- published: 12 Feb 2013
- views: 166
- author: AlJazeeraEnglish
Vimeo results:
Youtube results:
Loading...
..." width="225" height="168" class="playvideo1 gotop" onClick="activateTab('playlist1'); return false" style="display: block;" />
Open Collage in a new Window
Email the Collage
- Loading...
Loading suggestions ...
- .mx
- 119th meridian west
- 14th parallel north
- 1968 Summer Olympics
- 1970 FIFA World Cup
- 1980s oil glut
- 1986 FIFA World Cup
- 33rd parallel north
- 86th meridian west
- Academic Press
- Agave americana
- Agriculture
- Aguascalientes
- Agustín de Iturbide
- Alejandra Robles
- Alejandro Fernández
- Alejandro Jara
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Alfonso Reyes
- Algeria
- Alta California
- American dollar
- Americas
- Amores perros
- Amphibian
- Ana Guevara
- Andorra
- Angola
- Anguilla
- Annual Reviews
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Antonio Carbajal
- APEC Australia 1989
- APEC Australia 2007
- APEC Brunei 2000
- APEC Canada 1997
- APEC Chile 2004
- APEC Indonesia 1994
- APEC Indonesia 2013
- APEC Japan 1995
- APEC Japan 2010
- APEC Malaysia 1998
- APEC Mexico 2002
- APEC Peru 2008
- APEC Russia 2012
- APEC Singapore 1990
- APEC Singapore 2009
- APEC Thailand 1992
- APEC Thailand 2003
- APEC Vietnam 2006
- Appellate Body
- Archduke
- Argentina
- Argentine peso
- Arizona
- Arrachera
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austrian Empire
- Avocado
- Axtel
- Azerbaijan
- Aztec
- Aztec Empire
- Babel (film)
- Baja California
- Baja California Sur
- Banda music
- Bank of Mexico
- Barbacoa
- Barbados
- Bean
- Belize
- Benito Juárez
- Bermuda
- Bicameralism
- Bill Clinton
- Bioprospecting
- Bolivia
- Bonaire
- Book Mexico
- Brazil
- Brazilian real
- Brian Mulroney
- Bruno Traven
- Buddhism in Mexico
- Bullfighting
- Burrito
- Cabrito
- Café Tacuba
- Calakmul
- Campeche
- Canada
- Cancún
- Cannes Film Festival
- Cantinflas
- Cape Verde
- Caribbean Sea
- Carla Hills
- Carlos Carrera
- Carlos Fuentes
- Carlos Monsiváis
- Carlos Slim
- Carnitas
- Cars in Mexico
- Caste War
- Caste War of Yucatán
- Catalan language
- Category Mexico
- Cayman Islands
- Central America
- Chalupa
- Chayote
- Chiapas
- Chichen Itza
- Chichén Itzá
- Chicoasén Dam
- Chiefdom
- Chihuahua (state)
- Chihuahua, Chihuahua
- Chilaquiles
- Children of Men
- Chile
- Chiles en nogada
- Chili pepper
- China
- Chinese Taipei
- Chipilo
- Chipotle
- Chrysler
- Cinema of Mexico
- Ciudad Juárez
- Climate of Mexico
- Clipperton Island
- Closed list
- Club América
- Coahuila
- Coahuila y Tejas
- Cochinita pibil
- Cocos Plate
- Codex Mendoza
- Cofetel
- Coffee Club
- Colima
- Colombia
- Colonial Mexico
- Commander-in-chief
- CONCACAF
- Congress
- Congress of Mexico
- Conquistador
- Constitution of 1824
- Constitution of 1857
- Conurbation
- Converso
- Corn smut
- Cornish people
- Corrido
- Costa Rica
- Cozumel
- Crataegus mexicana
- Crime in Mexico
- Criollo people
- Cronos (film)
- Cruzob
- Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
- Cuba
- Cuban Revolution
- Cuernavaca
- Cuitláhuac
- Culinary art
- Culture of Mexico
- Culture of Spain
- Curaçao
- Customary law
- Czech Republic
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Daylight saving time
- Debt
- Decena trágica
- Demonym
- Dependent territory
- Diego Rivera
- DINA S.A.
- Dioscorea composita
- Diosgenin
- Direct vote
- Dispute resolution
- Doha Declaration
- Dolores del Río
- Dolores Hidalgo
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Drug cartel
- Durango
- East Timor
- Eastern religion
- Economy of Albania
- Economy of Algeria
- Economy of Angola
- Economy of Argentina
- Economy of Armenia
- Economy of Australia
- Economy of Austria
- Economy of Bahrain
- Economy of Barbados
- Economy of Belgium
- Economy of Belize
- Economy of Benin
- Economy of Bolivia
- Economy of Botswana
- Economy of Brazil
- Economy of Brunei
- Economy of Bulgaria
- Economy of Burma
- Economy of Burundi
- Economy of Cambodia
- Economy of Cameroon
- Economy of Canada
- Economy of Chad
- Economy of Chile
- Economy of Colombia
- Economy of Croatia
- Economy of Cuba
- Economy of Cyprus
- Economy of Denmark
- Economy of Djibouti
- Economy of Dominica
- Economy of Ecuador
- Economy of Egypt
- Economy of Estonia
- Economy of Fiji
- Economy of Finland
- Economy of France
- Economy of Gabon
- Economy of Germany
- Economy of Ghana
- Economy of Greece
- Economy of Grenada
- Economy of Guatemala
- Economy of Guinea
- Economy of Guyana
- Economy of Haiti
- Economy of Honduras
- Economy of Hong Kong
- Economy of Hungary
- Economy of Iceland
- Economy of India
- Economy of Indonesia
- Economy of Israel
- Economy of Italy
- Economy of Jamaica
- Economy of Japan
- Economy of Jordan
- Economy of Kenya
- Economy of Kuwait
- Economy of Latvia
- Economy of Lesotho
- Economy of Lithuania
- Economy of Macau
- Economy of Malawi
- Economy of Malaysia
- Economy of Mali
- Economy of Malta
- Economy of Mauritius
- Economy of Mexico
- Economy of Moldova
- Economy of Mongolia
- Economy of Morocco
- Economy of Namibia
- Economy of Nepal
- Economy of Nicaragua
- Economy of Niger
- Economy of Nigeria
- Economy of Norway
- Economy of Oman
- Economy of Pakistan
- Economy of Panama
- Economy of Paraguay
- Economy of Peru
- Economy of Poland
- Economy of Portugal
- Economy of Qatar
- Economy of Romania
- Economy of Russia
- Economy of Rwanda
- Economy of Senegal
- Economy of Singapore
- Economy of Slovakia
- Economy of Slovenia
- Economy of Spain
- Economy of Sri Lanka
- Economy of Suriname
- Economy of Swaziland
- Economy of Sweden
- Economy of Taiwan
- Economy of Tanzania
- Economy of Thailand
- Economy of Togo
- Economy of Tonga
- Economy of Tunisia
- Economy of Turkey
- Economy of Uganda
- Economy of Ukraine
- Economy of Uruguay
- Economy of Venezuela
- Economy of Vietnam
- Economy of Zambia
- Economy of Zimbabwe
- Ecosystem
- Ecuador
- Edible plants
- Education in Mexico
- EGADE
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Elections in Mexico
- Electoral fraud
- Elena Poniatowska
- Emerging Powers
- Emiliano Zapata
- Emilio Fernández
- Emperor of Mexico
- Enchilada
- Enrique Krauze
- Epi-Olmec culture
- Erik Morales
- Ernesto Ruffo Appel
- Ernesto Zedillo
- Estadio Azteca
- Estrada Doctrine
- Ethnonym
- European Union
- Evangelicals
- F. Sherwood Rowland
- Fall of Tenochtitlan
- Feast day
- Federal District
- Federal law
- Federal republic
- Federalism
- Federation
- Federico Cantú Garza
- Felipe Calderón
- Fernando Platas
- Fernando Valenzuela
- FIFA World Cup
- First Mexican Empire
- Flag of Mexico
- Ford
- Foreign policy
- Form of government
- France
- Francisco I. Madero
- Francisco Villa
- French language
- Frida Kahlo
- G-20 major economies
- G8
- G8+5
- Gadsden Purchase
- Gaucho (currency)
- General Motors
- GEO Meneses
- Geography of Mexico
- Geophysics
- Geopolitics
- George Cowgill
- George H. W. Bush
- George W. Bush
- Germany
- Ghetto
- Gini coefficient
- Globalization
- Golden Eagle
- Goldman Sachs
- Government of Mexico
- Greater Mexico City
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Grijalva River
- Group of 15
- Grupo Multimedios
- Guadalajara
- Guadalajara, Jalisco
- Guadalupe Island
- Guadalupe Victoria
- Guadeloupe
- Guanajuato
- Guatemala
- Guava
- Guerrero
- Guillermo Arriaga
- Guillermo del Toro
- Guinea-Bissau
- Gulf of California
- Gulf of Mexico
- Guyana
- Habanero
- Haiti
- Head of government
- Head of state
- Helicopters
- Henry Bamford Parkes
- Hermosillo
- Hernán Cortés
- Hidalgo (Mexico)
- Hidalgo (state)
- Hispanophone
- History of Mexico
- Holy See
- Honduras
- House of Habsburg
- Huastec people
- Hugo Sánchez
- Huitzilopochtli
- Iceland
- Ignacio Allende
- INALI
- Income distribution
- Independence
- India
- Indonesia
- Infant mortality
- International law
- IPADE
- Iran
- Irreligion
- Irreligion in Mexico
- Isla Aves
- Islam in Mexico
- ISO 3166
- ISO 3166-2 MX
- ISO 4217
- Italian language
- Italy
- Iztaccihuatl
- Jaguar
- Jaime Serra Puche
- Jalapeño
- Jalisco
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jarabe Tapatío
- Jaramar
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Jorge Negrete
- José Clemente Orozco
- José María Morelos
- José Vasconcelos
- Juan Aldama
- Juan N. Silva Meza
- Juan O'Gorman
- Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
- Juan Ruiz de Apodaca
- Juan Rulfo
- Judiciary
- Julieta Venegas
- Julio César Chávez
- Jícama
- Kenya
- La Raza Cósmica
- La Reforma
- Lake Texcoco
- Languages of Mexico
- Latin Union
- Latium
- Lebanese people
- Lez Мексика
- Lila Downs
- Limited-access road
- List of Mexicans
- Lithuania
- Locative
- Lorena Ochoa
- Los Olvidados
- Lower house
- LPGA
- Lucero (actress)
- Lucha libre
- Lucía Méndez
- Luis Buñuel
- Luis Echeverría
- Luis Miguel
- Lázaro Cárdenas
- Machaca
- Malaysia
- Mali
- Mamey sapote
- Mango
- Manuel Gamio
- Maná
- Maria Candelaria
- Mariachi
- Mariano Azuela
- Mario J. Molina
- Marrakech Agreement
- Martinique
- María Félix
- Mastretta
- Mastretta MXT
- Maxcom
- Maximato
- Maya civilization
- Maya people
- Maya peoples
- Maya Script
- Mayapán
- Mayor
- Mennonites in Mexico
- Menudo (soup)
- Mercosur
- Mesoamerica
- Mesoamerican pyramid
- Mestizaje
- Mestizo
- Mexica
- Mexicali
- Mexican Air Force
- Mexican American
- Mexican Armed Forces
- Mexican Army
- Mexican art
- Mexican cuisine
- Mexican Drug War
- Mexican Empire
- Mexican literature
- Mexican miracle
- Mexican Navy
- Mexican people
- Mexican peso
- Mexican pop music
- Mexican Revolution
- Mexican rock
- Mexican Spanish
- Mexican-American War
- Mexico
- Mexico City
- Mextli
- Michael D. Coe
- Michoacán
- Middle power
- Miguel de la Madrid
- Milanesa
- Military of Mexico
- Militia
- Mixtec
- Mixtec civilization
- Mixtec languages
- Moctezuma II
- Moldova
- Mole (sauce)
- Molotov (band)
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Monte Albán
- Monterrey
- Montserrat
- Moon rabbit
- Morelos
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Music of Mexico
- MXN
- Mérida Initiative
- Mérida, Yucatán
- Nahua people
- Nahuatl
- Nahuatl language
- Name of Mexico
- Navassa Island
- Nayarit
- Neoliberalism
- Netherlands
- Nevado de Toluca
- New Mexico
- New Spain
- New Zealand
- Nezahualcoyotl
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Nissan
- Nobel Foundation
- Non-intervention
- Nopal
- Norteño (music)
- North America
- North American Plate
- Nuevo León
- Oaxaca
- Octavio Paz
- OECD
- Olmec
- OPANAL
- Orchestra
- Orography
- Ostrich
- Otomi people
- Outline of Mexico
- Pacific Ocean
- Pacific Plate
- Pakistan
- Paleo-Indians
- Palme d'Or
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Panama
- Papaya
- Paraguay
- Paraguayan guaraní
- Parallel voting
- Pareidolia
- Pascal Lamy
- Pastry War
- Patron saints
- Paul J. Crutzen
- Paulina Rubio
- Peace Clause
- Peacekeeping
- Pedro Infante
- Pemex
- Pentecostals
- Peru
- Pew Research Center
- Phaseolus
- Philippines
- Pico de Orizaba
- Pineapple
- Plan of Ayutla
- Plan of Iguala
- Plaza México
- Poland
- Political repression
- Politics of Mexico
- Popocatepetl
- Porfirio Díaz
- Portal Mexico
- Portmanteau
- Portugal
- Portuguese language
- Poverty in Mexico
- Pozole
- Pre-Columbian Mexico
- President of Mexico
- Presidential system
- Professional boxing
- PubMed Identifier
- Puebla
- Puebla, Puebla
- Puerto Rico
- Querétaro
- Quesadilla
- Quintana Roo
- Quota Elimination
- Ranchera
- Random checkpoint
- Reform War
- Regional power
- Religion in Mexico
- Renato Leduc
- Reptile
- Republic of Texas
- Republic of Yucatán
- Republicanism
- Ricardo Lopez Nava
- Rio Grande
- Rio Group
- Rockefeller Center
- Rocky Mountains
- Romania
- Romanian language
- Ross Hassig
- Rubén Olivares
- Rufino Tamayo
- Rufus Yerxa
- Russia
- Saba
- Saint Barthélemy
- Saint Lucia
- Salvador Sánchez
- San Luis Potosí
- San Marino
- Sapote
- Satmex
- Saudi Arabia
- Seal (device)
- Secular state
- Senate (Mexico)
- Senate of Mexico
- Senegal
- Serrano pepper
- Sierra Madre del Sur
- Siete Leyes
- Sinaloa
- Singapore issues
- Sint Eustatius
- Sint Maarten
- Smallpox
- Snell & Wilcox
- Sonora
- Sonoran Desert
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Sovereign state
- Sovereignty
- Spain
- Spanish Crown
- Spanish Empire
- Spanish language
- Spelling
- Sport in Mexico
- Sports in Mexico
- Squash (plant)
- Sri Lanka
- State of Mexico
- Stone tool
- Suomi NPP
- Superpower
- Suriname
- Susana Harp
- Sweet potato
- Synthetic hormones
- Tabasco
- Taco
- Taiwan
- Tamale
- Tamales
- Tamarind
- Tamaulipas
- Telenovela
- Televisa
- Template G20
- Template G8+5
- Template Latin Union
- Template Mercosur
- Template NAFTA
- Template talk G20
- Template talk G8+5
- Template talk NAFTA
- Tenochtitlan
- Teotihuacan
- Territorial dispute
- Thalía
- Thames & Hudson
- The arts
- The Bahamas
- The Economist
- The New York Times
- The World Factbook
- Time in Mexico
- Tlatelolco massacre
- Tlaxcala
- Tlayuda
- Togo
- Tollways
- Toltec
- Toluca
- Toponym
- Torreón
- Totonac
- Tourism in Mexico
- Trade deficit
- Treaty of Asunción
- Treaty of Córdoba
- Treaty of Tlatelolco
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tropic of Cancer
- Tropical cyclone
- Turkey
- Turkey (bird)
- TV Azteca
- Tzeltal
- Tzotzil people
- UNESCO
- Unitary state
- United Kingdom
- United Nations
- United States
- Upper house
- Uruguay
- Uruguayan peso
- Valley of Mexico
- Vanadium
- Vanilla
- Veal
- Venetian language
- Venezuela
- Venustiano Carranza
- Vep Meksik
- Veracruz
- Veracruz, Veracruz
- Verónica Castro
- Vicente Fox
- Vicente Guerrero
- Vicente Saldivar
- Viceregal
- Viceroy
- Victoriano Huerta
- Viridiana
- Vladimir Lenin
- Volkswagen
- War
- Wikipedia Books
- Wikipedia Cleanup
- Wikipedia Link rot
- Wikipedia Media help
- Wikitravel
- World Bank
- World Economic Forum
- World Heritage Sites
- WP IPA for Spanish
- Xipe Totec
- Xochicalco
- Xocolatl
- Y tu mamá también
- Yucatan
- Yucatán
- Yucatán Peninsula
- Yukatek Maya
- Zacatecas
- Zapotec civilization
- Zapotec languages
- Zapotec people
- Zimbabwe
- Zucchini
- Álvaro Obregón
-
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈaɣwaskaˈljentes] (
listen)), officially Free and Sovereign state of Aguascalientes (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Aguascalientes), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes.
It is located in North-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Zacatecas to the north and Jalisco to the south. Its name means "hot waters" in Spanish and originated from the abundance of hot springs in the area, the corresponding demonym for the state and its inhabitants is hidrocálido.
The state is located about 480 km (300 mi) from Mexico City.
It covers 5,471 square kilometers (2,112 sq mi) and has a little more than one million inhabitants. Most of its inhabitants live in the densely populated metropolitan area of its capital city.
The state as it is now was created on October 27, 1857 when it was separated from Zacatecas after the tale says that the wife of the governor of the state promised to give a kiss to the President of the time, in exchange for the separation of Aguascalientes from Zacatecas, which explains the shape of a kiss the state has. It bears the name Aguascalientes taken from its largest city and capital also called Aguascalientes.
wn.com/Aguascalientes -
Algeria
Coordinates: 28°N 2°E / 28°N 2°E / 28; 2
Algeria
i/ælˈdʒɪəriə/ (Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā'ir; Berber: ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية, al-Jumhūriyyah al-Jazāʾiriyyah ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyyah ash-Shaʿbiyyah), also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a large country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.
When referring to its land area, Algeria is the largest country in Africa, Maghreb and the Arab World. It is also the largest of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; it is also the tenth-largest country in the world. The country is bordered in the northeast by Tunisia, in the east by Libya, in the west by Morocco, in the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, in the southeast by Niger, and in the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Its size is almost 2,400,000 square kilometres (926,645 sq mi) with an estimated population of 37.1 million as of 2012. Algeria is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, OPEC and the United Nations. The country is also a founding member of the Arab Maghreb Union.
wn.com/Algeria -
Alta California
Alta California (English: Upper California) was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming. The territory passed to American control after the Mexican–American War and ceased to exist with the creation of the State of California in 1850.
wn.com/Alta_California -
Americas
The Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World.
In the English language, the Americas refers to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, whereas America, in current usage, usually refers to the United States of America.
The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.4% of its land area) and contain about 13.5% of the human population (about 900 million people).
The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000–17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific Northwest coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.
wn.com/Americas -
Andorra
Andorra (i/ænˈdɔrə/; Catalan pronunciation: [ənˈdorə], locally: [anˈdɔra]), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of 468 km2 (181 sq mi) and an estimated population of 84,082 in 2009. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 ft) above sea level. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.
The Principality was formed in 1278. The role of monarch is exercised jointly by the two co-princes, the Catalan Bishop of Urgell and the President of France (the whole state is a part of Diocese of Urgell).
Andorra is a prosperous country mainly because of its tourism industry, which services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually, and also because of its status as a tax haven. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the de facto currency. The people of Andorra have the 4th highest human life expectancy in the world — 82 years at birth.
wn.com/Andorra -
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (Portuguese: República de Angola, pronounced: [ʁɨˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈɡɔla];Kikongo, Kimbundu, Umbundu: Repubilika ya Ngola), is a country in southern Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city. The exclave province of Cabinda has borders with the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Portuguese were present in some—mostly coastal—points of the territory of what is now Angola, from the 16th to the 19th century, interacting in diverse ways with the peoples that lived there. In the 19th century they slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. Angola as a Portuguese colony encompassing the present territory was not established before the end of the 19th century, and "effective occupation", as required by the Berlin Conference (1884) was achieved only by the 1920s. Independence was achieved in 1975, after a protracted liberation war. After independence, Angola was the scene of an intense civil war from 1975 to 2002. The country has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy has on average grown at a two-digit pace since the 1990s, especially since the end of the civil war. In spite of this, standards of living remain low for the majority of the population, and life expectancy and infant mortality rates in Angola are among the worst-ranked in the world. At the same time, a minority has reached comfortable life standards, and the dominant stratum has succeeded in accumulating considerable wealth, so that social inequality in Angola is one of the highest in the world.
wn.com/Angola -
Anguilla
Anguilla (
/æŋˈɡwɪlə/ ang-GWIL-ə) is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km (16 mi) long by 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population. The island's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 91 km2 (35 sq mi), with a population of approximately 13,500 (2006 estimate).
Anguilla has become a popular tax haven, having no capital gains, estate, profit or other forms of direct taxation on either individuals or corporations.
Anguilla was first settled by Amerindian tribes who migrated from South America. The earliest Amerindian artifacts found on Anguilla have been dated to around 1300 BC, and remains of settlements date from 600 AD. The date of European discovery is uncertain: some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565. The name Anguilla derives from the word for "eel" in any of various Romance languages (modern Spanish: anguila; French: anguille; Italian: anguilla; Portuguese: enguia), probably chosen because of the island's eel-like shape.
wn.com/Anguilla -
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda (i/ænˈtiːɡə ænd bɑrˈbjuːdə/; Spanish for "ancient" and "bearded") is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands (including Great Bird, Green, Guinea, Long, Maiden and York Islands and further south, the island of Redonda). The permanent population number approximately 81,800 (at the 2011 Census) and the capital and largest port and city is St. John's, on Antigua.
Separated by a few nautical miles, Antigua and Barbuda are in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17 degrees north of the Equator. The country is nicknamed "Land of 365 Beaches" due to the many beaches surrounding the islands. Its governance, language, and culture have all been strongly influenced by the British Empire, of which the country was formerly a part.
Antigua was first settled by Archaic Age hunter-gatherer Amerindians, erroneously referred to as Siboney or Ciboney.Carbon-dating has established that the earliest settlements started around 3100 BC. They were succeeded by the Ceramic Age pre-Columbian Arawak-speaking Saladoid people who migrated from the lower Orinoco River.
wn.com/Antigua_and_Barbuda -
Argentina
Argentinai/ˌɑrdʒənˈtiːnə/, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina [reˈpuβlika aɾxenˈtina]), is a country in South America, the continent's second largest by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations.
Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories.
A recognised middle power, Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy, with a "very high" rating on the Human development index. Within Latin America, Argentina has the fifth highest nominal GDP per capita and the highest in purchasing power terms. Analysts have argued that the country has a "foundation for future growth due to its market size, levels of foreign direct investment, and percentage of high-tech exports as share of total manufactured goods", and it is classed by investors as middle emerging economy. Argentina is a founding member of the United Nations, Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization, and is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies.
wn.com/Argentina -
Arizona
Arizona (i/ɛrɪˈzoʊnə/; /ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state of the United States, located in the southwestern region of the country. Arizona is also part of the Western United States and of the Mountain West states. Arizona is the sixth most extensive and the 16th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in population by eight cities of the Phoenix metropolitan area: Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Tempe, Peoria, and Surprise.
Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, and it achieved statehood on February 14, 1912. Arizona is noted for its desert climate in its southern half, where there are very hot summers and quite mild winters. The northern half of Arizona also features forests of pine, Douglas fir, and spruce trees, a very large, high plateau (the Colorado Plateau) and some mountain ranges—such as the San Francisco Mountains—as well as large, deep canyons, where there is much more moderate weather for three seasons of the year, plus significant snowfalls. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff and Alpine.
wn.com/Arizona -
Aruba
Aruba ( /əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə, Dutch pronunciation: [aˈruba]) is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km (approx.) east of Guajira Peninsula (Colombia). Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.
Aruba is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten whose citizens share a single nationality: Dutch citizen. Aruba has no administrative subdivisions, but for census purposes is divided into 8 regions. Its capital is Oranjestad. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 179 square kilometres (69 sq mi) and is densely populated with a total of 101,484 inhabitants at the 2010 Census. It lies outside the hurricane belt. It is also home to the endemic Aruba Island Rattlesnake.
wn.com/Aruba -
Australia
Australia ( /əˈstreɪljə/), officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent as well as the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north; the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east.
For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of roughly 250 language groups. After discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing Crown Colonies were established.
wn.com/Australia -
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (German: Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling Kaisertum Österreich) was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918) was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I and broken into separate new states.
The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria-Hungary has also been used.[citation needed]
The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.
wn.com/Austrian_Empire -
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (
i/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.
wn.com/Azerbaijan -
Baja California
Baja California (English /ˈbɑːhɑː kælɨˈfɔrnjə/, Spanish: [ˈbaxa kaliˈfornja]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Baja California (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California, literally: Lower California), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico, but before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 70,113 km2 (27,071 sq mi), or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, north of the 28th parallel. The state is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Sonora, the U.S. State of Arizona, and the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez), and on the south by Baja California Sur. Its northern limit is the U.S. state of California.
The state has a population of 2,844,469 (2005 census), and estimated 3,165,776 (June 2009) much more than the sparsely populated Baja California Sur to the south, and similar to San Diego County on its north. Over 75% of the population lives in the capital city, Mexicali, or in Ensenada and Tijuana. Other important cities include San Felipe, Rosarito and Tecate. The population of the state is composed of Mestizos, mostly immigrants from other parts of Mexico, and, as with most northern Mexican states, a large population of Mexicans of European ancestry, and also a large minority group of East Asian, Middle Eastern and indigenous descent. Additionally, there is a large immigrant population from the United States due to its proximity to San Diego and the cheaper cost of living compared to San Diego. There is also a significant population from Central America. Many immigrants moved to Baja California for a better quality of life and the number of higher paying jobs in comparison to the rest of Mexico and Latin America.
wn.com/Baja_California -
Baja California Sur
Baja California Sur (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbaxa kaliˈfornja sur]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur, literally: South Lower California), is the smallest (by population) of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 73,475 km2 (28,369 sq mi), or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the southern half of the Baja California peninsula, south of the 28th parallel. It is bordered to the north by the state of Baja California, to the west by the Pacific Ocean, and to the east by the Gulf of California, also known as the "Sea of Cortés." Also, the state has maritime borders with Sonora and Sinaloa to the east across the Gulf of California.
As of 2010, the population was 637,026. The state is home to the tourist resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo. Its largest city and capital is La Paz, a tourist resort and historic landmark. It includes Loreto, the historic first capital of all three Californias (Baja California Sur, Baja California, and California), the town of Santa Rosalía which is the site of a historic church designed by Gustave Eiffel. The smoke stack of the silver smelters in El Triunfo, Baja California Sur was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Eiffel never visited Baja California Sur, rather his early architectural works were sold as 'cookie cutter' designs and can be seen in hundreds of locations around the world. Although the silver industry ended full scale production in the 1950s the stack and ruins of the silver industry remain as a significant landmark today.
wn.com/Baja_California_Sur -
Barbados
Coordinates: 13°10′N 59°33′W / 13.167°N 59.55°W / 13.167; -59.55
Barbados (i/bɑrˈbeɪdɒs/ or /bɑrˈbeɪdoʊs/) is a sovereign island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is 34 kilometres (21 mi) in length and up to 23 kilometres (14 mi) in width, covering an area of 431 square kilometres (166 sq mi). It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about 168 kilometres (104 mi) east of the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados is outside of the principal Atlantic hurricane belt.
