183-522: The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River , or Atoyac River ) is a major river of south-central Mexico . The basin flows through the states of Guerrero , México , Morelos , and Puebla . Downstream of Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero , it forms the border between Guerrero and Michoacán . The river flows through the Sierra Madre del Sur , and empties into
366-548: A constitutional monarch from Europe. When no member of a European royal house desired the position, Iturbide himself was declared Emperor Agustín I. The United States was the first country to recognize Mexico's independence, sending an ambassador to the court and sending a message to Europe via the Monroe Doctrine not to intervene in Mexico. The emperor's rule was short (1822–1823) and he was overthrown by army officers in
549-491: A major conflict with the Catholic Church and Catholic guerrilla armies when he strictly enforced anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution which ended with an agreement. Although the constitution prohibited the reelection of the president, Obregón wished to run again and the constitution was amended to allow non-consecutive re-election and won the 1928 elections but was assassinated by a Catholic activist, causing
732-463: A Spanish encomendero who was awarded the labor and tribute of that town. In this early period, the hereditary indigenous ruler or tlatoani and noblemen continued to hold power locally and were key to mobilizing tribute and labor for encomenderos. They also continued to hold titles from the pre-conquest period. Most willing accepted baptism so that records for this period show Nahua elites with Christian given names (indicating baptism) and many holding
915-526: A Zapotec who became president of Mexico, was fully in support of laws to end corporate landholding. The outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in Morelos, which still had a significant Nahua population, was sparked by peasant resistance to the expansion of sugar estates. This was preceded in the nineteenth century by smaller Indigenous revolts against encroachment, particularly during the civil war of
1098-495: A decade of civil war, the "wind that swept Mexico." The Mexican Revolution was a decade-long transformational conflict. It began with scattered uprisings against President Díaz after the fraudulent 1910 election, his resignation in May 1911, demobilization of rebel forces, an interim presidency of a member of the old guard and the democratic election of a rich, civilian landowner, Francisco I. Madero in fall 1911. In February 1913 ,
1281-790: A foreign language". Another, related term is Nāhuatlācatl [naːwaˈt͡ɬaːkat͡ɬ] (singular) or Nāhuatlācah [naːwaˈt͡ɬaːkaʔ] ( plural ) literally "Nahuatl-speaking people". The Nahuas are also sometimes referred to as Aztecs . Using this term for the Nahuas has generally fallen out of favor in scholarship, though it is still used for the Aztec Empire . They have also been called Mēxihcatl [meːˈʃiʔkat͡ɬ] (singular), Mēxihcah [meːˈʃiʔkaʔ] (plural) or in Spanish Mexicano(s) [mexiˈkano(s)] " Mexicans ", after
1464-407: A function of elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather systems. Maritime air masses bring seasonal precipitation from May until August. Many parts of Mexico, particularly the north, have a dry climate with only sporadic rainfall, while parts of the tropical lowlands in the south average more than 2,000 mm (78.7 in) of annual precipitation. For example, many cities in
1647-482: A last will and testament to a local Nahua notary ( escribano ) became standard. These wills provide considerable information about individuals' residence, kin relations, and property ownership provides a window into social standing, differences between the sexes, and business practices at the local level. showing not only that literacy of some elite men in alphabetic writing in Nahuatl was a normal part of everyday life at
1830-645: A military coup d'état overthrew Madero's government, with the support of the U.S., resulting in Madero's murder by agents of Federal Army General Victoriano Huerta . During the Revolution, the U.S. Republican administration of Taft supported the Huerta coup against Madero, but when Democrat Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as president in March 1913, Wilson refused to recognize Huerta's regime and allowed arms sales to
2013-458: A natural southern border between Mexico and Guatemala. The climate of Mexico is varied due to the country's size and topography. Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the Tropic of Cancer experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the Tropic of Cancer, temperatures are fairly constant year-round and vary solely as
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#17327764482902196-530: A new Constitution of 1857 , separating Church and State, stripping the Church and the military of their special privileges ( fueros ); mandating the sale of Church-owned property and sale of indigenous community lands, and secularizing education. Conservatives revolted, touching off civil war between rival Liberal and Conservative governments (1858–1861). The Liberals defeated the Conservative army on
2379-876: A new concession was given by the Government of Mexico for this purpose. The proposal was to use the river for passengers and freight from the point of crossing of the Acapulco Trail to the Pacific Ocean, over the river length of about 300 miles. Initially a 25-foot boat was commissioned at Balsas railroad bridge station by Gullermo Niven , a business man in Mexico City who set out to establish its feasibility in November/December 1911. He had carried recommendation letters from President Madero of Mexico to important persons in towns and villages on
2562-508: A new generation of leaders. But his announcement set off a frenzy of political activity, including the unlikely candidacy of the scion of a rich landowning family, Francisco I. Madero . Madero won a surprising amount of political support when Díaz changed his mind and ran in the election, jailing Madero. The September centennial celebration of independence was the last celebration of the Porfiriato . The Mexican Revolution starting in 1910 saw
2745-561: A peaceful political solution, but the coalition splintered, plunging Mexico again into a civil war. Constitutionalist general Pancho Villa , commander of the Division of the North, broke with Carranza and allied with Zapata. Carranza's best general Alvaro Obregón defeated Villa, his former comrade-in-arms in the Battle of Celaya in 1915, and Villa's northern forces melted away Carranza became
2928-572: A period of large population movements followed and some Nahua groups such as the Pipil and Nicarao arrived as far south as northwestern Costa Rica . And in central Mexico different Nahua groups based in their different "Altepetl" city-states fought for political dominance. The Xochimilca, based in Xochimilco ruled an area south of Lake Texcoco ; the Tepanecs ruled the area to the west and
3111-448: A plurality of around 38% and did not have a legislative majority. During the twenty-first century, Mexico has contended with high crime rates , bureaucratic corruption , narcotrafficking , and a stagnant economy. Many state-owned industrial enterprises were privatized starting in the 1990s with neoliberal reforms, but Pemex , the state-owned petroleum company is only slowly being privatized, with exploration licenses being issued. In
3294-557: A political crisis of succession. Calles could not become president again, so he sought to set up a structure to manage presidential succession, founding the Institutional Revolutionary Party , which went on to dominate Mexico for the rest of the 20th century. Despite not holding the presidency, Calles remained the key political figure during the period known as the Maximato (1929–1934), that ended during
3477-600: A population of 20,000 in 2006. However, DNA analysis has also proven that the Nahua admixture in the modern Nicaraguan gene pool is much higher than expected, especially among Nicaraguan Mestizos . Fully indigenous Nahuas are mainly located in Rivas , Jinotega , and Sébaco , however they can also be found all over the western half of Nicaragua through their mestizo offspring. Nawat is extinct here. Many Nahua are agriculturists. They practice various forms of cultivation including
3660-520: A process known as composición . The crown had mandated minimum land holdings for indigenous communities at 600 varas , in property that was known as the fundo legal [ es ] , and to separate indigenous communities from Spanish lands by more than 1,100 varas. Towns were to have access to water, uplands for gathering firewood, and agricultural land, as well as common lands for pasturage. Despite these mandated legal protections for Indian towns, courts continued to find in favor of Spaniards and
3843-402: A push against government corruption, the ex-CEO of Pemex, Emilio Lozoya Austin , was arrested in 2020. After founding the new political party MORENA , Andrés Manuel López Obrador (commonly known as AMLO) won the 2018 presidential election with over 50% of the vote. His political coalition, led by his left-wing party founded after the 2012 elections, included parties and politicians from across
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#17327764482904026-619: A shift towards neoliberal policies, exemplified by the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, amidst unrest in Chiapas . Mexico is a newly industrialized and developing country , with the world's 12th-largest economy by nominal GDP and 12th-largest by PPP . Mexico ranks first in the Americas and seventh in the world by the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . It
4209-466: A signatory of the Plan of Iguala that achieved independence, became president in a disputed election. During his short term in office, from April to December 1829, he abolished slavery. His Conservative vice president, former Royalist General Anastasio Bustamante , led a coup against him and Guerrero was judicially murdered . Mexico's ability to maintain its independence and establish a viable government
4392-520: A system of parallel voting that includes plurality and proportional representation . The Chamber of Deputies has 500 deputies. Of these, 300 are elected by plurality vote in single-member districts (the federal electoral districts ) and 200 are elected by proportional representation with closed party lists for which the country is divided into five electoral constituencies. The Senate comprises 128 senators: 64 (two for each state and two for Mexico City) are elected by plurality vote in pairs, 32 are
