Portal:Mexico

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The Temple of Warriors at Chichen Itza, Mexico

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¡Bienvenido! Welcome to the Mexico portal

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It covers 1,972,550 km² (761,610 sq mi), making it the world's 13th-largest country by area; with a population of almost 130 million, it is the 10th-most-populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is organized as a federal constitutional republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital. It shares land borders with the United States to the north, with Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; as well as 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, making it one of the world's six cradles of civilization. The Mesoamerican region hosted various intertwined civilizations, including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha. The Aztecs came to dominate the area prior to European contact. In 1521, the Spanish Empire, alongside indigenous allies, conquered the Aztec Empire, establishing the colony of New Spain in the former capital, Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). Over the next three centuries, Spanish expansion enforced Christianity, spread the Spanish language, and exploited rich silver deposits in Zacatecas and Guanajuato. The colonial era ended in the early nineteenth century with the Mexican War of Independence. (Full article...)

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The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature individuals with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly-crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances (over 150 kilometres (93 mi)), requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. They all display distinctive headgear and one theory is that these were worn as protective helmets, maybe worn for war or to take part in a ceremonial Mesoamerican ballgame. The discovery of the first colossal head at Tres Zapotes in 1862 by José María Melgar y Serrano was not well documented nor reported outside of Mexico.

The excavation of the same colossal head by Matthew Stirling in 1938 spurred the first archaeological investigations of Olmec culture. Seventeen confirmed examples are known from four sites within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Most colossal heads were sculpted from spherical boulders but two from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán were re-carved from massive stone thrones. An additional monument, at Takalik Abaj in Guatemala, is a throne that may have been carved from a colossal head. This is the only known example from outside the Olmec heartland. (Full article...)

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The Mexican Dirty War (Spanish: Guerra sucia) was the Mexican theater of the Cold War, an internal conflict from the 1960s to the 1980s between the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)-ruled government under the presidencies of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Luis Echeverría and José López Portillo, which were backed by the US government, and left-wing student and guerrilla groups. During the war, government forces carried out disappearances (estimated at 1,200), systematic torture, and "probable extrajudicial executions".

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mexico was persuaded to be part of both Operation Intercept and Operation Condor, developed between 1975 and 1978, with the pretext to fight against the cultivation of opium and marijuana in the "Golden Triangle", particularly in Sinaloa. (Full article...)

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The Palacio de Bellas Artes opera house, Mexico City.

image credit: Carolina López

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Hotelito Desconocido (Spanish: [oteˈlito ðeskonoˈsiðo], "Little Unknown Hotel") was a Mexican boutique hotel and ecotourism resort in the municipality of Tomatlán, Jalisco. Formed in 1995 by an Italian architect, Hotelito Desconocido used an architectural style of that combined both rustic and luxurious designs. It was built on an UNESCO-designated natural reserve that was home to a number of endangered bird and turtle species. The hotel won international and domestic awards for its unique architecture and sustainable energy model, and it was a famous getaway spot for international tourists and celebrities. Its construction, however, created tensions with a local group of fishermen that protested against the alleged ecological violations caused by Hotelito Desconocido's construction and expansions.

In 2007, Hotelito Desconocido was acquired by W&G Arquitectos, a company headed by Wendy Dalaithy Amaral Arévalo. She is the wife of Gerardo González Valencia, a former suspected drug lord of Los Cuinis and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, two allied criminal groups based in Jalisco. After years of resistance from the local fishermen, three members of their group went missing in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 2011 after attending an ecological preservation meeting. They had reportedly previously received death threats from the hotel's management and local farmers who were also opposed to their protests. (Full article...)

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Juárez, c. 1872

Benito Pablo Juárez García (Spanish: [beˈnito ˈpaβlo ˈxwaɾes ɣaɾˈsi.a] ^ⓘ; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican Liberal lawyer and statesman who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. Of Zapotec ancestry, he was the first and only indigenous president of Mexico and the first democratically elected indigenous president in the postcolonial Americas. Previously, he had served as Governor of Oaxaca and had later ascended to a variety of federal posts including Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Public Education, and President of the Supreme Court. During his presidency he led the Liberals to victory in the Reform War and in the Second French intervention in Mexico.

Born in Oaxaca to a poor, rural, Indigenous family and orphaned as a child, Juárez passed under the care of his uncle, eventually moving to Oaxaca City at the age of 12, where he found work as a domestic servant. Sponsored by his employer who was also a lay Franciscan, Juárez temporarily enrolled in a seminary and studied to become a priest, but he later switched his studies to law at the Institute of Sciences and Arts, where he became active in Liberal politics. He began to practice law and was eventually appointed as a judge, after which he married Margarita Maza, a woman from a socially distinguished family in Oaxaca City. (Full article...)

