A quiet giant within North America, Mexico

By Mark on August 23, 2008

Mexico is one of the North-American countries, it lye’s partly in the lower part of Northern America and in some of Central-America, bordering the United States of America and to the south of the country Belize and Guatemala. It is 1,972,545 square kilometers or 761,604 square miles. With extensive coastlines on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But for such a large country the population is not has big as you would expect. By the middle of 2008 the estimate was 106,682,500, which is the 11th highest population in the world. But as I have already said I would expect a larger population. But it is the largest Spanish speaking country.

This is a picture taken from Google Earth of the Central-American country of Mexico.

In prehistory Mexico formed the greater part of ancient Mesoamerica, well a succession of related civilizations were formed sharing many cultural traits, a socio-political organization based on cities with ceremonial plazas of pyramids, platforms and temples and with calendrical systems, long distance trading and the ritual ball game. These civilizations were the Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan, Mixtec, Zapotec, Toltec, western cultures and the Aztec’s. In 1521 the conquest of the Aztec Empire was completed by the Corte’s and New Spain became the first Spanish-American viceroyalty, eventually including all of ancient Mesoamerica, northern Mexico, the Carribean and most of south-western USA. Over the nest 300 years a rigid colonial administration was created including repression and exploitation of the native population and alot of them died due to European diseases. Mexico is full of history and this is when I can rely on wikipedia to help me through, so for more information on Mexico’s history, please go to the link at the bottom of this post. The capital city of Mexico is Mexico city it is one of the largest capital cities in the world. It is the most important economic, industrial and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city with 8,720,916 inhabitants in 2005.

This is a satellite image of one of the largest capital cities in the world, Mexico City.

In the mid 19th century, Mexico lost land to the USA, and between 1910 to 1921, violent revolutions caused chaos. Reforms were introduced and in the 1920′s and by 1929 a revolutionary party had been formed the Institutional Revolutionary Party(PRI) was to be and the party ruled Mexico up until it was defeated in 2001 as a one party state. The then new president, Vincente Fox faced alot of problems with unemployment and rapid urbanization, especially around the capital city and with the native Amerindian groups wanting more rights and with illegal emigration into the USA. The world bank classifies Mexico as a “upper middle income” developing country. And with alot of different types of trading especially with the USA and Canada, the countries economy does rely on those countries.

This is an ariel view of a part of Mexico city taken from panoramio.

This is a picture of Skulls, an ancient Aztec Ruins taken from panoramio.

This is a picture taken of the Catherdral of Mexico, in the capital city taken from panoramio.

I would love to go to Mexico as I have yet again really enjoyed doing this post, It appears to have again so much to offer you within certain parts of the city and some parts that are not quite as attractive to the eye. But being such a big city brings problems as London would know about. There are parts of Mexico city that are gang related, but as along as you stay within the more popular areas you will be alright. There is always something to do in Mexico City, but as you can imagine in the spring and summer time the city can become very hot, as can most of Mexico. But so many British tourists are attracted to Mexico, so there must be something special about the country, city and towns. I would love to hear from anyone who has been to Mexico or the city or any other place within the country to hear yours thoughts. But like most of my posts there are restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops, hotels, bed and breakfast’s, parks, theaters etc etc etc, so why not give Mexico a go.

This is a panoramio picture of a part of the city of Mexico from the ground with very tall skyscrapers.

This is a panoramio picture of a water feature near within Mexico City.

Posted in North America | 12 Comments

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12 Responses to “A quiet giant within North America, Mexico”

Mum
10:02 am on August 24th, 2008
Mexico sounds and looks a wonderful place to visit. Maybe you will one day. Congratulations on the post. You’ve done really well
Mark
1:25 pm on August 25th, 2008
I have worked with a lady from Mexico and and at the moment with a man from Mexico, I am not sure wether I would want to visit the country as even though I enjoyed doing the post I just am not sure wether I would want to go. But it does appear to be going quite well at the moment fingers crossed.
Aeryn
3:05 am on January 2nd, 2009
erhm o_O !!! Mexico it isn’t in Central America, it is in North America google it they r a couple of retarded maps there too but they r wrong. And yeah Mexico it is a nice place but it is to quiet and boring sometimes