4575-476: Is a 149 m rock fill embankment dam with a narrow central core. It is located on the Balsas River about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Mexico City. Its height is about 148 m, crest length is 344 m, and the base width from the upstream toe to the downstream toe is 570 m. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 7,090 million m. This is the largest hydropower project in Mexico which is also expected to reduce
4758-866: Is a member 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 . Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire , namely
4941-815: Is also one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries , ranking fifth in natural biodiversity . It is a major tourist destination: as of 2022, it is the sixth most-visited country in the world , with 42.2 million international arrivals. Mexico's large economy and population, global cultural influence, and steady democratization make it a regional and middle power , increasingly identifying as an emerging power . Mexico has made significant political and socioeconomic gains in recent decades. However, as with much of Latin America , Mexico continues to struggle with poverty , systemic corruption , and extensive crime . Since 2006, an ongoing conflict between drug trafficking syndicates has led to over 127,000 deaths. Mexico
5124-695: Is considered one of the six independent cradles of civilization , this era saw the origin of distinct cultural traits such as religious and symbolic traditions, maize cultivation, artistic and architectural complexes as well as a vigesimal (base 20) numeric system that spread from the Mexican cultures to the rest of the Mesoamerican cultural area. In this period, villages became more dense in terms of population, becoming socially stratified with an artisan class, and developing into chiefdoms . The most powerful rulers had religious and political power, organizing
5307-494: Is derived from the Nahuatl word-root nāhua- [ˈnaːwa-] , which generally means "audible, intelligible, clear" with different derivations including "language" (hence nāhuat(i) [ˈnaːwat(i)] "to speak clearly" and nāhuatl [ˈnaːwat͡ɬ] both "something that makes an agreeble sound" and "someone who speaks well or speak one's own language"). It was used in contrast with popoloca [popoˈloka] , "to speak unintelligibly" or "speak
5490-477: Is endangered, but undergoing a revival. In Honduras , different sources give estimates of 6,339 and 19,800 persons of Nahua ethnicity. They are concentrated in Olancho , in the municipalities of Catacamas , Gualaco , Guata , Jano and Esquipulas del Norte . Nawat is extinct here. In Nicaragua , the 2005 census counted 11,113 persons of Nicarao ethnicity. The International Labour Organization estimated
5673-438: Is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity. Mexico ranks first in biodiversity in reptiles with 707 known species, second in mammals with 438 species , fourth in amphibians with 290 species, and fourth in flora, with 26,000 different species. Mexico is also considered the second country in the world in ecosystems and fourth in overall species. About 2,500 species are protected by Mexican legislation. In 2002 , Mexico had
Balsas River - Misplaced Pages Continue
5856-523: Is incompatible with agriculture due to aridity, soil, or terrain. In 2018, an estimated 54.9% of land is agricultural; 11.8% is arable; 1.4% is in permanent crops; 41.7% is permanent pasture; and 33.3% is forest. Mexico is irrigated by several rivers, with the longest being the Rio Grande , which serves as a natural eastern border with the United States. The Usumacinta River in turn, serves as
6039-486: Is known that successive communities of Yopis , Nahuatl -speaking Cohuixcas, Matlatzincas , Chontales , Tlahuicas and Xochimilcas have lived in the region, archeological excavations in the area have yet to establish the hierarchical succession of the various communities. During the period of 1300-1500 CE the region between the lower Balsas river valley and the Lerma-Santiago River fell under control of
6222-613: Is less than 5%. The largest concentrations of Nahuatl speakers are found in the states of Puebla , Veracruz , Hidalgo , San Luis Potosí , and Guerrero . Significant populations are also found in México State , Morelos , and the Mexican Federal District , with smaller communities in Michoacán and Durango . Nahuatl was formerly spoken in the states of Jalisco and Colima , where it became extinct during
6405-481: Is nearly 250% greater than that reported by INEGI. As of 2020, Nahuatl is spoken across Mexico by an estimated 1.6 million people, including 111,797 monolingual speakers. This is an increase from 1.4 million people speakers total but a decrease from 190,000 monolingual speakers in 2000. The state of Guerrero had the highest ratio of monolingual Nahuatl speakers, calculated at 24.8%, based on 2000 census figures. The proportion of monolinguals for most other states
6588-401: Is no known prehispanic precedent for this textual form and none appears before 1650. Several factors might be at work for the appearance of titles. One might be a resurgence of indigenous population after decades recovering from devastating epidemics when communities might have been less concerned with Spanish encroachment. Another might be the crown's push to regularize defective land titles via
6771-566: Is now referred to as the Mexican Dirty War . In the 1980s the first cracks emerged in the PRI's complete political dominance. In Baja California , the PAN candidate was elected as governor. When De la Madrid chose Carlos Salinas de Gortari as the candidate for the PRI, and therefore a foregone presidential victor, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas , son of former President Lázaro Cárdenas , broke with
6954-706: Is of the Tlapanec River, with tributaries originating in the mountains such as the Oaxaca Mixteca. It is joined by the Amacuzac River fed by streams around Xonacantapec volcano and by the San Jeronimo and Chontalcoatlan rivers. The last two rivers originate around Popocatepetl volcano and flow through the State of Morelos. With a length of some 771 kilometers (479 mi) the Balsas River
7137-484: Is one of Mexico's longest rivers. It originates at the confluence of the San Martin and Zahuapan Rivers as Atoyac River in the state of Puebla . From here it flows south-west and then westward, into a depression through the state of Guerrero , and discharges into the Pacific Ocean at 17°56′24″N 102°08′16″W / 17.94000°N 102.13778°W / 17.94000; -102.13778 . The climate of
7320-586: Is responsible for executing and enforcing the law and has the power to veto bills. The highest organ of the judicial branch of government is the Supreme Court of Justice , the national supreme court , which has eleven judges appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. The Supreme Court of Justice interprets laws and judges cases of federal competency. Other institutions of the judiciary are
7503-663: Is the world's 13th largest country by total area . It has coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California , as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea , the latter two forming part of the Atlantic Ocean . Within these seas are about 6,000 km (2,317 sq mi) of islands (including the remote Pacific Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands ). Almost all of Mexico lies in
Balsas River - Misplaced Pages Continue
7686-459: The 2024 presidential election in a landslide and upon taking office in October became the first woman to lead the country in Mexico's history. She was sworn in as Mexico's president on 1 October 2024. Mexico is located between latitudes 14° and 33°N , and longitudes 86° and 119°W in the southern portion of North America, with a total area of 1,972,550 km (761,606 sq mi),
7869-586: The Acolhua ruled an area to the east of the valley. One of the last of the Nahua migrations to arrive in the valley settled on an island in the Lake Texcoco and proceeded to subjugate the surrounding tribes. This group were the Mexica who during the next 300 years became the dominant ethnic group of Mesoamerica ruling from Tenochtitlan their island capital. They formed the Aztec Empire after allying with
8052-599: The Archdiocese of Mexico in 1546, with the archbishop as the head of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Castilian Spanish was the language of rulers. The Catholic faith was the only one permitted, with non-Catholics and Catholics (excluding Indians) holding unorthodox views being subject to the Mexican Inquisition , established in 1571. Spanish military forces, sometimes accompanied by native allies, led expeditions to conquer territory or quell rebellions through
8235-664: The Constitution to allow the Mexican Army, Air Force or Navy to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions , or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it. The Mexican Federal Police was dissolved in 2019 by a constitutional amendment during the administration of President López Obrador and the Mexican National Guard established, amalgamating units of
8418-903: The Cordillera Neo-Volcánica , the Gulf Coastal Plain , the Southern Highlands, and the Yucatán Peninsula . An important geologic feature of the Yucatán peninsula is the Chicxulub crater , the scientific consensus is that the Chicxulub impactor was responsible for the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event . Although Mexico is large (a little over 2,000 mi (3,219 km) in length from its farthest land points), much of its land mass
8601-865: The Council of the Indies based in Spain to oversee State power in its overseas territories; in New Spain the crown established a high court in Mexico City, the Real Audiencia ('royal audience' or 'royal tribunal'), and then in 1535 created the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The viceroy was the highest official of the State. In the religious sphere, the Diocese of Mexico was created in 1530 and elevated to
