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The Aztecs were some of Mexico's pre-Columbian peoples. By 1473, they ruled the largest empire Mexico had ever seen. Their capital was Tenochtitlan and was home to about one hundred thousand residents.
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Spanish adventurer Hernan Cortez discovered the Aztecs in 1519 in his quest for gold. Believed to be messangers from the god Quetzacuatl, Cortez and his men were treated like gods themself. Cortez took Aztec ruler Moctezuma hostage and was killed in is own palace. The Aztecs laid seige to their city and Cortez and his men fled in the middle of the night. One year later, they returned and conquered the city.
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Napoleon conqueres Spain. Mexico begins to talk about self-rule.
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One of the first Mexican presidents, Santa Ana, lost half his country to the United States in 1848 following a 2-year war.
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In 1871, a man named Porfirio Diaz ran for president and was defeated. He decided to overthrow the government 5 years later and ruled for almost 40 years. He sold much of Mexico's industries and ruled with brutal force.
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In 1900, the Mexican population was 13.6 billion.
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In 1910, Francisco I. Madero won the Presidency against Diaz. With the help of a US embassador, Madero's military commander assassinated him. This started the bloody war of the Mexican Revolution.
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The Partido Revolucionario Institutional was a political party that marked Mexico's post-revolution history. It was founded by Plutarco Elias Calles, a man who took over the presidency after Obregon was assassinated.
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Election fraud is one issue that affects Mexico. In 1968, the government killed hundreds of people in a student protest in Mexico city.
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For the first time in history, a mayor was elected who was not a PRI candidate. Cuauhtemoc Cardenas ran against his PRI father and won.
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The largest cultural group in Mexico is the Mestizos. They are a mix of Spanish and Indian ancestry and control most of the money and power. The second largest cultural group is the generally poor indigenous population who retain their distric identity. There are 56 different indigenous groups who have survived because of their rural isolation.
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The largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, Mexico has a population of 112,336,538 people.
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There are many current issues in Mexico, and one of the biggest is immigration to the United States. Other issues include border discrepancies with Belize and polluted water. Mexico is a major drug producting and transit nation, being a major supplier of heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine to the US market.
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The climate of Mexico gets warmer the farther south you go. Their rainy season is in the summer, and winters are comparatively dry. Their east coast is wetter then their west coast, and southern parts are wetter than the north. It varies from tropical to desert. The terrain is high with rugged mountains, low coastal plains, high plateaus, and deserts.
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The current economy of Mexico is based on Agriculture. Corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, and coffee are some products Mexico produces. They also have many major industries like food and beverage, tobacco, chemical , and clothing. Tourism is also a major contributor to the economy.