Barbados was initially visited by the Spanish around the late 1400s to early 1500s and first appears on a Spanish map from 1511. The Spanish explorers may have plundered the island of whatever native peoples resided therein to become slaves. The Portuguese visited in 1536, but they too left it unclaimed, with their only remnants being an introduction of wild hogs for a good supply of meat whenever the island was visited. The first English ship, the Olive Blossom, arrived in Barbados in 1624. They took possession of it in the name of the British king James I. Two years later in 1627 the first permanent settlers arrived from England and it became an English and later British colony.
wn.com/Barbados -
Belize
Belizei/bəˈliːz/ (formerly British Honduras) is a country located on the north eastern coast of Central America and it is the only country in the area where English is the official language, although Kriol and Spanish are more commonly spoken. Belize is bordered to the north by Mexico, south and west by Guatemala, and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland is about 290 kilometres (180 mi) long and 110 kilometres (68 mi) wide.
With 22,960 square kilometres (8,860 sq mi) of land and a population of only 333,200 inhabitants (2010 est.), Belize possesses the lowest population density in Central America. The country's population growth rate of 2.21% (2008 est.), however, is the highest in the region and one of the highest in the western hemisphere. Belize's abundance of terrestrial and marine species, and its diversity of ecosystems give it a key place within the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor.
Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages and it is the only nation in the region with a British colonial heritage but as a part of the Western Caribbean Zone, it also shares a common heritage with the Caribbean portions of other Central American countries. In general, Belize is considered to be a Central American nation with strong ties to both the Caribbean and Latin America. Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA).
wn.com/Belize -
Bermuda
Bermuda ( /bɜrˈmjuːdə/), officially the Bermudas or Somers Islands, is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) to the west-northwest. It is about 1,373 kilometres (853 mi) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 1,770 kilometres (1,100 mi) northeast of Miami, Florida, USA. Its capital city is Hamilton.
Bermuda was discovered in 1505 by Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez, after whom the islands are named. Apparently uninhabited, he claimed them for the Spanish Empire. Although he paid two visits to the archipelago, Bermúdez was persuaded never to set foot on any of the islands by the dangerous reef surrounding them. Subsequent Spanish or other visitors are believed to have released the feral pigs that were abundant on the island when settlement began. In 1609, the Virginia Company, which had established Virginia and Jamestown on the American continent two years earlier, established a settlement on behalf of the English colonial empire. Initially, it was administered as an extension of Virginia by the Company until 1614, before its successor, the Somers Isles Company, took over until 1684. Bermuda then became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the unified Kingdom of Great Britain. After Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, Bermuda became the oldest (and, since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the most populous) remaining British overseas territory. Its first capital, St George's, was established in 1612 and is the oldest continuously-inhabited English town in the Americas.
wn.com/Bermuda -
Bolivia
Coordinates: 16°42′43″S 64°39′58″W / 16.712°S 64.666°W / -16.712; -64.666 Bolivia (i/bəˈlɪviə/, Spanish: [boliˈβja]) officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia (Spanish: Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, Quechua: Bulivya Mamallaqta, Aymara: Wuliwya Suyu), is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west.
Prior to European colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was a part of the Inca Empire – the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. During most of the Spanish colonial period, this territory was called Upper Peru and was under the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which included most of Spain's South American colonies. After declaring independence in 1809, 16 years of war followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simón Bolívar, on 6 August 1825. Bolivia has struggled through periods of political instability, dictatorships and economic woes.
wn.com/Bolivia -
Bonaire
Bonaire ( /bɒˈnɛər/; Dutch: Bonaire, Papiamentu: Boneiru) is a special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands, consisting of the Caribbean island of Bonaire and, nestled in its western crescent, the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire. Together with Aruba and Curaçao it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles. The name Bonaire is thought to have originally come from the Caiquetio word 'Bonay'. The early Spanish and Dutch modified its spelling to Bojnaj and also Bonaire, which means "Good Air".
Bonaire was part of the Netherlands Antilles until the country's dissolution on 10 October 2010, when the island (including Klein Bonaire) became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands.
Bonaire's earliest known inhabitants were the Caquetio Indians, a branch of the Arawak who came by canoe from Venezuela in about AD 1000. Archeological remains of Caquetio culture have been found at certain sites northeast of Kralendijk and near Lac Bay. Caquetio rock paintings and petroglyphs have been preserved in caves at Spelonk, Onima, Ceru Pungi, and Ceru Crita-Cabai. The Caquetios were apparently a very tall people, for the Spanish name for the ABC Islands was 'las Islas de los Gigantes' or 'the islands of the giants.'
wn.com/Bonaire -
Brazil
Brazili/brəˈzɪl/ (Portuguese: Brasil, IPA: [bɾaˈziw]), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: República Federativa do Brasil, listen (help·info)), is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people. It is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas and the largest lusophone country in the world.
Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 km (4,655 mi). It is bordered on the north by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and the French overseas region of French Guiana; on the northwest by Colombia; on the west by Bolivia and Peru; on the southwest by Argentina and Paraguay and on the south by Uruguay. Numerous archipelagos form part of Brazilian territory, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile.
Brazil was a colony of Portugal from the landing of Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500 until 1815, when it was elevated to the rank of kingdom and the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves was formed. The colonial bond was in fact broken in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese colonial empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal.Independence was achieved in 1822 with the formation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The country became a presidential republic in 1889, when a military coup d'état proclaimed the Republic, although the bicameral legislature, now called Congress, dates back to the ratification of the first constitution in 1824. Its current Constitution, formulated in 1988, defines Brazil as a Federal Republic. The Federation is formed by the union of the Federal District, the 26 States, and the 5,564 Municipalities.
wn.com/Brazil -
Calakmul
Calakmul (also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands. Calakmul is a modern name, in ancient times the city core was known as Ox Te' Tuun.
Calakmul was a major Maya power within the northern Peten region of the Yucatan of southern Mexico. Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan". Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Kingdom of the Snake or Snake Kingdom. This Snake Kingdom reigned during most of the Classic period. Calakmul itself is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 people and had governance, at times, over places as far away as 150 kilometers. There are 6,750 ancient structures identified at Calakmul the largest of which is the great pyramid at the site. Structure 2 is over 45 metres (148 ft) high, making it one of the tallest of the Maya pyramids. Four tombs have been located within the pyramid. Like many temples or pyramids within Mesoamerica the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by building upon the existing temple to reach its current size. The size of the central monumental architecture is approximately 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) and the whole of the site, mostly covered with dense residential structures, is about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi).
wn.com/Calakmul -
Campeche
Campeche (Spanish pronunciation: [kamˈpetʃe]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Campeche (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in Southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west. To the south it is bordered by the Petén department of Guatemala, to the east by Belize and to the west by the Gulf of Mexico. The state capital, also called Campeche, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. The formation of the state began with the city, which was founded in 1540 as the Spanish began the conquest of the Yucatán Peninsula. During the colonial period, the city was a rich and important port, but declined after Mexico’s Independence. Campeche was part of the province of Yucatán but split off in the mid 19th century, mostly due to political friction with city of Mérida. Today, much of the state’s economic comeback is due to the finding of petroleum offshore in the 1970s, which has made the coastal cities of Campeche and Ciudad del Carmen important economic centers. The state has important Mayan and colonial sites but they are not as well known or visited as others in the Yucatán.
wn.com/Campeche -
Canada
Canada ( /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Spanning over 9,900,000 km2 (3,800,000 sq mi), Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, along the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy; the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on Britain.
wn.com/Canada -
Cancún
Cancún (Spanish pronunciation: [kaŋˈkun]) is a city in south-eastern Mexico, located on the north-east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a world-renowned tourist destination, as well as being the seat of the Benito Juárez municipality. The city is located off of the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the eastern-most points in Mexico. Cancún is located near/in Mexico's Caribbean coast resort band known as the Riviera Maya.
There are two possible translations of Cancún, based on the Mayan pronunciation. The first translation is "nest of snakes or pot." The second version and less accepted is "place of the golden snake"[citation needed].
The shield of the municipality of Benito Juárez, who represents the city of Cancun, was designed by the artist vital Jesús Carmichael Jiménez (Elio Carmichael). It is divided into three parts: The color blue symbolizes the Caribbean Sea, the yellow the sand and the red the sun with its rays.
As documented in the earliest colonial sources, the island of Cancún was originally known to its Maya inhabitants as Nizuc (Yucatec Maya [niʔ suʔuk]) meaning either "promontory" or "point of grass". In the years after the Conquest, much of the population died off or left as a result of disease, warfare, piracy, and famines, leaving only small settlements on Isla Mujeres and Cozumel Island.[citation needed]
wn.com/Cancún -
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival (French: Le Festival International du Film de Cannes or just Festival de Cannes), is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is the world's most prestigious and publicized film festival. The invitation-only festival is held annually (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.
The 2012 Cannes Film Festival took place from May 16 to May 27, 2012. The President of the Jury was the Italian film director Nanni Moretti.
The Cannes Film Festival has its origins in the late 1930s when Jean Zay, the French Minister of National Education, on the proposal of Philippe Erlanger and with the support of the British and Americans,[clarification needed] set up an international cinematographic festival. In 1947, the festival was held as the "Festival du film de Cannes", where films from sixteen countries were presented. Moreover, the principle of equality was introduced, so that the jury was to be made up only of one representative per country. Also, this year the festival was held at the made-for-the-occasion Palais des Festivals, although the roof was unfinished and blew off during a storm. The festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. In 1951, owing to better relations between France and Italy, the Cannes Festival was moved to Spring, while the Mostra remained in Autumn.
wn.com/Cannes_Film_Festival -
Cape Verde
Cape Verdei/ˌkeɪp ˈvɜrd/ (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pronounced: [ˈkabu ˈveɾdɨ]), officially the Republic of Cape Verde, is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa. The islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), are of volcanic origin and while three of them (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) are fairly flat, sandy and dry, the remaining ones are generally rockier and have more vegetation. However, because of the infrequent occurrence of rainfall the overall landscape is not particularly green.
The name of the country stems from the nearby Cap Vert, on the Senegalese coast, which in its turn was originally named "Cabo Verde" when it was sighted by Portuguese explorers in 1444, a few years before the islands were discovered (verde is Portuguese for "green").
The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th Century, and became important in the Atlantic slave trade for their location. The islands' prosperity often attracted privateers and pirates, including Sir Francis Drake, a corsair (privateer) under the authority of the British crown, who twice sacked the (then) capital Ribeira Grande, in the 1580s. The islands were also visited by Charles Darwin's expedition in 1832. The decline in the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis for the islands. With few natural resources, and without strong sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontent with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy. This discontent festered and culminated in 1975, when a movement originally led by Amílcar Cabral who was assassinated on 20 January 1973 then passed onto his half-brother Luís Cabral, achieved independence for the archipelago.
wn.com/Cape_Verde -
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts, are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest salt water seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km² (1,063,000 sq. mi.). The sea's deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,220 ft) below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras.
The name "Caribbean" is derived from the Caribs, one of the dominant American Indian groups in the region at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. After the discovery of the West Indies by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish term Antillas was assigned to the lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" is a common alternative name for the Caribbean Sea in various European languages. During the first century of development, the Spanish dominance was undisputed.
wn.com/Caribbean_Sea -
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands ( /ˈkeɪmən/ or /keɪˈmæn/) is a British Overseas Territory located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. The Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is a major world offshore financial centre.
The Cayman Islands were first logged as sighted by Christopher Columbus on 10 May 1503 during his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He named the islands Las Tortugas after the large number of sea turtles observed there. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake in 1586. He subsequently named the islands "Cayman" after caiman, a Neo-Taino word for "alligator".
The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century. While there is no archaeological evidence for an indigenous people on the islands, a variety of settlers from various backgrounds made their home on the islands, including pirates, refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, shipwrecked sailors, and deserters from Oliver Cromwell's army in Jamaica.
wn.com/Cayman_Islands -
Chiapas
Chiapas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃjapas]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, and Tapachula. Located in Southwestern Mexico, it is the southernmost State of Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.
In general, Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, rainfall can average more than 3,000 mm (120 in) per year. In the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest, but this vegetation has been destroyed almost completely to give way to agriculture and ranching. Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is still abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas and many other tropical crops near Tapachula. On the several parallel "sierras" or mountain ranges running along the center of Chiapas, climate can be quite temperate and foggy, allowing the development of cloud forests like those of the Reserva de la Biosfera el Triunfo, home to a handful of Resplendent Quetzals and Horned Guans.
wn.com/Chiapas -
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza ((
/tʃiːˈtʃɛn iːˈtsɑː/,Spanish: Chichén Itzá [tʃiˈtʃen iˈtsa], from Yucatec Maya: Chi'ch'èen Ìitsha' [tɕʰɨɪʼtɕʼeːn˧˩ iː˧˩tsʰaʲ]; "at the mouth of the well of the Itza"), was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Tinum, in the Mexican state of Yucatán.
Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic (c.600–900 AD) through the Terminal Classic (c.800–900) and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period (c.900–1200). The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico and of the Puuc and Chenes styles of the northern Maya lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
Chichen Itza was one of the largest Maya cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities, or Tollans, referred to in later Mesoamerican literature. The city may have had the most diverse population in the Maya world, a factor that could have contributed to the variety of architectural styles at the site.
wn.com/Chichen_Itza -
Chile
Chile (i/ˈtʃɪliː/ or /ˈtʃɪleɪ/), officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈtʃile] ( listen)), is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Along with Ecuador, it is one of two countries in South America that do not border Brazil. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas and Easter Island. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.
Chile's distinctive shape—4,300 kilometres (2,700 mi) long and on average 175 kilometres (109 mi) wide—makes it the longest country in the world, north to south, with the fifth lengthiest coastline at over 78 thousand kilometers. The diverse climate of Chile ranges from the world's driest desert in the north—the Atacama—through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, humid subtropical in Easter Island, to an Oceanic climate, including alpine tundra and glaciers in the east and south. The northern desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.
wn.com/Chile -
China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
wn.com/China -
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez (Spanish pronunciation: [sjuˈðad ˈxwaɾes]), formerly known as Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.3 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), south of El Paso, Texas. El Paso and Ciudad Juárez comprise the second largest bi-national metropolitan area on the Mexico - United States border with a combined population of 2.1 million people.
Ciudad Juárez is one of the fastest growing cities in the world despite being called "the most violent zone in the world outside of declared war zones" in 2009. In 2001 the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published a report stating that in Ciudad Juárez "the average annual growth over the 10-year period 1990–2000 was 5.3%. Juárez experienced much higher population growth than the state of Chihuahua and than Mexico as a whole."
There are four international ports of entry connecting Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, including the Bridge of the Americas, Ysleta International Bridge, Paso del Norte Bridge, and Stanton Street Bridge. These combined allowed 22,958,472 crossings in 2008, making Ciudad Juárez a major point of entry and transportation for all of central northern Mexico. The city has a growing industrial center which is made up in large part by more than 300 maquiladoras (assembly plants) located in and around the city. According to a 2007 New York Times article, Ciudad Juárez "is now absorbing more new industrial real estate space than any other North American city." In 2008, FDi Magazine designated Ciudad Juárez "The City of the Future." In 2011, the State of Chihuahua appointed "Heroica" to Ciudad Juárez. It will only be a symbolic connotation and for promotional purposes in response to the role of this town during the Mexican Revolution. The name of this city remains the same. This year the "maquilas" has already generated 10,000 new jobs for a total of 19 factories located in Ciudad Juárez.
wn.com/Ciudad_Juárez -
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (Spanish pronunciation: [koaˈwila ðe saɾaˈɣosa]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, compose the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northeastern Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of Nuevo León to the east, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí to the south, and Durango and Chihuahua to the west. To the north, Coahuila accounts for a 512 kilometres (318 mi) stretch of the U.S. - Mexico border, adjacent to the United States state of Texas along the course of the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte). With an area of 151,563 square kilometres (58,519 sq mi), it is the nation's third-largest state. It comprises 38 municipalities (municipios). In 2010, Coahuila's population is 2,748,391 inhabitants.
The capital of Coahuila is Saltillo, and its largest city is Torreón. Coahuila also includes the cities of Monclova (a former state capital), Piedras Negras, and Ciudad Acuña.
wn.com/Coahuila -
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas (Coahuila and Texas) was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.
It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova. For administrative purposes, the state was divided into three districts: Béxar, comprising the area covered by Texas, Monclova, comprising northern Coahuila, and Río Grande Saltillo, comprising southern Coahuila.
The state remained in existence until the adoption of the 1835 "Constitutional Bases", whereby the federal republic was converted into a unitary one, and the nation's states, (estados), were turned into departments (departamentos). The State of Coahuila y Texas was split in two and became the Department of Coahuila and the Department of Texas. The latter eventually seceded and became the independent Republic of Texas, which is now the state of Texas within the United States of America.
Both Coahuila and Texas seceded from Mexico because of Santa Anna's attempts to centralize the government, with Texas forming the Republic of Texas and Coahuila joining with Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to form the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande.
wn.com/Coahuila_y_Tejas -
Colima
Colima (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈlima]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Colima (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima.
Colima is a small state located in the Western Mexico region on Mexico’s central Pacific coast. It shares borders with the states of Jalisco and Michoacán. In addition to the capital city of Colima, the state's main cities include Manzanillo and Tecomán. Despite being the fourth smallest entity in Mexico with the lowest numerical population, the state has one of Mexico’s highest standards of living and lowest unemployment.
The state covered a territory of 5,455km2 and is the fourth smallest federal entity after Tlaxcala, Morelos and the Federal District of Mexico City, with only .3% of the country total territory. The state is located in the middle of Mexico’s Pacific coast, bordered by the states of Jalisco and Michoacán along with the Pacific Ocean. Colima’s territory also includes the Revillagigedo Islands which consist of Socorro, San Benedicto, Clarión and Roca Partida. They are under federal jurisdiction but are considered as part of the municipality of Manzanillo . Politically, the state is divided into ten municipalities . Natural geography divides the state into a northern and southern region. The north has a cooler climate due to the higher mountains. The south is hotter and includes the Pacific Ocean coastline. The Revillagigedo Islands are of volcanic origin which are dispersed along the19° north over an areas of about 400 km. In total, they cover an area of 205km2. The altitude of the state varies from zero at the coastline to 3,839 masl at the crater of the Colima Volcano .
wn.com/Colima -
Colombia
Colombia ( /kəˈlʌmbiə/ kə-LUM-biə, or /kəˈlɒmbiə/ kə-LOM-biə), officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia [reˈpuβlika ðe koˈlombja]), is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia has maritime borders with Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Colombia is the 26th largest country by area and the fourth largest in South America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru. With over 46 million people, Colombia is the 27th largest country in the world by population and has the second largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico. Colombia is a middle power, with the fourth largest economy in Latin America, and the third largest in South America. Colombia is famous for the production of coffee, flowers, emeralds, coal, and oil. All of these products make up the primary sector of economy.
wn.com/Colombia -
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east.
Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world's 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in the Human Development Index (HDI), ranked 69th in the world in 2011. Also was cited by the UNDP in 2010 as one of the countries that have attained much higher human development than other countries at the same income levels, and in 2011 was highlighted by UNDP for being a good performer on environmental sustainability, and better record on human development and inequality than the median of their region. It was also the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. The country is ranked fifth in the world, and first among the Americas, in terms of the 2012 Environmental Performance Index.
wn.com/Costa_Rica -
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
wn.com/Cuba -
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca (Spanish pronunciation: [kweɾnaˈβaka]; Classical Nahuatl: Cuauhnāhuac [kʷawˈnaːwak]"near the woods") is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago. It is also a municipality located about 85 km (53 mi) south of Mexico City on the D-95 freeway.
The city was nicknamed the "City of Eternal Spring" by Alexander von Humboldt in the nineteenth century. It has long been a favorite escape for Mexico City and foreign visitors because of this warm, stable climate and abundant vegetation. Aztec emperors had summer residences there, and even today, many famous people as well as Mexico City residents maintain homes there. Cuernavaca is also host to a large foreign resident population, including large numbers of students who come to study the Spanish language.
The name "Cuernavaca" is derived from the Nahuatl phrase "Cuauhnahuac" and means "surrounded by or close to trees". The name eventually was Hispanicized to Cuernavaca because the Spanish could not pronounce the Nahuatl name. The coat-of-arms of the municipality consists of a tree trunk with three branches, with foliage, and four roots colored red. There is a cut in the trunk in the form of a mouth, from which emerges a grey swirl representing speech.
wn.com/Cuernavaca -
Curaçao
Curaçao (Dutch: Curaçao;Papiamentu: Kòrsou) is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao, Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou), which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"), is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its capital is Willemstad.
Curaçao is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) of the Lesser Antilles, specifically the Leeward Antilles. It has a land area of 444 square kilometres (171 square miles). As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 141,766.
Prior to 10 October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, Curaçao was administered as the Island Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou), one of five island territories of the former Netherlands Antilles. The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code CUW and the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code CW has been assigned to Curaçao.
wn.com/Curaçao -
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (i/ˈtʃɛk/ CHEK;Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka] ( listen), short form Česko Czech pronunciation: [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the north, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. Its capital and largest city, with 1.3 million inhabitants, is Prague.
It is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy, a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group.
The Czech state, formerly known as Bohemia, was formed in the late 9th century as a small duchy around Prague, at that time under dominance of the powerful Great Moravian Empire (which reached its greatest territorial extent during the reign of Svatopluk I from the House of Mojmír). After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power was transferred from Moravia to Bohemia, under the Přemyslids. During the rule of Přemyslid dukes/kings and their successors, the Luxembourgs, the country reached its greatest territorial extent (13th–14th century). Life in the country was significantly affected by the Hussite wars, during which it faced economic embargo and crusades from all over Europe. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy as one of its three principal parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) led to the further centralization of the monarchy including forced recatholization and Germanization. During radical reforms in the 18th century the Bohemian Crown was even de facto abolished (1749). In the 19th century the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia which was formed in 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire after World War I.
wn.com/Czech_Republic -
Dominica
Dominica ( /ˌdɒmɪˈniːkə/ DOM-i-NEE-kə;French: Dominique; Kali‘na (Carib): Wai‘tu kubuli), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi) and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of 1,447 metres (4,747 ft). The Commonwealth of Dominica had a population of 71,293 at the 2011 Census. The capital is Roseau.
Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Isle of the Caribbean" for its unspoiled natural beauty. It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world's second-largest hot spring, Boiling Lake. The island features lush mountainous rainforests, home of many rare plant, animal, and bird species. There are xeric areas in some of the western coastal regions, but heavy rainfall can be expected inland. The Sisserou Parrot (also known as the Imperial Amazon), the island's national bird, is featured on the national flag. Dominica's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, agriculture and heavy taxation.
wn.com/Dominica -
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (i/dəˌmɪnɨkən rɨˈpʌblɪk/; Spanish: República Dominicana [reˈpuβlika ðominiˈkana]) is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,442 square kilometres (18,704 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people.
Taínos inhabited what is now the Dominican Republic since the 7th century. Christopher Columbus landed on it in 1492, and it became the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, namely Santo Domingo, the country's capital and Spain's first capital in the New World. Santo Domingo can boast of many firsts in the Americas, including the first cathedral, and castle, both in the Ciudad Colonial area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
wn.com/Dominican_Republic -
Durango
Durango (Spanish pronunciation: [duˈɾaŋɡo]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Durango (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur. The city of Victoria de Durango is the state's capital, named after the first president of Mexico, Guadalupe Victoria.
wn.com/Durango -
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (tiˈmɔr ˈlɛʃteɪ), commonly known as East Timori/ˌiːst ˈtiːmɔr/ (Tetum: Timór Lorosa'e, Portuguese: Timor-Leste), is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The small country of 15,410 km² (5,400 sq mi) is located about 640 km (400 mi) northwest of Darwin, Australia.
East Timor was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor until Portugal's decolonization of the country. In late 1975, East Timor declared its independence, but later that year was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesia's 27th province the following year. In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002. East Timor is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being the Philippines.
wn.com/East_Timor -
Ecuador
Ecuador (i/ˈɛkwədɔr/ E-kwə-dawr), officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador [reˈpuβlika ðel ekwaˈðor], which literally translates to the "Republic of the Equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, (along with Chile), that do not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland.
The main spoken language in Ecuador is Spanish. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 275,830 km2 (106,500 sq mi). Its capital city is Quito, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic center in Latin America. The country's largest city is Guayaquil. The historic center of Cuenca, the third largest city in the country, was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, for being an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish style colonial city in the Americas. Ecuador is also home—despite its size—to a great variety of species, many of them endemic, like those of the Galápagos islands. This species diversity makes Ecuador one of the 17 megadiverse countries in the world. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.
wn.com/Ecuador -
Egypt
Egypti/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
wn.com/Egypt -
El Salvador
El Salvadori/ɛl ˈsælvədɔr/ (Spanish: República de El Salvador, literally 'Republic of The Savior') is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country as well as Central America. El Salvador borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the countries of Guatemala to the north and Honduras to the east. Its easternmost region lies on the coast of the Gulf of Fonseca, opposite Nicaragua. As of 2009, El Salvador had a population of approximately 5,744,113 people, composed predominantly of Mestizos.
The colón was the official currency of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001, when it adopted the U.S. Dollar.
In 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index and in the top 3 in Central America (behind Costa Rica and Panama), due in part to ongoing rapid industrialization. In addition, tropical forests and overall forest cover has expanded by nearly 20 percent from the year 1992 to 2010. Making it one of the few countries experiencing reforestation.
wn.com/El_Salvador -
Estadio Azteca
Estadio Azteca (Spanish pronunciation: [esˈtaðjo aθˈteka], Aztec Stadium) is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.
The stadium was the venue for football in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
It has the honour of being the only stadium in the world to have hosted two FIFA World Cup Finals. In the 1970 World Cup final, Brazil defeated Italy 4-1 and in the 1986 World Cup final, Argentina defeated West Germany 3-2. It also hosted the 1986 quarter-final between Argentina and England in which Diego Maradona scored both the "Hand of God goal" and the "Goal of the Century". The stadium also hosted the "Game of the Century", when Italy defeated West Germany 4-3 in extra time in one of the 1970 semifinals. With a capacity of 105,064, it is the largest stadium in Latin America, fifth largest in the world and the largest football-specific stadium in the world.
The opening game was between Club América and Torino F.C. on May 29, 1966, with seats for 107,494 spectators. The first goal was scored by Brazilian Arlindo Dos Santos Cruz and the second one by Brazilian José Alves "Zague"; later, the Italians tied the game, which ended 2-2. Mexican president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz made the initial kick and FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous was the witness.
wn.com/Estadio_Azteca -
France
France (Englishi/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km2 (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km2 / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
wn.com/France -
Germany
Germany (i/ˈdʒɜrməni/), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state and the largest economy in the European Union. It is one of the major political powers of the European continent and a technological leader in many fields.
A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, was documented before AD 100. During the Migration Period, the Germanic tribes expanded southward, and established successor kingdoms throughout much of Europe. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation while southern and western parts remained dominated by Roman Catholic denominations, with the two factions clashing in the Thirty Years' War, marking the beginning of the Catholic–Protestant divide that has characterized German society ever since. Occupied during the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states into the German Empire in 1871 which was Prussian dominated. After the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the subsequent military surrender in World War I, the Empire was replaced by the Weimar Republic in 1918, and partitioned in the Treaty of Versailles. Amidst the Great Depression, the Third Reich was proclaimed in 1933. The latter period was marked by Fascism and World War II. After 1945, Germany was divided by allied occupation, and evolved into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990 Germany was reunified.
wn.com/Germany -
Greater Mexico City
Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Mexico City Metropolitan Area (Área Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México), constituted by the Federal District—itself composed of 16 boroughs—and 41 adjacent municipalities of the states of Mexico and Hidalgo. For normative purposes, however, Greater Mexico City most commonly refers to the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (Zona Metropolitana del Valle de México) an agglomeration that incorporates 18 additional municipalities. As of 2009, Greater Mexico City has a population of 21,163,226, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the world and the most populous metropolitan area in the Americas.
Since the 1940s there have been different proposals to establish the limits of the growing conurbation of Mexico City, and different definitions were used unofficially as the city continued to grow. The Federal Government (represented by the Department of Social Development), the Federal District (Mexico City proper), and the State of Mexico agreed on the official definitions for both the Mexico City Metropolitan Area and the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico on 22 December 2005 Per the agreement, most urban planning projects will be administered by Metropolitan Commissions.
wn.com/Greater_Mexico_City -
Greenland
Greenland (Kalaallisut: Kalaallit Nunaat, "Land of the Kalaallit";Danish: Grønland) is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and later Denmark) for more than a millennium. Greenland is, by area, the world's largest island. With a population of 56,615 (January 2011 estimate) it is the least densely populated dependency or country in the world.