8784-736: The Federal Electoral Tribunal , collegiate, unitary, and district tribunals, and the Council of the Federal Judiciary. Three parties have historically been the dominant parties in Mexican politics: the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a catch-all party and member of the Socialist International that was founded in 1929 to unite all the factions of the Mexican Revolution and held an almost hegemonic power in Mexican politics since then;
8967-449: The Indigenous people of Mexico , with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Nicaragua , and Costa Rica . They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico. They are a Mesoamerican ethnicity. The Mexica ( Aztecs ) are of Nahua ethnicity , as are their historical enemies, the Tlaxcallans (Tlaxcaltecs). The Toltecs which predated both groups are often thought to have been Nahua as well. However, in
9150-614: The Mexica , the Nahua tribe which founded the Aztec Empire . At the turn of the 16th century, Nahua populations occupied territories ranging across Mesoamerica as far south as Panama . However, their core area was Central Mexico , including the Valley of Mexico , the Toluca Valley , the eastern half of the Balsas River basin, and modern-day Tlaxcala and most of Puebla , although other linguistic and ethnic groups lived in these areas as well. They were also present in large numbers in El Salvador , Nicaragua , southeastern Veracruz , and Colima and coastal Michoacan . Classical Nahuatl
9333-423: The Mexican peso crisis , requiring a $ 50 billion IMF bailout. Major macroeconomic reforms were started by Zedillo, and the economy rapidly recovered and growth peaked at almost 7% by the end of 1999. After 71 years of rule, the incumbent PRI lost the 2000 presidential election to Vicente Fox of the opposing conservative National Action Party (PAN). In the 2006 presidential election , Felipe Calderón from
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#17327764482909516-445: The Mexicanero people (who speak a Nahuatl variant) in this area until the present day affirms this theory. Before the Nahuas entered Mesoamerica, they were probably living for a while in northwestern Mexico alongside the Cora and Huichol peoples. The first group of Nahuas to split from the main group were the Pochutec who went on to settle on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca possibly as early as 400 CE. From c. 600 CE
9699-486: The Nahuas who form the majority group. Seven hydropower projects are envisaged on the Balsas River. The two major projects are the La Villita and El Infiernello (in Michoacan). The Carlos Ramirez Ulloa (El Caracol) project is being developed in the Guerrero and four others are planned for the future. Water management has received due attention of the Government of Mexico over the past several decades. It included more efficient water use and aimed to meet water supply needs of
9882-446: The National Action Party (PAN), a conservative party founded in 1939 and belonging to the Christian Democrat Organization of America ; and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) a left-wing party, founded in 1989 as the successor of the coalition of socialists and liberal parties. The foreign relations of Mexico are directed by the President of Mexico and managed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . The principles of
10065-484: The North American Plate , with small parts of the Baja California peninsula on the Pacific and Cocos Plates . Geophysically , some geographers include the territory east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (around 12% of the total) within Central America. Geopolitically , however, Mexico is entirely considered part of North America, along with Canada and the United States. The majority of Mexican central and northern territories are located at high altitudes, and as such
10248-440: The Plan of Casa Mata . After the forced abdication of the monarch, Central America and Chiapas left the union to form the Federal Republic of Central America . In 1824, the First Mexican Republic was established. Former insurgent General Guadalupe Victoria became the first president of the republic — the first of many army generals to hold the presidency. In 1829, former insurgent general and fierce Liberal Vicente Guerrero ,
10431-416: The Seven Years' War . It created a standing military, increased coastal fortifications, and expanded the northern presidios and missions into Alta California . The volatility of the urban poor in Mexico City was evident in the 1692 riot in the Zócalo. The riot over the price of maize escalated to a full-scale attack on the seats of power, with the viceregal palace and the archbishop's residence attacked by
10614-433: The Spanish Empire in 1821 and became a sovereign state the Intendency came to be known as the State of Mexico , with the new country being named after its capital: Mexico City . The country's official name has changed as the form of government has changed. The declaration of independence signed on 6 November 1813 by the deputies of the Congress of Anáhuac called the territory América Septentrional (Northern America);
10797-440: The Valley of Mexico and surrounding territories, with its people being known as the Mexica . It is generally believed that the toponym for the valley was the origin of the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance , but it may have been the other way around. In the colonial era (1521–1821) when Mexico was known as New Spain this central region became the Intendency of Mexico . After New Spain achieved independence from
10980-479: The Yucatán Peninsula ), have a yearly median temperature between 24 and 28 °C (75.2 and 82.4 °F). Temperatures here remain high throughout the year, with only a 5 °C (9 °F) difference between winter and summer median temperatures. The Pacific coast is subject to natural hazards such as tsunamis and both Mexican coasts with the exception of the south coast of the Bay of Campeche and northern Baja California are vulnerable to serious hurricanes during
11163-422: The foreign policy are constitutionally recognized in the Article 89, Section 10, which include: respect for international law and legal equality of states , their sovereignty and independence , trend to non-interventionism in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts , and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organizations . Since
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#173277644829011346-460: The 1821 Plan of Iguala also used América Septentrional. On two occasions (1821–1823 and 1863–1867), the country was known as Imperio Mexicano ( Mexican Empire ). All three federal constitutions (1824, 1857, and 1917, the current constitution) used the name Estados Unidos Mexicanos —or the variant Estados-Unidos Mexicanos , all of which have been translated as "United Mexican States". The phrase República Mexicana , "Mexican Republic",
11529-446: The 1824 constitution and promulgating the Seven Laws , which placed power in his hands. As a result, civil war spread across the country. Three new governments declared independence: the Republic of Texas , the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of Yucatán . The largest blow to Mexico was the U.S. invasion of Mexico in 1846 in the Mexican–American War . Mexico lost much of its sparsely populated northern territory, sealed in
11712-486: The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo . Despite that disastrous loss, Santa Anna returned to the presidency yet again before being ousted and exiled in the Liberal Revolution of Ayutla . The overthrow of Santa Anna and the establishment of a civilian government by Liberals allowed them to enact laws that they considered vital for Mexico's economic development. The Liberal Reform attempted to modernize Mexico's economy and institutions along liberal principles. They promulgated
11895-456: The 1920 presidential election. Since Carranza could not run for re-election, he chose a civilian to succeed him, intending to remain the power behind the presidency. Obregón and two other Sonoran revolutionary generals drew up the Plan of Agua Prieta , overthrowing Carranza, who died fleeing Mexico City in 1920. General Adolfo de la Huerta became interim president, followed by the election of General Álvaro Obregón . The first quarter-century of
12078-421: The 1930s, the Estrada Doctrine has served as a crucial complement to these principles. Mexico is a founding member of several international organizations, most notably the United Nations, the Organization of American States , the Organization of Ibero-American States , the OPANAL and the CELAC . In 2008, Mexico contributed over 40 million dollars to the United Nations regular budget. In addition, it
12261-404: The 1990s. The communities, while retaining their individualities, show close linguistic, kinship, and cultural relationships - revealed, for example, when they perform the rituals of patronal feasts. The upper Balsas River basin includes the State of Puebla, the States of Mexico, Morelos, and the Guerrero Mountain Zone, as well as several river systems of the Mesa Central plateau. The main system
12444-429: The 20th century. As a result of internal migrations within the country, all Mexican states today have some isolated pockets and groups of Nahuatl speakers. The modern influx of Mexican workers and families into the United States has resulted in the establishment of a few small Nahuatl-speaking communities, particularly in Texas , New York and California . 64.3% of Nahuatl speakers are literate in Spanish compared with
12627-511: The Aztec Empire began in February 1519 when Hernán Cortés founded the Spanish city of Veracruz . The 1521 capture of Tenochtitlan and posterior founding of the Spanish capital Mexico City on its ruins was the beginning of a 300-year-long colonial era during which Mexico was known as Nueva España ( New Spain ). Two factors made Mexico a jewel in the Spanish Empire: the existence of large, hierarchically organized Mesoamerican populations that rendered tribute and performed obligatory labor and
12810-441: The Aztec Empire , which established the colony of New Spain centered in the former capital, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City ). The Mexican War of Independence in the early 19th century was followed by political and socioeconomic upheaval. The Mexican–American War resulted in significant territorial losses in 1848. Liberal reforms introduced in the Constitution of 1857 prompted domestic conflict, French intervention , and
