. The country's merchant fleet includes some 660 vessels with a total deadweight tonnage of 2 million.

Communications
In the mid-1980s Mexico had about 390 daily newspapers, with a combined circulation of 11.3 million. Mexico City had 15 dailies, of which Esto, with a circulation of 450,000, was the largest. Telephones in Mexico numbered approximately 9.6 million. Radio stations numbered about 870, and some 21.5 million radios and 9.5 million television sets were in use.

Labor
The Mexican labor force totaled about 27.3 million persons in the late 1980s. About 35 percent of the labor force is organized. The largest union in the country is the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (Confederation of Mexican Workers), with about 5.5 million members. Statutes prescribe minimum wages and a maximum work week of six 8-hour days.

Government
Mexico is a federal republic governed under a constitution promulgated in 1917.

Executive
National executive power is vested in a president, who must be Mexican-born and the child of a native Mexican. The president is popularly elected for a six-year term and may never be reelected. The president appoints the cabinet, which is confirmed by the congress.

Legislature
Legislative power in Mexico is vested in a bicameral congress. The upper house is a senate, with 64 members popularly elected for six years. Two senators are elected from each state and from the federal district. The lower house is a chamber of deputies, made up of 500 members elected to 3-year terms. Three hundred are elected from single-member districts based on population, and the remainder are elected according to a system of proportional representation. Senators and deputies may not serve two consecutive terms. All citizens over 18 years of age are entitled to vote.

Judiciary
The highest tribunal in Mexico is the supreme court of justice, made up of 21 full-time members appointed by the country's president with the consent of the senate. Other important judicial bodies in Mexico include circuit courts and district courts.

Local Government
The chief executive of each state is a governor, popularly elected to a six-year term. The governor of the federal district is appointed by the president of Mexico. Legislative power in the states is vested in chambers of deputies, whose members are elected to three-year terms.

Political Parties
The Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary party; PRI) is the largest and most important political party in Mexico. It was formed in 1928 as the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (National Revolutionary party) and has been continuously in power since that time, although under several different names. Opposition parties exist, but not until the 1980s did they represent a serious challenge to the PRI. Chief among them is the Partido de Acción Nacional (National Action Party; PAN), a conservative, pro-Catholic group drawn primarily from the middle class. A coalition of leftist opposition groups, the Frente Democrático Nacional (National Democratic Front) finished second, behind the PRI but ahead of the PAN, in the 1988 elections.

Health and Welfare
Most public-health activities are administered by the Mexican ministry of health and welfare. Diseases such as smallpox and cholera have been eliminated; however, a shortage of medical personnel exists in the rural areas, and population growth continues to outpace the installation of modern water and sewage systems. Average life expectancy at birth in the late 1980s was 73 years for women, 67 years for men.
The Mexican Social Security Institute supervises welfare programs, which are financed by contributions from the government, employers, and employees. Services include medical care for the poor, low-cost housing, and accident, illness, maternity, and old-age insurance.

Defense
Military service in Mexico is voluntary. In the early 1990s the country maintained an army of 130,000 members, a navy of 37,000 members, and an air force of 8000.

History
Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in the western hemisphere. There is evidence that a hunting people populated the area in 21,000 BC or earlier. Crop cultivation began around 8000 BC; squashes were probably the first produce. The first major Mesoamerican civilization was established by the Olmec, who flourished between about 1500 and 600 BC. The Mayan culture, according to archaeological research, attained its greatest development about the 6th century AD. Another group, the warlike Toltec, migrated from the north and in the 10th century established an empire in the Valley of Mexico. They founded the cities of Tula and Tulancingo (north of present-day Mexico City) and developed a great civilization still evidenced by the ruins of magnificent buildings and monuments.