Greenland has been inhabited, though not continuously, by Arctic peoples via Canada for 4500–5000 years. In the 10th century, Norsemen settled on the uninhabited southern part of Greenland. In the 13th century, the Inuit arrived, and in the late 15th century the Norse colonies were abandoned. In the early 18th century, contact between Scandinavia and Greenland was re-established and Denmark established rule over Greenland.
wn.com/Greenland -
Grenada
Grenada (i/ɡrɨˈneɪdə/) is an island country and Commonwealth realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" because of the production of nutmeg and mace crops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters. Its size is 344 square kilometres (133 sq mi), with an estimated population of 110,000. Its capital is St. George's. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada Dove.
Grenada was first sighted by Europeans in 1498 during the third voyage of Christopher Columbus to the new world. At the time the indigenous Island Caribs (Kalinago) who lived there called it Camahogne. The Spaniards did not permanently settle on Camahogne. The English failed in their attempt at settlement in 1609.
wn.com/Grenada -
Grijalva River
Grijalva River, formerly known as Tabasco River. (Spanish: Río Grijalva, known locally also as Río Chiapa and Mezcalapa river) is a 480 km long river in southeastern Mexico. It is named after Juan de Grijalva who visited the area in 1518. The river rises in Chiapas highlands and flows from Chiapas to the state of Tabasco through the Sumidero Canyon into the Bay of Campeche. The river's drainage basin is 134,400 km² in size.
After flowing from Nezahualcoyotl Lake, an artificial lake created by the hydroelectric Malpaso Dam, Grijalva River turns northward and eastward, roughly paralleling the Chiapas-Tabasco state border. It flows through Villahermosa (where, in 2001, a new cable-stayed bridge was constructed to cross the river) and empties into the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 10 km northwest of Frontera. The river is navigable by shallow-draft boats for approximately 100 km upstream.
Coordinates: 18°35′20″N 92°41′20″W / 18.58889°N 92.68889°W / 18.58889; -92.68889
wn.com/Grijalva_River -
Guadalajara
Guadalajara (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaðalaˈxaɾa]) is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality. The Guadalajara Metropolitan Area includes seven adjacent municipalities with a reported population of 4,328,584 in 2009, making it the second most populous metropolitan area in Mexico, behind Mexico City. The municipality is the second most densely populated area in Mexico; the first being Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl in State of Mexico.
The city's economy is based on industry, especially information technology with a large number of international firms having manufacturing facilities in the Guadalajara Metro Area. Other, more traditional industries, such as shoes, textiles and food processing are also important contributing factors. Guadalajara is the cultural center of Mexico, considered by most to be the home of Mariachi music and host to a number of large-scale cultural events such as the International Film Festival of Guadalajara and the Guadalajara International Book Fair and a number of globally renowned cultural events which draw international crowds. It is also home to the Chivas football/soccer team, one of the two most popular in Mexico. This city was named American Capital of Culture in 2005. Guadalajara hosted the 2011 Pan American Games and is currently bidding to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
wn.com/Guadalajara -
Guadeloupe
Coordinates: 16°15′N 61°35′W / 16.25°N 61.583°W / 16.25; -61.583
Guadeloupe ( /ɡwɑːdəˈluːp/; French pronunciation: [ɡwadəlup]; Antillean Creole: Gwadloup) is a Caribbean island located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres (629 sq. mi) and a population of 400,000. It is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. Its departmental code is "971". As the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe is also an integral part of the Republic. Besides Guadeloupe island, the smaller islands of Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the Îles des Saintes are included in Guadeloupe.
As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union and the Eurozone; hence, as for all Eurozone countries, its currency is the euro. However, Guadeloupe is not part of the Schengen Area. The prefecture and the capital of Guadeloupe is Basse-Terre. Christopher Columbus named the island Santa María de Guadalupe in 1493 after the Virgin Mary, venerated in the Spanish town of Guadalupe, in Extremadura.
wn.com/Guadeloupe -
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (Spanish pronunciation: [gwanaˈxwato], locally: [gwanaˈhwato]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato.
It is located in the North-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Jalisco to the west, Zacatecas to the northwest, San Luis Potosí to the north, Querétaro to the east and Michoacán to the south. It covers an area of 30,608 km².
Guanajuato is located between the arid north of the country and the lusher south, and it is geographically part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Mexican Plateau and the Sierra Madre Oriental. It was initially settled by the Spanish in the 1520s due to mineral deposits found around the now capital city of Guanajuato, but areas such as the Bajío region also became important for agriculture and livestock. Mining and agriculture have been the traditional mainstays of the state's economy, but today, about 30% of the state's GDP is accounted for by industry, which includes metals, automobiles, leather goods, processed foods and more.
wn.com/Guanajuato -
Guatemala
Guatemala (i/ˌɡwɑːtəˈmɑːlə/ GWAH-tə-MAH-lə), officially the Republic of Guatemala (Spanish: República de Guatemala [reˈpuβlika ðe ɣwateˈmala]), is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast. Its area is 108,890 km2 (42,043 mi2) with an estimated population of 13,276,517.
A representative democracy, its capital is Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contributes to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The former Mayan civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization, which continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish. The Mayas live in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, the southern part of Mexico and northern parts of El Salvador.
Guatemala became independent from Spain in 1821, joining the Mexican Empire. After it became an independent country in its own right, it was ruled by a series of dictators, assisted by the United Fruit Company. The late 20th century saw Guatemala embroiled in a 36-year-long civil war. Following the war, Guatemala has witnessed both economic growth and successful democratic elections. In the most recent election, held in 2011, Otto Pérez Molina of the Patriotic Party, won the presidency.
wn.com/Guatemala -
Guerrero
Guerrero (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡeˈreɾo]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo.
It is located in Southwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Michoacán to the north and west, México and Morelos to the north, Puebla to the northeast and Oaxaca to the east.
The state was named after Vicente Guerrero, one of the most prominent leaders in the Mexican War of Independence and the second President of Mexico. It is the only Mexican state named after a president. The modern entity did not exist until 1849, when it was carved out of territories from the states of Mexico, Puebla and Michoacán.
In addition to the capital city, the state's largest cities include Acapulco, Petatlan, Ciudad Altamirano, Taxco, Iguala, Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, and Santo Domingo. Today, it is home to a number of indigenous communities, including the Nahuas, Mixtecs and Amuzgos. It is also home to communities of Afro-Mexicans in the Costa Chica region.
wn.com/Guerrero -
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico (Spanish: Golfo de México) is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In Texas and Louisiana it is often called the "Third Coast," in comparison with the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The shape of its basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles (1,500 km) wide and filled with sedimentary rocks and debris. It is connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea (with which it forms the American Mediterranean Sea) via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba. With this narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 615,000 mi² (1.6 million km²). Almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. At its deepest it is 14,383 ft (4,384 m) at the Sigsbee Deep, an irregular trough more than 300 nautical miles (560 km) (550 km) long. The basin contains a volume of roughly 660 quadrillion gallons (2.5 × 106 km3). It was formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics.
wn.com/Gulf_of_Mexico -
Guyana
Coordinates: 5°00′N 58°45′W / 5°N 58.75°W / 5; -58.75
Guyana (i/ɡaɪˈænə/ gy-AN-ə), officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and (for over 200 years) the British. It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America, and the only one on that continent where English is an official language.It is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island. It is also a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which has its secretariat headquarters in Guyana's capital, Georgetown. Guyana achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 26 May 1966, and became a republic on 23 February 1970. In 2008 the country joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member.
Historically, the region known as "Guiana" or "Guyana" comprised the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River known as the "Land of many waters". Historical Guyana is made up of three Dutch colonies: Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice. Modern Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil, to the west by Venezuela, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean.
wn.com/Guyana -
Haiti
Haitii/ˈheɪti/ (French: Haïti [aiti]; Haitian Creole Ayiti [ajiti]), officially the Republic of Haiti (République d'Haïti; Repiblik Ayiti), is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti (land of high mountains) was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island. The country's highest point is Pic la Selle, at 2,680 metres (8,793 ft). The total area of Haiti is 27,750 square kilometres (10,714 sq mi) and its capital is Port-au-Prince. Haitian Creole and French are the official languages.
Haiti's regional, historical, and ethno-linguistic position is unique for several reasons. It was the first independent nation of Latin America and the Caribbean, the first black-led republic in the world, and the second republic in the Americas when it gained independence in 1804 as part of a successful slave revolution lasting nearly a decade. In 2012, Haiti announced its intention to seek associate membership status in the African Union. Haiti is the only predominantly Francophone independent nation in the Americas. It is one of only two independent nations in the Americas (along with Canada) to designate French as an official language; the other French-speaking areas are all overseas départements, or collectivités, of France.
wn.com/Haiti -
Hermosillo
Hermosillo (Spanish pronunciation: [eɾmoˈsiʎo], formerly called Santísima Trinidad del Pitic and Presidio del Pitic) is a city and municipality located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has thirty percent of its population. The major manufacturing sector is automobiles, which was begun in the 1980s, when Ford built the Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly Plant. The municipality is large, encompassing over 3,800 other communities and reaching to the shores of the Gulf of California. Here, Bahía Kino (Kino Bay) is a major tourism draw for the municipality with plans to expand its tourism infrastructure.
Evidence of the area's first inhabitants date back 3,000 years, much of which are from a site called the San Dieguito Complex, located in the El Pinacate Zone. Evidence of agriculture dates back 2,500 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, this area was inhabited by the Seri, Tepoca, and Pima peoples.
wn.com/Hermosillo -
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was at times referred to as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize. The country is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras, a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea.
Honduras was home to several important indigenous cultures, most notably the Maya. Much of the country was conquered by Spain who introduced its predominant language and many of its customs in the sixteenth century. It became independent in 1821 and has been a republic since the end of Spanish rule.
Its size is just over 112,492 km² with an estimated population of almost eight million. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Its northern portions are part of the Western Caribbean Zone.
It is notable for its production of minerals, tropical fruit, and recently for exportation of clothing for the international market.
wn.com/Honduras -
Iceland
Icelandi/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
wn.com/Iceland -
India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
wn.com/India -
Indonesia
Indonesia (i/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia Indonesian pronunciation: [rɛpʊblɪk ɪndɔnɛsɪa]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 17th largest economy by nominal GDP.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.
wn.com/Indonesia -
Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
wn.com/Iran -
Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
wn.com/Italy -
Jalisco
Jalisco (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈlisko]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara. It is one of the more important states in Mexico because of its natural resources as well as its history. Many of the characteristic traits of Mexican culture, particularly outside Mexico, are originally from Jalisco, such as mariachi, ranchera music, tequila, jaripeo, etc. Economically, it is ranked third in the country, with industries centered in the Guadalajara metropolitan area, the second largest metropolitan area in Mexico. The state is home to two significant indigenous populations, the Huichols and the Nahuas. There is also a significant foreign population, mostly retirees from the United States and Canada, living in the Lake Chapala and Puerto Vallarta areas.
wn.com/Jalisco -
Jamaica
Coordinates: 18°10′57″N 77°19′18″W / 18.1823878°N 77.3217773°W / 18.1823878; -77.3217773
Jamaica (i/dʒəˈmeɪkə/), officially the Commonwealth of Jamaica, is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, 234 kilometres (145 mi) in length, up to 80 kilometres (50 mi) in width, and 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The indigenous Arawakan-speaking Taíno name for the island was Xaymaca, meaning the "Land of Wood and Water" or the "Land of Springs".
Once a Spanish possession known as Santiago, it became an English colony in 1655 under the name "Jamaica". It achieved full independence from Britain on August 6, 1962. With 2.8 million people, it is the third most populous anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada. It remains a Commonwealth realm in concert with the Monarchy of Jamaica holding ultimate executive power, where Queen Elizabeth II is the current head of state and Queen of Jamaica.Kingston is the country's largest city and the capital.
wn.com/Jamaica -
Japan
Japani/dʒəˈpæn/ (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Archaeological research indicates that people lived in Japan as early as the Upper Paleolithic period. The first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other nations followed by long periods of isolation has characterized Japan's history. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since adopting its revised constitution in 1947, Japan has maintained a unitary constitutional monarchy with an emperor and an elected parliament called the Diet.
wn.com/Japan -
Kenya
Kenya ( /ˈkɛnjə/ or /ˈkiːnjə/), officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator. With the Indian Ocean to its south-east, it is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya has a land area of 580,000 km2 and a population of nearly 41 million, representing 42 different peoples and cultures. The country is named after Mount Kenya, a significant landmark and second among Africa's highest mountain peaks. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi.
Kenya has a warm and humid climate along its coastline on the Indian Ocean which changes to wildlife-rich savannah grasslands moving inland towards the capital Nairobi. Nairobi has a cool climate that gets colder approaching Mount Kenya, which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. The warm and humid tropical climate reappears further inland towards lake Victoria, before giving way to temperate forested and hilly areas in the western region. The North Eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes. Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh-water lake (after Lake Superior in the US and Canada) and the world's largest tropical lake, is situated to the southwest and is shared with Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya is famous for its safaris and diverse world-famous wildlife reserves such as Tsavo National Park, the Maasai Mara, Nakuru National Park, and Aberdares National Park.
wn.com/Kenya -
Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco (Spanish: Lago de Texcoco) was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake. The Spaniards built Mexico City over Tenochtitlan. Efforts to control flooding led to most of the lake being drained, leaving a much smaller Lake Texcoco west of the city, surrounded by salt marsh.
The Valley of Mexico is a basin with an average elevation of 2,236 metres (7,336 ft) above mean sea level located in the southern highlands of Mexico's central altiplano. It formerly extended over a large portion in the southern half of the basin, where it was the largest of an interconnected chain of five major and several smaller lakes (the other main lakes being Xaltocan, Zumpango, Chalco and Xochimilco lakes). During periods of high water levels—typically after the May-to-October rainy seasons—the lakes were often joined as one body of water, at an average elevation of 2,242 metres (7,356 ft) above mean sea level. In the drier winter months the lake system tended to separate into individual bodies of water, a flow that was mitigated by the construction of dikes and causeways in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology. Lake Texcoco was the lowest-lying of all the lakes, and occupied the minimum elevation in the valley so that water ultimately drained towards it. The Valley of Mexico has been a closed basin since at least the Late Pliocene, and the lakes subsequently had no natural surface outflow, with the drainage basin forming an endorheic system.
wn.com/Lake_Texcoco -
Latin Union
The Latin Union is an international organization of nations that use Romance languages, with the aim of protecting, projecting, and promoting the common cultural heritage and unifying identities of the Latin, and Latin-influenced, world. It was created in 1954 in Madrid, Spain, and has existed as a functional institution since 1983. Its membership has risen from 12 to 36 states, including countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region.
The official names of the Latin Union are: Unió Llatina in Catalan, Union latine in French, Unione Latina in Italian, União Latina in Portuguese, Uniunea Latină in Romanian, and Unión Latina in Spanish.
According to the Latin Union's website, membership is open to any nation that meets the following criteria:
The official languages of the Latin Union are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, and Catalan. Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian are used as working languages. All the texts of general diffusion are translated into these four languages, with some also going into Romanian and Catalan.
wn.com/Latin_Union -
Lithuania
Lithuania (i/ˌlɪθuːˈeɪniə/ or /ˌlɪθjuːˈeɪniə/; Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the largest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and a Russian exclave (Kaliningrad Oblast) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 3.2 million as of 2011, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. The Lithuanians are a Baltic people, and the official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages (together with Latvian) in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.
For centuries, the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the first Lithuanian state, on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
wn.com/Lithuania -
Malaysia
Malaysia (i/məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or i/məˈleɪsiə/ mə-LAY-see-ə) is a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and maritime borders exist with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population exceeded 27.5 million, with over 20 million living on the Peninsula.
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963, with si being added to give the new country the name Malaysia. However, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.
wn.com/Malaysia -
Mali
Malii/ˈmɑːli/, officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali, French pronunciation: [maˈli]), is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Sénégal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources are gold, uranium, livestock, and salt. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.
Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. On 22 March, 2012, a group of junior soldiers seized control of the country's presidential palace and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended. On 6 April, 2012, rebels from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the secession of a new state, Azawad, from Mali.
wn.com/Mali -
Martinique
Martinique (French pronunciation: [maʁtinik]) is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi). Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados. As with the other overseas departments, Martinique is one of the twenty-seven regions of France (being an overseas region) and an integral part of the Republic. The first European to encounter the island was Christopher Columbus in 1502.
As part of France, Martinique is part of the European Union, and its currency is the Euro. Its official language is French, although many of its inhabitants also speak Antillean Creole (Créole Martiniquais).
The island was occupied first by Arawaks, then by Caribs. It was charted by Columbus in 1493, but Spain had little interest in the territory. It was claimed by France in 1635 and, despite several interludes of British occupation, once during the Seven Years' War and twice during the Napoleonic Wars, has remained a French possession. In 1946, the French National Assembly voted unanimously to transform the colony into an overseas department.
wn.com/Martinique -
Mercosur
Mercosur or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, Guarani: Ñemby Ñemuha, English: Common Southern Market) is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency. The official languages are Portuguese, Guaraní, and Spanish. It has been updated, amended, and changed many times since. It is now a full customs union. Mercosur and the Andean Community of Nations are customs unions that are components of a continuing process of South American integration connected to the Union of South American Nations.
Mercosur origins trace back to 1985 when Presidents Raúl Alfonsín of Argentina and José Sarney of Brazil signed the Argentina-Brazil Integration and Economics Cooperation Program or PICE (Portuguese: Programa de Integração e Cooperação Econômica Argentina-Brasil, Spanish: Programa de Integración y Cooperación Económica Argentina-Brasil). The program also proposed the Gaucho as a currency for regional trade.
wn.com/Mercosur -
Mexicali
Mexicali (Spanish pronunciation: [mexiˈkali]) is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area (as well the municipality) reaches 936,826.
The city maintains a highly educated and skilled populace. Its standard of living is one of the highest in Mexico. As the city has modernized and become a cosmopolitan and international center in a desert region, it has maintained a sizable middle class and an even larger upper class. In Mexico, it is recognized for its substantial investment in education as well as its low unemployment levels.
Mexicali's economy was historically based on agricultural products, and to this day it remains a large sector of the economy. As time has progressed however, its economy has gradually gone from being agriculturally based to industrially based. Companies such as Mitsubishi, Honeywell, Nestle, Coca Cola and Goodrich Corporation have built plants in the city and its metropolitan area. Silicon Border is located here as well; a large industrial park that is a high tech manufacturing area. Its goal is to become a global center for semiconductor manufacturing. Mexicali's proximity to the United States has made the city a popular tourist destination with Americans from Arizona, California, and Nevada. The city is a well known sports city with many ball sports being popular in the region.
wn.com/Mexicali -
Mexico
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million, it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
wn.com/Mexico -
Mexico City
Mexico City ( /ˈmɛksɨkoʊ ˈsɪti/; Spanish: Ciudad de México [sjuˈðað ðe ˈmexiko], also known as México D.F., or simply D.F.) is the Federal District (Distrito Federal), capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole. Mexico City is the country's largest city as well as its most important political, cultural, educational and financial center.
As an "alpha" global city Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in North America. It is located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city consists of sixteen boroughs.
The 2009 estimated population for the city proper was around 8.84 million people, and has a land area of 1,485 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the Mexico City metropolitan area population is 21.2 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere and the fifth largest agglomeration in the world.
wn.com/Mexico_City -
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (Spanish pronunciation: [mitʃoaˈkan ðe oˈkampo]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia (formerly called Valladolid). The city was named after José María Morelos, hero of the Mexican War of Independence.
Michoacán is located in Western Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Colima and Jalisco to the northwest, Guanajuato and Querétaro to the north, México to the east, Guerrero to the southeast. To the southwest, Michoacán has a stretch of coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
The name Michoacán is from Nahuatl: Michhuahkan from michhuah (“possessor of fish”) and -kan (place of) and means "place of the fishermen" referring to those who fish on Lake Pátzcuaro. In pre-Hispanic times, the area was the home of the P'urhépecha (Tarascan) Empire, which rivaled the Aztec Empire at the time of Spanish encounter. After the Spanish conquest, the empire became a separate province which became smaller over the colonial period. The state and several of its residents played a major role in the Mexican War of Independence. Today, the state is still home to a large population of P'urhépecha people as well as Otomi and Nahua. The economy is based on agriculture, fishing, mining and some industry. The major tourism draw for the state is the Lake Pátzcuaro-Tzintzuntzan-Quiroga area, which was the center of the P'urhépecha empire.
wn.com/Michoacán -
Moldova
Moldovai/mɒlˈdoʊvə/, officially the Republic of Moldova (Moldovan/Romanian: Republica Moldova pronounced [reˈpublika molˈdova]) is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991 as part of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 29 July 1994, the new constitution of Moldova was adopted. A strip of Moldova's internationally recognized territory on the east bank of the river Dniester has been under the de facto control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990.
The nation is a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. Moldova is a member state of the United Nations, Council of Europe, WTO, OSCE, GUAM, CIS, BSEC and other international organizations. Moldova currently aspires to join the European Union, and has implemented the first three-year Action Plan within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).
wn.com/Moldova -
Monaco
Monacoi/ˈmɒnəkoʊ/, officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city state, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. Bordered by France on three sides, with one side bordering the Mediterranean Sea, its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy, and is only 15 km (9.3 mi) north east of Nice, France. It has an area of 1.98 km2 (0.76 sq mi), and a population of 35,986, making Monaco the second smallest and the most densely populated country in the world. Monaco has a land border of only 4.4 km (2.7 mi), a coastline of 4.1 km (2.5 mi), and a width that varies between 1.7 km (1.1 mi) and 349 metres (382 yards). The highest point in the country is a narrow pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires district, which is 161 metres (528 feet) above sea level. Monaco's most populated Quartier is Monte Carlo, and the most populated Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins. After a recent expansion of Port Hercules, Monaco's total area is 2.05 km2 (0.79 sq mi), with new plans to extend the district of Fontvieille, with land reclaimed from the Mediterranean Sea.
wn.com/Monaco -
Mongolia
Mongoliai/mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ (Mongolian: Монгол улс (help·info), literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de facto independence from the Republic of China, and until 1945 to gain international recognition.
wn.com/Mongolia -
Monte Albán
Monte Albán is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán Municipality in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca (17.043° N, 96.767°W). The site is located on a low mountainous range rising above the plain in the central section of the Valley of Oaxaca where the latter's northern Etla, eastern Tlacolula, and southern Zimatlán & Ocotlán (or Valle Grande) branches meet. The present-day state capital Oaxaca City is located approximately 9 km (6 mi) east of Monte Albán.
The partially excavated civic-ceremonial center of the Monte Albán site is situated atop an artificially-leveled ridge, which with an elevation of about 1,940 m (6,400 ft) above mean sea level rises some 400 m (1,300 ft) from the valley floor, in an easily defensible location. In addition to the aforementioned monumental core, the site is characterized by several hundred artificial terraces, and a dozen clusters of mounded architecture covering the entire ridgeline and surrounding flanks (Blanton 1978). The archaeological ruins on the nearby Atzompa and El Gallo hills to the north are traditionally considered to be an integral part of the ancient city as well.
wn.com/Monte_Albán -
Monterrey
Monterrey (Spanish pronunciation: [monteˈrei] ( listen)), is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the base of many significant international corporations. It is Mexico's second richest city, and the world's 63rd richest, with an economy that had a 2008 GDP of USD $102 billion. Monterrey is one of Mexico's most developed cities, with the highest per capita income in the nation, and is regarded as a highly developed city. Although rich in history and culture, Monterrey is often regarded as the most "Americanized" city in the entire country, even above the cities along the U.S-Mexico border.
Monterrey as an important industrial and business center hosts an array of Mexican companies, including Pemex, Lanix Electronics, CEMEX, Vitro, Zonda Telecom, Mercedes-Benz Mexico, OXXO, Mastretta, BMW de Mexico, Mabe Grupo Bimbo, DINA S.A., Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma), formerly fully owned by FEMSA now jointly owned with Heineken and Alestra Telecommunications. Monterrey is also home to international companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Carrier, Whirlpool, Samsung, Toyota, Daewoo, Ericsson, Nokia, Dell, Boeing, HTC, General Electric, Gamesa, LG, SAS Institute and Teleperformance, among others.
wn.com/Monterrey -
Montserrat
Coordinates: 16°45′N 62°12′W / 16.75°N 62.2°W / 16.75; -62.2
Montserrat ( /mɒntsəˈræt/) is an island that is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately 16 km (9.9 mi) long and 11 km (6.8 mi) wide, giving 40 kilometres (25 mi) of coastline. Montserrat is nicknamed the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean both for its resemblance to coastal Ireland and for the Irish ancestry of some of its inhabitants.
Montserrat's Georgian era historic capital city of Plymouth was destroyed and two-thirds of the island's population was forced to flee because of an eruption of the previously dormant Soufriere Hills volcano that began on July 18, 1995. The eruption continues today on a much reduced scale, the damage being confined to the area around Plymouth, including its docking facilities, and also the area around the former W. H. Bramble Airport on the eastern side of the island, the remnants of which were buried by flows from volcanic activity on February 11, 2010.
wn.com/Montserrat -
Morelos
Morelos (Spanish pronunciation: [moˈɾelos]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Morelos (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca.
It is located in South-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of México to the north-east and north-west, Puebla to the east and Guerrero to the southwest. Mexico City is situated north of Morelos.
Morelos is the second-smallest state in the nation, just after Tlaxcala. It was part of the very large province then State of Mexico until 1869, when Benito Juárez decreed that its territory would be separated and named in honor of José María Morelos y Pavón, who defended the city of Cuautla from royalist forces during the Mexican War of Independence. Most of the state enjoys a warm climate year-round, which is good for the raising of sugar cane and other crops. Morelos has attracted visitors from the Valley of Mexico since Aztec times. Today, many people from Mexico City spend weekends in the state or own second homes there, especially in the Cuernavaca area.
wn.com/Morelos -
Morocco
Morocco (Arabic: المغرب al-Maghrib ; Berber: ⵍⵎⴻⵖⵔⵉⴱ / ⴰⵎⴻⵔⵔⵓⴽElmeɣrib / Amerruk), officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of about 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², including the disputed region of the Western Sahara, seen by and mostly administered by Morocco as the Southern Provinces. Morocco is part of the Maghreb region, in addition to Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, and Libya, with which it shares cultural, historical and linguistic ties.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive powers, including the power to dissolve the parliament. Executive power is exercised by the government but more importantly by the king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors. The king can also issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. The latest Parliamentary elections were held in November 25, 2011, and were considered by some neutral observers to be mostly free and fair. Voter turnout in these elections was estimated to be 43% of registered voters, but only about 25% of Moroccan adult citizens actually voted. The rest either chose not to vote or they were not registered as voters. The political capital is Rabat, but the largest city is Casablanca; other main cities include Marrakesh, Tetouan, Tangier, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, and Nador.
wn.com/Morocco -
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Portuguese: Moçambique or República de Moçambique, pronounced: [ʁɛˈpublikɐ di musɐ̃ˈbiki]), is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. The capital city is Maputo, formerly known as Lourenço Marques.
Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili, and later also Arab, commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans. The area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonized by Portugal in 1505. Mozambique became independent in 1975, and became the People's Republic of Mozambique shortly thereafter. It was the scene of an intense civil war lasting from 1977 to 1992.
Mozambique is endowed with rich and extensive natural resources. The country's economy is based largely on agriculture, but with industry, mainly food and beverages, chemical manufacturing, aluminium and petroleum production, is growing fast. The country's tourism sector is also growing. South Africa is Mozambique's main trading partner and source of foreign direct investment. Portugal, Spain, and Belgium are also among the country's most important partners. Since 2001 Mozambique is one of the world's top ten for annual average GDP growth. However, Mozambique still has one of the lowest GDP per capita, one of the worst human development index and one of the highest inequality in the world, as well as having the world's lowest life expectancy.
wn.com/Mozambique -
Nayarit
Nayarit (Spanish pronunciation: [naʝaˈɾit]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.