12993-415: The Balsas River basin to the Lerma River Basin and the Valley of Mexico. It aimed to meet the growing drinking-water needs of Mexico City, which is about 130 km from the basin. Such transfers are expected to create water-sharing disputes among the basin states in the future. The navigation of this river by shallow-draft steamers was initially promoted for the development of the Guerrero area, and in 1911
13176-471: The Balsas River valley are noted for their bark paintings , often depicting flowers and wildlife. 17°56′25″N 102°08′10″W / 17.94028°N 102.13611°W / 17.94028; -102.13611 Mexico Mexico , officially the United Mexican States , is a country in the southern portion of North America . Covering 1,972,550 km (761,610 sq mi), it is
13359-594: The Christian religion without the authorities' noticing it. Often they kept practicing their own religion in the privacy of their homes, especially in rural areas where Spanish presence was almost completely lacking and the conversion process was slow. The Nahua quickly took the Latin alphabetic writing as their own. Within 20 years of the arrival of the Spanish, the Nahua were composing texts in their own language. In 1536
13542-615: The Conquest in 1992. He divides the colonial history of the Nahua into three stages largely based on linguistic evidence in local-level Nahuatl sources, which he posits are an index of the degree of interaction between Spaniards and Nahuas and changes in Nahua culture. An overview of the Nahuas of colonial Central Mexico can be found in the Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas . The early period saw
13725-701: The Constitutionalists. Wilson ordered troops to occupy the strategic port of Veracruz in 1914, which was lifted. A coalition of anti-Huerta forces in the North, the Constitutional Army led by Governor of Coahuila Venustiano Carranza , and a peasant army in the South under Emiliano Zapata defeated the Federal Army in 1914, leaving only revolutionary forces. Following the revolutionaries' victory against Huerta, they sought to broker
13908-662: The Crown's monopoly of revenue, only two ports were open to foreign trade—Veracruz on the Atlantic (connecting to Spain ) and Acapulco on the Pacific (connecting to the Philippines ). Among the best-known pirate attacks are the 1663 Sack of Campeche and 1683 Attack on Veracruz . Of greater concern to the crown was the issue of foreign invasion, especially after Britain seized in 1762 the Spanish ports of Havana and Manila in
14091-592: The Epi-Classic, Nahua peoples began moving south into Mesoamerica from the North, and became politically and culturally dominant in central Mexico, as they displaced speakers of Oto-Manguean languages . During the early post-classic era (ca. 1000–1519 AD), Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec , and the lowland Maya area had important centers at Chichén Itzá and Mayapán . Toward
14274-705: The Federal Police, Military Police, and Naval Police. As of 2022, the National Guard is estimated at 110,000. López Obrador has increasingly used military forces for domestic law enforcement, particularly against drug cartels. There have been serious abuses of power reported in security operations in the southern part of the country and in indigenous communities and poor urban neighborhoods. The National Human Rights Commission has had little impact in reversing this trend, engaging mostly in documentation but failing to use its powers to issue public condemnations to
14457-657: The French invaders and Liberalism became synonymous with patriotism. The Mexican Army that had its roots in the colonial royal army and then the army of the early republic was destroyed and new military leaders had emerged from the War of the Reform and the conflict with the French, most notably Porfirio Díaz , a hero of the Cinco de Mayo , who now sought civilian power and challenged Juárez on his re-election in 1867. Díaz then rebelled but
14640-472: The Indigenous people were far more marginalized in the post-independence period than during the colonial era. In the colonial era the crown had a paternalistic stance toward the Indigenous people, in essence according them special rights, a fuero , and giving support to structures in Indigenous towns and giving Indigenous people a level of protection against those who were not Indigenous. This can be seen in
14823-486: The Mexican government encouraged Anglo-American immigration into present-day Texas, a region that bordered that United States. Mexico by law was a Catholic country; the Anglo-Americans were primarily Protestant English speakers from the southern United States. Some brought their black slaves, which after 1829 was contrary to Mexican law. In 1835, Santa Anna sought to centralize government rule in Mexico, suspending
15006-528: The Mexican revolution met at a constitutional convention to draft the Constitution of 1917 , which was ratified in February 1917. The Constitution empowered the government to expropriate resources including land, gave rights to labor, and strengthened anticlerical provisions of the 1857 Constitution. With amendments, it remains the governing document of Mexico. It is estimated that the revolutionary war killed 900,000 people out of Mexico's 15 million population at
15189-602: The Nahua peoples originated near Aridoamerica , in regions of the present day Mexican states of Durango and Nayarit or the Bajío region. They split off from the other Uto-Aztecan speaking peoples and migrated into central Mexico around 500 CE. The Nahua then settled in and around the Basin of Mexico and spread out to become the dominant people in central Mexico. However, Nahuatl-speaking populations were present in smaller populations throughout Mesoamerica. The name Nahua
15372-444: The Nahua quickly rose to power in central Mexico and expanded into areas earlier occupied by Oto-Manguean , Totonacan and Huastec peoples. Through their integration in the Mesoamerican cultural area the Nahuas adopted many cultural traits including maize agriculture and urbanism, religious practices including a ritual calendar of 260 days and the practice of human sacrifices and the construction of monumental architecture and
15555-586: The National Guard, which was formed in 2019 from the disbanded Federal Police and military police of the Army and Navy. Figures vary on personnel, but as of are approximately 223,000 armed forces personnel (160,000 Army; 8,000 Air Force; 55,000 Navy, including about 20,000 Marines); approximately 100,000 National Guard (2021). Government expenditures on the military are a small proportion of GDP: 0.7% of GDP (2021 est.), 0.6% of GDP (2020). The Mexican Armed Forces maintain significant infrastructure, including facilities for
15738-602: The PAN was declared the winner, with a very narrow margin (0.58%) over leftist politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). López Obrador, however, contested the election and pledged to create an "alternative government". After twelve years, in the 2012 presidential election , the PRI again won the presidency with the election of Enrique Peña Nieto . However, he won with
15921-450: The PRI and challenged Salinas in the 1988 elections. In 1988 there was massive electoral fraud , with results showing that Salinas had won the election by the narrowest percentage ever. There were massive protests in Mexico City over the stolen election. Salinas took the oath of office on 1 December 1988. In 1990 the PRI was famously described by Mario Vargas Llosa as the "perfect dictatorship", but by then there had been major challenges to
16104-524: The PRI's hegemony. Salinas embarked on a program of neoliberal reforms that fixed the exchange rate of the peso, controlled inflation, opened Mexico to foreign investment, and began talks with the U.S. and Canada to join their free-trade agreement , which culminated in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on 1 January 1994; the same day, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas began armed peasant rebellion against
16287-422: The Pacific Ocean at Mangrove Point , adjacent to the city of Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán . Several rapids along the course of the Balsas River limit its navigability and thus the river has been largely used for generation of hydroelectric power , flood control and irrigation . The Balsas River valley was possibly one of the earliest maize growing sites in Mexico, dating from around 9200 years ago. Though it
16470-557: The Reforma, foreign intervention, and a weak state following the exit of the French in 1867. A number of Indigenous men had made a place for themselves in post-independence Mexico, the most prominent being Benito Juárez. But an important nineteenth-century figure of Nahua was Ignacio Manuel Altamirano (1834–1893), born in Tixtla, Guerrero who became a well respected liberal intellectual, man of letters, politician, and diplomat. Altamirano
16653-574: The Spaniards and chased them out of the city. The Spaniards sought refuge in Tlaxcala where they regrouped and awaited reinforcements. During the next year they cooperated with large Tlaxcaltec armies and undertook a siege campaign resulting in the final fall of Tenochtitlan. After the fall of Tenochtitlan Spanish forces now also allied with the Aztecs to incorporate all the previous Aztec provinces into
16836-418: The Spanish government in return for Tlaxcallan support during the overthrow of the Aztecs. Cahuantzi was active in promoting the preservation of indigenous culture and artifacts at a time when Mexican government policy was generally that of suppression. The Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata (1879–1919) was likely of mixed Nahua-Spanish heritage, with ancestry going back to the Nahua city of Mapaztlán, in
17019-570: The Spanish noble title don . A set of censuses in alphabetic Nahuatl for the Cuernavaca region c. 1535 gives us a baseline for the impact of Spanish on Nahuatl, showing few Spanish loanwords taken into Nahuatl. As the Spaniards sought to extend their political dominance into the most remote corners of Mesoamerica, the Nahua accompanied them as auxiliaries. In the early colonial period, new Nahua settlements were made in northern Mexico and far south into Central America. Nahua forces often formed
17202-569: The Tarascan- Purépecha Empire . According to the 1980 Census, 47,000 people lived along the Balsas river banks, spread over 37 communities, within the six municipalities of the region. Nahua peoples constitute 47% of the population, 15% are indigenous people (speaking four different languages), other large communities are Mixtec (23%) and Tlapanec (19%), and the balance 4% are Amuzgo . The population increased to 60,000 in