The Aztec Empire
In the 11th century the Toltec were vanquished and dispersed by the Chichimeca, who took over the Toltec civilization. A century later seven allied Nahuatlan tribes entered the valley from the north, probably coming from areas now in New Mexico and Arizona. In 1325 the Aztec, or Mexica, the leading tribe, founded a settlement named Tenochtitlan in an area surrounded by marshes in Texcoco, one of the valley lakes. As the settlement grew, its military strength was increased by the construction of causeways that dammed the waters of the surrounding marshes and made the town a virtually impregnable island fortress. Under Itzcoatl, the first Aztec emperor, the Aztec extended their influence through the entire Valley of Mexico, becoming the preeminent power in central and southern Mexico by the 15th century. Their civilization, based on that of the Toltec and Chichimeca, was highly developed, both intellectually and artistically. The Aztec economy was dependent on agriculture, particularly the cultivation of corn. As they grew wealthy and powerful, the Aztec built great cities and developed an intricate social, political, and religious organization.
The first European explorer to visit Mexican territory was Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, who in 1517 discovered traces of the Maya in Yucatán. A year later Juan de Grijalva headed an expedition that explored the eastern coast of Mexico and brought back to the Spanish colony in Cuba the first reports of the rich Aztec Empire. These reports prompted Diego Velazquez, governor of Cuba, to dispatch a large force in 1519, under the command of Hernán Cortés. For the history of the conquest of the Aztec and of Mexico by the Spanish, see CORTES, HERNAN.

The Colonial Period
In 1535, some years after the fall of the Aztec capital, the basic form of colonial government in Mexico was instituted with the appointment of the first Spanish viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza. For the remainder of the Spanish colonial period, from 1535 to 1821, a total of 61 viceroys ruled Mexico. Mendoza and his successors directed a series of military and exploratory expeditions, which eventually made present-day Texas, New Mexico, and California part of New Spain.
A distinguishing characteristic of colonial Mexico was the exploitation of the Native Americans. Although thousands of them were killed during the Spanish conquest, they continued to be the great majority of inhabitants of New Spain, speaking their own languages and retaining much of their native culture. Inevitably they became the laboring class. Although they were decreed nominally free and entitled to wages by Spain, in actuality they were treated little better than slaves. Their plight was the result of the encomienda system, by which Spanish nobles, priests, and soldiers were granted not only large tracts of land but also jurisdiction over all Native American residents. The government of Spain made several attempts to regulate the exploitation of Native American labor on farms and in mines. Reforms decreed by Spain, however, were largely ineffectual because of the difficulty of enforcement. The condition of the Native Americans became a primary concern of the Mexican government when the colonial administration was later overthrown.
A second characteristic of colonial Mexico was the position and power of the Roman Catholic church. Franciscan, Augustinian, Dominican, and Jesuit missionaries entered the country with the conquistadores. Juan de Zumárraga became the first bishop of Mexico in 1528, and the country was created an archbishopric about 1548. The Mexican church became enormously wealthy through gifts and bequests that could be held in perpetuity. Before 1859, when church holdings were nationalized, the church owned one-third of all property and land.
A third characteristic was the existence of rigid social classes: the Native Americans, the mestizos (an increasingly large group during the colonial era), black slaves, freed blacks and white Mexicans. The white Mexicans were themselves divided. Highest of all classes was that of the peninsulares, those born in Spain, as opposed to the criollos, or Creoles—people of pure European descent who had been born and raised in New Spain. The peninsulares were sent from Spain to hold the highest colonial offices in both the civil and church administrations. They held themselves aloof from the criollos, who were almost never given high office. The resentment of the criollos became an influential force in the later movement for independence.
From the inception of the viceregal system, inefficiency and corruption in the colonial administration greatly concerned the home Spanish government. Bribery and extortion were common, despite periodic royal commissions of investigation. During the late 18th century Spain attempted to institute a series of administrative reforms, notably in the years 1789 to 1794 under the viceroy Juan Vicente Güémez Pacheco, conde de Revilla Gigedo, considered the greatest Spanish colonial administrator. These reforms did not eradicate the fundamental weaknesses of the system, and by the beginning of the 19th century criollo resentment and the inefficient government of New Spain were weakening the link between the colony and the parent country. To these internal conditions was added the importation of liberal political ideas from Europe, particularly after the French Revolution of 1789.
The occupation of Spain by Napoleon eventually resulted in the Mexican war for independence. Disorganized by the disaster that had overtaken the home government, the administrative leaders of New Spain began to quarrel among themselves, with no central authority to intervene. In 1808 the viceroy, under pressure from influential criollos, permitted them to participate in the administration. Other peninsular officials objected and expelled the viceroy. In the midst of these factional struggles a political rebellion was begun by the Mexican people.