It is located in Western Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Sinaloa to the northwest, Durango to the north, Zacatecas to the northeast and Jalisco to the south. To the west, Nayarit has a significant share of coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
Besides the mainland, the islands Marias, Isabel, Tres Marietas and Farallón La Peña in the Pacific Ocean are part of its territory.
Nayarit covers 27,815 square kilometers (10,739 sq mi), making it one of the smaller states of Mexico. Nayarit is located between latitude lines 23°05' north and 20°36' south and longitude lines 103°43' east and 105°46' west. Its terrain is broken up by the western ends of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. Its highest mountains are: San Juan, Sanguangüey, El Ceboruco, Cumbre de Pajaritos and Picachos. Nayarit has two volcanoes, Ceboruco and Sangangüey. In the northeast are broad, tropical plains watered by the Río Grande de Santiago, a continuation of the Lerma River. The main state rivers are the Río Grande de Santiago, San Pedro, Acaponeta, Ameca and Las Cañas. The last two also form natural boundaries with the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa, respectively. Nayarit also has several lagoons such as pito the Santa María del Oro, San Pedro Lagunillas and Agua Brava.
wn.com/Nayarit -
Netherlands
The Netherlands (i/ˈnɛðərləndz/; Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdə(r)lɑnt] or [ˈneɪ̯də(r)lɑnt] (
listen); West Frisian: Nederlân; Papiamento: Hulanda) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with some islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is a parliamentary democracy organised as a unitary state. The country capital is Amsterdam and the seat of government is The Hague. The Netherlands in its entirety is often referred to as Holland, although North and South Holland are actually only two of its twelve provinces (a case of pars pro toto; see terminology of "the Netherlands").
wn.com/Netherlands -
New Mexico
New Mexico (i/nuː ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/) is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. New Mexico is the 5th most extensive, the 36th most populous, and the 6th least densely populated of the 50 United States.
Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, New Mexico has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, including descendants of Spanish colonists and recent immigrants from Latin America. It also has the second-highest percentage of Native Americans, after Alaska, and the fourth-highest total number of Native Americans after California, Oklahoma, and Arizona. The tribes in the state consist of mostly Navajo and Pueblo peoples. As a result, the demographics and culture of the state are unique for their strong Hispanic and Native American influences. The flag of New Mexico is represented by the red and gold colors, which represent Spain, as well as the Zia symbol, an ancient Native American symbol for the sun.
wn.com/New_Mexico -
New Zealand
New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.
During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.
wn.com/New_Zealand -
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (i/ˌnɪkəˈrɑːɡwə/ nik-ə-RAH-gwə), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (Spanish: República de Nicaragua [reˈpuβlika ðe nikaˈɾaɣwa] ( listen)), is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country's physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands; wet, cooler central highlands; and the Caribbean lowlands. On the Pacific side of the country are the two largest fresh water lakes in Central America—Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. Surrounding these lakes and extending to their northwest along the rift valley of the Gulf of Fonseca are fertile lowland plains, with soil highly enriched by ash from nearby volcanoes of the central highlands. Nicaragua's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.
wn.com/Nicaragua -
Nigeria
Nigeriai/naɪˈdʒɪəriə/, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its coast in the south lies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean. The three largest and most influential ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
In terms of religion Nigeria is roughly split half and half between Muslims in the North and Christians in the South; a very small minority practice traditional religion. Since 2002 there have been a spate of clashes, particularly in the North of the country, between government forces and the Islamists Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law.
The people of Nigeria have an extensive history. Archaeological evidence shows that human habitation of the area dates back to at least 9000 BCE. The area around the Benue and Cross River is thought to be the original homeland of the Bantu migrants who spread across most of central and southern Africa in waves between the 1st millennium BC and the 2nd millennium.
wn.com/Nigeria -
Nuevo León
Nuevo León (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈnweβo leˈon]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Nuevo León), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 51 municipalities and its capital city is Monterrey.
It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer (9 mi) stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S. state of Texas.
The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.
Besides its capital, other important cities are Guadalupe, Santa Catarina, San Nicolás de los Garza, and San Pedro Garza García, all of which are part of the Monterrey Metropolitan area.
Nuevo León was originally founded by Alberto del Canto, although frequent raids by Chichimecas, the natives of the north, prevented the establishment of almost any permanent settlements. Subsequent to the failure of del Canto to populate Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, at the head of Portuguese and Spanish settlers, requested permission from the Spanish King to attempt to repopulate the area which would be called the New Kingdom of León, it eventually became (along with the provinces of Coahuila, Nuevo Santander and Texas) one of the Eastern Internal Provinces in Northern New Spain.
wn.com/Nuevo_León -
Oaxaca
Oaxaca (English /wəˈhɑːkə/ wə-HAH-kə, Spanish: [waˈxaka] ( listen), from Nahuatl: Huaxyacac [waːsʃakak]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 (almost three quarters) are governed by the system of Usos y costumbres (customs and traditions) with recognized local forms of self governance. Its capital city is Oaxaca de Juárez.
It is located in Southwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Guerrero to the west, Puebla to the northwest, Veracruz to the north, Chiapas to the east. To the south, Oaxaca has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean.
The state is best known for its indigenous peoples and cultures. The most numerous and best known are the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs, but there are sixteen that are officially recognized. These cultures have survived better than most others in Mexico due to the state’s rugged and isolating terrain. Most live in the Central Valleys region, which is also an important area for tourism, attracting people for its archeological sites such as Monte Albán, native culture and crafts. Another important tourist area is the coast, which has the major resort of Huatulco. Oaxaca is also one of the most biologically diverse states in Mexico, ranking in the top three, along with Chiapas and Veracruz, for numbers of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants.
wn.com/Oaxaca -
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.
At 165.2 million square kilometres (64.1 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,797 ft).
The eastern Pacific Ocean was first sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century. Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and named it Mar del Sur (South Sea). The ocean's current name was given by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish expedition of world circumnavigation in 1521, who encountered favourable winds as he reached the ocean and called it Mar Pacifico in Portuguese, meaning "peaceful sea".
wn.com/Pacific_Ocean -
Pakistan
Pakistan (i/ˈpækɨstæn/ or i/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
wn.com/Pakistan -
Panama
Panama (i/ˈpænəmɑː/ PAN-ə-mah; Spanish: Panamá), officially the Republic of Panama (Spanish: República de Panamá [reˈpuβlika ðe panaˈma]), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City. Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, and Venezuela, named the Republic of Gran Colombia.When Gran Colombia the dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined. Nueva Granada later became the Republic of Colombia.
With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, allowing the Panama Canal to be built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the century.
wn.com/Panama -
Paraguay
Paraguay (i/ˈpɛərəɡwaɪ/, PAIR-ə-gwy), officially the Republic of Paraguay (Spanish: República del Paraguay [reˈpuβlika ðel paɾaˈɣwai], Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái [teˈtã paɾaˈɣwaj]), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the country from north to south. Due to its central location in South America, it is sometimes referred to as Corazón de América, or the Heart of America.
The Guaraní have been living in Paraguay since before the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, when Paraguay became part of the Spanish colonial empire. Following independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay was ruled by a series of dictators who followed isolationist and protectionist policies. This development was truncated by the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870) in which the country lost 60% to 70% of its population and large amounts of territory. During a large part of the 20th century, Paraguay was ruled by Alfredo Stroessner, who led one of South America's longest lived military dictatorships. In 1989 Stroessner was toppled and free elections were celebrated in 1993. In 1994 Paraguay joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to found Mercosur.
wn.com/Paraguay -
Peru
Perui/pəˈruː/ (Spanish: Perú; Quechua: Perú;Aymara: Piruw), officially the Republic of Peru (Spanish: República del Perú, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðel peˈɾu] ( listen)), is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.
Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures, spanning from the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.
Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes Mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a high Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 31%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles.
wn.com/Peru -
Philippines
The Philippinesi/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.
wn.com/Philippines -
Plaza México
The Plaza México, situated in Mexico City, is the world's largest bullring. This 41,262-seat facility is usually dedicated to bullfighting, but many boxing fights have been held there as well, including Julio César Chávez's third bout with Frankie Randall [2]. The Plaza México replaced the ancient bullbag Toreo de la Condesa in the Condesa neighborhood that was overwhelmed by the rapid development of the Mexican population. It opened on 5 February 1946 and annually since then, that date marks the date of the Corrida de Aniversario. This building was built beside the football stadium Estadio de la Ciudad de los Deportes (now Estadio Azul).
Coordinates: 19°22′58.6″N 99°10′48.1″W / 19.382944°N 99.180028°W / 19.382944; -99.180028
wn.com/Plaza_México -
Poland
Polandi/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.
wn.com/Poland -
Portugal
Portugali/ˈpɔrtʃʉɡəl/ (Portuguese: Portugal, IPA: [puɾtuˈɣaɫ]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa) is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula . Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira are part of Portugal. The country is named after its second largest city, Porto, whose Latin name was Portus Cale.
The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continuously settled since prehistoric times: occupied by Celts like the Gallaeci and the Lusitanians, integrated into the Roman Republic and later settled by Germanic peoples such as the Suebi, Swabians, Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 8th century most of the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by Moorish invaders professing Islam, which were later expelled by the Knights Templar under the Order of Christ. During the Christian Reconquista, Portugal established itself as an independent kingdom from León in 1139, claiming to be the oldest European nation state.
wn.com/Portugal -
Puebla
Puebla (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpweβla]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla.
It is located in East-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the north and east, Hidalgo, México, Tlaxcala and Morelos to the west, Guerrero and Oaxaca to the south.
The origins of the state lie in the city of Puebla, which was founded by the Spanish in this valley in 1531 to secure the trade route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz.
By the end of the 18th century, the area had become a colonial province with its own governor, which would become the State of Puebla, after the Mexican War of Independence in the early 19th century. Since that time, the area, especially around the capital city, has continued to grow economically, mostly through industry, despite being the scene of a number of battles, the most notable of which being the Battle of Puebla. Today, the state is one of the most industrialized in the country, but since most of its development is concentrated in Puebla and other cities, many of its rural areas are very poor, forcing many to migrate away to places such as Mexico City and the United States.
wn.com/Puebla -
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (/ˌpɔrtə ˈriːkoʊ/ or /ˌpwɛərtə ˈriːkoʊ/), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, [esˈtaðo ˈlibɾe asoˈsjaðo ðe ˈpweɾto ˈriko]—literally, "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") comprises an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area of the Greater Antilles. However, it ranks third in population amongst that group of four islands, which also include Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Jamaica. Due to its location, Puerto Rico enjoys a tropical climate and also experiences the Atlantic hurricane season.
Originally populated for centuries by indigenous aboriginal peoples known as Taínos, the island was claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain during his second voyage to the Americas on November 19, 1493. Under Spanish rule, the island was colonized and the indigenous population was forced into slavery and nearly wiped out due to, among other things, European infectious diseases. The remaining population was emancipated by King Charles I in 1520. Spain possessed Puerto Rico for over 400 years, despite attempts at capture of the island by the French, Dutch, and British. The Spanish Crown, in an attempt to keep Puerto Rico from gaining its independence, revived the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815. The decree was printed in three languages — Spanish, English and French — and it fostered the immigration of hundreds of non-Spanish European families.
wn.com/Puerto_Rico -
Querétaro
Querétaro (Spanish pronunciation: [keˈɾetaɾo]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro), is one of 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro.
It is located in North-Central Mexico, in a region known as Bajío. It is bordered by the states of San Luis Potosí to the north, Guanajuato to the west, Hidalgo to the east, México to the southeast and Michoacán to the southwest.
The state is one of the smallest in Mexico, but it is also one of the most heterogeneous geographically, with ecosystems varying from deserts to tropical rainforest, especially in the Sierra Gorda, which is filled with microecosystems. The area of the state was located on the northern edge of Mesoamerica, with both the P’urhépecha and Aztec empires having influence in the extreme south, but neither really dominated it. The area, especially the Sierra Gorda, had a number of small city-states, but by the time the Spanish arrived, these had all been abandoned, with only small agricultural villages and seminomadic peoples inhabiting the area. Spanish conquest was focused on the establishment of the Santiago de Querétaro, which still dominates the state culturally, economically and educationally.
wn.com/Querétaro -
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo (Spanish pronunciation: [kinˈtana ˈro]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal.
It is located in Southeastern Mexico, on the eastern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the northwest and Campeche to the west. To the north, Quintana Roo borders the Gulf of Mexico and to the south, Belize. It also claims territory which gives it a small border with Guatemala in the southwest of the state, although this disputed area is also claimed by Campeche.
Quintana Roo is home of the world famous city of Cancún, the islands of Cozumel and Isla Mujeres, the towns of Bacalar, Playa del Carmen and Akumal, as well as the ancient Maya ruins of Chacchoben, Coba, Kohunlich, Muyil, Tulum, Xel-Há, and Xcaret. The Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve is also in the state.
wn.com/Quintana_Roo -
Romania
Romania (i/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.
wn.com/Romania -
Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
wn.com/Russia -
Saba
Saba ( /ˈseɪbə/) is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands. It consists largely of the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery (877 m), the highest point within both the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Netherlands proper.
Saba, including the islet of Green Island, became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010.
The island has a land area of 13 km² (5 sq. miles). At the 2001 Netherlands Antilles census, the population was 1,824 inhabitants, which means a population density of 140 inhabitants per km². Its current major towns and settlements include The Bottom (the capital), Windwardside, Hell's Gate and St. Johns.
As the island is part of the Netherlands, Dutch is the official language. Despite the island's Dutch affiliation, English is the principal language spoken on the island and has been used in its school system since the 19th century. English can therefore be used in communications of and to the government although there is a local dialect. Since January 1, 2011, the U.S. dollar has been the official currency, replacing the Netherlands Antillian Guilder.
wn.com/Saba -
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Barthélemy (French: Saint-Barthélemy, French pronunciation: [sɛ̃baʁtelemi]), officially the Territorial collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French: Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy), is an overseas collectivity of France. Often abbreviated to Saint-Barth in French, or St. Barts (also, St. Barth's) in English, the indigenous people called the island Ouanalao. The collectivity is one of four territories among the Leeward Islands in the northeastern Caribbean that comprise the French West Indies, along with Guadeloupe (200 km southeast), Martinique and Saint Martin. St. Barts lies c. 35 km southeast of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, and north of St Kitts. Puerto Rico is 240 km to its west in the Lesser Antilles.
Saint Barthélemy, a volcanic island fully encircled by shallow reefs, has an area of 21 km² and a population of 8,823 (census 2008). Its capital is Gustavia, which also contains the main harbour to the island. It is the only Caribbean island which was a Swedish colony for any significant length of time; Guadeloupe was under Swedish rule only briefly, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Symbolism from the Swedish national arms, the Three Crowns, still appears in the island's coat of arms. The language, cuisine and culture, however, are distinctly French. The island is a popular tourist destination during the winter holiday season, especially the rich and famous during the Christmas and New Year period.
wn.com/Saint_Barthélemy -
Saint Lucia
Saint Luciai/seɪnt ˈluːʃə/ (French: Sainte-Lucie) is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and has a population of 174,000 (2010). Its capital is Castries. Two Nobel laureates, Arthur Lewis, an economist, and Derek Walcott, a poet and playwright, have come from the island. It is the nation with the second most such honorees per capita after the Faroe Islands.
One of the Windward Islands, it was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the first European colonizers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib people in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667; in ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times and rule of the island changed frequently (it was seven times each ruled by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies".
wn.com/Saint_Lucia -
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsan ˈlwis potoˈsi]), officially Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí.
It is located in North-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Coahuila to the north, Nuevo León to the northeast, Tamaulipas and Veracruz to the east, Hidalgo, Querétaro, and Guanajuato to the south, Zacatecas to the northwest, and Jalisco to the west.
In addition to the capital city, the state's largest cities include Ciudad Valles, Matehuala, and Rioverde.
The state and its capital are both named after Louis IX of France (also known in Mexico as San Luis Rey de Francia, Saint Louis, King of France), its patron saint. The Potosí was added in reference to the fabulously rich mines of Potosí, Bolivia, believed to have enough gold to build a bridge between Bolivia and Spain. Thereafter, upon the development of Cerro de San Pedro near the capital city, they found such gold wealth that they compared it to that of Potosi and thus they named it as such. The wealth of these mines is thought to be comparable to that of the local mines at Cerro de San Pedro.
wn.com/San_Luis_Potosí -
San Marino
San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino (i/sæn məˈriːnoʊ/ san-mə-REE-noh; Italian: Repubblica di San Marino) and also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (Italian: Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino), is a state situated on the Italian Peninsula on the eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. It is an enclave surrounded by Italy. Its size is just over 61 km2 (24 sq mi) with an estimated population of over 30,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino. San Marino has the smallest population of all the members of the Council of Europe.
San Marino is the oldest surviving sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301, by stonecutter Marinus of Rab. Legend has it that Marinus left Rab, then the Roman colony of Arba, in 257 when the future emperor, Diocletian, issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of the city walls of Rimini, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates.
The constitution of San Marino, enacted in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in effect. The country's economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to some of the more developed Italian regions, such as Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus.
wn.com/San_Marino -
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia (i/ˌsaʊdi əˈreɪbi.ə/ or i/ˌsɔːdiː əˈreɪbi.ə/; Arabic: السعودية as-Su‘ūdīyah[citation needed] or incorrectly as-Sa‘ūdīyah, officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabīyah as-Su‘ūdīyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab world, after Algeria. It is bordered by Jordan, and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. The Red Sea lies to its west, and the Persian Gulf lies to the east. Saudi Arabia has an area of approximately 2,250,000 km2 (870,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 27 million, of which 9 million are registered foreign expatriates and an estimated 2 million are illegal immigrants. Saudi nationals comprise an estimated 16 million people.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (known for most of his career as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as the Al Saud. The Saudi Arabian government, which has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, refers to its system of government as being Islamic, though this is contested by many due to its strong basis in Salafism, a minority school of thought in Islam. The kingdom is sometimes called "The Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.
wn.com/Saudi_Arabia -
Senegal
Senegali/ˌsɛnɨˈɡɔːl/ (French: le Sénégal), officially the Republic of Senegal (République du Sénégal, IPA: [ʁepyblik dy seneɡal]), is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north. Senegal is externally bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south; internally it almost completely surrounds The Gambia, namely on the north, east and south, exempting Gambia's short Atlantic Ocean coastline. Senegal covers a land area of almost 197,000 square kilometres (76,000 sq mi), and has an estimated population of about 13 million. The climate is tropical with two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.
Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, is located at the westernmost tip of the country on the Cap-Vert peninsula. About 500 kilometres (300 mi) off the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean, lie the Cape Verde Islands. During the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous trading posts, belonging to various colonial empires, were established along the coast. The town of St. Louis became the capital of French West Africa (Afrique occidentale française, or AOF) before it was moved to Dakar in 1902. Dakar later became its capital in 1960 at the time of independence from France.
wn.com/Senegal -
Sinaloa
Sinaloa (Spanish pronunciation: [sinaˈloa]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales.
It is located in Northwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Sonora to the north, Chihuahua and Durango to the east (separated from them by the Sierra Madre Occidental) and Nayarit to the south. To the west, Sinaloa has a significant share of coastline on the Gulf of California.
The state covers an area of 57,377 square kilometers (22,153 sq mi), and includes the Islands of Palmito Verde, Palmito de la Virgen, Altamura, Santa María, Saliaca, Macapule and San Ignacio.
In addition to the capital city, the state's important cities include Mazatlán and Los Mochis.
Prior to the coming of the Spaniards, much of Sinaloa was inhabited by the Cáhita.
In 1531 Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán with a force of over 10,000 defeated a force of 30,000 Cáhita at the site of Culiacan. Beltran de Guzman established a Spanish and allied Indian outpost at Culiacan. Over the next decade, the Cáhita suffered severe depopulation from smallpox and other diseases the Spanish brought.
wn.com/Sinaloa -
Sint Eustatius
Sint Eustatius, also known affectionately to the locals as Statia/ˈsteɪʃə/ or Statius, is a Caribbean island and a special municipality (officially public body) of the Netherlands.
It lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands and immediately to the northwest of Saint Kitts and Nevis and to the southeast of Saba, at 17°30′N 62°58′W / 17.5°N 62.967°W / 17.5; -62.967. The island is named after the legendary Christian martyr Saint Eustace. The regional capital is Oranjestad.
The island has an area of 21 km² (8.1 sq. miles). In the 2001 census, the population was recorded as 3,543 inhabitants, equating to a population density of 169 inhabitants per square kilometre. The official language is Dutch, however English is also recognised as an administrative language. A local English-based creole is also spoken informally. Travel to the island by air is through F.D. Roosevelt Airport.
Formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles, Sint Eustatius became a special municipality within the country of the Netherlands on 10 October 2010.
wn.com/Sint_Eustatius -
Sint Maarten
Sint Maarten (Dutch pronunciation: [sɪnt ˈmaːrtə(n)]) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It encompasses the southern half of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, while the northern half of the island constitutes the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Martin. Its capital is Philipsburg.
Before 10 October 2010, Sint Maarten was known as the Island Territory of Sint Maarten (Dutch: Eilandgebied Sint Maarten), and was one of five island territories (Eilandgebieden) that constituted the Netherlands Antilles.
In 1493, during Christopher Columbus' second voyages to the West Indies, upon first sighting the island he named it Isla de San Martín after Saint Martin of Tours because it was 11 November, St. Martin Day. However, though he claimed it as a Spanish territory, Columbus never landed there, and Spain made the settlement of the island a low priority.
The French and Dutch, on the other hand, both coveted the island. While the French wanted to colonize the islands between Trinidad and Bermuda, the Dutch found San Martín a convenient halfway point between their colonies in New Amsterdam (present day New York) and Brazil. With few people inhabiting the island, the Dutch easily founded a settlement there in 1631, erecting Fort Amsterdam as protection from invaders. Jan Claeszen Van Campen became its first governor, and soon thereafter the Dutch East India Company began their salt mining operations. French and British settlements sprang up on the island as well. Taking note of these successful colonies and wanting to maintain their control of the salt trade, the Spanish now found St. Martin much more appealing. The Eighty Years' War which had been raging between Spain and the Netherlands provided further incentive to attack.
wn.com/Sint_Maarten -
Sonora
Sonora (Spanish pronunciation: [so̞ˈno̞ɾa]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Sonora (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo. Sonora is located in Northwest Mexico, bordered by the states of Chihuahua to the east, Baja California to the northwest and Sinaloa to the south. To the north, it shares the U.S.–Mexico border with the states of Arizona and New Mexico, and on the west has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of California.
Sonora's natural geography is divided into three parts: the Sierra Madre Occidental in the east of the state; plains and rolling hills in the center; and the coast on the Gulf of California. It is primarily arid or semi-arid deserts and grasslands, with only the highest elevations having sufficient rainfall to support other types of vegetation.
Sonora is home to eight indigenous peoples, including the Mayo, the Yaqui and the Seri. It has been economically important for its agriculture, livestock (especially beef) and mining since the colonial period, and for its status as a border state since the Mexican–American War. After the Gadsden Purchase, Sonora lost more than a quarter of its territory. From the 20th century to the present, industry, tourism and agribusiness have dominated the economy, attracting migration from other parts of Mexico.
wn.com/Sonora -
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which covers large parts of the Southwestern United States in Arizona, California, Northwest Mexico in Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, with an area of 311,000 square kilometers (120,000 sq mi). The western portion of the United States-Mexico border passes through the Sonoran Desert.
In phytogeography, the Sonoran Desert is within the Sonoran Floristic Province of the Madrean Region in southwestern North America, part of the Holarctic Kingdom of the northern Western Hemisphere. The desert contains a variety of unique and endemic plants and animals, such as the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and Organ Pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi).
The Sonoran desert wraps around the northern end of the Gulf of California, from Baja California Sur (El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve in central and Pacific west coast, Central Gulf Coast subregion on east to southern tip), north through much of Baja California, excluding the central northwest mountains and Pacific west coast, through southeastern California and southwestern and southern Arizona to western and central parts of Sonora.
wn.com/Sonoran_Desert -
South Africa
Coordinates: 30°S 25°E / 30°S 25°E / -30; 25
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.
South Africa is multi-ethnic and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: South African English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic; unlike most parliamentary republics, the positions of head of state and head of government are merged in a parliament-dependent President.
wn.com/South_Africa -
South Korea
South Korea ( listen), officially the Republic of Korea (Hangul: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國; Daehan Minguk listen), is a sovereign state in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name "Korea" is derived from Goryeo, a dynasty which ruled in the Middle Ages (an initial "G" in Korean is pronounced like an English "K").
Its neighbors are China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the Korea Strait to the south. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It covers a total area of 99,392 square kilometers and has a population of almost 50 million. The capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of 9,794,304.
Archaeological findings show that the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Lower Paleolithic period.Korean history begins with the founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BC by the legendary Dan-gun. Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea under Silla 668 AD, Korea went through the Goryeo Dynasty and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until the end of the Korean Empire in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy, though political turmoil and times of military rule and martial law characterized much of the period until the foundation of the Sixth Republic in 1987.
wn.com/South_Korea -
Spain
Spain (i/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.
wn.com/Spain -
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire (Spanish: Imperio Español) comprised territories and colonies administered by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its political and economic power when it became the foremost global power. Its establishment in the 15th century ushered in the modern global era and five centuries of European dominance of global affairs. Spain's territorial reach beyond Europe spanned six centuries, from the first voyages to the Americas in 1492 until the independence of its last African colonies in the 1970s.
After the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479), Spain had emerged with a personally unified monarchy, with the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs or los Reyes Catolicos between the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon: the internal and foreign policy was coordinated although the rule was separate. In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile. That same year Christopher Columbus commanded the first Spanish exploratory voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean, leading to the Discovery of America and Europe's eventual colonial engagement in the New World. The Americas thereby became the focus of Spanish exploration and colonization.
wn.com/Spanish_Empire -
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (i/ʃriː ˈlɑːŋkə/, /sriːˈlɑːŋkə/, or /sriːˈlæŋkə/;Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාව, Tamil: இலங்கை), is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon ( /sɨˈlɒn/, /seɪˈlɒn/, or /siːˈlɒn/), Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.
As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times, being the nation where the Buddhist teachings were first written down as well as the oldest continually Buddhist country. Sri Lanka boasts a diverse range of cultures, languages and religions. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.
wn.com/Sri_Lanka -
State of Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México, pronounced: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)), officially Free and Sovereign State of Mexico (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de México), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of the United Mexican States. It is the most populous, as well as the densest in population. It is divided into 125 municipalities and its capital city is Toluca de Lerdo.
The State of Mexico is often abbreviated to "Edomex" from Estado de México in Spanish. It is located in South-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Querétaro and Hidalgo to the north, Morelos and Guerrero to the south, Michoacán to the west, Tlaxcala and Puebla to the east and surrounds the Federal District.
The state’s origins are in the territory of the Aztec Empire, which remained a political division of New Spain during the colonial period. After Independence, Mexico City was chosen as the capital of the new nation, its territory was separated out the state. Years later, parts of the state were broken off to form the states of Hidalgo, Guerrero and Morelos. These territorial separations have left the state with the size and shape it has today, with the Toluca Valley to the west of Mexico City and a panhandle that extends around the north and east of this entity.
wn.com/State_of_Mexico -
Suomi NPP
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership or Suomi NPP, previously known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPP-Bridge is a weather satellite operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Originally intended as a pathfinder for the NPOESS programme, which was to have replaced NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and the US Air Force's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, Suomi was launched in 2011 after the cancellation of NPOESS to serve as a gapfiller between the POES satellites and the Joint Polar Satellite System which will replace them. Its instruments provide climate measurements that continue prior observations by NASA's Earth Observing System.
The satellite is named after Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The name was announced on January 24, 2012, three months after the satellite's launch.
The satellite was launched from Space Launch Complex 2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California by a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7920-10C on October 28, 2011. The satellite was placed into a sun-synchronous orbit 824 km (512 miles) above the Earth.
wn.com/Suomi_NPP -
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname (Dutch: Republiek Suriname, Dutch pronunciation: [ˌrepyˈblik ˌsyriˈnaːmə]), is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British, and captured by the Dutch in 1667, who governed it as the colony of Suriname until 1954. The country of Suriname achieved independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Netherlands itself cooperated on a basis of equality since 1954, on 25 November 1975.