17385-509: The Tepanecs and Acolhua people of Texcoco, spreading the political and linguistic influence of the Nahuas well into Central America. In 1519 an expedition of Spaniards sailing from Cuba under the leadership of Hernán Cortés arrived on the Mexican gulf coast near the Totonac city of Quiyahuiztlan . The Totonacs were one of the peoples that were politically subjugated by the Aztecs and word
17568-476: The U.S. entered World War I. Although often viewed as an internal conflict, the revolution had significant international elements: Germany attempted to get Mexico to side with it, sending a coded telegram in 1917 to incite war between the U.S. and Mexico, with Mexico to regain the territory it lost in the Mexican-American War but Mexico remained neutral in the conflict. In 1916, the winners of
17751-524: The army for a short period were incorporated as sectors of the single party that dominated Mexican politics from its founding in 1929. Obregón instigated land reform and strengthened the power of organized labor. He gained recognition from the United States and took steps to settle claims with companies and individuals that lost property during the Revolution. He imposed his fellow former Sonoran revolutionary general, Calles, as his successor, prompting an unsuccessful military revolt. As president, Calles provoked
17934-415: The arts and sciences. Díaz ruled with a group of advisors that became known as the científicos ('scientists'). The most influential científico was Secretary of Finance José Yves Limantour . The Porfirian regime was influenced by positivism . They rejected theology and idealism in favor of scientific methods being applied towards national development. An integral aspect of the liberal project
18117-572: The basin varies from temperate to subtropical with mean annual temperatures between 12.5 and 28 °C. Rainfall in the basin is highly seasonal and some 90% of annual precipitation occurs between May and September, with 546 mm recorded in the arid areas of the valley and 1000–1600 mm further upstream in the highland lakes area. The Balsas River basin has witnessed much economic development. Through building dams these activities aimed at irrigation, generation of electricity, and improving agriculture and living conditions of indigenous people, mainly
18300-460: The battlefield, Lerdo fled from office into exile. After the turmoil in Mexico from 1810 to 1876, the 35-year rule of Liberal General Porfirio Díaz (r.1876–1911) allowed Mexico to rapidly modernize in a period characterized as one of " order and progress ". The Porfiriato was characterized by economic stability and growth, significant foreign investment and influence, an expansion of the railroad network and telecommunications, and investments in
18483-490: The battlefield, but Conservatives sought another solution to gain power via foreign intervention by the French, asking Emperor Napoleon III to place a European monarch as head of state in Mexico. The French Army defeated the Mexican Army and placed Maximilian Habsburg on the newly established throne of Mexico, supported by Mexican Conservatives and propped up by the French Army. The Liberal Republic under Benito Juárez
18666-505: The best stratigraphy. Recent debates among scientists center on where exactly in the Balsas River valley this type of teosinte ( Zea mays ssp. parviglumis ) grew in times past, when corn was domesticated. During the Purépecha period, the people of the valley created many items of red-slipped buff-colored pottery, painted in white, cream, or red and made many ceramic pipes and tools using bronze alloys. The indigenous Amerindians inhabiting
18849-638: The bulk of the Spanish military expeditions that conquered other Mesoamerican peoples, such as the Maya , Zapotecs , and Mixtecs . With the arrival of Christian missionaries, the first priority of the colonial authorities was eradicating indigenous religious practices, something they achieved by a combination of violence and threats of violence, and patient education. Nahua were baptized with Spanish names. The Nahua who did not abandon their religious practices were severely punished or executed. The Nahua, however, often incorporated pre-Christian practices and beliefs into
19032-608: The capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons, but abandoned this possibility with the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1968 and pledged to use its nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes. Mexico signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons . Historically, Mexico has remained neutral in international conflicts, with the exception of World War II . However, in recent years some political parties have proposed an amendment of
19215-556: The closer contact between the European sphere and the indigenous. However, Nahuatl verbs and syntax show no evidence of the impact of Spanish contact. In the mid-sixteenth century, cultural change at the local level can be tracked through the production of Nahuatl alphabetic texts. The production of a wide range of written documents in Nahuatl dates from this period, including legal documents for transactions (bills of sale), minutes of indigenous town council ( cabildo ) records, petitions to
19398-626: The colonial era. Notable Amerindian revolts in sporadically populated northern New Spain include the Chichimeca War (1576–1606), Tepehuán Revolt (1616–1620), and the Pueblo Revolt (1680), the Tzeltal Rebellion of 1712 was a regional Maya revolt. Most rebellions were small-scale and local, posing no major threat to the ruling elites. To protect Mexico from the attacks of English, French, and Dutch pirates and protect
19581-520: The colonial period. An important set of cabildo records in Nahuatl for Tlaxcala is extant and shows how local government functioned in for nearly a century. Regarding religion, by the mid- to late 16th century, even the most zealous mendicants of the first generation doubted the capacity of Nahua men to become Christian priests so that the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco ceased to function to that end and in 1555 Indians were barred from ordination to
19764-460: The community. The indigenous communities continued to function as political entities, but there was greater fragmentation of units as dependent villages ( sujetos ) of the main settlement ( cabecera ) sought full, independent status themselves. Indigenous officials were no longer necessarily noblemen. With the achievement of Mexican independence in 1821, the casta system, which divided the population into racial categories with differential rights,
19947-636: The construction of large ceremonial centers. The earliest complex civilization in Mexico was the Olmec culture, which flourished on the Gulf Coast from around 1500 BC. Olmec cultural traits diffused through Mexico into other formative-era cultures in Chiapas, Oaxaca, and the Valley of Mexico. In the subsequent pre-classical period , the Maya and Zapotec civilizations developed complex centers at Calakmul and Monte Albán , respectively. During this period
20130-481: The country due to recent population movements within Mexico. Within the last 50 years, Nahua populations have appeared in the United States, particularly in New York City , Los Angeles , and Houston . Archaeological, historical and linguistic evidence suggest that the Nahuas originally came from the deserts of northern Mexico ( Aridoamerica ) and migrated into central Mexico in several waves. The presence of
20313-415: The country; temperate humid and sub-humid being found mostly on pastures at an elevation of 1,800 meters and higher in central Mexico and cold climate usually found at an elevation of 3,500 meters and beyond. Most of the country's territory has a temperate to dry climate. Areas south of the Tropic of Cancer with elevations up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) (the southern parts of both coastal plains as well as
20496-454: The crown, and others. Institutionally, indigenous town government shifted from the rule of the tlatoani and noblemen to the establishment of Spanish-style town councils ( cabildos ), with officers holding standard Spanish titles. A classic study of sixteenth-century Tlaxcala, the main ally of the Spaniards in the conquest of the Mexica, shows that much of the prehispanic structure continued into
20679-479: The de facto head of Mexico, and the U.S. recognized his government while Zapata's forces in the south reverted to guerrilla warfare. After Pancho Villa was defeated by revolutionary forces in 1915, he led an incursion raid into Columbus, New Mexico , prompting the U.S. to send 10,000 troops led by General John J. Pershing in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Villa. Carranza pushed back against U.S. troops being in northern Mexico. The expeditionary forces withdrew as
20862-563: The design, research, and testing of weapons, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, defense systems and electronics; military industry manufacturing centers for building such systems, and advanced naval dockyards that build heavy military vessels and advanced missile technologies. Since the 1990s, when the military escalated its role in the war on drugs , increasing importance has been placed on acquiring airborne surveillance platforms, aircraft, helicopters , digital war-fighting technologies, urban warfare equipment and rapid troop transport. Mexico has
21045-590: The discovery of vast silver deposits in northern Mexico. The Kingdom of New Spain was created from the remnants of the Aztec empire. The two pillars of Spanish rule were the State and the Roman Catholic Church, both under the authority of the Spanish crown. In 1493 the pope had granted sweeping powers to the Spanish monarchy for its overseas empire, with the proviso that the crown spread Christianity in its new realms. In 1524, King Charles I created
21228-551: The enactment of a new Water Law in the country, a Master Plan was developed in 1975 covering 13 hydrological regions (102 subregions). River Basin Councils were established, and 25 are currently in position out of the 26 planned. The Balsas River has a discharge of 15–17 m/s during the lean flow season. The steep slope of the river in a stretch of 30 km creates an elevation difference of 1200 m, providing excellent opportunities for hydropower development. Initially, 120 MW of power