War for Independence
On September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest in the small village of Dolores, raised the standard of revolt, demanding the abolition of Native American serfdom and caste distinctions. Although initially successful, the Hidalgo revolt was short-lived. The priest was captured by royalist forces and shot at Chihuahua in 1811. The leadership in the liberation movement passed to another priest, Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, who in 1814 proclaimed a republic in Mexico, independent of Spain. A year later Morelos and his army were defeated by royalist forces under Agustin de Iturbide, a criollo general. The revolution continued under Vicente Guerrero, who headed a comparatively small army.
The Spanish revolution of 1820 altered the rebellion in Mexico. Liberal political tendencies in Spain dismayed the conservative Mexican leaders, who themselves began an intrigue designed to separate the viceroyalty from Spain. On their behalf Iturbide met Guerrero in 1821 and signed an agreement by which the two combined forces to bring about independence. Their plan, known as the Plan of Iguala, set forth three mutual guarantees: Mexico would become an independent country, ruled as a limited monarchy; the Roman Catholic church would be the state church; and the Spanish and criollos would be given equal rights and privileges. The viceroy took no active measures against Iturbide and was forced to resign by the faction that opposed independence. The last viceroy of New Spain was Juan O'Donojú who, on his arrival in Mexico in July 1821, was forced to accept the Treaty of Córdoba, marking the formal beginning of Mexican independence.

Empire and Republic
A turbulent period ensued. In 1822, by a coup d'etat, Iturbide made himself Emperor Agustín I, but was deposed ten months later by a revolt led, notably, by Antonio López de Santa Anna, his former aide. A republic was proclaimed, and Guadalupe Victoria became the first president. Mexico, however, was unprepared for sudden democracy. A struggle began between the Centralists—a conservative group composed of church leaders, rich landowners, criollos, and army officials resolved to maintain a highly centralized colonial form of government—and the Federalists—a liberal, anticlerical faction supporting the establishment of federated sovereign states and relief for the Native Americans and other oppressed groups. Guerrero, a liberal leader, became president in 1829, but was shot and killed in 1831 by forces led by the political and military leader Anastasio Bustamante. Revolt followed revolt until 1833, when Santa Anna, a Centralist who was popular with the army, was elected president. Shortly after his coming to power, his policies involved the new republic in war.

War with the United States
The residents of Texas, then under Mexican rule, had been angered in 1829 by a governmental decree abolishing slavery, and the plan by Santa Anna to centralize the government increased their resentment. Texas rebelled in 1836 and declared its independence after Santa Anna was decisively defeated by the Texan leader Sam Houston at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. In 1846, as a result of friction between U.S. citizens and Mexicans, a dispute over the western boundary of Texas, and the desire of Americans to acquire California, the United States declared war on May 12 (see MEXICAN WAR). The Mexican forces were again routed, and U.S. troops occupied northern Mexico and, in 1847, Mexico City. Under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, the Rio Grande was fixed as the boundary of Texas, and territory now forming the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming became part of the United States. The Gadsden Purchase in 1853 clarified the New Mexico boundary and gave an additional strip of territory (now southern Arizona and a slice of southwestern New Mexico) to the United States.
Mexico was confronted with a grave reconstruction problem after the war. Finances were devastated, and the prestige of the government, already weak, had considerably diminished. Santa Anna, compelled to resign after the war, returned from exile in 1853 and, with Centralist support, declared himself dictator. Early in 1854 a liberal revolt began, and after more than a year of intensive fighting, Santa Anna fled from Mexico. The revolution was the first event in a long, fierce struggle between the powerful classes that had traditionally dominated Mexico and the liberal democrats who demanded a voice in the government.