At just under 165,000 km2 (64,000 sq mi) Suriname is the smallest sovereign state in South America (French Guiana comprises less territory, but is French territory). It has an estimated population of approximately 560,000, most of whom live on the country's north coast, where the capital Paramaribo is located.
The name Suriname may derive from a Taino (Arawak-speaking) group called "Surinen" who first inhabited the region prior to European arrival.
wn.com/Suriname -
Tabasco
Tabasco (Spanish pronunciation: [taˈβasko]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in the southeast of the country along the Gulf of Mexico bordering the states of Campeche, Chiapas and Veracruz, as well as the country of Guatemala. Most of the state is covered in rainforest as, unlike most other areas of Mexico, it has plentiful rainfall year round. For this reason, it is also covered in small lakes, wetlands and rivers. The state is subject to major flooding events, with the last occurring in 2007, which affected eighty percent of the state. The state is also home to La Venta, the major site of the Olmec civilization, considered to be the origin of later Mesoamerican cultures. Even though it produces significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas, poverty is still a concern. The state is also the origin of the cacao bean, from which chocolate is made.
wn.com/Tabasco -
Taiwan
Taiwan (i/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ TY-WAHN; Chinese: 臺灣 or 台灣; pinyin: Táiwān; see below), officially the Republic of China (ROC; Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó), is a state in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China now governs the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa), which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. Neighboring states include the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east and northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taipei is the capital city and economic and cultural centre of the country, and New Taipei is the most populous city.
The earliest evidence of inhabitation of Taiwan dates back to the late Paleolithic era. The island of Taiwan was mainly inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before being colonized in the 17th century by the Dutch and the Spanish Empire. The first Han Chinese polity on Taiwan began when Koxinga's troops defeated Dutch forces and established the Kingdom of Tungning. The island was subsequently ruled by the Qing Dynasty after the kingdom's defeat in the Battle of Penghu in 1683, a period that lasted for over 200 years. Following Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty in the first Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan was ceded to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895.
wn.com/Taiwan -
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (Spanish pronunciation: [tamauˈlipas]) officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas (English: Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas) is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the first President of Mexico.
It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the southeast, San Luis Potosí to the southwest and Nuevo León to the west. To the north, it has a 370 km (142.9 mi) stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border along the state of Texas.
The name Tamaulipas is derived from Tamaholipa, a Huastec term in which the tam- prefix signifies "place where." As yet, there is no scholarly agreement on the meaning of holipa, but "high hills" is a common interpretation. Another explanation of the state name is Ta ma ho'lipam – “place, where the Lipan prey”.
In addition to the capital city, Ciudad Victoria, the state's largest cities include Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Tampico.
wn.com/Tamaulipas -
Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan (Classical Nahuatl: Tenōchtitlān [tenoːtʃˈtitɬaːn]), sometimes also known as Mexico Tenochtitlan, was a Nahua altepetl (city-state) located on an island in Lake Texcoco, in the Valley of Mexico. Founded in 1325, it became the capital of the expanding Aztec Empire in the 15th century, until captured by the Spanish in 1521. When paired with Mexico the name is a reference to Mexica, the people of the surrounding Aztec heartland. It subsequently became a cabecera of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Today the ruins of Tenochtitlan are located in the central part of Mexico City.
Its name comes from Nahuatl tetl ("rock") and nochtli = ("prickly pear") and means "Among the prickly pears [growing among] rocks". Tenochtitlan was one of two Mexican altepetl, the other being Tlatelolco.
Tenochtitlan covered an estimated 8 to 13.5 km2 (3.1 to 5.2 sq mi), situated on the western side of the shallow Lake Texcoco.
At the time of Spanish conquest, Mexico City comprised Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco at the same time. Since then, the city extended from north to south from the north border of Tlatelolco to the swamps, which by that time were gradually disappearing to the west, the city ended more or less at the present location of Bucareli Street.
wn.com/Tenochtitlan -
Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
wn.com/Teotihuacan -
The Bahamas
The Bahamasi/bəˈhɑːməz/, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country consisting of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its land area is 13,939 km2 (5,382 sq mi), with a population of 353,658. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, the Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands; the designation of Bahamas refers normally to the Commonwealth and not the geographic chain.
Originally inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonized the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 to 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera.
wn.com/The_Bahamas -
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala (Spanish: [tɬa(k)sˈkala], Nahuatl: [tɬaʃˈkalːan]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 31 states which along with the Federal District comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and its capital city is Tlaxcala.
It is located in East-Central Mexico, in the altiplano region, with the eastern portion dominated by the Sierra Madre Oriental. It is bordered by the states of Puebla to the north, east and south, México to the west and Hidalgo to the northwest. It is the smallest state of the republic, accounting for only 0.2% of the country’s territory.
The state is named after its capital, Tlaxcala, which was also the name of the pre-Hispanic city and culture. The Tlaxcalans allied themselves with the Spanish to defeat the Aztecs, with concessions from the Spanish that allowed the territory to remain mostly intact throughout 300 years of colonial period. After Mexican Independence, Tlaxcala was declared a federal territory, until 1857 when it was admitted as a state of the federation.
wn.com/Tlaxcala -
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republici/ˈtoʊɡoʊ/, is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east, and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately 57,000 square kilometres (22,000 sq mi) with a population of approximately 6.7 million.
Togo is a tropical, sub-Saharan nation, highly dependent on agriculture, with a climate that provides good growing seasons. The official language is French, with many other languages spoken in Togo, particularly those of the Gbe family. The largest religious group in Togo are those with indigenous beliefs, and there are significant Christian and Muslim minorities. Togo is a member of the United Nations, African Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone, La Francophonie and Economic Community of West African States.
From the 11th to the 16th century, various tribes entered the region from all directions. From the 16th century to the 18th century, the coastal region was a major trading centre for Europeans in search of slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast". In 1884, Germany declared Togoland a protectorate. After World War I, rule over Togo was transferred to France. Togo gained its independence from France in 1960.
wn.com/Togo -
Toluca
Toluca, officially called Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located 63 kilometres (39 mi) west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the western edge of the Distrito Federal. According to the 2005 census, the city of Toluca has a population of 467,713, with 747,512 as the total municipal population. The city is the eighth largest in Mexico in population. The municipality of Toluca, along with twelve other municipalities, make up the metropolitan population of 1,610,786 in Greater Toluca as of 2005, making it the fifth most populous metropolitan area in Mexico.
When Toluca was founded by the Matlazincas, its original name was Nepintahihui (land of corn, tierra del maíz). The current name is based on the Náhuatl name for the area when it was renamed by the Aztecs in 1473. The name has its origin in the word tolocan that comes from the name of the god, Tolo, plus the locative suffix, can, to denote "place of Tolo". It is also referred to in a number of Aztec codices as Tolutépetl, meaning hill of the god, Tolo, an allusion to the nearby volcano. The name Toluca de Lerdo was adopted in 1861 in honor of President Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada.
wn.com/Toluca -
Torreón
Torreón is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2010, the city's population was 608,836 with 639,629 in the municipality.[citation needed] The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango, was 1,215,993.[citation needed] It is the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in the country and is one of Mexico's most important economic and industrial centers. Torreón is served by Francisco Sarabia International Airport, a small airport with flights to several cities in Mexico and the United States.
According to archaeological findings, the area of Torreón was populated around the 10th millennium BC.
The first Spanish mission arrived in 1566, led by Fr. Pedro Espinareda. However, the city developed only in the independent Mexican era, around a Torreón ("Big Tower") built to monitor Río Nazas's floods, in conjunction with the creation of a railroad connecting to the US border. The population grew from 200 in 1892 to 34,000 in 1910. Torreón received city status in 1907.
wn.com/Torreón -
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (i/ˌtrɪnɨdæd/ & /tɵˈbeɪɡoʊ/) officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west.
The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands, comprising about 94% of the total area and 96% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt.
The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on 18 February 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Trinidad and Tobago was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals.
wn.com/Trinidad_and_Tobago -
Tropic of Cancer
Coordinates: 23°26′16″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°N 0°E / 23.43778; 0 (Prime Meridian)
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith. This event occurs once per year, at the time of the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, besides the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dictated by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when the Sun reaches the zenith at this latitude, it is entering the tropical sign of Cancer (summer solstice). When it was named, the Sun was also in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab). However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. However, according to tropical astrology, which divides the ecliptic in twelve 30º sectors, starting with the vernal equinox, the Sun is always entering Cancer at this time, as the Earth's axial tilt is most inclined towards the Sun. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek τροπή (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.
wn.com/Tropic_of_Cancer -
Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
wn.com/Turkey -
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea.
The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies. The United Kingdom has fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.
wn.com/United_Kingdom -
United States
The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
wn.com/United_States -
Uruguay
Uruguayi/ˈjʊərəɡwaɪ/, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; (Spanish: República Oriental del Uruguay pronounced: [re̞ˈpuβ̞lika o̞ɾje̞n̪ˈt̪al̪ d̪e̞l uɾuˈɰwai̯]) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to 3.3 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area. An estimated 88% of the population are of European ancestry.
Except for the recent union of Timoteo Domínguez Island and Argentina's Martín García Island, Uruguay's only land border is with Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, to the north. To the west lies the Uruguay River and the estuary of the Río de la Plata to the southwest. To the southeast lies the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in South America by area, after Suriname.
Colonia del Sacramento, one of the oldest European settlements in the country, was founded by the Portuguese in 1680. Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold. Uruguay won its independence in 1811–28 following a three-way struggle between the claims of Spain, Argentina and Brazil. It is a constitutional democracy, with a president who is both the head of state and the head of government.
wn.com/Uruguay -
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec, and the Aztec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac (Land Between the Waters) and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico. The Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well.
The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. The valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and most-studied is the area which contains Mexico City. This section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the "Valley of Mexico". The valley has a minimum altitude of 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) above sea level and is surrounded by mountains and volcanoes that reach elevations of over 5,000 metres (16,000 ft). It is an enclosed valley with no natural outlet for water to flow and a gap to the north where there is a high mesa but no high mountain peaks. Hydrologically, the valley has three features. The first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area. These last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley.Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is considered an earthquake prone zone.
wn.com/Valley_of_Mexico -
Venezuela
Venezuela (i/ˌvɛnɨˈzweɪlə/ VEN-ə-ZWAY-lə), officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Spanish: República Bolivariana de Venezuela [repuˈβlika βoliβaˈɾjana ðe βeneˈswela]), is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south. Its northern coastline of roughly 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi) includes numerous islands in the Caribbean Sea, and in the north east borders the northern Atlantic Ocean. Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Curaçao, Bonaire, Aruba and the Leeward Antilles lie near the Venezuelan coast. Venezuela's territory covers around 916,445 square kilometres (353,841 sq mi) with an estimated population of 29,105,632. Venezuela is considered a state with extremely high biodiversity, with habitats ranging from the Andes mountains in the west to the Amazon Basin rainforest in the south, via extensive llanos plains and Caribbean coast in the center and the Orinoco River Delta in the east.
wn.com/Venezuela -
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (Spanish pronunciation: [beɾaˈkɾuz ðe iɣˈnasjo ðe la ˈʎaβe]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is Xalapa-Enríquez.
It is located in Eastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north, San Luis Potosi and Hidalgo to the west, Puebla to the southwest, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south and Tabasco to the southeast. To the east, Veracruz has a significant share of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico.
The state is noted for its mixed ethnic and large indigenous populations. Its cuisine reflects the many cultural influences that have come through the state because of the importance of the port of Veracruz.
In addition to the capital city, the state's largest cities include Veracruz, Coatzacoalcos, Córdoba, Minatitlán, Poza Rica, Boca Del Río and Orizaba.
wn.com/Veracruz -
Xochicalco
Xochicalco (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃotʃiˈkaɬko]) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site in the Municipality of Miacatlán in the western part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The name Xochicalco may be translated from Nahuatl as "in the (place of the) house of Flowers". The site is located 38 km southwest of Cuernavaca, about 76 miles by road from Mexico City. The site is open to visitors all week, from 10 am to 5 pm, although access to the observatory is only allowed after noon. The apogee of Xochicalco came after the fall of Teotihuacan and it has been speculated that Xochicalco may have played a part in the fall of the Teotihuacan empire.
The architecture and iconography of Xochicalco show affinities with Teotihuacan, the Maya area, and the Matlatzinca culture of the Toluca Valley. Today some residents of the nearby village of Cuentepec speak Nahuatl.
The main ceremonial center is atop an artificially leveled hill, with remains of residential structures, mostly unexcavated, on long terraces covering the slopes. The site was first occupied by 200 BC, but did not develop into an urban center until the Epiclassic period (AD 700 – 900). Nearly all the standing architecture at the site was built at this time. At its peak, the city may have had a population of up to 20,000 people.
wn.com/Xochicalco -
Yucatán
Yucatán (Spanish pronunciation: [ʝukaˈtan]), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida.
It is located in Southeastern Mexico, on the north part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest, Quintana Roo to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico lies off its north coast.
Before the arrival of Spaniards to the Yucatán Peninsula, the name of this region was el Mayab. In Mayan language, "ma' ya'ab" is translated as "a few". It was a very important region for the Mayan civilization, which reached the peak of its development on this place, where they founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek' Balam and Ichcaanzihóo (also called T'Hó), now Mérida.
After the Spanish conquest, Yucatán Peninsula was a single administrative and political entity, the Captaincy General of Yucatán. Following independence and the breakup of the Mexican Empire in 1823, the first Republic of Yucatán was proclaimed which then was voluntarily annexed to the Federal Republic of United Mexican States on December 21, 1823. Later on March 16, 1841, as result of cultural and political conflicts around the federal pact, Yucatán declared independence from Mexico to form a second Republic of Yucatán, but eventually on July 14, 1848, Yucatán was definitely rejoined to Mexico. In 1858, in the middle of the caste war, the state of Yucatan was divided for the first time, establishing Campeche as separate state (officially in 1863). During the Porfiriato, in 1902, the state of Yucatan was divided again to form the Federal territory that later became the present state of Quintana Roo.
wn.com/Yucatán -
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America.
The peninsula comprises the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; the northern part of the nation of Belize; and Guatemala's northern El Petén Department.
The proper derivation of the word Yucatán is widely debated. Hernan Cortes, in the first of his letters to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, claimed that the name Yucatán comes from a misunderstanding. In this telling, the first Spanish explorers asked what the area was called, and the response they received, "Yucatan," was a Yucatec Maya word meaning "I don't understand what you're saying." Others claim that the source of the name is the Nahuatl (Aztec) word Yokatlān, "place of richness."
The Yucatán Peninsula comprises a significant proportion of the ancient Maya Lowlands (although the Maya culture extended south of the Yucatán Peninsula, through present Guatemala and into Honduras and highland Chiapas). There are many Maya archaeological sites throughout the peninsula; some of the better-known are Chichen Itza, Tulum and Uxmal.Indigenous Maya and Mestizos of partial Maya descent make up a sizable portion of the region's population, and Mayan languages are widely spoken there.
wn.com/Yucatán_Peninsula -
Zacatecas
Zacatecas (Spanish pronunciation: [sakaˈtekas]), officially Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas (Spanish: Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas), is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas.
It is located in North-Central Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Durango to the northwest, Coahuila to the north, Nayarit to the west, San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León to the east, and Jalisco, Guanajuato and Aguascalientes to the south.
The state of Zacatecas is best known for its rich deposits of silver and other minerals, its colonial architecture and its importance during the Mexican revolution. Its main economic activities are mining, agriculture and tourism.
"Zacatecas" is the Nahuatl-derived name for one of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the region before the arrival of the Spanish. The name ultimately derives from the Nahuatl word for a type of grass common in the region, zacatl. The region where this grass grew was originally called Zacatlan, and its inhabitants, Zacateca, pluralized in Mexican Spanish to Zacatecas.
wn.com/Zacatecas -
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (/zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ/ zim-BAHB-way; officially the Republic of Zimbabwe) is a landlocked country of southern Africa. It shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with the Republic of South Africa and is bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia, and on the northeast and east by Mozambique. The capital is Harare (formerly called Salisbury). Zimbabwe achieved majority rule and internationally recognised independence in April 1980 following a long period of colonial rule and a 15-year period of white-dominated minority rule, instituted after the minority regime’s so-called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.
Zimbabwe has three official languages: English, Shona and Ndebele. Zimbabwe began as the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, created from land held by the British South Africa Company. President Robert Mugabe is the head of State and Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Morgan Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister. Mugabe has been in power since the country's internationally recognised independence in 1980.
wn.com/Zimbabwe
-
Agustín de Iturbide
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu (27 September 1783 – 19 July 1824), also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence. After the liberation of Mexico was secured, he was proclaimed President of the Regency in 1821 and Constitutional Emperor of the new nation, reigning as Emperor briefly from 19 May 1822 to 19 March 1823, and he is credited as the original designer of the first Mexican flag.
Although Iturbide's reign was short, it defined the political struggles before and after independence that Mexico would endure until the 20th century. The two ends of Mexico's political spectrum - liberals that favored populist representative government and conservatives that favored a more dictatorial regime - would each gain the upper hand at various times in the decades after Iturbide's abdication.
wn.com/Agustín_de_Iturbide -
Alejandra Robles
Alejandra Robles Suastegui (born in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico - November 28) is a dancer and singer of traditional music. Her musical style represents her Afro-Mexican roots and that of the indigenous peoples of Latin America, in addition to the regional music of Mexico, Colombia and the Caribbean. Her style is based on the sounds of the coast of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Veracruz.
She was born in Puerto Escondido, in the Costa Chica region of Oaxaca state. From a very young age she showed interest in music and dance, especially the sounds and Chilean coasts by Guerrero and Oaxaca. At the age of 15 years old she began studying contemporary song and dance at the School of Fine Arts of Oaxaca.
In 2000, she traveled to Paris, France, to enter the 12th Paris Conservatory of Music as a teacher taking Madame Sulle. On her return to Mexico enrolled in the School of Music at the Universidad Veracruzana and majored in Opera. This allowed her to take classes with teachers Benito Navarro (tenor), Guadalupe Colorado (soprano), Cecilia Ladron de Guevara (mezzo-soprano), and Victor Manuel Filobello (tenor), with whom she continues to study classical singing, while taking classes in African dance and tap dance classes with the teacher Rubi Oseguera.
wn.com/Alejandra_Robles -
Alejandro Fernández
Alejandro Fernández (pronounced: [aleˈxandro ferˈnandes]) (born April 24, 1971) is a Mexican singer.
Nicknamed as "El Potrillo" (The Colt) by the media and his fans, he has sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Alejandro is the son of the ranchera singer Vicente Fernández. He originally specialized in traditional, earthy forms of Mexican folk music, such as mariachi and ranchera. He has branched out with great success to internationally-flavored pop music that boasts urban touches.
Alejandro Fernández has performed with artists like: Vicente Fernández, Plácido Domingo, Marc Anthony, José Carreras, Chayanne, Amaia Montero, Joan Sebastian, Gloria Estefan, Malú, Julio Iglesias, Patricia Kaas, Miguel Bosé, Mario Frangoulis, Ednita Nazario, Yuri, Franco De Vita, Diego El Cigala, Nelly Furtado and Beyoncé Knowles.
His first public appearance was in 1977 in one of his father's shows. Alejandro was meant to perform the song "Alejandra" but in the middle of the song he forgot the lyrics, started crying and suffered a panic attack, but his father got on stage and helped him singing along the song.
wn.com/Alejandro_Fernández -
Alfonso Cuarón
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈfonso kwaˈɾon]; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter and film producer, best known for his films Children of Men, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and A Little Princess.
Alfonso Cuarón was born in México City and is the son of Alfredo Cuarón, a nuclear physicist who worked for the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency for many years.
Cuarón studied Philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and filmmaking at CUEC (Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos), a faculty of the same University. There, he met director Carlos Marcovich and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, and they made what would be his first short film, Vengeance is mine. The controversy caused by the fact that the film was shot in English was the reason he was expelled from the film school.
Cuarón began working in television in Mexico, first as a technician and then as a director. His television work led to assignments as an assistant director for several Latin American film productions including Gaby: A True Story and Romero, and in 1991, he landed his first big-screen directorial assignment.
wn.com/Alfonso_Cuarón -
Alfonso Reyes
Alfonso Reyes Ochoa (17 May 1889, Monterrey, Nuevo León – 27 December 1959, Mexico City) was a Mexican writer, philosopher and diplomat.
Alfonso Reyes parents were Bernardo Reyes and Aurelia Ochoa. His father was in important government positions during the government of Porfirio Díaz, such as the governorship of Nuevo León and the Secretary of War and Navy.
Alfonso Reyes was educated primarily in Mexico City.
In 1909, he and other like-minded young intellectuals such as Martín Luis Guzmán and José Vasconcelos, founded the Ateneo de la Juventud to promote new cultural and aesthetic ideals and educational reform in Mexico. At the age of 21, Reyes published his first book, Cuestiones estéticas. The following year, 1912, he wrote a short story, La Cena ("The Supper"), considered a forerunner of surrealism and of Latin American magical realism. In that year he was also named Secretary of the Escuela Nacional de Altos Estudios at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Reyes obtained his law degree in 1913, the same year that his father would die participating in an attempted coup d'état.
wn.com/Alfonso_Reyes -
Ana Guevara
Ana Gabriela Guevara Espinoza (born March 4, 1977, in Nogales, Sonora) is a now-retired Mexican track and field athlete, specialized in the 400 meters.
Her career began in 1996 carrying out diverse tours, participating in her first international competences. In 1998, she won two silver medals in the Central American and Caribbean Games in the distances of 400 and 800 meters.
Her first major victory was the gold medal in the 400m at the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada. A year later, she qualified to the 2000 Sydney Olympics going to the 400m finals, finishing with a reasonable 5th place with a time of 49.96 seconds. (After that race, she won 28 consecutive international races before a second-place finish in Rome in July 2004).
At the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, Guevara made the finals in the 400m. She came off the last turn leading the race with about 105m to go. Unfortunately, she could not keep the fast pace and was passed by Amy Mbacke Thiam from Senegal and Lorraine Fenton from Jamaica with no more than 20 meters to go. Guevara won the bronze medal posting a season best with a time of 49.97 seconds. In fact, Fenton and Mbacke Thiam also posted personal bests, the last one also being a national record.
wn.com/Ana_Guevara -
Antonio Carbajal
Antonio Félix "Tota" Carbajal Rodríguez (born June 7, 1929 in Mexico City) is a Mexican former football goalkeeper. He was also called "El Cinco Copas", in reference to his record of five World Cups played.
Born in Mexico City, Carbajal became a professional footballer with the local Club España in 1948, after having been in the squad that participated at the Olympic tournament in 1948. After the disappearance of España in 1950, he joined Club León, where he would remain until the end of his career.
One of the greatest players of all time to come from Mexico,Carbajal made his international debut in the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on June 24, 1950 against World Cup hosts Brazil. He was the youngest goalkeeper to play in that tournament, where he saw action in Mexico's three matches. He appeared in one match at the 1954 World Cup and in three at the 1958 tournament; at the 1962 World Cup in Chile, he became the first footballer ever to appear in four World Cups, also helping his team win its first ever World Cup match. When they defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in the first round. Four years later Carbajal established another mark with his fifth World Cup appearance. That record was equalled by German player Lothar Matthäus in 1998. In total, Carbajal appeared in 48 international matches for Mexico. In 11 World Cup matches from 1950 to 1966, he conceded 25 goals, a record that was tied by Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea in 2002.
wn.com/Antonio_Carbajal -
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez (Spanish pronunciation: [beˈnito ˈxwaɾes]; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, then 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872. He resisted the French occupation of Mexico, overthrew the Second Mexican Empire, restored the Republic, and used liberal efforts to modernize the country.
Juárez was born on 21 March 1806 in a small adobe home in the village of San Pablo Guelatao, Oaxaca, located in the mountain range now known as the "Sierra Juárez". His parents, Marcelino Juárez and Brígida García, were peasants who both died of complications of diabetes when he was three years old. Shortly after, his grandparents died as well , and his uncle then raised him. He described his parents as "indios de la raza primitiva del país," that is, "Indians of the original race of the country." He worked in the corn fields and as a shepherd until the age of 12, when he walked to the city of Oaxaca de Juárez to attend school. At the time, he was illiterate and could not speak Spanish, only Zapotec.
wn.com/Benito_Juárez -
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III; August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance.
Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton became both a student leader and a skilled musician. He is an alumnus of Georgetown University where he was Phi Beta Kappa and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford. He is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has served as the United States Secretary of State since 2009 and was a Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. Both Clintons received law degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the state's education system, and served as Chair of the National Governors Association.
wn.com/Bill_Clinton -
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, PC CC GOQ (born March 20, 1939) was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Montreal.
Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town in the eastern part of the province. He is the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney, who was a paper mill electrician. Six of the couple's children survived infancy. As there was no English-language Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick operated by St. Thomas University (in 2001, St. Thomas University named its newest academic building in his honour). Benedict Mulroney worked overtime and ran a repair business to earn extra money for his children's education, and he encouraged his oldest son to attend university.
wn.com/Brian_Mulroney -
Cantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes (August 12, 1911 – April 20, 1993), was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin.[citation needed] The character came to be associated with the national identity of Mexico, and allowed Cantinflas to establish a long, successful film career that included a foray into Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin once commented that he was the best comedian alive, and Moreno has been referred to as the "Charlie Chaplin of Mexico". To audiences in the United States, he is best remembered as co-starring with David Niven in a Golden Globe Award-winning role in the 1956 film Around the World in 80 Days.
As a pioneer of the cinema of Mexico, Moreno helped usher in its golden era. In addition to being a business leader, he also became involved in Mexico's tangled and often dangerous labor politics. Although he was a political conservative, his reputation as a spokesperson for the downtrodden gave his actions authenticity and became important in the early struggle against charrismo, the one-party government's practice of co-opting and controlling unions.[citation needed]
wn.com/Cantinflas -
Carlos Carrera
Carlos Carrera (born August 18, 1962 in Mexico City) is a Mexican film director and screenwriter. He directed El crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 2008, Carrera was sponsor for Un aliado en el tiempo, Sundance Film Festival official selection shortfilm.
wn.com/Carlos_Carrera -
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are The Death of Artemio Cruz (1962), Aura (1962), The Old Gringo (1985) and Christopher Unborn (1987). In his obituary, the New York Times described him as "one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world" and an important influence on "El Boom", the "explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and '70s", while The Guardian called him "Mexico's most celebrated novelist". His many literary honors include the Miguel de Cervantes Prize as well as Mexico's highest award, the Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor. He was often named as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, though he never won.
Fuentes was born in Panama City to Berta Macías and Rafael Fuentes, the latter of whom was a Mexican diplomat. As the family moved for his father's career, Fuentes spent his childhood in various Latin American capital cities, an experience he later described as giving him the ability to view Latin America as a critical outsider. From 1934 to 1940, Fuentes' father was posted to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., where Carlos attended English-language school, eventually becoming fluent. He also began to write during this time, creating his own magazine, which he shared with apartments on his block.
wn.com/Carlos_Fuentes -
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers and was considered to be an opinion leader within the country's progressive sectors. His generation of writers includes Elena Poniatowska, José Emilio Pacheco, and Carlos Fuentes. Monsiváis has won more than 33 awards, including the 1986 Jorge Cuesta Prize (named after a fellow writer about whom he wrote a book), the 1989 Mazatlán Prize, and the 1996 Xavier Villaurrutia Award. Considered a leading intellectual of his time, Monsiváis documented contemporary Mexican themes, values, class struggles, and societal change in his essays, books and opinion pieces. He was a staunch critic of the long-ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), leaned towards the left-wing, and was ubiquitous in disseminating his views on radio and television. As a founding member of "Gatos Olvidados", Monsiváis wanted his and other "forgotten cats" to be provided for beyond his lifetime.
wn.com/Carlos_Monsiváis -
Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim Helú (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos esˈlim eˈlu]; born January 28, 1940) is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who is currently ranked as the richest person in the world in 2012. Slim has been ranked the richest person in the world since 2010. His extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso, SA de CV, have amassed interests in the fields of communications, technology, retailing, and finance. Presently he is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and América Móvil.