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Vicente Fox Frida Kahlo Porfirio Díaz Juan Diego Emiliano Zapata Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Cantinflas Pancho Villa Antonio López de Santa Anna Chespirito Agustín de Iturbide Maximilian I of Mexico Carlos Slim Diego Rivera Francisco I. Madero Juana Inés de la Cruz Carlos Salinas de Gortari Miguel de la Madrid

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In the news

28 May 2024 – South Africa's genocide case against Israel: Mexico announces it will intervene in the genocide case on the side of South Africa. (Middle East Eye)
24 May 2024 –: Dozens of people are killed across Mexico in a deadly heatwave, with temperatures as high as 45 °C (113 °F) recorded. (France 24) (DW)
22 May 2024 – San Pedro Garza García stage collapse: At least nine people are killed, including a child, and 121 are injured after a temporary stage collapses in high winds at a campaign event for the Citizens' Movement party in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León, Mexico. Later, the Nuevo León government pledges 400,000 pesos ($23,900) in compensation to families of the deceased. (AP) (El País) (Reuters)
8 May 2024 –: Rolling blackouts occur in several cities in Mexico amid an ongoing heatwave in the country. (The New York Times)
3 May 2024 –: Mexican authorities locate the bodies of three tourists, one American and two Australians, in Baja California, where they were reported missing in April. Three people have been arrested and are being questioned in relation to the case. (Reuters) (BBC News); U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar is indicted for accepting nearly $600,000 worth of bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled company and a Mexican bank. (AP)

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In the United States, Mexican Coca-Cola, or Mexican Coke (Spanish: Coca Cola de Vidrio, English: Glass Coca-Cola, or Coca-Cola in a glass bottle) or, informally, "Mexicoke", refers to Coca-Cola produced in and imported from Mexico. The Mexican formula that is exported into the U.S. is sweetened with white sugar instead of the high-fructose corn syrup used in the American formula since the early 1980s. Some tasters have said that Mexican Coca-Cola tastes better, while other blind tasting tests reported no perceptible differences in flavor.

Mexican Coke should not be confused with the domestic version of Coca-Cola sold in Mexico, which since 2017 may contain the artificial sweetener sucralose, with a can containing one-third less sugar than the export product. (Full article...)

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Mexican cuisine Cuisine of Chiapas Cuisine of Veracruz Crema (dairy product) Aztec cuisine Oaxacan cuisine Mole sauce Guacamole Enchilada Mexican breads Nachos Burrito Mexican street food Pozole Cheeses of Mexico Taco Pan dulce Mexican wine Sopa de fideo Tostilocos Beer in Mexico Calavera Champurrado Menudo (soup)

