History of Mexico: The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states

Ethnic Groups: 60% mestizo (Amerindian-Spanish), 30% Amerindian, 9% white, 1% other.
Languages: Spanish, Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages (over 60 in all).
Official Name: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States)

	Mexico	USA
Area	1,972,550 sq km	9,631,420 sq km
Population	107,449,525	298,444,215
Infant Mortality	20.26 deaths/1,000 live births	6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
GDP Per Capita	$10,000	$41,600
Population below poverty line	40%	12%
Religions	nominally Roman Catholic 89%, Protestant 6%, other 5%	Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10%

Human trafficking: Mexico is a source, transit, and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor; while the vast majority of victims are Central Americans trafficked along Mexico's southern border, other source regions include South America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia; women and children are trafficked from rural regions to urban centers and tourist areas for sexual exploitation; pervasive corruption among state and local law enforcement often impedes investigations

International disputes: Prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region have strained water-sharing arrangements with the US; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from illegally crossing the border with Mexico.

Illicit drugs: Mexico is a major drug-producing nation; government conducts the largest independent illicit-crop eradication program in the world; major supplier of heroin and largest foreign supplier of marijuana and methamphetamine to the US market; continues as the primary transshipment country for US-bound cocaine from South America, accounting for about 90% of estimated annual cocaine movement to the US; major drug syndicates control majority of drug trafficking throughout the country; producer and distributor of ecstasy; significant money-laundering center.

This information excerpted from the World Factbook