América Móvil, which in 2010 was Latin America’s largest mobile-phone carrier, accounted for around US$49 billion of Slim's wealth by the end of 2010. His corporate holdings as of March 2012 have been estimated at US$69 billion.
Slim was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1940 to Maronite Christian parents Julián Slim Haddad and Linda Helú, both of Lebanese descent. His father, born Khalil Slim Haddad, immigrated to Mexico at the age of 14 in 1902 and changed his first name to Julián. As it was not uncommon for Lebanese children to be sent abroad before they reached the age of 15 to avoid being conscripted into the Ottoman army, four of Haddad's older brothers were already living in Mexico at the time of his arrival.
wn.com/Carlos_Slim -
Caste War of Yucatán
The Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1901) began with the revolt of native Maya people of Yucatán, Mexico against the population of European descent, called Yucatecos, who held political and economic control of the region. A lengthy war ensued between the Yucateco forces in the north-west of the Yucatán and the independent Maya in the south-east. It officially ended with the occupation of the Maya capital of Chan Santa Cruz by the Mexican army in 1901, although skirmishes with villages and small settlements that refused to acknowledge Mexican control continued for more than a decade.
In Spanish colonial times, Yucatán (like most of New Spain) was under a legal caste system, with peninsulares (officials born in Spain) at the top, the criollos of Spanish descent in the next level, followed by the mestizo population, then the native hidalgos (descendants of the Pre-Columbian nobility who had collaborated with the Spanish conquest of Yucatán) and at the bottom were the other native indios.
Although Spanish peninsulares frequently left Mexico following the patriots victory, Yucatan's Spanish population largely remained and continued to exercise local rule. Although there had long been tensions between the peninsulares and criollos in the Yucatan as elsewhere, the two groups cooperated because they feared the potential power of the mestizos and the natives.
wn.com/Caste_War_of_Yucatán -
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief(s).
In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex than a state or a civilization. The most succinct definition of a chiefdom in anthropology is by Robert L. Carneiro: "An autonomous political unit comprising a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief" (Carneiro 1981: 45).
Chiefdoms are characterized by centralization of authority and pervasive inequality. At least two inherited social classes (elite and commoner) are present. (The ancient Hawaiian chiefdoms had as many as four social classes.) An individual might change social class during a lifetime by extraordinary behavior. A single lineage/family of the elite class becomes the ruling elite of the chiefdom, with the greatest influence, power, and prestige. Kinship is typically an organizing principle, while marriage, age, and gender can affect one's social status and role.
wn.com/Chiefdom -
Conquistador
Conquistadors ( /kɒn.ˈkiːstədɔrz/; Spanish and Portuguese: Conquistadores, Spanish: [koŋkistaˈðoɾes], Portuguese: [kõkiʃtaˈðoɾɨʃ]; "Conquerors") were soldiers, explorers, and adventurers at the service of the Spanish or Portuguese Empires. They sailed beyond Europe, conquering territory and opening trade routes. They colonized much of the world for Spain and Portugal in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
The name derived from the Reconquista (711–1492), the reconquest of the territory of the Iberian Peninsula that was controlled by Muslims (the state called Al-Andalus). In 1492 Castile expanded its exploratory activities, using Portuguese navigators.[citation needed] Portugal had previously established a marine route to Japan via the southern coast of Africa, with numerous coastal enclaves along the route. Following the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492, expeditions led by conquistadors brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 16th century.
wn.com/Conquistador -
Cornish people
The Cornish (Cornish: Kernowyon) are a people associated with Cornwall, a county in the South West of England, in the United Kingdom, which is seen in some respects as distinct from the rest of England and having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the UK such as Wales as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe. It has been long argued that the Cornish represent a distinct ethnic group within the UK, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons who inhabited southern and central Great Britain prior to the Roman conquest, and some in the county today continue to assert a distinct identity, separately or in addition to English or British identities. Cornish identity has been adopted by migrants into Cornwall, as well as by emigrant and descendant communities from Cornwall, the latter sometimes referred to as the Cornish diaspora. Although not included as an explicit option in the UK census, the numbers of those claiming Cornish ethnic and national identity are officially recognised and recorded.
wn.com/Cornish_people -
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (born May 1, 1934) is a prominent Mexican politician. He was a former Head of Government of the Federal District and a founder of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).
He was born in Mexico City, the son of President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río and Amalia Solórzano, and studied at Colegio Williams.
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas served as a senator for the state of Michoacán from 1974 to 1980 and as governor of that same state from 1980 to 1986. He won election to these two posts as a member of the then-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
In 1987, he and other politicians from the PRI announced the creation of the Corriente Democrática ("Democratic Current") within the party to discuss a change in the process traditionally used to nominate the PRI's candidate for the presidency (there was an extralegal rule called el dedazo as the "right" by which the incumbent president picked his successor. The expression is a reference to the action of pointing with a finger to the successor.). The Current nominated Cárdenas as its candidate. Some left the Current and the supporters of Cárdenas were ostracized and expelled from the PRI. He received the support of several small left-wing parties and was the 1988 presidential candidate of the Frente Democrático Nacional (National Democratic Front), a loose alliance of these organizations.
wn.com/Cuauhtémoc_Cárdenas -
Cuitláhuac
Cuitláhuac (c. 1476 – 1520) or Cuitláhuac (in Spanish orthography; in Nahuatl: cuitlāhuac, honorific form Cuitlahuatzin) was the 10th tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan for 80 days during the year Two Flint (1520).
Cuitláhuac was the eleventh son of the ruler Axayacatl and a younger brother of Moctezuma II, the previous ruler of Tenochtitlan. His mother's father, also called Cuitlahuac, had been ruler of Itztapalapan, and the younger Cuitláhuac also ruled there initially.
Cuitláhuac was made tlatoani of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of Mexico; After Pedro de Alvarado had ordered the massacre in the Main Temple, the Aztecs were very upset and started to fight and put a siege to the Spaniards. Hernán Cortés ordered Moctezuma to ask his people to stop fighting. Moctezuma told him that they would not listen to him and suggested Cortés free Cuitláhuac so that he could convince them to dispose of their arms and not fight anymore. Cortés then freed Cuitláhuac and once Cuitláhuac was free he led his people against the conquistadors. He succeeded and the Spaniards were driven out of Tenochtitlan on June 30, 1520. Cuitláhuac was ritually married to Moctezuma's eldest daughter, a ten or eleven year old girl who later was called Isabel Moctezuma.
wn.com/Cuitláhuac -
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez (December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) better known simply as Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, and husband of Frida Kahlo (1929–1939 and 1940–1954). His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in Mexican art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals among others in Mexico City, Chapingo, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, to a well-to-do family. Rivera was descended from Spanish nobility on his father's side. Diego had a twin brother named Carlos, who died two years after they were born. From the age of ten, Rivera studied art at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. He was sponsored to continue study in Europe by Teodoro A. Dehesa Méndez, the governor of the State of Veracruz. His mother was a Converso, a Jew whose ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholicism. Speaking about himself, Rivera wrote in 1935 "My Jewishness is the dominant element in my life.
wn.com/Diego_Rivera -
Dolores del Río
Dolores del Río (August 3, 1905 – April 11, 1983) was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood. She later became a prominent actress in Mexican films. She was considered one of the most beautiful actresses of her time and was the first Latin American movie star to have international success.
In the silent film era, del Río was considered a female counterpart to Rudolph Valentino. Her career flourished until the end of the silent era, with successful films such as Resurrection (1927), Ramona (1928) and Evangeline (1929). With the arrival of the talkies in the early thirties, Del Río's exotic image was radically changed. She scored successes with Bird of Paradise (1932), Flying Down to Rio (1933), Madame Du Barry, Wonder Bar (1934) and Journey into Fear (1942).
Del Río returned to México. Under the guidance of Emilio Fernández, and at the age of 37, Del Río became the most important star of the Golden age of Mexican cinema, which was at the time as powerful as Hollywood. Her masterpiece is the legendary film Maria Candelaria (1943). She was frequently named the "Princess of México".
wn.com/Dolores_del_Río -
Elena Poniatowska
Elena Poniatowska (born 1932) is one of Mexico’s best known journalists and authors, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on those considered to be disenfranchised especially women and the poor. She was born in Paris to upper class parents, including her mother whose family fled Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. She left France for Mexico when she was ten to escape the Second World War. When she was eighteen and without a university education, she began writing for the newspaper Excélsior, doing interviews and society columns. Despite the lack of opportunity for women from the 1950s to the 1970s, she evolved to writing about social and political issues in newspapers, books in both fiction and nonfiction form. Her best known work is La noche de Tlatelolco (Massacre in Mexico) about the repression of the 1968 student protests in Mexico City. Despite the lack of international recognition, she is considered to be “Mexico’s grande dame of letters” and is still an active writer.
wn.com/Elena_Poniatowska -
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz. He formed and commanded an important revolutionary force, the Liberation Army of the South, during the Mexican Revolution. Followers of Zapata were known as Zapatistas. He is a figure from the Mexican Revolution era who is still revered today.
Emiliano Zapata was born to Gabriel Zapata and Cleofas Salazar of Zacatepillo. Zapata's family were Mexicans being of mixed Nahua and Spanish ancestry; Emiliano was the ninth of ten children. A peasant since childhood, he gained insight into the severe difficulties of the countryside. He received a limited education from his teacher, Emilio Vara. He had to care for his family because his father died when Zapata was 17. Around the turn of the 20th century Anenecuilco was an indigenous Nahuatl speaking community; there exist eyewitness accounts stating that Emiliano Zapata spoke Nahuatl fluently.
wn.com/Emiliano_Zapata -
Emilio Fernández
Emilio "El Indio" Fernández (born Emilio Fernández Romo, Spanish pronunciation: [eˈmiljo feɾˈnandeð ˈromo]; March 26, 1904 – August 6, 1986) was an actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico. He is best known for his work as director of the film Maria Candelaria which won the Grand Prix at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.
A close friend of Dolores del Río, who was married to Cedric Gibbons, designer of the original Academy Award, Fernández was the model who posed for the naked knight holding a sword now known worldwide as "Oscar".
Fernández was born in Mineral del Hondo, Coahuila. His father, Fernando Garza, was a military man, and after 1910, a revolutionary while his mother was a Kickapoo Indian, a tribe that inhabited the region of Sabinas, hence the "Indio" nickname. El "Indio" dropped out of school to serve in the revolutionary uprising led by Adolfo de la Huerta.
President of Mexico Álvaro Obregón sent Huerta into exile (in Los Angeles, California) and Fernández received a 20-year prison sentence but escaped prison using dynamite and followed Huerta to the United States. Huerta worked as a music teacher and Fernández as an extra in Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s.
wn.com/Emilio_Fernández -
Enrique Krauze
Enrique Krauze Kleinbort (b. September 16, 1947 in Mexico City) is a Mexican historian, essayist and publisher. He is president of the publisher Editorial Clío and director of the cultural magazine Letras Libres.
Krauze received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the UNAM and a doctorate in history from El Colegio de México. In 1978, he received a scholarship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He has been professor and researcher for the Centro de Estudios Históricos at El Colegio de México, visiting professor at St. Antony's College (University of Oxford) (from December 1981 to 1983) and at The Wilson Center (from October to December 1987). From 1968 to 1970 he participated as a member of the student council as part of the Engineering school. For over twenty years he collaborated with Octavio Paz in Vuelta, where he was deputy editor (1977–1981) and as deputy director (1981–1986). In 1992 he created Editorial Clío, which he directs. In 1999 he created the cultural magazine Letras Libres, that is distributed in several Spanish-speaking countries. He is the brother of artist Perla Krauze (b. 1953).
wn.com/Enrique_Krauze -
Erik Morales
Érik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the first Mexican-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes. He is a former WBC Light Welterweight Champion, WBC & IBF Super Featherweight, WBC Featherweight (x2) and WBC & WBO Super Bantamweight Champion.
Morales has defeated 15 different world champions during the course of his career. He is famous for his trilogies with fellow Mexican legend three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera and Filipino octuple champion Manny Pacquiao. He is also the last boxer to beat Pacquiao. He ranks #49 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.
Erik Morales was born in the Zona Norte section of Tijuana. Under the tutelage of his father, José Morales, a fighter himself, Erik started boxing at the age of 5 and amassed a very impressive amateur career that saw him fight 114 times (108–6) and win 11 major titles in Mexico. Morales made his professional debut at the age of 16, by knocking out Jose Orejel in two rounds. Between 1993 and 1997, he quickly climbed the ranks in the super bantamweight division, winning 26 fights, 20 by knockout, including wins against former champions Kenny Mitchell and Hector Acero Sánchez, before challenging for his first world title. It was during this time that he signed with promoter Bob Arum.
wn.com/Erik_Morales -
Ernesto Ruffo Appel
Ernesto Ruffo Appel (June 25, 1952, San Diego, California, U.S.) is an American-born Mexican politician famous for being the first state governor not belonging to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) since its formation in 1929.
His parents and grandparents are Mexican-born. Ruffo attended elementary school in the coastal town of Ensenada in the state of Baja California. He attended college at the Monterrey campus of the ITESM graduating with a bachelor's degree in business. He became a member of the National Action Party (PAN) in 1982 and was elected municipal president of the municipality of Ensenada (which includes the towns of Ensenada and San Quintín) in 1986. In 1989 he was elected governor of the state of Baja California in major upset. In the year 2000, he supported the candidacy of Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, he was the Coordinator of Migration Affairs for the Northern Border until 2006 (when president Fox's government ended). He is currently a Senate supply in the LX legislature.
wn.com/Ernesto_Ruffo_Appel -
Ernesto Zedillo
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (born December 27, 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Since the ending of his term as president in 2000, Zedillo has been a leading voice on globalization, especially its impact on relations between developed and developing nations.
He is currently Director of the Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University and director of Citi Group.
Ernesto Zedillo was born on December 27, 1951 in Mexico City. His parents were Rodolfo Zedillo Castillo, a mechanic, and Martha Alicia Ponce de León. Seeking better job and education opportunities for his children, his parents moved to Mexicali, Baja California.
His humble origins made him appreciate the idea of progress and self improvement, even though he was well aware of the few opportunities he had for this. Zedillo was educated in public schools in Mexicali where he was recognized as an excellent student. During his adolescence, young Ernesto actively participated in school events, such as alumni societies and head of the school newspaper.
wn.com/Ernesto_Zedillo -
Federico Cantú Garza
Federico Heraclio Cantú Garza (b. Cadereyta Jiménez, March 3, 1907 – d. Mexico City, January 29, 1989) was a Mexican painter, engraver and sculptor. Since he was 14 years of age, Cantú studied art at the Air Schools of Painting with Ramos Martínez. He was also cofounder of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana and the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda". Cantú demonstrated uncanny artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescente “Homenaje a Lord Byron 1929”. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown.
wn.com/Federico_Cantú_Garza -
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (Spanish pronunciation: [feˈlipe kaldeˈɾon] ( listen); born August 18, 1962) is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012. He is a member of the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), one of the three major Mexican political parties.
Prior to the presidency, Calderón received two masters degrees and went on to work within the PAN while it was still an important opposition party. Calderón served as National President of the party, Federal Deputy, and Secretary of Energy in Vicente Fox's cabinet.
He served in the cabinet of the previous administration up until he resigned to run for the Presidency and secured his party's nomination. The Federal Electoral Institute's official electoral results gave Felipe Calderón the largest vote total and the presidency but the decision was contested by Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Calderón's victory was confirmed on September 5, 2006 by the Federal Electoral Tribunal.
wn.com/Felipe_Calderón -
Fernando Platas
Fernando Platas (born March 16, 1973 in Mexico City) is a Mexican diver. He began diving since he was a young boy. In 1990 he won in Germany two tests of 2 and 10 metres, and in that same year he won three gold medals in the Central American Games which took place in Mexico City.
In 1992, he represented Mexico in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and in 1993 he won a silver medal in the FINA Championships.
Winner of the silver medal in the FINA Championships, for 1999 he won the gold medal in the 3 metre springboard.
During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia he won the silver medal in the 3 metre springboard.
In his résumé, he is also distinguished by winning the Sport National Award in 1995, and he has been twice the standard-bearer of the Mexican Olympic Delegation in the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece.
He ran the National Action Party federal deputy for the Federal Electoral District XXIV Mexico State in the elections of 2009 .
wn.com/Fernando_Platas -
Fernando Valenzuela
Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando βalenˈswela]; born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former left-handed pitcher, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 1981, the 20-year-old Valenzuela took Los Angeles (and Major League Baseball) by storm, winning his first 8 decisions and leading the Dodgers to the World Championship. That year, Valenzuela became the only player in Major League history to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Cy Young Award in the same season, adding the Silver Slugger Award and World Series championship for good measure. With his youthful charm, devastating screwball, "Ruthian physique", and a connection with Los Angeles' large Latino community, Valenzuela touched off an early '80s craze dubbed "Fernandomania".
Valenzuela was a Dodgers mainstay throughout the 1980s, winning 21 games in 1986 and pitching a no-hitter in 1990, though he was injured during the 1988 championship run. However, he faltered because of injuries in the 1990s, pitching ineffectively for several teams. After one last effective season with the San Diego Padres in 1996, he retired from Major League Baseball.
wn.com/Fernando_Valenzuela -
Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954; born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón) was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and is perhaps best known for her self-portraits.
Kahlo's life began and ended in Mexico City, in her home known as the Blue House. She gave her birth date as July 7, 1910, but her birth certificate shows July 6, 1907. Kahlo had allegedly wanted the year of her birth to coincide with the year of the beginning of the Mexican revolution so that her life would begin with the birth of modern Mexico. At the age of six, Frida developed polio, which caused her right leg to appear much thinner than the other. It was to remain that way permanently. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
Mexican culture and Amerindian cultural tradition are important in her work, which has been sometimes characterized as Naïve art or folk art. Her work has also been described as "surrealist", and in 1938 André Breton, principal initiator of the surrealist movement, described Kahlo's art as a "ribbon around a bomb".
wn.com/Frida_Kahlo -
GEO Meneses
Georgina Meneses, best known as GEO Meneses (born in Oaxaca City, Mexico on March 22, 1974), is a Mexican producer and singer of traditional music and world music genre.
Georgina Meneses was born in Oaxaca City, the daughter of Linda Meneses and Eulogio Garcia, from a very early showed an aptitude for music especially for singing at the age of 10 years She began her musical education studying piano and later decided to devote professional singing.
She has taken her song to important stages of Mexico, including the "International Cervantino Festival" and the festival "Ollin Kan". Abroad she has performed in cities such as Madrid, Seville, Aranjuez, Huelva, Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona (Spain), Bergamo, Florence and Milan (Italy), Paris (France), Berlin (Germany) and Manila (Philippines) and in various forums in Central and South America. GEO Meneses has rescued many traditional songs practicy had been forgotten and has performed songs by great composers such as Álvaro Carrillo, Jesus Rasgado and Tata Nacho, among others. Making mergers of traditional and modern for what she has achieved colocarce with great acceptance among the public taste.
wn.com/GEO_Meneses -
George Cowgill
George L. Cowgill (born 1929) is an American anthropologist and archaeologist. He is currently professor emeritus at Arizona State University. He received his PhD from Harvard in 1963 with a dissertation on The Post-Classic Period in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Most of his career has been devoted to research at the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan. He taught at Brandeis University between 1960 and 1990. Cowgill has made important contributions in a number of areas, including the archaeology of Mesoamerica, the comparative study of early states and cities, and quantitative methods in archaeology.
Cowgill was selected as the 1992 Distinguished Lecturer in Archaeology by the American Anthropological Association. In 2004 he was awarded the Alfred Vincent Kidder Award of the American Anthropological Association for his contributions to the archaeology of the Americas. This is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of archaeology.
Cowgill's major archaeological fieldwork and analysis has been centered on Teotihuacan. With René Millon, Cowgill spent years systematically mapping the city of Teotihuacán in the Valley of Mexico near modern Mexico City. In the 1960s he compiled an extensive database of the artifacts collected in the survey. This was one of the first large-scale archaeological databases, and it continues to be used for research today. In the late 1980s, Cowgill co-directed excavations at the Feathered Serpent Pyramid at Teotihuacan with Saburo Sugiyama and Rubén Cabrera. Several of Cowgill's published articles on Teotihuacan are among the most important syntheses of archaeological information on this ancient city.
wn.com/George_Cowgill -
Guadalupe Victoria
Guadalupe Victoria (29 September 1786 – 21 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican politician and military officer who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He was a deputy in the Mexican Chamber of Deputies for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power. He also served as the first president of Mexico.
During his term as President he established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, the United States, the Federal Republic of Central America, and Gran Colombia. He also abolished slavery, founded the National Museum, promoted education, and ratified the border with the United States of America. As far as relations with the former colonial overlords of Mexico were concerned, he decreed a law to expel the Spaniards remaining in the country and defeated the last Spanish stronghold in the castle of San Juan de Ulúa.
Victoria was the only president who completed his full term in more than 30 years of an independent Mexico. He died in 1843 at the age of 56 from epilepsy in the fortress of Perote, where he was receiving medical treatment. On 8 April of the same year, it was decreed that his name would be written in golden letters in the session hall of the Chamber of Deputies.
wn.com/Guadalupe_Victoria -
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎermo aˈrjaɣa]; born 13 March 1958) is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as “a hunter who works as a writer,” he authored Amores Perros, received a BAFTA Best Screenplay nomination for 21 Grams, and received the 2005 Cannes Best Screenplay Award for The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.
Arriaga was born in Mexico City. At the age of 13, he lost the sense of smell after a brutal street fight that would later serve as inspiration for some of his work. "Contrary to widespread reports, Arriaga did not come of age in a violent Mexico City neighborhood ("I can't tell you how many times I've changed that on Wikipedia," he says, "only for it to be changed back 15 minutes later"), though he did, in fact, lose his sense of smell at 13 in a street brawl." Before engaging in his writing career, Arriaga tried out a variety of jobs and professions, amongst which were that of boxer, basketball player and professional soccer player. He completed a B.A. in Communications and a M.A. in Psychology at the Ibero-American University.
wn.com/Guillermo_Arriaga -
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡiˈʎermo ðel ˈtoɾo]; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and designer. He is mostly known for his acclaimed films, Blade II, Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy film franchise. He is a frequent collaborator with Ron Perlman, Federico Luppi and Doug Jones. His films draw heavily on sources as diverse as weird fiction, fantasy and war.
Del Toro was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He was raised in a strict Catholic household. Del Toro studied at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, in Guadalajara. He first got involved in filmmaking when he was about eight years old and studied special effects and make-up with SFX artist Dick Smith. Del Toro participated in the cult series La Hora Marcada with other renowned Mexican filmmakers such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón.
He spent ten years as a special effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Later on in his directing career, he formed his own production company, the Tequila Gang.
wn.com/Guillermo_del_Toro -
Henry Bamford Parkes
Henry Bamford Parkes (13 November 1904 – 7 January 1972) was an author and professor of history at New York University. He was born in Sheffield, England.
After reading history at Oxford University, Parkes came to the United States to pursue graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan in 1929 and joined the history faculty of New York University in 1930. He had also lectured at Barnard College, the University of Wyoming, the New School for Social Research and the University of Washington. From 1956-57, Parkes was a Fulbright Fellow, working at the University of Athens in Greece.
wn.com/Henry_Bamford_Parkes -
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (Spanish pronunciation: [erˈnaŋ korˈtes de monˈroj i piˈθaro]; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés was part of the generation of Spanish colonizers that began the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Born in Medellín, Spain, to a family of lesser nobility, Cortés chose to pursue a livelihood in the New World. He went to Hispaniola and later to Cuba, where he received an encomienda and, for a short time, became alcalde (magistrate) of the second Spanish town founded on the island. In 1519, he was elected captain of the third expedition to the mainland, an expedition which he partly funded. His enmity with the Governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, resulted in the recall of the expedition at the last moment, an order which Cortés ignored. Arriving on the continent, Cortés executed a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous peoples against others. He also used a native woman, Doña Marina, as an interpreter; she would later bear Cortés a son. When the Governor of Cuba sent emissaries to arrest Cortés, he fought them and won, using the extra troops as reinforcements. Cortés wrote letters directly to the king asking to be acknowledged for his successes instead of punished for mutiny. After he overthrew the Aztec Empire, Cortés was awarded the title of Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, while the more prestigious title of Viceroy was given to a high-ranking nobleman, Antonio de Mendoza. In 1541 Cortés returned to Spain, where he died peacefully but embittered, six years later.
wn.com/Hernán_Cortés -
Hugo Sánchez
Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born July 11, 1958), popularly nicknamed Pentapichichi, or Hugol, is a Mexican football coach and former striker. He played for four European clubs, including Real Madrid. He was also a member of the Mexico national team, and participated in three World Cups. He is currently manager of Pachuca of the Primera División de México.
As a coach, he won two championships as head coach of the club Pumas de la UNAM and briefly with Club Necaxa, both teams in the Mexican Primera División. He also had a sixteen-month stint with the Mexican national team, but was fired on March 31, 2008. Hugo Sanchez has signed up to start coaching again, now in Europe, for UD Almería [1] from the Spanish First Division starting December 29, in an attempt to save the team from descending to the 2nd Division by the Summer. He has succeeded in keeping UD Almeria free from relegation from La Liga for the 2009–2010 season.
In 1999, the IFFHS voted him the 26th best footballer of the 20th century, and the best footballer from the CONCACAF region.
wn.com/Hugo_Sánchez -
Ignacio Allende
Ignacio José de Allende y Unzaga (January 21, 1769 – June 26, 1811), born Ignacio Allende y Unzaga, was a captain of the Spanish Army in Mexico who came to sympathize with the Mexican independence movement. He attended the secret meetings organized by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, where the possibility of an independent New Spain was discussed. He fought along with Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in the first stage of the struggle, eventually succeeding him in leadership of the rebellion. Allende was captured by Spanish colonial authorities while he was in Chihuahua and executed for treason.
Allende was born on January 21, 1769, to a wealthy Spanish criollo family in San Miguel el Grande in Guanajuato. His father was Domingo Narciso de Allende, a wealthy trader.
In 1802, he joined the Viceregal army of New Spain, serving under general Félix María Calleja. In 1806, he started to favor the possibility of independence from Spain. His attendance at a conspiratorial meeting in Valladolid (today Morelia) was discovered, in 1809, by the Spanish and went unsanctioned. Regardless, Allende kept supporting the underground independence movement. He was eventually invited by the mayor of Querétaro, Miguel Domínguez and his wife Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez to discuss further plans for independence at their home. It was during one of these meetings where Allende met Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and his captain Juan Aldama.
wn.com/Ignacio_Allende -
Jaime Serra Puche
Jaime José Serra Puche (b. January 11, 1951 in Mexico City) is a Mexican economist. He is Chairman of SAI Consulting and Principal of NAFTA Fund. His professional practice includes the design of investment strategies in Mexico for foreign companies and advice to Mexican companies interested in becoming regional players in North America.
He served as Mexico's Undersecretary of Revenue, Secretary of Commerce and Industry in the cabinet of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and for 28 days he served as Secretary of Finance and Public Credit in the cabinet of Ernesto Zedillo. Mr. Serra led the negotiation and implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); promoted the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO); headed the negotiations of free trade agreements with Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Costa Rica and promoted the creation of the Federal Competition Commission.
He was a trustee of the Yale Corporation and currently co-chairs The President's Council on International Activities of Yale University. He is a member of The Trilateral Commission and The US-Mexico Bilateral Council. He is a director of the following publicly listed companies: Chiquita Brands International (CQB); The Mexico Fund (MXF), Tenaris (TS), Vitro (VTO) and Grupo Modelo (GMODELOC).
wn.com/Jaime_Serra_Puche -
Jaramar
Jaramar Soto (born August 3, 1954 in Mexico City) is a leading traditional singer, songwriter and painter.
From the age of 10 years old Jaramar studied singing with various music teachers, and in 1966 entered the Mexican-American Cultural Exchange Institute in San Antonio, Texas. On her return to Mexico she entered the Mexican Academy of Dance, and also studied dance at the Academy of Coyoacán. Between 1972 and 1976, she studied Textile and Apparel Design in Rome at the Academia di Costume e di Moda and in Paris at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale of Couture Parisienne.