General images

The following are images from various Mexico-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Cabinet Officers of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (left) and of Enrique Peña Nieto (right). (from History of Mexico)
Image 2Making cigarettes in the El Buen Tono factory, Mexico City (from History of Mexico)
Image 3Variegated maize ears (from History of Mexico)
Image 4Toltec carving representing the Aztec Eagle, found in Veracruz, 10th–13th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. (from History of Mexico)
Image 5Colossal atlantids, pyramid B, Toltec, Tula, Mexico, ca. 900–1180 AD (from History of Mexico)
Image 6Porfirio Díaz (from History of Mexico)
Image 7Portrait and book by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Baroque poet and writer. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 8Dining table, painted between 1857 y 1859, oleo sobre tela (oil on canvas) by Agustín Arrieta (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 9A unit of Cristeros preparing for battle. (from History of Mexico)
Image 10Entry into Mexico City by the Mexican army (from History of Mexico)
Image 11President Obregón. Note that he lost his right arm in the Battle of Celaya (1915), earning him the nickname of Manco de Celaya ("the one-armed man of Celaya"). (from History of Mexico)
Image 12Buffalo Soldiers of the American 10th Cavalry Regiment taken prisoner during the Battle of Carrizal, Mexico in 1916. (from History of Mexico)
Image 13A map of Mexico 1845 after Texas annexation by the U.S. (from History of Mexico)
Image 14El Chapo in US custody after his extradition from Mexico. (from History of Mexico)
Image 15Murals of Bonampak (between 580 and 800 AD) (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 16Battle of Tampico (1829) (from History of Mexico)
Image 17The first Braceros arrive in Los Angeles by train in 1942. Photograph by Dorothea Lange. (from History of Mexico)
Image 18General Pancho Villa at the entrance of Ojinaga (from History of Mexico)
Image 19Subcomandante Marcos (from History of Mexico)
Image 20Battle of Miahuatlán (from History of Mexico)
Image 21Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (from History of Mexico)
Image 22A statue of a Chichimeca Warrior in the city of Querétaro (from History of Mexico)
Image 23President Felipe Calderón with President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. (from History of Mexico)
Image 24Liberación (Liberation). Jorge González Camarena. 1908. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 25Sawdust carpet made during "The night no one sleeps" in Huamantla, Tlaxcala (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 26Club América vs Cruz Azul at the Estadio Azteca. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 27Plutarco Elías Calles (from History of Mexico)
Image 281985 Mexico City earthquake (from History of Mexico)
Image 29Pear, Quince and Psidium cajeta. In 2010 declared the Bicentennial Dessert of Mexico. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 30Victoriano Huerta, ruler of Mexico from 1913 to 1914 (from History of Mexico)
Image 31Spanish and Portuguese empires in 1790 (from History of Mexico)
Image 32Ignacio Comonfort (from History of Mexico)
Image 33"The Fall of the Alamo" by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk (from History of Mexico)
Image 34Equestrian statue of Charles IV in Mexico City (from History of Mexico)
Image 35Gilberto Bosques Saldívar took the initiative to rescue tens of thousands of Jews and Spanish Republican exiles from being deported to Nazi Germany or Spain. (from History of Mexico)
Image 36Comanchería, territory controlled by the Comanches, prior to 1850 (from History of Mexico)
Image 37Alegoría de la Constitución de 1857, Petronilo Monroy, 1869. (from History of Mexico)
Image 38General Santa Anna. (from History of Mexico)
Image 39The Execution of Emperor Maximilian, 19 June 1867. Gen. Tomás Mejía, left, Maximilian, center, Gen. Miguel Miramón, right. Painting by Édouard Manet 1868. (from History of Mexico)
Image 40Chacmool, Maya, from the Platform of the Eagles, Chichen Itza, Mexico, ca. 800–90 CE (from History of Mexico)
Image 41Teotihuacan view of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Sun, from the Pyramid of the Moon (from History of Mexico)
Image 42Modern group monument of Cortés, Doña Marina, and their mestizo son Martín (from History of Mexico)
Image 43Battle of Centla, the first time a horse was used in battle in a war in the Americas. Mural in the Palacio Municipal of Paraíso, Tabasco (from History of Mexico)
Image 44Mexican Army troops in the Zócalo in the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. (from History of Mexico)
Image 45Mexican Central Railway train at station, Mexico (from History of Mexico)
Image 46Exconvento (Ex-convent), by José María Velasco. 1860. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 47Singer and actor Pedro Infante, one of the leading figures of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 48Logo of Nacional Financiera (NAFIN), the state development bank. (from History of Mexico)
Image 49Olmec colossal (from History of Mexico)
Image 50Viceroy José de Iturrigaray (from History of Mexico)
Image 51U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President-Elect Enrique Peña Nieto during their meet at the White House following Peña Nieto's election victory. (from History of Mexico)
Image 52Surrender of Santa Anna by William Henry Huddle shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston in 1836. (from History of Mexico)
Image 53Goddess, mural painting from the Tetitla apartment complex at Teotihuacan, Mexico, 650–750 CE (from History of Mexico)
Image 54Mexico City street market (from History of Mexico)
Image 55Distribution of linguistic groups around 1500. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 56Agustín de Iturbide the first Emperor of Mexico (from History of Mexico)
Image 57Lázaro Cárdenas mural (from History of Mexico)
Image 58Shield Jaguar and Lady Xoc, Maya, lintel 24 of temple 23, Yaxchilan, Mexico, ca. 725 ce. (from History of Mexico)
Image 59"The Torture of Cuauhtémoc", a 19th-century painting by Leandro Izaguirre (from History of Mexico)
Image 60President Carranza in La Cañada, Querétaro, January 22, 1916. (from History of Mexico)
Image 61Logo of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario, with the colors of the Mexican flag (from History of Mexico)
Image 62Chihuahua Cathedral and a monument to the city's founder, Antonio Deza y Ulloa (from History of Mexico)
Image 63President Vicente Fox with Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh (from History of Mexico)
Image 64La leyenda de los volcanes (The legend of the volcanoes). Saturnino Herrán. 1910-1912. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 65Cerro del Cubilete ("Dice Cup Hill"). At the top of the hill is the Cristo Rey (Christ the King) statue. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 66Three world leaders: (background, left to right) Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, observe the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement. (from History of Mexico)
Image 67The Castillo, Chichen Itza, Mexico, ca. 800–900 CE (from History of Mexico)
Image 68La huida a Egipto (The Flight into Egypt). Miguel Cabrera, around 1700. (from Culture of Mexico)
Image 69Panel 3 from Cancuen, Guatemala, representing king T'ah 'ak' Cha'an (from History of Mexico)

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