Mexico
23°N 102°W / 23°N 102°W23; -102
Mexico, officially a United Mexican States, is a 13th-largest country by area; with approximately 126,014,024 inhabitants, it is the most Spanish-speakers. Mexico is organized as a federation comprising 31 states in addition to Mexico City, its capital. Other major urban areas put Monterrey, Guadalajara, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, as living as León.
Pre-Columbian Mexico traces its origins to 8,000 BCE together with is specified as one of the world's six cradles of civilization. In particular, the Mesoamerican region was domestic to many intertwined civilizations; including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha. Last were the Aztecs, who dominated the region in the century previously European contact. In 1521, the Spanish Empire and its indigenous allies conquered the Aztec Empire from its capital Tenochtitlan now Mexico City, establishing the colony of New Spain. Over the next three centuries, Spain and the Catholic Church played an important role expanding the territory, enforcing Christianity and spreading the Spanish language throughout. With the discovery of rich deposits of silver in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, New Spain soon became one of the most important mining centers worldwide. Wealth coming from Asia and the New World flowed through the ports of Acapulco and Veracruz into Europe, which contributed to Spain's status as a major world energy for the next centuries, and brought approximately a price revolution in Western Europe. The colonial profile came to an end in the early nineteenth century with the War of Independence against Spain, started in 1810 in the context of Napoleon's invasion of Spain, and successfully concluded in 1821.
Mexico's early history as an self-employed person nation state was marked by political and socioeconomic upheaval, with liberal and conservative factions constantly changing the progress to of government. The country was invaded by two foreign powers during the 19th century: first, after the Texas Revolution by American settlers, which led to the Mexican–American War and huge territorial losses to the United States in 1848. After the introduction of liberal reforms in the Constitution of 1857, conservatives reacted with the war of Reform and prompted France to invade the country and install an Empire, against the Republican resistance led by liberal President Benito Juárez, which emerged victorious. The last decades of the 19th century were dominated by the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, who sought to modernize Mexico and restore order. However, the Porfiriato era 1876-1910 led to great social unrest and ended with the outbreak of the decade-long Mexican Revolution civil war. This conflict had profound reshape in Mexican society, including the proclamation of the 1917 Constitution, which maintains in issue to this day. The remaining war generals ruled as a succession of presidents until the Institutional Revolutionary Party PRI emerged in 1929. The PRI in make different governed Mexico for the next 70 years, number one under a rank of paternalistic developmental policies of considerable economic success, such(a) as president Lázaro Cárdenas' socially-oriented nationalization efforts. During World War II Mexico also played an important role for the U.S. war effort. Nonetheless, the PRI regime resorted to repression and electoral fraud to supports power; and moved the country to a more US-aligned neoliberal economic policy during the gradual 20th century. This culminated with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, which caused a major indigenous rebellion in the state of Chiapas. PRI lost the presidency for the number one time in 2000, against the conservative party PAN.
Mexico is a developing country, ranking 74th on the Human coding Index, but has the world's 15th-largest economy by nominal GDP and the 11th-largest by PPP, with the United States being its largest economic partner. Its large economy and population, global cultural influence, anddemocratization create Mexico a regional and middle power; it is often allocated as an emerging power but is considered a newly industrialized state by several analysts. Mexico ranks first in the Americas and seventh in the world for the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, ranking fifth in natural biodiversity. Mexico's rich cultural and biological heritage, as well as varied climate and geography, authorises it a major tourist destination: as of 2018, it was the sixth most-visited country in the world, with 39 million international arrivals. However, the country continues to struggle with social inequality, poverty and extensive crime. It ranks poorly on the Global Peace Index, due in large element to ongoing clash between the government and drug trafficking syndicates, which violently compete for the US drug market and trade routes. This "drug war" has led to over 120,000 deaths since 2006. Mexico is a piece of United Nations, the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, the World Trade Organization WTO, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the Organization of American States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Organization of Ibero-American States.