general information
- Total Area: 1,964,375 sq km
- Land Area: 1,943,945 sq km
- Water Area: 20,430 sq km
- Climate Description: varies from tropical to desert
- Terrain Description: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert
- Arable Land Use: 11.8%
- Permanent Crop Land Use: 1.4%
- Irrigated Land: 65,000 sq km
- Total Renewable Water Resources: 409 billion cubic meters
- Total Freshwater Withdrawal: 80.3 billion cubic meters
- Per Person Freshwater Withdrawal: 3,262 cubic meters
- Natural Hazards Description: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts
volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (elev. 3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (elev. 5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana - Environmental Current Issues: scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion
note: the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues - Total Labor Force: 53.74 million
- % of Labor Force in Agriculture: 13.4%
- Agricultural Products Description: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products