Juárez and Maximilian
The great leader to emerge among the liberals was a Native American, Benito Pablo Juarez, who became famous for his integrity and unswerving loyalty to democracy. For the next 25 years Juárez was the principal influence in Mexican politics. A federal form of government, universal male suffrage, freedom of speech, and other civil liberties were embodied in the constitution of 1857. Conservative groups bitterly opposed the new constitution. They were supported by Spain, and in 1858 the War of the Reform, between conservative and liberal groups, devastated Mexico. The Juárez government was supported by the United States, and by 1860 the Juárista armies had won decisively. Meanwhile, as provisional president between 1858 and 1861, Juárez had issued a decree nationalizing church property, separating church and state, and suppressing religious orders. Elected president in 1861, Juárez began to establish order. One of his first moves was the suspension of interest payments on foreign loans incurred by preceding governments. Angered by his decree, France, Great Britain, and Spain decided to intervene jointly for the protection of their investments in Mexico. The prime mover in the agreement was Napoleon III of France. A joint expedition occupied Veracruz in 1861, but when Napoleon's colonial ambitions became evident, the British and Spanish withdrew in 1862. For a year French troops battled their way through Mexico, finally entering Mexico City in June 1863. Juárez and his cabinet fled, and a provisional conservative government proclaimed a Mexican Empire and offered the Crown, at Napoleon's instigation, to Maximilian, archduke of Austria.
From 1864 to 1865 Maximilian and his wife, Carlotta, ruled the empire, but in 1865 France, under pressure from the United States, which continued to recognize Juárez, withdrew its forces. The forces of Juárez reconquered the country after the French had been evacuated in 1867, and republican troops under General Porfirio Díaz occupied Mexico City. Maximilian, besieged at Querétaro, was forced to surrender and, after a court-martial, was shot.
Again Juárez attempted to restore order, but was met with revolts. In 1871, after an indecisive election, the Congress of Mexico declared Juárez president. Díaz, a candidate who had been defeated, led an unsuccessful insurrection. Juárez died in 1872 and was succeeded by Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, head of the Mexican supreme court. In 1876, when Lerdo de Tejada sought reelection, Díaz led another revolt. Successful this time, he became president in 1877.

The Díaz Dictatorship
Except for one term from 1880 to 1884, when the nominal power was in the hands of one of his aides, Díaz ruled Mexico as a despot until 1911. Under the Díaz dictatorship Mexico made tremendous advances in economic and commercial development. Industrial plants, railroad extension, public works, harbor improvement, and public building were part of the Díaz program. Many of the new undertakings were financed and managed by foreigners. This became a major factor in the discontent of most Mexicans under the autocratic Díaz government. Moreover, Díaz favored the rich owners of large estates, increasing their properties by assigning them communal lands that belonged to the Native Americans. When the Native Americans revolted, they were sold into peonage. The dictator paid little attention to education for the people, and he favored the church, paying little heed to the secularization policy of 1859. Discontent and a spirit of revolt increased throughout Mexico.
In 1908, aware of this discontent, Díaz announced that he would welcome an opposition candidate in the 1910 election, in order to prove his regard for democracy. The candidate put forward by the liberal group was Francisco Indalecio Madero. The influence of Madero grew and, although he was imprisoned for a time on a pretext by Díaz, the liberal leader became increasingly active. After Díaz was reelected in 1910, Madero was acknowledged as the leader of a popular revolution. Díaz was forced to resign in 1911 and soon afterward left Mexico permanently.

Period of Turmoil
Madero was elected president in 1911, but was not forceful enough to end the political and military strife. Other rebel leaders, particularly Emiliano Zapata and Francisco (Pancho) Villa, completely refused to submit to presidential authority. Victoriano Huerta, head of the Madero army, conspired with the rebel leaders and in 1913 seized control of Mexico City. Huerta became dictator and, four days after assuming power, had Madero murdered. New armed revolts under Zapata, Villa, and Venustiano Carranza began, and Huerta resigned in 1914. Carranza took power in the same year, and Villa at once declared war on him. In addition to the ambitions of rival military leaders, intervention by foreign governments seeking to protect the interests of their nationals added to the confusion. In August 1915 a commission representing eight Latin American countries and the United States recognized Carranza as the lawful authority in Mexico. The rebel leaders, with the exception of Villa, laid down their arms. The bandit leader incited his forces to commit atrocities against American nationals to show his resentment against the United States and in 1916 led a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. As a result, an American force under General John J. Pershing was sent to Mexico, but Pershing and his troops saw little action because of Carranza's own hostility toward the United States. Villa continued to disrupt the Mexican countryside until 1920.

