The United Mexican States is located in North/Central America with the United States of America bordering to the north and Belize and Guatemala to the south. Advanced civilisations including the Olmecs, the Mayas and the Aztecs inhabited the region for almost 3000 years, before the Spanish invaded in 1519. The Aztecs were defeated three years later and the most prosperous and populous Spanish colony, New Spain, in the new world lasted for 300 years.

In 1810 the struggle for independence began under the leadership of the priest Hidalgo. Although the first attempts ended fruitlessly (Hidalgo was executed in 1811), Mexico finally won independence in 1821. The decades after independence were full of strife and when Texas declared independence of Mexico and became part of the United States of America, the Mexican-American war followed. The war lasted from 1846 to 1848 and resulted in absolute defeat for Mexico and a loss of almost a third of its surface area. The following 60 years, Mexico was in more or less constant turmoil. However, from the 1960s the economy started to grow rapidly. The economy collapsed in 1994 though, but intervention by the US prevented a disaster. At the end of the century, the Mexican economy had stabilised and shows consistent growth. Mexico is member of NAFTA.

Inhabitants: 109,000,000
Area: 2,000,000 km2
Capital: Mexico City (8,700,000 inhabitants)
Languages: Spanish
Religion: Catholics (89%), Protestants (6%), others (5%)
GBD per capita: $11,200
Government: Presidential Federal republic
Climate: Temperate in the north and tropical in the south.