Since her return to Mexico, and until 1983, she worked in the area of clothing and textile design. Her professional activity is divided between her performance as a singer and her ongoing work in drawing, painting and sculpture.
Since 1978 she has lived in the city of Guadalajara. In 1990 she started a research project, recreation and music search which has been presented in different forums by Mexico and Europe.
wn.com/Jaramar -
Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (November 30, 1911 - December 5, 1953) is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time.
Negrete was born in Guanajuato where he was raised together with his brother and three sisters: David, Consuelo, Emilia and Teresa, and also lived in San Luis Potosí. He graduated with the rank of sub-lieutenant from El Colegio Militar, Mexico's military academy.
Handsome, with a very strong will and a trained, fascinating voice, he is still a top icon in Mexico, Spain and Latin America, more than 50 years after his death. His recording of "México Lindo y Querido" ("Beautiful and Beloved México"), his country's unofficial anthem, is the best known recording of the song. His career is often compared to that of Pedro Infante, the most popular Mexican actor of the time. The public rivalry didn't carry over to their private lives, as they were close friends until Negrete's death.
He married twice, to famous actresses with whom he shared credits: Elisa Christy (with whom he had a daughter, Diana Negrete) and María Félix. He also lived with his frequent co-star, for more than ten years. Gloria Marín co-starred in 10 out of his 44 films.
wn.com/Jorge_Negrete -
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others. Orozco was the most complex of the Mexican muralists, fond of the theme of human suffering, but less realistic and more fascinated by machines than Rivera. Mostly influenced by Symbolism, he was also a genre painter and lithographer. Between 1922 and 1948, Orozco painted murals in Mexico City, Orizaba, Claremont, California, New York City, Hanover, New Hampshire, Guadalajara, Jalisco, and Jiquilpan, Michoacán. His drawings and paintings are exhibited by the Carrillo Gil Museum in Mexico City, and the Orozco Workshop-Museum in Guadalajara. Orozco was known for being a politically committed artist. He promoted the political causes of peasants and workers.
José Clemente Orozco was born in Zapotlán el Grande (now Ciudad Guzmán)in 1883, Jalisco to Rosa de Flores Orozco. He married Margarita Valladares, and had three children. In a childhood accident, Orozco lost his left hand while playing with gunpowder.
wn.com/José_Clemente_Orozco -
José María Morelos
}}
José María Teclo Morelos y Pavón (September 30, 1765, City of Valladolid, now Morelia, Michoacán – December 22, 1815,San Cristóbal Ecatepec, State of México) was a Mexican Roman Catholic priest and revolutionary rebel leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1811. He was later captured by the Spanish colonial authorities and executed for treason in 1815.
According to Census information, Morelos was born into a poor Indigenous family in the city of Valladolid, since renamed "Morelia" in his honor, in a house that is today a museum dedicated to his legacy. His father was José Manuel Morelos y Robles, a carpenter originally from Zindurio, a predominantly indigenous village a few kilometers west of Valladolid. His mother was Juana María Guadalupe Pérez Pavón, originally from San Juan Bautista de Apaseo, also near Valladolid. Valladolid was the seat of a bishop and of the government of the colonial Intendency of Valladolid. It was known as the "Garden of the Viceroyalty of New Spain" because of its prosperity.
wn.com/José_María_Morelos -
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959) was a Mexican writer, philosopher and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial personalities in the development of modern Mexico. His philosophy of "indigenismo" affected all aspects of Mexican sociocultural, political, and economic policies.
Vasconcelos was born in Oaxaca, Oaxaca. He lived in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, while attending school in Eagle Pass, Texas. He married Serafina Miranda of Tlaxiaco in the state of Oaxaca in 1906. After graduating as a lawyer from the Escuela de Jurisprudencia in Mexico City (1905), he represented the Anti-Reelection Club in Washington, D.C., USA, and supported the Mexican Revolution of 1910 headed by Francisco I. Madero. When Madero was democratically elected president of Mexico, Vasconcelos led a structural change at the National Preparatory School, where he changed the scholar programs, breaking with the positivistic influence. After Madero's assassination, promoted by the US ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, Vasconcelos organized a democratic movement in order to defeat the military regime of Victoriano Huerta. Soon after, he was exiled in Paris, where he met Julio Torri, Doctor Atl, Gabriele D'Annunzio and other intellectuals and artists of that time.
wn.com/José_Vasconcelos -
Juan Aldama
Juan Aldama (January 3, 1774 in San Miguel el Grande, Guanajuato – June 26, 1811 in Chihuahua) was a Mexican revolutionary rebel soldier during the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. He was also the brother of Ignacio Aldama.
At the beginning of the War of Independence, Aldama was a captain of the cavalry regiment of the Queen's militia. He attended the conspiratorial meetings for independence in Querétaro, organized by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, despite having to travel from San Miguel el Grande (now San Miguel de Allende) in neighboring Guanajuato.
Aldama was in San Miguel when he heard news that the conspiracy had been betrayed by a supporter who informed the Spanish colonial authorities. He traveled to Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo) to informed Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Ignacio Allende. He witnessed the Grito de Dolores ("Cry of Dolores") on the night of September 16, 1810, which started the armed conflict.
Aldama was later captured by the Spanish colonial authorities in 1811. He was court-martialed for insubordination towards the Spanish Crown and executed for treason, by firing squad on June 26, 1811, together with Allende and other members of the rebel army including Mariano Jiménez and Manuel Santa María.
wn.com/Juan_Aldama -
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (1581?, Real de Taxco, now in Guerrero - August 4, 1639), one of the greatest Novohispanic dramatists of the Golden Age, was born in New Spain (modern Mexico).
The family of Juan Ruiz de Alarcón was of old Asturian nobility. The name Alarcón had been give to his ancestor Ferren Martínez de Ceballos by Alfonso VIII of Castile after he had successfully driven the Moors from the fortress of Alarcón near Cuenca in 1177. Juán Ruiz de Alarcón's maternal grandparents Hernando and María de Mendoza were among the first Spaniards to arrive in Mexico in 1535, when they established themselves in Taxco. Their daughter Leonor de Mendoza married Pedro Ruiz de Alarcón who was described as an hidalgo.
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón had four brothers: Pedro Ruiz de Alarcón, who was rector at the College of Saint John Lateran, Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón who was a priest and is known for having written a treatise documenting the non-Christian religious practices of the Nahua Indians of central Mexico, Gaspar and García, about whom little is known.
wn.com/Juan_Ruiz_de_Alarcón -
Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxuan ˈrulfo]) (16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986) was a Mexican author and photographer. One of Latin America's most esteemed authors, Rulfo's reputation rests on two slim books, the novel Pedro Páramo (1955), and El Llano en llamas (1953). 15 of these 17 short stories have been translated into English and published in The Burning Plain and Other Stories), a collection of short stories that includes his admired tale "¡Diles que no me maten!" ("Tell Them Not to Kill Me!"). He and Jorge Luis Borges were named the most important Spanish-language writers of the 20th century .
There are more than 6,000 negatives of his photographs at the Juan Rulfo Foundation.
Rulfo was born as Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno in Apulco, Jalisco (although he was registered at Sayula, Jalisco), in the home of his paternal grandfather. After his father was killed in 1923 and after his mother's death in 1927, his grandmother raised him in the town of San Gabriel, Jalisco. Their extended family consisted of landowners whose fortunes were ruined by the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War of 1926-28, a Roman Catholic integralist counter-revolt against the government of Mexico following the Mexican Revolution.
wn.com/Juan_Rulfo -
Julieta Venegas
Julieta Venegas Percevault (born November 24, 1970 in Long Beach, California, USA), known professionally as Julieta Venegas, is a Mexican singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and producer, who sings pop-rock in Spanish. She speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish fluently. She has a twin sister, Yvonne, who is a photographer. Venegas grew up in Tijuana and began studying music at the age of eight. She went on to join several bands including Mexican ska band Tijuana No!.
She plays several instruments including acoustic guitar, accordion, and keyboard. She has won five Latin Grammys and one Grammy Award among other awards. She has composed music for theater and performed in soundtracks for dozens of movies.
In 1997, she released her debut album Aquí to favorable reviews in Mexico by the rock audience. In later years she positioned herself as one of the most prominent songwriters in Latin pop by achieving fame in 2003 in Latin America and Spain with the album Sí and singles "Andar Conmigo" and "Algo Está Cambiando" which were positioned at the top of Latin Billboard.
wn.com/Julieta_Venegas -
Julio César Chávez
For his son who is also a boxer, see Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.
Julio César Chávez (born Julio César Chávez González on July 12, 1962) is a retired Mexican professional boxer. Chávez is considered the greatest fighter ever to come out of Mexico.
He is a six-time world champion in three weight divisions, and for several years he was considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. In a career that spanned over 25 years, Chávez won six world titles in three weight divisions: WBC Super Featherweight in 1984, WBA Lightweight in 1987, WBC Lightweight in 1988, WBC Light Welterweight in 1989, IBF Light Welterweight in 1990, and WBC Light Welterweight in 1994.
Julio César Chávez was known for his outstanding punching power, devastating body attack, remarkably strong chin and the relentless stalking of his opponents. He ranks #24 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers Of All Time. On December 7, 2010, he was inducted in the prestigious International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011. He is the father of prospect Omar Chávez and current WBC Middleweight Champion Julio César Chávez, Jr.
wn.com/Julio_César_Chávez -
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people (Arabic: الشعب اللبناني el shaab el libnene, Lebanese Arabic pronunciation: [eʃˈʃaʕb ellɪbˈneːne]) are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state.
The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Lebanese people is a rich blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years.
Lebanon does not collect official census data on ethnic background and therefore is difficult to have an exact demographic analysis of Lebanese society, with the last census conducted by the French Mandate government in 1932. The largest concentration or people of Lebanese ancestry is in Brazil having an estimated population of 6 to 7 million. As with their predecessors, the Lebanese have always travelled the world, many of them settling permanently, most notably in the last two centuries.
wn.com/Lebanese_people -
Lila Downs
Ana Lila Downs Sánchez best known as Lila Downs (born in September 19, 1968) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous mexican influences and has recorded songs in indigenous languages such as mixtec, zapotec, maya, nahuatl and p'urhépecha.
Her debut album, La Sandunga, was released in 1999 and she achieved international success in 2001 with the album Border who emerged in the music scene of Mexico and Latin America in the early 2000s (decade) decade. Lila began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with traditional music, Latin and American influences with her own original twist on dancing. Downs is a native spanish speaker and also speaks fluent english and mixtec.
Lila Downs was born September 19, 1968 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico, the daughter of Anita Sanchez, a Mixtec cabaret singer and Allen Downs, a British-American professor of art and cinematographer from Minnesota. From an early age Lila showed interest in music; at the age of eight she began singing rancheras and other traditional Mexican songs. She began her professional career singing with mariachis. At fourteen she moved to the United States with her parents. She studied voice in Los Angeles and learned the English language, which her father helped her to perfect. When she was 16, her father died and afterward she decided to return to her native Tlaxiaco with her mother.
wn.com/Lila_Downs -
List of Mexicans
wn.com/List_of_Mexicans -
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes (born 15 November 1981) is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010. As the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world, she is considered the best Mexican golfer of all time.
Born and raised in Guadalajara, Ochoa was the third of four children of a real estate developer and an artist. She took up golf at the age of five, won her first state event at the age of six, and her first national event at seven.
An 11-year-old Ochoa approached the professional Rafael Alarcon, 1979 winner of the Canadian Amateur Championship, as he worked on his game at Guadalajara Country Club, where her family lived near the 10th tee. She asked him if he would help her with her game. Alarcon asked her what her goal was, "She said she wanted to be the best player in the world."
As a junior, she captured 22 state events in Guadalajara and 44 national events in Mexico. She won five consecutive titles at the Junior World Golf Championships and in 2000 she enrolled at the University of Arizona in the U.S. on a golf scholarship, where she was a teammate of fellow freshman Natalie Gulbis. While a student in Tucson, Ochoa received regular tutoring and greatly improved her English by watching movies and reading magazines between practice and tournaments.
wn.com/Lorena_Ochoa -
Lucía Méndez
Lucía Leticia Méndez Pérez (born January 26, 1955 in León, Guanajuato) is a Mexican telenovela and film actress, top model and singer that has sold over 10 million records world wide[citation needed].
Lucía Méndez (born Lucía Leticia Méndez Pérez) began her career in 1972 when a very important newspaper from Mexico City "El Heraldo" launched her as "El Rostro" meaning "the face", she won this title; she also appeared in an uncredited role in a film named Vuelven los campeones justicieros also known in the USA as The Champion Five Return.[citation needed] While she would appear in a handful of films throughout the seventies, including The Children of Sanchez (1978), with the Mexican legends Anthony Quinn and Dolores del Río, Mendez truly came into her own in Mexican television starting with a small part in Muchacha italiana viene a casarse (1971) with Angelica María. More supporting parts followed on Cartas sin Destino (1973), La Tierra (1974), Mundos Opuestos (1975). By 1978, she was a well known superstar throughout México and the rest of Latin America thanks to her successful telenovela Viviana. This soap opera took Méndez directly around the world, among the most successful run of her series would be Spain, Italy and France. Méndez playing the underdog in the story with a strong charismatic character. The huge impact she followed with equally-successful, Colorina (1980).
wn.com/Lucía_Méndez -
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis βuˈɲwel]; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-born Mexican filmmaker who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the United States.
Buñuel was born in Calanda, a small town in the province of Teruel, in Aragón, Spain, to Leonardo Buñuel and María Portolés. He would later describe his birthplace by saying that in Calanda, "the Middle Ages lasted until World War I." The oldest of seven children, Luis had two brothers, Alfonso and Leonardo, and four sisters: Alicia, Concepción, Margarita and María.
When Buñuel was just four and a half months old, the family moved to Zaragoza, where they were one of the wealthiest families in town. In Zaragoza, Buñuel received a strict Jesuit education at the private Colegio del Salvador. After being kicked and insulted by the study hall proctor before a final exam, Buñuel refused to return to the school. He told his mother he had been expelled, which was not true—and what's more, he had received the highest marks on his world history exam. Buñuel finished the last two years of his high school education at the local public school.
wn.com/Luis_Buñuel -
Luis Echeverría
Luis Echeverría Álvarez (born 17 January 1922) served as President of Mexico from 1970 to 1976.
Echeverría joined the faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1947 and taught political theory. He rose in the hierarchy of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and eventually became the private secretary of the party president, General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada. Echeverría served as Interior Secretary under President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz from 1964 to 1970. He maintained a hard line against student protesters throughout 1968. Clashes between the government and protesters culminated in the Tlatelolco massacre in October 1968, a few days before the 1968 Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City. In a separate incident, he ordered the transfer of 15% of the Mexican military to the state of Guerrero to counter guerrilla groups operating there.
wn.com/Luis_Echeverría -
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (April 19, 1970) is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel. An icon in the Spanish-speaking countries, he is often referred to as "El Sol de México" (The Sun of Mexico) or simply "El Sol" (The Sun).
Beginning his musical career in his childhood, Luis Miguel has won five Grammys and four Latin Grammys among other numerous awards. He is considered as one of the top male pop vocalists in the world nowadays. His contribution to Latin pop music, along with his hermetic personal life, has made him a global figure of Latin music for almost three decades. He debuted on the professional music at 11 years old. At the age of fifteen, Luis Miguel received his first Grammy for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" (I Like You Just The Way You Are) with Sheena Easton. In 1991, the RIAA gave him a recognition for the high sales of the albums Romance and Segundo Romance. Luis Miguel is the only Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums (Romance and Segundo Romance) go platinum in the USA. He has achieved a long string of distinctions. Also among those was having his album Luis Miguel achieve gold and platinum certifications in four countries, including the United States, within just three days of its release.
wn.com/Luis_Miguel -
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Lázaro Cárdenas was born on 21 May 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family (including his mother and seven younger siblings) from age 16 after the death of his father. By the age of 18 he had worked as a tax collector, a printer's devil, and a jailkeeper. Although he left school at the age of eleven, he used every opportunity to educate himself and read widely throughout his life, especially works of history.
Cárdenas set his sights on becoming a teacher, but was drawn into politics and the military during the Mexican Revolution after Victoriano Huerta overthrew President Francisco Madero. He backed Plutarco Elías Calles, and after Calles became president, Cárdenas became governor of Michoacán in 1928. During his four years as governor, Cárdenas initiated a modest re-distribution of land at the state level, encouraged the growth of peasant and labour organisations, and made improvements to education at a time when it was neglected by the federal government. Cárdenas ensured that teachers were paid on time, made personal inspections of many classrooms, and opened a hundred new rural schools. His grassroots style of governing was such that during his time as governor, Cárdenas made important policy decisions based on direct information received from the public rather than on the advice of his confidants.
wn.com/Lázaro_Cárdenas -
Manuel Gamio
Manuel Gamio (1883–1960) was a Mexican anthropologist, archaeologist, sociologist, and a leader of the indigenismo movement. He is often considered as the father of modern anthropological studies in Mexico. He devised a well-known system for classifying the hunter-gatherers of Central America.
Gamio was born in Mexico City, where he studied engineering at the School of Mining. However, at age 19 he left his studies to work on a family rubber plantation, where the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz and Puebla join. There he learned Nahuatl from the plantation workers and developed a strong interest in Mexico's indigenous cultures.
He returned to study at the National Museum under Zélia Nuttall, who in 1909 sent him to study under Franz Boas at Columbia University. There he earned a Ph.D. From Boas he adopted the cultural approach characteristic of the anthropology of the United States in the twentieth century. Boas considered Gamio one of his best students.
He returned to Mexico in 1910 and the following year he was among the founders of the Escuela Internacional de Arqueología y Etnología Americana (International School of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Americas) in Mexico City, with funds obtained from Germany and the United States. Other individuals associated with the school included Eduard Seler, Alfred M. Tozzer and Boas. This was during the Mexican Revolution, and thus was a difficult time to establish new scientific institutions. Gamio was director of the school from 1916 through 1920, when it closed for lack of funds.
wn.com/Manuel_Gamio -
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco – March 1, 1952 in Mexico City) was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism.
Azuela wrote many pieces including the newspaper piece "Impressions of a Student" in 1896, the novel Andrés Pérez, maderista in 1911, and Los de abajo, (or The Underdogs), in 1915.
During his days in the Mexican Revolution, Azuela wrote about the war and its impact on Mexico. He served under president Francisco I. Madero as chief of political affairs in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco - his home town. After Madero's death, he joined the military forces of Julián Medina, a follower of Pancho Villa, where he served as a field doctor. He later was forced for a time to emigrate to El Paso, Texas. There he wrote Los de abajo, a first-hand description of combat during the Mexican revolution, based on his experiences in the field. In 1917 he moved to Mexico City where for the rest of his life he continued his writing and worked as a doctor among the poor.
wn.com/Mariano_Azuela -
María Félix
María Félix (April 8, 1914 – April 8, 2002) was a Mexican actress and the most iconic leading lady of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, known for her larger-than-life, tough character in films. She was nominated for five Ariel Awards, of which she won three for Enamorada, Río Escondido, Doña Diabla and a special Golden Ariel Award for her contribution to cinema. She was more commonly known, particularly in her later years, by the honorific La Doña.
She was born María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña in Álamos, Sonora, Mexico. There is some dispute regarding Miss Félix's date of birth. There is a large (but not unanimous) opinion that she was born on April 8, 1914, which means that she died on her 88th birthday. However, her obituary in The New York Times states that she was born on May 4, 1914, which would have made her 87 at the time of her death on April 8, 2002. Some claim her birth certificate supports the April 8, 1914 birthdate, although no actual evidence (such as a copy of either the birth or the death certificate) has been presented as concrete evidence.[citation needed] Félix was the ninth of twelve children born to Bernardo Félix, descendant of Yaqui Indians and Josefina Güereña, who was of Spanish descent: Josefina, María de la Paz, Bernardo, Miguel, María Mercedes, Fernando, María del Sacramento, Pablo, Victoria Eugenia, Ricardo and Benjamin. Since her childhood, María showed a strong temperament. She preferred playing with boys than girls, which would carry the jealousy of her sisters..
wn.com/María_Félix -
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term embraces many distinct populations, societies, and ethnic groups, who each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity.
There are an estimated 7 million Maya living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Ethnic Maya of Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras have managed to maintain substantial remnants of their ancient cultural heritage. Some are quite integrated into the majority hispanicized Mestizo cultures of the nations in which they reside, while others continue a more traditional culturally distinct life, often speaking one of the Maya languages as a primary language.
The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas.
wn.com/Maya_peoples -
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica (Spanish: Mesoamérica) is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries.
As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures. Beginning as early as 7000 BC the domestication of maize, beans, squash and chili, as well as the turkey and dog, caused a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherer tribal grouping to the organization of sedentary agricultural villages. In the subsequent formative period, agriculture and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious tradition, a vigesimal numeric system, and a complex calendric system, a tradition of ball playing, and a distinct architectural style, were diffused through the area. Also in this period villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms with the development of large ceremonial centers, interconnected by a network of trade routes for the exchange of luxury goods such as obsidian, jade, cacao, cinnabar, Spondylus shells, hematite, and ceramics. While Mesoamerican civilization did know of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these technologies became culturally important.
wn.com/Mesoamerica -
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The United States is home to the second largest Mexican community in the world second only to Mexico itself comprising nearly 22% of the entire Mexican origin population of the world. Canada is a distant third with a Mexican origin population of 37,000 as of 2001 although increasing to 61,505 as of 2006. In addition, as of 2008 there were approximately 7,000,000 undocumented Mexicans living in the United States which if included in the count would increase the US share to over 28% of the world's Mexican origin population (Note that some of the undocumented would be captured in the US Census count depending on their willingness to provide information). Over 60% of all Mexican Americans reside in the states of California and Texas. Most Mexican Americans are the descendants of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico and/or Europeans, especially Spaniards.
wn.com/Mexican_American -
Mexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict between rival drug cartels fighting each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces. The government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was raging between different drug cartels before any military intervention was made. In addition, the Mexican government has claimed that their primary focus is on dismantling the powerful drug cartels, rather than on drug trafficking prevention, which is left to U.S. functionaries.
Although Mexican drug cartels, or drug trafficking organizations, have existed for several decades, they have become more powerful since the demise of Colombia's Cali and Medellín cartels in the 1990s. Mexican drug cartels now dominate the wholesale illicit drug market by controlling 90% of the drugs that enter the United States. Arrests of key cartel leaders, particularly in the Tijuana and Gulf cartels, have led to increasing drug violence as cartels fight for control of the trafficking routes into the United States.
wn.com/Mexican_Drug_War -
Mexican people
Mexican people (Spanish: Pueblo mexicano (collective), Mexicanos (individuals)) refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity.
Mexico became a nation in 1821 when Mexico achieved independence from the Spanish Empire; this began the process of forging a Mexican national identity that fused the cultural traits of indigenous pre-Columbian origin with those of European, particularly Iberian, ancestry. This led to what has been termed "a peculiar form of multi-ethnic nationalism"
The most spoken language by Mexicans is Mexican Spanish, but many also speak languages from 62 different indigenous linguistic groups and other languages brought to Mexico by recent immigration or learned by Mexican immigrants residing in other nations. Over 78% of the Mexican people live in Mexico but there is a sizable diaspora with nearly 22% living in the United States.
The Mexican people have varied origins and an identity that has evolved with the succession of conquests among Amerindian groups and by Europeans. The area that is now modern-day Mexico has cradled many predecessor civilizations, going back as far as the Olmec which influenced the latter civilizations of Teotihuacan (200 B.C. to 700 A.D.) and the much debated Toltec people who flourished around the 10th and 12th centuries A.D., and ending with the last great indigenous civilization before the Spanish Conquest, the Aztecs (March 13, 1325 to August 13, 1521). The Nahuatl language was a common tongue in the region of modern Central Mexico during the Aztec Empire, but after the arrival of Europeans the common language of the region became Spanish.
wn.com/Mexican_people -
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución mexicana) was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz, and lasted for the better part of a decade until around 1920. Over time the Revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war. This armed conflict is often categorized as the most important sociopolitical event in Mexico and one of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century.
After prolonged struggles, its representatives produced the Mexican Constitution of 1917. The Revolution is generally considered to have lasted until 1920, although the country continued to have sporadic, but comparatively minor, outbreaks of warfare well into the 1920s. The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was the most significant relapse into bloodshed.
The Revolution led to the creation of the Partido Nacional Revolucionario ("National Revolutionary Party") in 1929; it was renamed the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party) (PRI) in 1946. Under a variety of leaders, the PRI held power until the general election of 2000.
wn.com/Mexican_Revolution -
Miguel de la Madrid
Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (December 12, 1934 – April 1, 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as 52nd President of Mexico from 1982 to 1988.
Miguel de la Madrid graduated with a bachelor's degree in Law from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and received a master's degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in the United States.
He worked for Mexico's central bank and lectured in law at UNAM before securing a position at the Secretariat of Finance in 1965. Between 1970 and 1972 he was employed by Petróleos Mexicanos, Mexico's state-owned petroleum company, after which he held several other bureaucratic posts in the government of Luis Echeverría. In 1976 he was chosen to serve in José López Portillo's cabinet as secretary of budget and planning.
He was president after López Portillo. He won the elections that took place on 4 July 1982, and took office the following December.
wn.com/Miguel_de_la_Madrid -
Moctezuma II
Moctezuma II (c. 1466 – June 1519), also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (Moctezuma the Young), was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520. The first contact between indigenous civilizations of Mesoamerica and Europeans took place during his reign, and he was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, when Conquistador Hernán Cortés and his men fought to escape from the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.
During his reign the Aztec Empire reached its maximal size. Through warfare, Moctezuma expanded the territory as far south as Xoconosco in Chiapas and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and incorporated the Zapotec and Yopi people into the empire. He changed the previous meritocratic system of social hierarchy and widened the divide between pipiltin (nobles) and macehualtin (commoners) by prohibiting commoners from working in the royal palaces.
wn.com/Moctezuma_II -
Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl (Classical Nahuatl: Nezahualcoyōtl, pronounced [nesawaɬˈkojoːtɬ], meaning "Coyote in fast" or "Coyote who Fasts") (April 28, 1402 – June 4, 1472) was a philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler (tlatoani) of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico. Unlike other high-profile Mexican figures from the century preceding the Spanish Conquest, Nezahualcoyotl was not an Aztec; his people were the Acolhua, another Nahuan people settled in the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico, settling on the eastern side of Lake Texcoco.
He is best remembered for his poetry, but according to accounts by his descendants and biographers, Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl and Juan Bautista de Pomar, he had an experience of an "Unknown, Unknowable Lord of Everywhere" to whom he built an entirely empty temple in which no blood sacrifices of any kind were allowed — not even those of animals. However, he allowed human sacrifices to continue in his other temples.
Acolmiztli Nezahualcoyotl was the son of Ixtlilxochitl I and Matlalcihuatzin, the daughter of Huitzilihuitl. Though born heir to a throne, his youth was not marked by princely luxury. His father had set Texcoco against the powerful city of Azcapotzalco, ruled by the Tepanec. In 1418, when the young prince was fifteen, the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, led by Tezozomoc, conquered Texcoco and Nezahualcoyotl had to flee into exile in Huexotzinco, returning to stay in Tenochtitlan in 1422. After Tezozomoc's son Maxtla became ruler of Azcapotzalco, Nezahualcoyotl returned to Texcoco, but had to go into exile a second time when he learned that Maxtla plotted against his life.
wn.com/Nezahualcoyotl -
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (Spanish pronunciation: [okˈtaβjo pas loˈsano]; March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Paz was born to Octavio Paz Solórzano and Josefina Lozano. His father was an active supporter of the Revolution against the Díaz regime. Paz was raised in the village of Mixcoac (now a part of Mexico City) by his mother Josefina (daughter of Spanish immigrants), his aunt Amalia Paz, and his paternal grandfather Ireneo Paz, a liberal intellectual, novelist, publisher and former supporter of President Porfirio Díaz. He studied at Colegio Williams. Because of his family's public support of Emiliano Zapata, they were forced into exile after Zapata's assassination. They served their exile in the United States.