The Revolution
A new constitution, promulgated in 1917, provided for a labor code, prohibited a president from serving consecutive terms, expropriated all property of religious orders, and restored communal lands to the Native Americans. Many provisions dealing with labor and social welfare were exceedingly advanced and for their day radical. Some of the most drastic were intended to curb foreign ownership of mineral properties and land.
Carranza was elected president in 1917, but turbulence continued. Although he did not enforce many of the constitutional provisions, he angered foreign oil companies by ruling that oil was an inalienable national resource and imposing a tax on oil lands and on oil contracts made before May 1, 1917. In 1920 three of the leading generals, Plutarco Elias Calles, Alvaro Obregon, and Adolfo de la Huerta, revolted against Carranza, who was killed in the ensuing conflict. Obregón was elected president in 1920.
When Obregón consented to arbitrate and adjust the claims of American oil companies, he was recognized by the United States in 1923. Later in the year, the United States supported the Obregón regime during an abortive revolt by de la Huerta. In 1924 Calles was elected president and began to put constitutional reforms, chiefly agrarian, into effect. He also rehabilitated Mexican finances, instituted an educational program, and succeeded in adjusting the dispute with the foreign oil companies. In carrying out religious reforms, however, Calles provoked considerable opposition. The church refused to recognize the secularization provisions, and relations between church and state became severely strained. The tension was lessened largely through the mediation of Dwight W. Morrow, who became U.S. ambassador to Mexico in 1927. Morrow had previously mediated in the oil dispute.
Obregón was reelected president in 1928 but was assassinated several months later by a religious fanatic. The provisional presidency was awarded by the congress to Emilio Portes Gil. The influence of Calles, however, remained paramount. Abelardo L. Rodríguez, a business associate of Calles, became provisional president in 1932. In the same year the National Revolutionary party (PNR), the official government party, projected a six-year program for a “cooperative economic system tending toward socialism,” and including a labor code, public works, distribution of land, and the seizure of foreign-owned oil lands.
The PNR program was put into effect in 1934 with the election of Lazaro Cardenas as president. Cárdenas emphasized agrarian reforms, social welfare, and education. In 1936 an expropriation law was passed enabling the government to seize private property whenever necessary for public or social welfare. The national railways of Mexico were nationalized in 1937, as were the subsoil rights of the oil companies. The Mexican oil workers struck for higher wages that same year. In 1938, after a supreme court decision had upheld their claims and the foreign-owned oil companies had refused to pay, the Mexican government expropriated the oil properties. A government agency called Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, was created to administer the nationalized industry. The expropriations seriously affected the Mexican oil industry, for it became difficult for Mexico to sell oil in U.S., Dutch, and British territories. Mexico was therefore forced to arrange barter deals with Italy, Germany, and Japan. The oil trade with these nations, however, was cut short by World War II (1939-1945).
In 1940 Manuel Avila Camacho, endorsed by Mexican labor, was elected president. His policies were more conservative than those of Cárdenas. The so-called Good Neighbor Policy of the United States became dominant in Mexican politics. This policy, involving close cooperation with the United States in commercial and military matters, became considerably advanced in 1941, with the imminence of U.S. involvement in World War II. Mexico agreed to allow the United States Air Force to use Mexican airfields and also agreed to export critical and strategic materials (mostly scarce minerals) only to countries in the western hemisphere.

World War II
Consistent with its policy of cooperation with the United States, Mexico severed diplomatic relations with Japan on December 8, 1941, and with Italy and Germany three days later. On May 22, 1942, after the sinking of two Mexican ships by submarines, the Mexican Congress declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan. In June of that year Mexico signed the declaration of the United Nations (UN). Later that same year a trade agreement, establishing mutual tariff concessions, was negotiated by Mexico and the United States. Complete military cooperation between the two nations was effected in 1943, when it was agreed that each should enlist into its army nationals of the other country who lived within its borders. Other wartime projects included a joint commission for economic cooperation, instituted to find methods to relieve the Mexican shortages of food and strategic materials, and a Mexican-U.S. industrial commission, appointed to plan the industrialization of Mexico. In 1944 Mexico agreed to pay U.S. oil companies $24 million, plus interest at 3 percent, for oil properties expropriated in 1938. Also in 1944, Mexican and U.S. officials developed a 20-year plan for the expansion of the government-controlled oil industry.

