什麼是墨西哥

西班牙語作México

正式名稱墨西哥合眾國（United Mexican States）

美洲南部共和國。東北部的格蘭德河與美國為界。面積1,958,201平方公里。人口約99,969,000（2001）。首都︰墨西哥城。約3/5到墨西哥人口是梅斯蒂索（mestizo），1/3為美洲印第安人，其餘為歐洲人後裔。語言︰西班牙語（官方語）；逾五十種印第安語。宗教︰天主教。貨幣︰墨西哥披索（Mex$）。墨西哥有兩個半島，東南方的猶加敦半島和西北方的下加利福尼亞半島。墨西哥高原形成該國的核心地區，四周被山嶺環抱︰西馬德雷山脈、東馬德雷山脈和科迪勒拉新火山，後者有該國最高峰錫特拉爾特佩特峰。墨西哥的混合經濟以農業、製造業和煉油為主。約1/8的土地是可耕地，主要的作物有玉蜀黍、小麥、稻米、豆類、棉花、水果和蔬菜。為世界最大銀、鉍、天青石產國，而其原油儲量佔世界第七位。製造業包括了食品加工、化工、運輸車輛和電機制品。政府形式為共和國，兩院制。國家元首暨政府首腦是總統。

該地區在兩萬多年前就有人定居，西元100～900年發展出許多偉大的文明，包括奧爾梅克人、托爾特克人、馬雅人以及阿茲特克人。1521年西班牙探險家科爾特斯征服了阿茲特克人，在阿茲特克人的首都特諾奇蒂特蘭的位置上建起了墨西哥城。1526年蒙特霍（F. de Montejo）征服了馬雅文明的剩餘部分，墨西哥成為新西班牙總督轄區的一部分。1821年造反者們通過談判脫離西班牙而獨立，1823年新國會宣佈墨西哥為共和國。1845年美國通過投票決定兼併德克薩斯，開始了墨西哥戰爭。根據1848年的「瓜達盧佩伊達爾戈和約」，墨西哥割讓了大片領土，即如今美國的西部和西南部。19世紀末和20世紀初，墨西哥政府承受了數次造反和內戰（參閱Mexican Revolution）。第二次世界大戰期間，墨西哥向軸心國宣戰（1942），戰後，它是聯合國（1945）和美洲國家組織（1948）的建立成員。1993年它批准了北美自由貿易協定。2000年福克斯（V. Fox）贏得了大選，結束了革命制度黨七十一年的統治。

Mexico

officiallyUnited Mexican StatesRepublic, southern North America. The Rio Grande forms part of its northeastern border with the U.S. Area: 756,066 sq mi (1,958,201 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 94,270,000. Capital: Mexico City. About three-fifths of Mexico's population is mestizo, one-third is American Indian, and the rest are of European ancestry. Languages: Spanish (official); more than 50 Indian languages are spoken. Religion: Roman Catholicism. Currency: Mexican peso. Mexico has two major peninsulas, the Yucatán in the southeast and Baja California in the northwest. The high Mexican Plateau forms the core of the country and is enclosed by mountain ranges: the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. The last has the nation's highest peak, the volcano Citlaltépetl. Mexico has a mixed economy based on agriculture, manufacturing, and petroleum extraction. About one-eighth of the land is arable; its major crops include corn, wheat, rice, beans, coffee, cotton, fruits, and vegetables. It is the world's largest producer of silver, bismuth, and celestite, and its crude-oil reserves rank seventh in the world. Manufactures include processed foods, chemicals, transport vehicles, and electrical machinery. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state and head of government is the president. Inhabited for more than 20,000 years, the area produced great civilizations in AD 100-900, including the Olmec, Toltec, Mayan, and Aztec. The Aztec were conquered in 1521 by Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes, who established Mexico City on the site of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Francisco de Montejo conquered the remnants of Maya civilization in 1526, and Mexico became part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 rebels negotiated a status quo independence from Spain, and in 1823 a new congress declared Mexico a republic. In 1845 the U.S. voted to annex Texas, initiating the Mexican War. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, it ceded a vast territory in what is now the western and southwestern U.S. The Mexican government endured several rebellions and civil wars in the late 19th and early 20th century (see Mexican Revolution). During World War II it declared war on the Axis powers (1942), and in the postwar era it was a founding member of the United Nations (1945) and the Organization of American States (1948). In 1993 it ratified the North American Free Trade Agreement. The election of Vicente Fox (2000) ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.