21411-678: The end of the post-Classic period, the Aztecs (or Mexica ) established dominance, establishing a political and economic empire based in the city of Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City ), extending from central Mexico to the border with Guatemala. Although the Spanish Empire had established colonies in the Caribbean starting in 1493 the Spanish first learned of Mexico during the Juan de Grijalva expedition of 1518. The Spanish conquest of
21594-481: The establishment of an Empire , countered by the Republican resistance led by Benito Juárez . The rise of Porfirio Díaz 's dictatorship in the 19th century sparked the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which led to profound changes, such as the 1917 Constitution . Over the 20th century, Mexico experienced significant economic growth ; as well as issues of repression and electoral fraud . The late 20th century saw
21777-776: The establishment of the General Indian Court where Indigenous towns and individual Indigenous people could sue those making incursions on their land and other abuses. These protections disappeared in the national period. One scholar has characterized the early national period of Nahua people and other Indigenous people "as the beginning of a systematic policy of cultural genocide and the increasing loss of native languages." Lack of official recognition and both economic and cultural pressures meant that most Indigenous peoples in Central Mexico became more Europeanized and many became Spanish speakers. In 19th-century Mexico,
21960-766: The extension of the Rocky Mountains from northern North America crossed the country from north to south and a fourth mountain range, the Sierra Madre del Sur , runs from Michoacán to Oaxaca . The Mexican territory is prone to volcanism . Mexico has nine distinct regions: Baja California , the Pacific Coastal Lowlands, the Mexican Plateau , the Sierra Madre Oriental , the Sierra Madre Occidental ,
22143-454: The federal government, which captured a few towns but brought world attention to the situation in Mexico. The armed conflict was short-lived and has continued as a non-violent opposition movement against neoliberalism and globalization . In 1994, following the assassination of the PRI's presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio , Salinas was succeeded by victorious PRI candidate Ernesto Zedillo . Salinas left Zedillo's government to deal with
22326-607: The first minority or first-runner-up (one for each state and one for Mexico City), and 32 are elected by proportional representation from national closed party lists. The executive is the President of the United Mexican States , who is the head of state and government , as well as the commander-in-chief of the Mexican military forces. The President also appoints the Cabinet and other officers. The President
22509-599: The first place in the world where maize was domesticated about 9000 years ago. The so-called "Balsas teosinte ", now considered to be the direct predecessor of maize, grows mostly in the middle part of the Balsas Valley at this time. In the past, it may have grown in other parts of this valley, as palaeoclimatology studies show. In particular, the Xihuatoxtla Shelter, located in Iguala valley, provides
22692-413: The first stages of the establishment of churches by mendicant friars in large and important indigenous towns, the assertion of crown control over New Spain by the high court ( Audiencia ) and then the establishment of the viceroyalty, and the heyday of conqueror power over the indigenous via the encomienda . In the initial stage of the colonial period, contact between Spaniards and the indigenous populations
22875-612: The first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and Zapotec cultures. The Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic script , the earliest written histories date from this era. The tradition of writing was important after the Spanish conquest in 1521, with indigenous scribes learning to write their languages in alphabetic letters, while also continuing to create pictorial texts. In Central Mexico,
23058-651: The first university of the Americas , the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco was inaugurated. It was established by the Franciscans whose aim was to educate young Nahua noblemen to be Catholic priests who were trilingual: literate in Spanish, Latin and Nahuatl. There are a large number of texts by and about Nahuas in this middle period and during this period Nahuatl absorbed a large number of loanwords from Spanish, particularly nouns for particular objects, indicating
23241-460: The floods in the area. La-Villita is an earth-cum-rock fill dam with a crest length of 320 m, a height of 60 m, and a power generation capacity of 300 MW. This was the first dam built on the Balsas River. It is located 15 km from the Pacific Ocean. Both dams have a solid structure and withstood well the five earthquakes of the magnitude up to 8.1 which occurred after their construction. A project has been implemented to redirect some water from
23424-442: The height of the classic period saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacán , which formed a military and commercial empire. Teotihuacan, with a population of more than 150,000 people, had some of the largest pyramidal structures in the pre-Columbian Americas. After the collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 AD, competition ensued between several important political centers in central Mexico such as Xochicalco and Cholula . At this time, during
23607-543: The highest elevations are found at the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt which crosses Mexico east to west: Pico de Orizaba (5,700 m or 18,701 ft), Popocatépetl (5,462 m or 17,920 ft) and Iztaccihuatl (5,286 m or 17,343 ft) and the Nevado de Toluca (4,577 m or 15,016 ft). Two mountain ranges known as Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental , which are
23790-779: The importance of the Valley of Tehuacán , part of which also belongs to the Balsas valley, for maize domestication. He found over 10,000 teosinte cobs in the Coxcatlan Cave . Later, in 1989, the early date was confirmed by testing. Maize samples from Cueva San Marcos, and Cueva Coxcatlan in Tehuacán neighborhood had been tested. The oldest dates were 4700 BP (uncalibrated) or 3600 BC (calibrated). Balsas River valley continues downstream into Guerrero state. There are also very early maize sites there, which attracted attention more recently. Recent research supports Balsas River valley as
23973-613: The increase of inequality between urban and rural areas. The Green Revolution , a technological movement that led to a significant worldwide increase in crop production, began in the Yaqui Valley of Sonora in the middle of the 20th century. With robust economic growth, Mexico sought to showcase it to the world by hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics . The government poured huge resources into building new facilities, prompting political unrest among university students and others. Demonstrations in central Mexico City went on for weeks before
24156-431: The indigenous language of Nahuatl . Tequila , the distilled alcoholic drink made from cultivated agave cacti is a major industry. Because of its high biodiversity Mexico has also been a frequent site of bioprospecting by international research bodies. The first highly successful instance was the discovery in 1947 of the tuber " Barbasco " ( Dioscorea composita ) which has a high content of diosgenin , revolutionizing
24339-453: The language and now speak only Spanish. Other Nahuas, though bilingual in Nahuatl and Spanish, seek to avoid widespread anti-indigenous discrimination by declining to self-identify as Nahua in INEGI 's decennial census. Nor does the census count as indigenous children under 5 (estimated to be 11–12% of the indigenous population ). An INI -Conepo report indicates the Mexican indigenous population
24522-491: The local level and that the notion of making a final will was expected, even for those who had little property. A number of studies in the tradition of what is now called the New Philology extensively use Nahuatl wills as a source. From the mid-seventeenth century to the achievement of independence in 1821, Nahuatl shows considerable impact from the European sphere and a full range of bilingualism. Texts produced at
24705-443: The local level that in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries were sometimes a mixture of pictorial and alphabetic forms of expression were now primarily alphabetic. In the late eighteenth century, there is evidence of text being written in "Nahuatlized Spanish", written by Nahuas who were now communicating in their own form of Spanish. Year-by-year accounts of major occurrences, a text known as an annal, no longer reference
24888-454: The main force, and the usage of Nahuatl as a lingua franca. The last of the southern Nahua populations today are the Pipil of El Salvador and the Nicarao of Nicaragua. Nahua populations in Mexico are centered in the middle of the country, with most speakers in the states of Puebla , Veracruz , Hidalgo , Guerrero and San Luis Potosí . However, smaller populations are spread throughout
25071-619: The major cities in Mexico. The Tepalcatepec Commission was established in 1947 under the Ministry of Water Resources (one of the three commissions established initially) for the Balsas River development. In 1960, it was subordinated to the Balsas River Commission. Its tasks included planning, design, coordination and implementation of irrigation projects, flood control and hydropower generation, covering rural and urban development and health and communications aspects. Following
25254-523: The mob. On 16 September 1810, secular priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla declared against "bad government" in the small town of Dolores , Guanajuato. This event, known as the Cry of Dolores ( Spanish : Grito de Dolores ) is commemorated each year, on 16 September, as Mexico's independence day. The upheaval in the Spanish Empire that resulted in the independence of most of its New World territories
25437-425: The national average of 97.5% for Spanish literacy. Male Nahuatl speakers have 9.8 years of education on average and women 10.1, compared with the 13.6 and 14.1 years that are the national averages for men and women, respectively. In El Salvador , it is estimated that there are 12,000 Nahuas/ Pipiles . However, some indigenous organizations claim that the real population is significantly higher. Their Nawat language