North America:
- Canada
- USA
- Mexico

Central America:
- Belize
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- El salvador
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama

South America:
- Argentina, Brazil & friends xD

btw i am Catalonian
Mark
4:33 pm on January 2nd, 2009
Thanks for your comment Aeryn, it was really appreciated. I do work hard on these posts, but I am only human and make the odd mistke. But what I will say is that Mexico on a map does look also like it is within central-America. Plus I have always had an understanding that Canada and the USA were the northern countries and Mexico was part of central-America. But I will accept your point of view. Thanks again. Mark
Hypnotic.Gaze
6:47 am on January 21st, 2009
Hallo there. I’m Mexican, yes, my country is on North America, sad thing we are so close to US lol.

I’ve been at Europe already and I will tell México is unique, lots of party, colorful, there is something magical with it, I think all Latinoamérica is full of happiness, people are kinder, warmer for sure.

You should come and drink Tequila, the real one. Don Julio i will recommend.
Mark Ramsay
4:54 pm on January 22nd, 2009
Fantastic comment thanks my friend, I work with a Mexican and he is cool. I have no plans to visit Mexico yet, but have been told its is a grest place to visit.
Mark Ramsay
4:59 pm on January 22nd, 2009
I will consider getting a Tequila, your English is very good to, thanks, Hypnotic Gaze. Love your site to.
Eli
5:48 pm on July 9th, 2009
Hi! Lovely article. I love the shoot from the plane, that city is just huge.

Yeah, Mexico is in North America. Ever heard of the NAFTA (North America Free Trade Act) that includes Canada, USA and Mexico? BTW Cuba is part of North America as well .

Central America starts with Guatemala and Belice. South America starts in Colombia all the way to Argentina .

It seems that some also consider central America as part of North America as a whole.
Mark
9:18 am on July 10th, 2009
Thankyou for the lovely comment Eli, I shall kindly take on board what you have said, thankyou again for this important information.
Francisco
10:10 am on March 17th, 2010
Hello there,

I believe that Mexico as a whole is one of the world’s most interesting countries and an attractive holiday destination; from Los Cabos to Cancun, there is to find great cuisine, lots of sightseeing places, nice weather, people, music and history. Although as Mexican I would advice against coming to the north bordering cities; apart from that, you’ll find this country very charming, dynamic and full of life. In Mexico City don’t miss the opportunity to pay a visit to the Chapultepec Castle and its surrounding area; then go westbound along Chapultepec Forest till the Pemex Fountain, where Reforma Avenue meets the outer beltway (Periférico) from that spot you get a taste of the constant movement the city lives in. Polanco is a nice borough with great night life; Reforma Avenue impresses with its width and makes you feel like everything there is colossal. Climb the Latinoamericana Tower at night, the city view with its brightness leaves you speechless and provides a hint of how vibrant is the city. Don’t forget the main square (Zócalo), the south of the city is full of lovely places as well, such as Coyoacán and Xochimilco.

Cheers!
Mark
11:40 am on March 17th, 2010
Many thanks Fransico, that was good of you to write down this information, I have taken it on board.
David
3:35 am on May 12th, 2011
Mexico is the third touristic destination in America (after USA and Brazil). It is indeed a very interesting country, with a unique cultural heritage and a very particular idiosyncrasy.

From a touristic point of view, Mexico has a lot to offer: from huge archaeological sites as Teotihuacan and Chichen-Itza, to world-class beach resorts as Cancun and Huatulco. You can find excellent places for scuba-diving, mountain-biking, paragliding, rock-climbing, and a large etcetera. Mexican cuisine is also an attraction for visitors, with dishes going from the exquisite European-influenced “chiles en nogada”, to the plainly-exotic “chapulines with guacamole”.

In respect to the comment of Aeryn about Mexico being “too quiet and boring”, well, I can show you places in Mexico City that can make you reconsider your definition of “excitement”. As a matter of fact, many such places can also be very dangerous, even for a native. And even when Mexico is “officially” considered to be part of North America, the Mayan region covering the states of Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Chiapas and Tabasco are geographically and culturally more linked to Central America.

Thanks Mark for providing this space.

Cheers.