Postwar Mexico
In June 1945, Mexico became an original member of the United Nations. In 1946 Miguel Aleman Valdes succeeded Ávila as president, having been elected on a platform calling for a more equitable distribution of wealth, extensive irrigation works, and further industrialization of Mexico. Alemán continued close relations with the United States. In 1947 the Export-Import Bank lent Mexico $50 million to be expended on public works and industrial development. Later that year the Mexican government announced that British and Dutch oil companies, claimants of $250 million for expropriated properties, had settled for $21 million. In 1948 the government, striving to reverse the unfavorable balance of trade, devalued the peso. Imports not essential for industrial development were sharply restricted. In March 1949, for the first time since the expropriations of 1938, two U.S. petroleum companies were permitted to drill for oil, under the supervision of Pemex. The government stabilized the peso in June with the aid of loans from the Treasury of the United States and the International Monetary Fund. National elections were held on July 3, 1949, and the government party, renamed the Institutional Revolutionary party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, or PRI), won overwhelmingly in the Chamber of Deputies.
In 1950 the economic situation improved substantially when Mexico obtained an Export-Import Bank loan of $150 million for the financing of several projects to improve transportation, agriculture, and power facilities. The following year the problem of Mexican laborers who entered the United States to seek seasonal farm employment became a matter of grave concern to the two governments. Official agreements between Mexico and the United States provided for the legal entry of a specified number of such workers annually. Approximately 1 million, however, crossed the border illegally every year. The problem was further complicated by the demand of the Mexican government for guarantees against the exploitation of its citizens by U.S. employers and by the hostility of U.S. farm labor organizations toward the competition of Mexican migratory laborers willing to work for substandard wages. In March 1952 the Congress of the United States passed a bill providing for the punishment by fines and imprisonment of those recruiting and employing aliens who entered the country illegally.
Former Interior Minister Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, candidate of the PRI, was elected president of Mexico in 1952. In the following year the legislature ratified a constitutional amendment extending voting privileges to women. Ruiz Cortines was succeeded by Adolfo López Mateos, a former minister of labor, in 1958. Reversing a tradition of presidential silence on relations with the Roman Catholic church, López Mateos declared that attainment of revolutionary goals should find no obstacle in religion. A controversial constitutional amendment empowering the government to force businesses to share profits with workers was approved in 1962. Peasant discontent had been demonstrated during the year by hunger marches and squatter invasions of private landholdings. Early in 1963 an Independent Peasants' Central party was formed to compete with the National Peasants Confederation in the dominant PRI. Speakers at the organizing congress said that the country still had 3 million landless peasants and that 9600 individuals owned 80 million hectares (197 million acres) of land, of which only 20.2 million hectares (50 million acres) were cultivated.