25620-458: The navigation itself was fairly smooth except for an encounter with a rock outcrop in the middle of a narrow section of the river where the boat overturned, injuring two people. While the river was proven navigable, investments to develop the facilities did not happen immediately due to the rebel activities in the area. Balsas Valley is known as the cradle of the original maize domestication. Archaeologist Richard MacNeish originally pointed out
25803-418: The north like Monterrey , Hermosillo , and Mexicali experience temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) or more in summer. In the Sonoran Desert temperatures reach 50 °C (122 °F) or more. There are 7 major climate types in Mexico with warm sub-humid climate being coastal up to 900 meters found mostly in the southern region of Mexico; dry and desertic climates being found in the northern half of
25986-454: The officials who ignore its recommendations. Most Mexicans have low confidence in the police or the judicial system, and therefore, few crimes are actually reported by the citizens. There have been public demonstrations of outrage against what is considered a culture of impunity . Nahuas El Salvador Ahuachapan , Sonsonate , San Salvador , Santa Ana The Nahuas ( / ˈ n ɑː w ɑː z / NAH -wahz ) are one of
26169-417: The planned opening of the games, with the government of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz cracking down. The culmination was the Tlatelolco Massacre , which killed around 300 protesters based on conservative estimates and perhaps as many as 800. Although the economy continued to flourish for some, social inequality remained a factor of discontent. PRI rule became increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive in what
26352-486: The political spectrum. The coalition also won a majority in both the upper and lower Congress chambers. His success is attributed to the country's opposing political forces exhausting their chances as well as AMLO's adoption of a moderate discourse with a focus on reconciliation. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Mexico occurred on 28 February 2020. The COVID-19 vaccination in Mexico began in December 2020. Claudia Sheinbaum , López Obrador's political successor, won
26535-470: The politics for the next 25 years, often known as the "Age of Santa Anna", until his overthrow in 1855. Mexico also contended with indigenous groups that controlled the territory that Mexico claimed in the north. For example, the Comanche controlled a huge territory in sparsely populated central and northern Texas. Wanting to stabilize and develop that area — and as few people from central Mexico had chosen to resettle to this remote and hostile territory —
26718-489: The post-revolutionary period (1920–1946) was characterized by revolutionary generals serving as Presidents of Mexico , including Álvaro Obregón (1920–24), Plutarco Elías Calles (1924–28), Lázaro Cárdenas (1934–40), and Manuel Avila Camacho (1940–46). The post-revolutionary project of the Mexican government sought to bring order to the country, end military intervention in politics, and create organizations of interest groups. Workers, peasants, urban office workers, and even
26901-409: The pre-Columbian period Nahuas were subdivided into many groups that did not necessarily share a common identity. Their Nahuan languages , or Nahuatl , consist of many variants , several of which are mutually unintelligible . About 1.5 million Nahuas speak Nahuatl and another million speak only Spanish . Fewer than 1,000 native speakers of Nahuatl remain in El Salvador. It is suggested that
27084-472: The prehispanic period. Local level documentation for individual Nahuas continued to be produced, in particular last wills and testaments, but they are much more simplified than those produced in the late sixteenth century. Nahuas began to produce an entirely new type of text, known as "primordial titles" or simply "titles" ( títulos ), that assert indigenous communities' rights to particular territory, often by recording local lore in an atemporal fashion. There
27267-408: The presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas , who expelled Calles from the country and implemented many economic and social reforms. This included the Mexican oil expropriation in March 1938, which nationalized the U.S. and Anglo-Dutch oil company known as the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company , which would result in the creation of the state-owned Pemex . Cárdenas's successor, Manuel Ávila Camacho (1940–1946)
27450-565: The priesthood. However, in local communities, stone-built church complexes continued to be built and elaborated, with murals in mixed indigenous-Spanish forms. Confraternities ( cofradías ) were established to support the celebrations of a particular Christian saint and functioned as burial societies for members. During this period, an expression of personal piety, the Church promoted the making of last wills and testaments, with many testators donating money to their local Church to say Masses for their souls. For individual Nahua men and women dictating
27633-401: The production of synthetic hormones in the 1950s and 1960s and eventually leading to the invention of combined oral contraceptive pills . The United Mexican States are a federation whose government is representative , democratic, and republican based on a presidential system according to the 1917 Constitution . The Constitution establishes three levels of government: the federal Union,
27816-428: The realm of New Spain . New Spain was founded as a state under Spanish rule but where Nahua people were recognized as allies of the rulers and as such were granted privileges and a degree of independence that other indigenous peoples of the area did not enjoy. Recently historians such as Stephanie Wood and Matthew Restall have argued that the Nahua did not experience the conquest as something substantially different from
27999-533: The rules about minimum holdings for Indian towns were ignored in practice. Labor arrangements between Nahuas and Spaniards were largely informal, rather than organized through the mainly defunct encomienda and the poorly functioning repartimiento . Spanish landed estates needed a secure labor force, often a mixture of a small group of permanent laborers and part-time or seasonal laborers drawn from nearby indigenous communities. Individual Indians made arrangements with estate owners rather than labor being mobilized via
28182-974: The second fastest rate of deforestation in the world, second only to Brazil. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.82/10, ranking it 63rd globally out of 172 countries. According to SGI there is Deforestation and soil erosion especially in rural areas of Mexico. In the 2022 report it was noted environmental protection laws have improved in major cities but remain unenforced or unregulated in rural regions. In Mexico, 170,000 square kilometers (65,637 sq mi) are considered "Protected Natural Areas". These include 34 biosphere reserves (unaltered ecosystems), 67 national parks , 4 natural monuments (protected in perpetuity for their aesthetic, scientific or historical value), 26 areas of protected flora and fauna, 4 areas for natural resource protection (conservation of soil, hydrological basins, and forests) and 17 sanctuaries (zones rich in diverse species). Plants indigenous to Mexico are grown in many parts of
28365-484: The so-called "Indian Question" exercised politicians and intellectuals, who viewed Indigenous people as backward, unassimilated to the Mexican nation, whose custom of communal rather than individual ownership of land was impediment to economic progress. Non-Indigenous landowners of estates had already encroached on Indigenous ownership in the colonial era, but now liberal ideology sought to end communal protections on ownership with its emphasis on private property. Since land
28548-461: The sort of ethnic conflicts that they were used to, and that in fact they may have at first interpreted it as a defeat of one Nahua group by another. With the arrival of the Spanish in Mesoamerica a new political situation ensued. The period has been extensively studied by historians, with Charles Gibson publishing a classic monograph entitled The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule . Historian James Lockhart built on that work, publishing The Nahuas After
28731-432: The southeast. It has maritime borders with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Human presence in Pre-Columbian Mexico dates back to 8,000 BC as one of six cradles of civilization . Mesoamerica hosted civilizations including the Olmec , Maya , Zapotec , Teotihuacan , and Purepecha . Aztec domination of the area preceded Spanish conquest of
28914-471: The stage of unwelcome grass to high-yield maize fields. Two dams on the river provide for irrigation and power generation. The water stored by the dam built above Tierra Caliente is utilized for growth of cotton and rice. The Balsas River basin was first considered for hydropower development in the 1940s. The basin has an area of 105,900 km, and the two projects implemented here are the La Villita and El Infiernello (both in Michoacan). The Infiernillo Dam
29097-428: The state governments, and the municipal governments. The federal legislature is the bicameral Congress of the Union , composed of the Senate of the Republic and the Chamber of Deputies . The Congress makes federal law , declares war, imposes taxes, approves the national budget and international treaties, and ratifies diplomatic appointments. The federal Congress, as well as the state legislatures, are elected by
29280-432: The state of Morelos . Zapata was evidently fluent in Nahuatl and would give speeches in the language to Nahua peasants in hopes of inspiring them to join his cause . The Mexican government does not categorize its citizens by ethnicity, but only by language. Statistical information recorded about the Nahua deals only with speakers of the Nahuatl language, although unknown numbers of people of Nahua ethnicity have abandoned
