-
A country rich in history, tradition and culture, Mexico is made up of 31 states and one federal district. It is the third largest country in Latin America and has one of the largest populations—more than 100 million—making it the home of more Spanish speakers than any other nation in the world
-
The Toltec civilization also influenced Mexico’s cultural history. Historians have determined that the Toltec people appeared in central Mexico near the 10th century and built the city of Tula, home to an estimated 30,000-40,000 people. Some have speculated that the Toltecs performed human sacrifices to appease the gods.
-
The Mayans, widely considered to be pre-Columbian America’s most brilliant civilization, thrived between approximately 250 and 900 A.D. They developed a calendar and writing system and built cities that functioned as hubs for the surrounding farming towns
-
Spaniard Hernán Cortés arrived at Veracruz in 1519. Believing that Cortés might be the serpent god Quetzalcoatl, Aztec King Moctezuma II invited the conquistador to Tenochtitlán.
-
By 1574, Spain controlled a large portion of the Aztec empire and had enslaved most of the ndigenous population. Worse, the diseases brought into the society by the Spaniards devastated the indigenous population of Nueva España, killing an estimated 24 million people between 1521 and 1605
-
On September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a parish priest from the town of Dolores, issued a call to rebellion. In response, rebel leader Vicente Guerrero and defected royalist general Agustín de Itúrbide collaborated to gain Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821. Together they drafted a Mexican constitution.
-
From 1823 to 1836, Santa Anna served as president, squelching Texas’ stand for independence in the battle of the Alamo during his last year in office. He was later defeated by American forces during the Mexican-American War and, by 1855, had gone into exile. Following Mexico’s occupation by the French in the mid-1800s.
-
Porfírio Díaz served as president from 1876 to 1909.
-
The Mexican people, tired of the unbalanced distribution of wealth and power, initiated the Mexican Revolution in 1910. The 10-year civil war resulted in at least 2 million casualties. Finally, in 1934, Lázaro Cárdenas became president and reestablished the ancient ejido system, which established communally shared tracts of farmland.
-
The three colors of Mexico’s flag hold deep significance for the country and its citizens: green represents hope and victory, white stands for the purity of Mexican ideals and red brings to mind the blood shed by the nation’s heroes
-
Mexico’s population has greatly increased since World War II, but the distribution of wealth remains imbalanced. Due to negligible legislative assistance, the poor are generally unable to improve their socio-economic status. The state of Chiapas exemplifies the problems caused by financial imbalance. In 1994, the Zapatista National Liberation Army rose up to challenge discrimination against Chiapas’ poor.
-
In recent years, the building of foreign-owned factories and plants (maquiladoras) in some of Mexico’s rural areas has helped draw the population away from Mexico City and redistribute some of the country’s wealth. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994 increased Mexico’s financial ties to the United States and Canada, but the Mexican economy remains fragile.
-
Today, tourism is a major contributor to the Mexican economy. People flock to Mexico from all over the world to sample the country’s cultural diversity, bask in the lush tropical settings and take advantage of relatively low prices. U.S. tourists constitute the majority of visitors to the country.
