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With an estimated 2005 population of about 106.5 million, Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Mexico is a racially and ethnically diverse country. Its three main ethnic groups are mestizos (mixed European and Amerindian), Amerindians, and Europeans. According to the CIA World Fact book, mestizos account for 60%, Amerindians for 30%, whites for 9%, and others 1%. Whites are mostly Spanish descendants, though there are those descended from past or recent immigration of Germans, Italians, French, Portuguese, British, Swedish, Irish, and also white Americans. The "others" is largely comprised of Afro-Mexicans, Middle Easterner, and East Asian. Mexico is also home for many other Latin American emigrants, including most numerously Argentines — Mexico being home to the largest Argentine population outside of Argentina— Cubans, Brazilians, and other South and Central Americans. The PRI governments in power for most of the 20th century had a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans fleeing political persecution in their home countries. According to the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas ("National Council for the Development of Indigenous Peoples"), the culturally and linguistically affiliated Amerindian population in Mexico is approximately 12.7 million. However, the Mexican government does not collect racial information during censuses. In 2004, the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Data Processing had estimated this figure to be 12,089,094 (~11.4% of Mexico's population) of indigenous people of which, more than one million do not speak Spanish and almost five million are bilingual. Judging by the proportion of people speaking indigenous languages, the states with the highest proportion of indigenous people are Yucatán (37.3%), Oaxaca (37.1%), Chiapas (24.6%) and Quintana Roo (23%). The states of Aguascalientes (0.2%), Coahuila (0.2%), Zacatecas (0.2%) and Nuevo León (0.5%) have the lowest proportion of speakers of indigenous languages. The greatest number of U.S citizens living outside U.S. territory reside in Mexico. This may be due to the growing economic and business interdependence of the two countries under NAFTA, and also that Mexico is considered an excellent choice for retirees. A clear example of the latter phenomenon is provided by San Miguel de Allende and many towns along the Baja California peninsula and around Guadalajara, Jalisco. The official figures for foreign-born citizens in Mexico are 493,000 (since 2004), with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (with the exception of Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The five states with the most immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Mexico City or Federal District (11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3%). More than 54.6% of the immigrant population are 15 years old or younger, while 9% are 50 or older. The large number of children may be due to the Central American population, or the American population consisting largely of Hispanics, or Americans taking advantage of lower costs of living to raise larger families. 4.2% of male immigrants and 3.8% of female immigrants did not have formal education while 20.2% of male immigrants and 17.7% of female immigrants had a college degree. Ironically, because of its reputation as a major source of undocumented immigrants to the United States in el Norte, Mexico itself experiences this kind of immigration from Central America due to similar differences in wages and poverty between countries of origin and Mexico; analogous to the economic differential between the U.S. and Mexico. Many undocumented Central American immigrants in Mexico try to ultimately enter the United States, though some decide to stay. Life expectancy in Mexico increased from 34.7 for men and 33 years for women in 1930 to 72.1 for men and 77.1 years for women in 2002. The states with the highest life expectancy are Baja California (75.9 years) and Nuevo Leon (75.6 years). The Federal District has a life expectancy of the same level as Baja California. The lowest levels are found in Chiapas (72.9), Oaxaca (73.2) and Guerrero (73.2 years), although the first two have had the highest increase (19.9 and 22.3% respectively). The mortality rate in 1970 was 9.7/1000 people and by 2001 the rate had dropped to 4.9/1000 for men and 3.8/1000 for women. The most common reasons for death in 2001 were heart problems (14.6% for men 17.6% for women) and Cancer (11% for men and 15.8% for women). |
Mexico Information: Inside
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