29463-410: The struggle against the Aztecs. The Spanish and Tlaxcaltec forces marched upon several cities that were under Aztec dominion and "liberated" them, before they arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. There they were welcomed as guests by Motecuhzoma II, but after a while they took the ruler prisoner. When the Aztec nobility realized that their ruler had been turned into a Spanish puppet they attacked
29646-412: The summer and fall. Although low-lying areas north of the Tropic of Cancer are hot and humid during the summer, they generally have lower yearly temperature averages (from 20 to 24 °C or 68.0 to 75.2 °F) because of more moderate conditions during the winter. Mexico ranks fourth in the world in biodiversity and is one of the 17 megadiverse countries . With over 200,000 different species, Mexico
29829-438: The support of Canada, Italy, Pakistan and other nine countries, which form a group informally called the Coffee Club . The Mexican Armed Forces are administered by the Secretariat of National Defense ( Secretaria de Defensa Nacional , SEDENA). There are two branches: the Mexican Army (which includes the Mexican Air Force ), and the Mexican Navy . The Secretariat of Public Security and Civil Protection has jurisdiction over
30012-510: The time. Consolidating power, President Carranza had peasant leader Emiliano Zapata assassinated in 1919. Carranza had gained the support of the peasantry during the Revolution, but once in power, he did little to institute land reform, which had motivated many to fight in the Revolution. Carranza returned some confiscated land to their original owners. President Carranza's best general, Obregón, served briefly in his administration but returned to his home state of Sonora to position himself to run in
30195-400: The use of logographic writing . Around 1000 CE the Toltec people, normally assumed to have been of Nahua ethnicity, established dominion over much of central Mexico which they ruled from Tollan Xicocotitlan . From this period on the Nahua were the dominant ethnic group in the Valley of Mexico and far beyond, and migrations kept coming in from the north. After the fall of the Toltecs
30378-470: The way. On this exploration he was accompanied by 11 people, including two river navigation experts and Fred Macfarlene, a California financier. The exploration lasted 22 days from the time of its departure till the return of the team back to Mexico City via Manzanillo on the steamboat S.S. Ramón Corral which picked the exploration party at the last point of their journey at Orilla. During this period many events happened en route due to rebel activities, but
30561-403: The world and integrated into their national cuisines. Some of Mexico's native culinary ingredients include maize, tomato, beans, squash, chocolate, vanilla , avocado , guava , chayote , epazote , camote , jícama , nopal , zucchini , tejocote , huitlacoche , sapote , mamey sapote , and a great variety of chiles , such as the habanero and the jalapeño . Most of these names come from
30744-440: The world's 13th largest country by area; with a population of almost 130 million, it is the 10th most populous country and has the most Spanish speakers in the world. Mexico is a constitutional republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City , its capital and largest city , which is among the world's most populous metropolitan areas . The country borders the United States to the north; as well as Guatemala and Belize to
30927-585: Was a fierce anticlerical politician, and was known for a period as "the Marat of the Radicals" and an admirer of the French Revolution. Altamirano, along with other liberals, saw universal primary public education as a key way to change Mexico, promoting for upward mobility. Altamirano's chief disciple in this view was Justo Sierra . Another prominent Nahua figure of this period was Prospero Cahuantzi, who served as governor of Tlaxcala from 1885-1911. Indigenous surnames were uncommon in post-colonial Mexico but prevalent in Tlaxcala due to certain protections granted by
31110-546: Was a government in internal exile, but with the end of the Civil War in the United States in April 1865, the Reunified U.S. government began aiding the Mexican Republic. Two years later, the French Army withdrew its support, but Maximilian remained in Mexico. Republican forces captured him and he was executed. The "Restored Republic" saw the return of Juárez, "the personification of the embattled republic," as president. The Conservatives had been not only defeated militarily but also discredited politically for their collaboration with
31293-510: Was a lingua franca in Central Mexico before the Spanish conquest due to Aztec hegemony, and its role was not only preserved but expanded in the initial stage of colonial rule, encouraged by the Spaniards as a literary language and tool to convert diverse Mesoamerican peoples. There are many Nahuatl place names in regions where Nahuas were not the most populous group (including the names of Guatemala and several Mexican states), due to Aztec expansion, Spanish invasions in which Tlaxcaltecs served as
31476-424: Was crushed by Juárez. Having won re-election, Juárez died in office in July 1872, and Liberal Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada became president, declaring a "religion of the state" for the rule of law, peace, and order. When Lerdo ran for re-election, Díaz rebelled against the civilian president, issuing the Plan of Tuxtepec . Díaz had more support and waged guerrilla warfare against Lerdo. On the verge of Díaz's victory on
31659-625: Was due to Napoleon Bonaparte 's invasion of Spain in 1808. Hidalgo and some of his soldiers were eventually captured, Hidalgo was defrocked, and they were executed by firing squad on 31 July 1811. The first 35 years after Mexico's independence were marked by political instability and the changing of the Mexican state from a transient monarchy to a fragile federated republic. There were military coups d'état, foreign invasions, ideological conflict between Conservatives and Liberals , and economic stagnation . Former Royal Army General Agustín de Iturbide became regent, as newly independent Mexico sought
31842-502: Was eliminated and the term "Indian" ( indio ) was no longer used by government, although it continued to be used in daily speech. The creation of a republic in 1824 meant that Mexicans of all types were citizens rather than vassals of the crown. One important consequence for Nahua people and other Indigenous people was that documentation in the native languages generally ceased to be produced. Indigenous towns did not cease to exist nor did indigenous populations speaking their own language, but
32025-426: Was generated at the power station at La Villita. This 336 MW station was built in the state of Michoacan, near the Pacific Coast. Another Balsas River project planned was the El Infiernillo; it became operational in 1964 and has an installed capacity of 1,120 MW. El Infiernillo Dam is a 149 m rockfill embankment dam. Agriculture in the basin has a rich history of over 9000 years, with an impressive transformation from
32208-450: Was immediately sent to the Aztec Emperor (in Nahuatl, Tlatoani ) of Tenochtitlan Motecuhzoma II . Going inland the Spaniards encountered and fought with Totonac forces and Nahua forces from the independent Altepetl of Tlaxcallan . The Tlaxcaltecs were a Nahua group who had avoided being subjugated by the Aztecs. After being defeated in battle by the Spaniards, the Tlaxcalans entered into an alliance with Cortes that would be invaluable in
32391-427: Was in question. Spain attempted to reconquer its former colony during the 1820s but eventually recognized its independence. France attempted to recoup losses it claimed for its citizens during Mexico's unrest and blockaded the Gulf Coast during the so-called Pastry War of 1838–1839. General Antonio López de Santa Anna emerged as a national hero because of his role in both these conflicts; Santa Anna came to dominate
32574-411: Was limited. It consisted mostly in the mendicants who sought to convert the population to Catholicism, and the reorganization of the indigenous tributary system to benefit individual Spaniards. The indigenous system of smaller settlements' paying tribute and rendering labor service to dominant political entities was transformed into the Encomienda system. Indigenous of particular towns paid tribute to
32757-403: Was more moderate, and relations between the U.S. and Mexico vastly improved during World War II , when Mexico was a significant ally. From 1946 the election of Miguel Alemán , the first civilian president in the post-revolutionary period, Mexico embarked on an aggressive program of economic development, known as the Mexican miracle , which was characterized by industrialization, urbanization, and
32940-403: Was secular education. The Díaz government led a protracted conflict against the Yaqui that culminated with the forced relocation of thousands of Yaqui to Yucatán and Oaxaca. As the centennial of independence approached, Díaz gave an interview where he said he was not going to run in the 1910 elections, when he would be 80. Political opposition had been suppressed and there were few avenues for
33123-503: Was the basis for Indigenous peoples'ability to maintain a separate identity,and a sense of sovereignty, land tenure became a central issue for liberal reformers. The liberal Reforma enshrined in the Constitution of 1857 mandated the breakup of corporate-owned property, therefore targeting Indigenous communities and the Roman Catholic Church, which also had significant holdings. This measure affected all Indigenous communities, including Nahua communities, holding land. Liberal Benito Juárez ,
33306-407: Was the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since it joined in 1994 until Chile gained full membership in 2010. Mexico is considered a regional power hence its presence in major economic groups such as the G8+5 and the G-20 . Since the 1990s Mexico has sought a reform of the United Nations Security Council and its working methods with
33489-490: Was used in the 1836 Constitutional Laws . The earliest human artifacts in Mexico are chips of stone tools found near campfire remains in the Valley of Mexico and radiocarbon-dated to circa 10,000 years ago. Mexico is the site of the domestication of maize, tomato, and beans , which produced an agricultural surplus. This enabled the transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural villages beginning around 5000 BC. The formative period of Mesoamerica
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