Recent History
In the 1964 presidential campaign the PRI candidate, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, stressed the need to alleviate the plight of poor farmers. Supported by most of the political parties and opposed only by the candidate of the National Action party, Díaz Ordaz was elected on July 5. Mexico refused to comply with an Organization of American States decision, made in July 1964 following charges of Cuban terrorist activity in Venezuela, to sever diplomatic relations with Cuba; a policy of noninterference in the affairs of other nations was cited in explanation. During the year the United States ended its program of importing seasonal Mexican workers, thus eliminating an important source of dollar earnings for Mexico. A more popular U.S. action was the official transfer to Mexico of some 160 hectares (approximately 400 acres) of territory that had subsequently come under U.S. jurisdiction when the Rio Grande, which marks the U.S. boundary with Mexico, had shifted course.
In 1966 President Díaz Ordaz announced a five-year plan putting into effect a program of development and economic planning. During the same year Pemex carried out a program to increase the number of petrochemical plants in operation. In an effort to improve regional economic ties, the Mexican president visited several Central American countries in 1967. During 1968 the government was confronted by violent student demonstrations, which threatened to prevent the staging of the Olympic Games held in Mexico City in October 1968. Hundreds were killed during the antigovernment agitation, which tapered off in 1969 but continued into the 1970s.
In 1970 Luis Echeverría Álvarez became president; the former interior minister had been elected as the candidate of the PRI. During his six-year term Echeverría pursued a more balanced strategy of economic growth so that all levels of Mexican society would benefit; he also adopted measures to reduce foreign control of the economy and to increase exports. Ties with the United States were loosened, and in their place Echeverría negotiated economic accords with several Latin American nations, Canada, the European Community (now called the European Union); he also negotiated an accord with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, which was sponsored by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Mexican economy grew at a healthy annual pace of 6.3 percent during the period from 1970 to 1974, but beginning in 1975 growth decreased markedly and inflation rose substantially. In an attempt to reduce the nation's foreign-trade deficit, the government in 1976 devalued the peso by more than 50 percent by changing from a fixed to a freely floating exchange rate. A potentially beneficial economic development was the discovery in 1974 and 1975 of huge crude-petroleum deposits in Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, and Veracruz states. In late 1976 Echeverría decreed that about 100,000 hectares (about 250,000 acres) of prime farmland in Sonora and Sinaloa states be expropriated with compensation.
Jose Lopez Portillo, the PRI nominee, was elected president in 1976. A former finance minister, he followed a program of economic austerity after taking office in December; he called on workers to reduce wage demands and on businesspeople to hold down prices and to increase investment expenditures. Considerable improvement was registered the following years, although inflation remained high. In foreign affairs, López Portillo improved ties with the United States in 1977 and reestablished diplomatic relations with Spain after a lapse of 38 years.
Oil production more than doubled during the latter half of the 1970s, and this, combined with substantial price increases, afforded Mexico under López Portillo a more meaningful independence, especially in relations with the United States.
During the 1980s the country pursued an assertive hemispheric policy. In 1982 Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado was elected to succeed President López Portillo. By the mid-1980s a rapid increase in foreign debt, coupled with falling oil prices, had plunged the country into severe financial straits. Amid reports of widespread irregularities, the PRI claimed victory in congressional elections in 1985. However, in that same year the added burden of a devastating earthquake, which killed more than 7000, kept Mexico's financial situation bleak. Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the PRI candidate, was elected president in 1988, again amidst protests about electoral fraud. Also in 1988 hurricane Gilbert devastated the Yucatán peninsula and severely damaged the area south of Texas; overall damage was estimated at $880 million.
In 1989 the Salinas government speeded up the privatization of state-controlled corporations and modified restrictive trade and investment regulations to encourage foreign investment by permitting full control of corporations by foreign investors. In October Salinas and U.S. President George Bush, meeting in Washington, D.C., signed what was described as the broadest trade and investment agreement ever concluded between the two nations. In July 1992 constitutional changes abolished restrictions imposed on the Roman Catholic church in 1917. In December Presidents Salinas and Bush and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Mexican legislature ratified NAFTA in 1993 and the treaty went into effect on January 1, 1994, creating the largest free-trade zone in the world.
Creating a North American free-trade zone and privatizing state-owned industry was part of a plan by the Salinas government to revive the Mexican economy. By 1993 the Mexican government had sold 80 percent of its industries to private investors for about $21 billion and had reduced inflation from 150 percent to 10 percent.
On January 1, 1994, a group of Native Americans called the Zapatista National Liberation Army captured four towns in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and demanded reforms from the Salinas government. The group is named for Emiliano Zapata, a 19th-century Mexican revolutionary leader and agrarian reformer. Although Mexican troops quickly retook most of the territory held by the rebels and a cease-fire was called soon afterward, the rebel group generated momentum for political reform in Mexico. A government negotiating team, headed by former Mexico City mayor Manuel Camacho Solis, met with rebel leaders and offered them a 34-point proposed agreement that included promises of political changes, new social programs, land reform, and better standards of living. However, the group rejected the plan in June. In August Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León of the PRI won Mexico's presidential election. Zedillo was the manager of the presidential campaign of Donaldo Luis Colosio Murrieta, who was assassinated in March 1994 while campaigning in Tijuana.