Paz was introduced to literature early in his life through the influence of his grandfather's library, filled with classic Mexican and European literature. During the 1920s, he discovered the European poets Gerardo Diego, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Antonio Machado, Spanish writers who had a great influence on his early writings. As a teenager in 1931, under the influence of D. H. Lawrence, Paz published his first poems, including "Cabellera". Two years later, at the age of 19, he published Luna Silvestre ("Wild Moon"), a collection of poems. In 1932, with some friends, he founded his first literary review, Barandal. By 1939, Paz considered himself first and foremost a poet.[citation needed]
wn.com/Octavio_Paz -
Olmec
The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The Olmec flourished during Mesoamerica's Formative period, dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE. Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE, but by 1600-1500 BCE Early Olmec culture had emerged centered around the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán site near the coast in southeast Veracruz. They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed. Among other "firsts", the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies.
The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork, particularly the aptly named "colossal heads". The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking.
wn.com/Olmec -
Otomi people
The Otomi people (English pronunciation: /ˌoʊtəˈmiː/ is an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the central altiplano of Mexico.
The two most populous groups are the Highland or Sierra Otomí living in the mountains of La Huasteca and the Mezquital Otomí, living in the Mezquital valley in the eastern part of the state of Hidalgo, and in the state of Querétaro. Sierra Otomí usually self identify as Ñuhu or Ñuhmu depending on the dialect they speak, whereas Mezquital Otomi selfidentify as Hñähñu (pronounced [ʰɲɑ̃ʰɲũ]). Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.
One of the early complex cultures of Mesoamerica, the Otomi were likely the original inhabitants of the central Mexican altiplano before the arrival of Nahuatl speakers around ca. 1000 AD, but graduately they were replaced and marginalized by Nahua peoples. In the colonial period Otomi speakers helped the Spanish conquistadors as mercenaries and allies, which allowed them to extend into territories that had previously been inhabited by semi-nomadic Chichimecs, for example Querétaro and Guanajuato.
wn.com/Otomi_people -
Pascal Lamy
Pascal Lamy (born 8 April 1947) is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, a French political advisor, a businessman, and a former European Commissioner for Trade. Lamy is Honorary President of Paris-based think tank Notre Europe.
Born in Levallois-Perret, Hauts-de-Seine, a suburb of Paris, he graduated from the prestigious Sciences Po Paris, from HEC and ÉNA, graduating second in his year of those specialising in economics. Lamy is also an honorary graduate of the University of Warwick.
Lamy then joined the civil service, and in this role he ended up serving as an adviser to Jacques Delors as Economics and Finance Minister and Pierre Mauroy as Prime Minister.
He has been a member of the French Socialist Party since 1969.
When Delors became President of the European Commission in 1984, he took Lamy with him to serve as chef de cabinet, which he did until the end of Delors' term in 1994. During his time there, Lamy became known as the Beast of the Berlaymont, the Gendarme and Exocet due to his habit of ordering civil servants, even Directors-General (head of departments) "precisely what to do – or else." He was seen as ruling Delor's office with a "rod of iron", with no-one able to bypass or manipulate him and those who tried being "banished to one of the less pleasant European postings".
wn.com/Pascal_Lamy -
Paulina Rubio
Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (born June 17, 1971) is a Mexican singer, actress, hostess, model and businesswoman. Paulina Rubio was known in her country in the group Timbiriche in 1991. Her debut album, La Chica Dorada (1992) was released under EMI Music, followed by 24 Kilates (1993). Her follow-up albums, El tiempo es oro (1995) and Planeta Paulina (1996) helped Rubio be more known in Latin America. Rubio's departure from EMI Music happened in the same year.
With her new label, Universal Music, she released her sixth studio album Paulina (2000) and her crossover album Border Girl (2002), both had commercial success in Latin America and Europe; the first of these won nominations and awards. According to Billboard, Paulina was the most sold Latin album in the United States in 2001, and won Diamond certification for its sales of 2.5 million of copies worldwide.Paulina has sold over 7 million of copies. Her follow-up albums, Pau-Latina (2004) and Ananda (2006) consolidated Rubio internacionally. Her ninth album, Gran City Pop (2009) has a fresh and original concept, and focus in a only vision, to reflect Paulina's life and musical experiences. Rubio's latest album to date, Brava! (2011), focuses in electronic genres.
wn.com/Paulina_Rubio -
Pedro Infante
José Pedro Infante Cruz (November 18, 1917 – April 15, 1957), better known as Pedro Infante, is one of the most famous actors and singers of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and is an idol of the Latinamerican people, together with Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís, who were styled the Tres Gallos Mexicanos (the Three Mexican Roosters). Infante was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. He was raised in Guamúchil. He died on April 15, 1957, in Mérida, Yucatán, in a plane crash during a flight that he was piloting himself en route to Mexico City.
His film career began in 1939 with him appearing in more than 60 films, and starting in 1943, he recorded about 350 songs. For his performance in the movie Tizoc, he was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
Son of Delfino Infante García, who played the double bass in a band, and Refugio Cruz Aranda, he was the third of fifteen children, of which nine survived. Although the Infante Cruz family stayed for some time at Mazatlán, in the early 1919 they moved to Guamuchil. Later in 1920, they moved to Rosario, Sinaloa.
wn.com/Pedro_Infante -
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a volunteer in the Reform War and then a leader of the successful rebellion against French intervention, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N. Méndez as interim president, and a four-year term served by his political ally Manuel González from 1880 to 1884. Commonly considered by historians to have been a dictator, he is a controversial figure in Mexican history. The period of his leadership was marked by significant internal stability (known as the "paz porfiriana"), modernization, and economic growth. However, Díaz's regime grew unpopular due to repression and political stagnation, and he fell from power during the Mexican Revolution, after he had imprisoned his electoral rival and declared himself the winner of an eighth term in office. The 35 years in which Díaz ruled Mexico are referred to as the Porfiriato.
wn.com/Porfirio_Díaz -
Reform War
The Reform War (Spanish: Guerra de Reforma) in Mexico is one of the episodes of the long struggle between Liberal and Conservative forces that dominated the country’s history in the 19th century. The Liberals wanted a federalist government, limiting traditional Catholic Church and military influence in the country. The Conservatives wanted a centralist government, even a monarchy with the Church and military keeping their traditional roles and powers. This struggle erupted into a full civil war when the Liberals, then in control of the government after ousting Antonio López de Santa Anna, began to implement a series of laws designed to strip the Church and military, but especially the Church, of its rights, powers and property. Conservative resistance to this culminated in the Plan of Tacubaya, which destroyed the government of President Ignacio Comonfort and caused the remaining Liberals to move their government to the city of Veracruz. The Conservatives controlled Mexico City and much of central Mexico, but the rest of the states chose whether to side with the Conservative or Liberal government. Being less experienced militarily, the Liberals lost most of the early battles, but the tide turned when Conservatives twice failed to take Veracruz. Liberal victories accumulated thereafter until Conservative forces surrendered in December 1860. While the Conservative forces lost the war, guerrillas remained active in the countryside for years after, and Conservatives in Mexico would conspire with French forces to install Maximilian I as emperor during the following French Intervention in Mexico.
wn.com/Reform_War -
Renato Leduc
Renato Leduc (b. Tlalpan, November 16, 1897 – d. Mexico City, August 2, 1986) was a Mexican poet and journalist.
Leduc, son of a French father and a Mexican mother, served as a signalist in Francisco Villa's División del Norte, and studied law at the Universidad Nacional de México. He wrote poetry, stories and chronicles for several newspapers and cultural magazines, before he traveled to Paris by order of the Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público in the mid 1930s, where he met several surrealistic writers, and lived for ten years, during World War II. For a short time, he was married to the British writer Leonora Carrington, whom he met in the embassy in Lisbon, on her flight from the Nazis, after they had arrested Max Ernst in France. Leduc was a good friend of Elena Poniatowska, Federico Cantú, Luis Cardoza Y Aragon, Octavio Paz and Agustín Lara, of María Félix, to whom he was probably married. , as well as of Fernando Leal to whom he dedicated his sonnet Mixcalco (1925).
wn.com/Renato_Leduc -
Ross Hassig
Ross Hassig (born December 13, 1965) is an American historical anthropologist specializing in Mesoamerican studies, particularly the Aztec culture. His focus is often on the description of practical infrastructure in Mesoamerican societies. He is the author of several influential books, among them: Time, History, and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico; Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control; and Trade, Tribute, and Transportation: The Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico.
Hassig began his academic career as an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, where his studies initially focussed on non-Western legal systems. He soon developed an interest in anthropology, later obtaining in 1974 his Master's degree from Vanderbilt in Law and Anthropology, with a thesis on political development among the Puebloan peoples at Acoma Pueblo. He then went on further his graduate studies at Stanford University, obtaining his Ph.D from the Department of Anthropology there in 1980.
wn.com/Ross_Hassig -
Rubén Olivares
Rubén Olivares (born January 14, 1947) is a former Mexican boxer and current member of the Boxing Hall of Fame. A native of Mexico City, Olivares was a world champion multiple times, and considered by many as the greatest bantamweight champion of all time. He was very popular among Mexicans, many of whom considered him to be Mexico's greatest fighter for a long period. Olivares also had cameo appearances on Mexican movies, and he participated in more than 100 professional bouts.
Olivares made his pro debut at the age of 17, by knocking out Freddy García in round one at Cuernavaca. With that knockout win, a streak of 22 knockout wins in a row had been set off. During that streak, he beat Tony Gallegos, Monito Aguilar and Antonio Leal, among others. It was on March 8, 1967, that Felipe González became the first one to go the distance with Olivares, when Olivares defeated him by a decision in 10 at Mexicali. Then, on July 29 of that same year, Olivares had the first spot on his record, Germán Bastidas holding him to a ten round draw.
wn.com/Rubén_Olivares -
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo (August 26, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, painting figurative abstraction with surrealist influences.
Tamayo's Zapotec heritage is often cited as an early influence.
After the death of his parents, he was orphaned and moved to Mexico City to live with his aunt. Tamayo had no choice but to move and live with relatives in México City, México. While living with them, Tamayo was very devoted to helping his family out with a small business they owned. However, after a while Tamayo’s aunt enrolled him into an art school which was when his career as an artist began. He enrolled at Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas at San Carlos in 1917 to study art. While studying, Tamayo experimented with and was influenced by Cubism, Impressionism, and Fauvism, among other popular art movements of the time, but with a distinctly Mexican feel. Although he studied drawing at Academy of Art at San Carlos as a young adult, Tamayo was very dissatisfied and eventually went to study art on his own. That was when he began working for José Vasconcelos at the Department of Ethnographic Drawings (1921), and was later appointed head of the department by Vasconcelos.
wn.com/Rufino_Tamayo -
Rufus Yerxa
Rufus H. Yerxa (born 1951) is currently Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He has served in this position since 2002. He was the former Chief International Counsel for Monsanto Company.
As an American public servant (under both Republican and Democratic administrations), he was US Ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in Geneva; he played a key role in the Uruguay Round Negotiations. Yerxa served as a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Envoy to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in Geneva. Prior to 1989, he served as the Assistant Chief Counsel of the House Ways and Means Committee and Staff Director of its Subcommittee on Trade.
From 1977 to 1981, he was the Legal Advisor to the Chairman of the International Trade Commission. An attorney and a member of the Washington State and District of Columbia Bars, Yerxa is a graduate of the University of Washington and the University of Puget Sound, and holds an LL.B. in international law from Cambridge University (UK). Prior to being named as Monsanto's international counsel, Yerxa was Monsanto's European general counsel.
wn.com/Rufus_Yerxa -
Salvador Sánchez
Salvador Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 - August 12, 1982) was a Mexican boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México. Many of his contemporaries as well as boxing writers believe that, had it not been for his premature death, Sanchez could have gone on to become the greatest Featherweight boxer of all time. He is also the uncle of Salvador Sánchez II.
Sánchez started his professional career at the age of 16, as a teenager (after a brief amateur career consisting of reportedly 4 amateur bouts) he started piling up wins against tough Mexican opposition. His first fight of note came in his 19th professional fight against the Mexican bantamweight champion Antonio Becerra. Becerra proved too experienced for the young Sánchez, the bout ended in a split decision defeat for Sánchez.
Sánchez kept on fighting and moved to the Featherweight division. Soon he had beaten people like the Puerto Rican featherweight champion Felix Trinidad Sr., on his way to securing a title shot at world champion Danny "Little Red" Lopez, a popular TV fighter of the late 1970s who was an impressive fighter and had won some spectacular fights against the likes of former world champion David Kotei (twice), Juan Malvares and Mike Ayala. Confident and hard to beat, Lopez was beaten by the 21 year old Sánchez, who knocked out the defending champion in 13 rounds in Phoenix, Arizona, United States on February 2, 1980. Sanchez defended his title for the first time with a 15 round unanimous decision against Ruben Castillo (47-1). Thinking it was just a case of 'beginner's luck' (as it was Sánchez's first world title fight ever), Lopez looked for a rematch and this he got, in Las Vegas. This time Sánchez defeated Lopez by 14th round TKO. In his next fight, he defeated Patrick Ford (15-0).
wn.com/Salvador_Sánchez -
Susana Harp
Susana Harp Iturribarria (born April 8, 1968) is a Mexican singer of traditional music.
Born in Oaxaca de Juarez, her mother is from Oaxaca and her father Lebanese, from a very small community in Mexico. In her childhood she was a quiet girl, but always showed interest in music as she was influenced by her grandfather Jorge Fernando Iturribarria. At the age of 16 she started studying singing although she remained focused in her academic career until completing a degree in psychology. At the age of 22 she moved to Mexico City to continue her formal studies followed at Gestalt Psychotherapy and a Masters in NLP. Finally in 1996 she pursued a musical career with a project called "Xquenda" which was her first album with songs in two Mexican languages Otomi and Zapotec, and also in Spanish. As a result the "Xquenda Cultural Association" is founded to support indigenous cultural projects.
Harp, has performed in major venues in America and Europe as well as major festivals in Mexico promoting traditional Mexican music. She performs songs in indigenous languages such as Zapotec, Mixtec and Nahuatl as well as Spanish, projecting the culture of marginalized communities through music.
wn.com/Susana_Harp -
Teotihuacan
Coordinates: 19°41′33″N 98°50′37.68″W / 19.6925°N 98.8438°W / 19.6925; -98.8438
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.
The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.
wn.com/Teotihuacan -
Thalía
Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (born August 26, 1971), known mononymously as Thalía (Spanish pronunciation: [taˈli.a]), is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. She has sung in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Tagalog.
Thalia has been nominated for various Latin Grammy, Latin Billboard and many other awards throughout her career, being considered as one of the best known Latin singers globally.
Apart from her success in music, she also rose to international fame because of her starring in very successful soap operas like Marimar and María la del Barrio. Thalía has achieved to maintain her autonomy and her status as a powerful woman within the recording industry because of her multifaceted career in many different fields of art. She is also an occasional author, businesswoman and fashion designer.
Thalía was born on August 26, 1971 in Mexico City, Mexico. She is the daughter of Ernesto Sodi Pallares, a scientist, doctor of pathology, criminologist and writer, and Yolanda Miranda Mange, a painter and Thalía's manager from 1980 to 1999. She is the youngest of five children. She has four sisters, Laura Zapata, Federica, Gabriela and Ernestina Sodi. When Thalía was five years old, her father died and this loss had a devastating effect on her. As a youth, Thalia was a good student throughout her school years and studied at the prestigious Lycée Franco-Mexicain whose French-Spanish curriculum made her bilingual at an early age. Thalia said that if she were not in show business, she would become a biologist or psychologist.
wn.com/Thalía -
Tzotzil people
The Tzotzil are an indigenous Maya people of the central Chiapas highlands in southern Mexico. As of 2000, they numbered about 290,000. The municipalities with largest Tzotzil population are Chamula (48,500), San Cristóbal de las Casas (30,700), and Zinacantan (24,300), in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
The Tzotzil language, like Tzeltal and Ch'ol, is descended from the proto-Ch'ol spoken in the late classic period at sites such as Palenque and Yaxchilan. The word tzotzil originally meant "bat people" or "people of the bat" in the Tzotzil language (from tzotz "bat"). Today the Tzotzil call themselves Sotz'leb, which means "bat people" in the modern language, and are often called Zinacantecos in Spanish (from the Nahuatl tzinacantlan "place of bats").
Houses are built of wattle and daub or lumber, usually with thatched roofs. Traditional men's clothing consists of shirt, short pants, neckerchief, hat, and wool poncho. Traditional women's clothing is a blouse or long overdress (huipil), indigo dyed skirt (enredo), cotton sash, and shawl.
wn.com/Tzotzil_people -
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (28 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914, and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted. He was assassinated near the end of his term of office at the behest of a cabal of army generals resentful at his insistence that his successor be a civilian.
Carranza was born in the town of Cuatro Ciénegas, in the state of Coahuila, in 1859, to an upper middle-class cattle-ranching family. His father, Jesús Carranza, had been a rancher and mule driver until the time of the Reform War (1857–1861), in which he fought against the Indians and on the Liberal side. During the Franco-Mexican War (1861–1867), Jesús Carranza became a colonel and was Benito Juárez's main contact in Coahuila. Jesus Carranza's connection to Juarez caught the attention of Venustiano, who would idolize Juarez.
wn.com/Venustiano_Carranza -
Verónica Castro
Verónica Castro (Spanish pronunciation: [beˈɾonika ˈkastɾo]) (born October 19, 1952) is a Mexican actress, singer and television host. She is the mother of singer Cristian Castro and filmmaker Michelle Sáinz Castro and the sister of actress Beatriz Castro, and telenovela producer José Alberto Castro.
She started her career as a television actress, where she met Manuel Valdez "El Loco", father of her son Cristian Castro, and in fotonovelas and telenovelas while earning her degree in international relations.
Veronica's first brush with fame came appearing nude in Caballero Magazine, a men's magazine published in Mexico City, when she was only 16 years of age. She recorded her first album in 1978, a self-titled album, releasing three hit singles from it; these were "Mi Pequeño Ciclón", "Soy Celosa", and "Yo Quisiera Señor Locutor". The following year, she recorded another hit record with "Aprendí A Llorar" and famed Mexican producer, composer and singer Juan Gabriel penned the hit single, "Adios" especially for her, which became very popular.
wn.com/Verónica_Castro -
Vicente Fox
Vicente Fox Quesada (Spanish pronunciation: [biˈsente ˈfoks keˈsaða]; born July 2, 1942) is a Mexican former politician who served as President of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006 and currently serves as co-President of the Centrist Democrat International, an international organization of Christian democratic political parties.
Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, a historically significant election that made him the first president elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1910 and the first one in 71 years to defeat, with 42 percent of the vote, the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
After serving as president of Mexico for six years, President Fox returned to his home state of Guanajuato, where he resides with his wife and family. Since leaving the presidency, Vicente Fox has been involved in public speaking and the construction of the Vicente Fox Center of Studies, Library and Museum.
Fox is a member of the Club of Madrid, an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.
wn.com/Vicente_Fox -
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (10 August 1782 – 14 February 1831) was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence. He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served briefly as President of Mexico. He was also the grandfather of the Mexican politician and intellectual Vicente Riva Palacio.
wn.com/Vicente_Guerrero -
Vicente Saldivar
Vicente Samuel Saldivar García (born May 3, 1943 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, died July 18, 1985) was a Mexican boxer in the Featherweight division and was a part of the 1960 Mexican Olympic team. He was a former WBC and a two-time WBA Featherweight Champion. Saldivar has frequently been ranked amongst the greatest in the history of that division by many noted boxing historians and critics. Vicente fought in front of the fourth largest crowd ever, 90,000 in Estadio Azteca, and has also regularly been cited as one of the finest left-handed fighters of all time.
Saldivar was born in one of the many poor quarters of Mexico City and is one of seven children. He used to get in fights on the streets and in school, so his father decided to channel the misguided energy into boxing. Like many other Mexicans his father was a big boxing fan, so it was a logical move. Vicente was taught by Jose Moreno, a veteran trainer of a near by Mexico City boxing gym.
As a southpaw, Vicente Saldivar was a dynamic fighter in the ring. He could box or brawl, and often softened opponents with a brutal body attack. Among his greatest assets was his stamina; he scored seven knockouts after the 7th round. Saldivar had an unusually slow heart and pulse rate, which he claimed was the secret of the phenomenal pace he was able to maintain in the ring.
wn.com/Vicente_Saldivar -
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (22 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican military officer and president of Mexico. Huerta's supporters were known as Huertistas during the Mexican Revolution. Huerta is still vilified by modern-day Mexicans, who generally refer to him as El Chacal ("The Jackal") or El Usurpador ("The Usurper").
Victoriano Huerta was born in the settlement of Agua Gorda within the municipality of Colotlán, Jalisco, son of Jesús Huerta and María Lázara del Refugio Márquez. He identified himself as indigenous, and historians have claimed that his father was ethnically Huichol. He learned to read and write early on and in 1869, he was recruited by General Donato Guerra to serve as his personal secretary. In that role, he distinguished himself; with the aid of General Guerra and President Benito Juárez, he gained admission to the Mexican National Military Academy (Heroico Colegio Militar) at Chapultepec in Mexico City in 1872.
Upon graduating from the military academy in 1877, he was employed by the Corps of Engineers to perform topographic studies in the states of Puebla and Veracruz, where he met Emilia Águila Moya, his future wife. He married Emilia Águila on 21 November 1880 in Mexico City. Together they had eleven children. The names of his children surviving him in 1916 were Jorge, Maria Elisa, Victor, Luz, Elena, Dagoberto, Eva and Celia.
wn.com/Victoriano_Huerta -
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ленин; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɪlʲˈjitɕ ˈlʲenʲɪn] ( listen); 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, intellectual and politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years (1917–1924), as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic system.
As a politician, Lenin was a persuasive and charismatic orator. As an intellectual his extensive theoretic and philosophical developments of Marxism produced Marxism–Leninism, a pragmatic Russian application of Marxism that emphasized the critical role played by a committed and disciplined political vanguard in the revolutionary process, while defending the possibility of a socialist revolution in less advanced capitalist countries through an alliance of the proletarians with the rural peasantry.
Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ульянов) on 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 in the town of Simbirsk in the Russian Empire. Simbirsk, a rural town on the River Volga nearly 1,500 miles from the capital Saint Petersburg, would be renamed upon Ulyanov's death fifty-four years later as "Ulyanovsk" in his honour. That same year, Saint Petersburg itself would be renamed Leningrad after Ulyanov's better-known cadre name.
wn.com/Vladimir_Lenin -
Álvaro Obregón
General Álvaro Obregón Salido (19 February 1880 – 17 July 1928) was the President of Mexico from 1920 to 1924. He was assassinated in 1928, shortly after winning election to another presidential term.
A successful Sonoran chickpea farmer and municipal president of Huatabampo, Obregón first entered military service in 1912 as a supporter of the regime of Francisco I. Madero against a rebellion in Chihuahua led by Pascual Orozco. Following La decena trágica in 1913, when Madero was assasinated, Obregón offered his military services to the Sonoran government to the regime of Victoriano Huerta, Madero's murderer. He supported Sonora's decision to follow Venustiano Carranza as leader of a revolution against the Huerta regime, and Carranza appointed Obregón commander-in-chief of the revolutionary forces in northwestern Mexico. Following tensions with the caudillo Pancho Villa, Carranza ordered Obregón to fight against troops loyal to both Villa and Emiliano Zapata, both former military allies of Carranza.
wn.com/Álvaro_Obregón
Send this Playlist by SMS
Email this Page
Burning off Mexico's obesity epidemic
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:34
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
Three decades ago, Mexico had practically no problem with obesity. Now, two thirds of its adult population is overweight or obese. One of the factors in this alarming rise is changing eating habits. Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports from Mexico City.
http://wn.com/Burning_off_Mexico's_obesity_epidemic
Three decades ago, Mexico had practically no problem with obesity. Now, two thirds of its adult population is overweight or obese. One of the factors in this alarming rise is changing eating habits. Al Jazeera's Rachel Levin reports from Mexico City.
Carnival Cruise Ship Adrift Off Mexico Coast
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:58
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
Tug boats are en route to assist more than 4200 passengers and crew after a cruise ship is disabled by an engine room fire.Passengers aboard a cruise vessel have been stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement. The Carnival Triumph has been floating aimlessly about 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula since a fire erupted in the aft engine room on Sunday, knocking out the ship's propulsion system. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished. The ship has been operating on backup generator power since, the statement said. Two tugboats were en route to tow the disabled vessel to Mexico. The ship, which left Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and was scheduled to return there Monday, will instead be towed to Progreso, Mexico, and the 3143 passengers on board will fly back to the United States. There are also 1086 crew members aboard the ship. They are to arrive in Mexico on Wednesday. Another Carnival cruise, the Elation, passed the stranded vessel on Sunday, supplying Triumph passengers with dinner and extra supplies. Another Carnival cruise, the Legend, is scheduled to do the same later Monday, the statement said. Family members waiting for relatives to arrive home were informed by Carnival about the situation. Some, like Melinda Ramos, said her father was laughing when he briefly called to update her on the situation. "He might be completely joking, but he said they're sleeping in tents outside," the 19-year-old daughter of Mary and Matt ...
http://wn.com/Carnival_Cruise_Ship_Adrift_Off_Mexico_Coast
Tug boats are en route to assist more than 4200 passengers and crew after a cruise ship is disabled by an engine room fire.Passengers aboard a cruise vessel have been stranded in the Gulf of Mexico, Carnival Cruise Lines said in a statement. The Carnival Triumph has been floating aimlessly about 150 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula since a fire erupted in the aft engine room on Sunday, knocking out the ship's propulsion system. No one was injured and the fire was extinguished. The ship has been operating on backup generator power since, the statement said. Two tugboats were en route to tow the disabled vessel to Mexico. The ship, which left Galveston, Texas, on Thursday and was scheduled to return there Monday, will instead be towed to Progreso, Mexico, and the 3143 passengers on board will fly back to the United States. There are also 1086 crew members aboard the ship. They are to arrive in Mexico on Wednesday. Another Carnival cruise, the Elation, passed the stranded vessel on Sunday, supplying Triumph passengers with dinner and extra supplies. Another Carnival cruise, the Legend, is scheduled to do the same later Monday, the statement said. Family members waiting for relatives to arrive home were informed by Carnival about the situation. Some, like Melinda Ramos, said her father was laughing when he briefly called to update her on the situation. "He might be completely joking, but he said they're sleeping in tents outside," the 19-year-old daughter of Mary and Matt ...
- published: 11 Feb 2013
- views: 100
- author: allbitsofegg
MEXICO vs BRASIL -- Final -- Agosto 11, 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:46
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Mi Blog teleesp3ctador.blogspot.mx
http://wn.com/MEXICO_vs_BRASIL_-_Final_-_Agosto_11,_2012
Featured Documentaries - Risking it all - Across Mexico: Chasing an impossible dream
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:00
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Latin American migrants risk life and limb to reach the US border in search of the American dream.
http://wn.com/Featured_Documentaries_Risking_it_all_Across_Mexico_Chasing_an_impossible_dream
Latin American migrants risk life and limb to reach the US border in search of the American dream.
- published: 07 Jun 2011
- views: 191706
- author: AlJazeeraEnglish
Presos de Mexico claman al mundo "JUSTICIA"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:42
- Updated: 22 Jan 2013
En este vídeo setenta internos evidenciamos la corrupción que reina en el sistema penitenciario del Distrito Federal, hoy no importa nuestra vida o integridad, lo que importa es que en algún lugar del mundo debe haber alguien dispuesto a hacer Justicia, por que la "JUSTICIA ENGRANDECE LAS NACIONES" Quiero pedir que hagamos conciencia y se den cuenta que las cárceles de cada entidad, es el termómetro de la corrupción e ignorancia en que vive esa entidad. Por lo que hoy no nos intimida el temor, si no que mas bien, es el amor por nuestras generaciones, para que el día de mañana nuestros hijos puedan andar libremente en los parques sin temor, hagamos conciencia o acaso usted cree o mas bien se atrevería a apagar fuego con mas fuego, entonces imagine si los presos lejos de ser reinsertados se les trata como animales, cuando salen tienen sed de venganza, y son mas violentos, recuerde usted que la violencia genera mas violencia, así que por favor no olviden que también somos humanos y nuestra pregunta es: podrá acaso reivindicar a un infractor de la ley, alguien que la infringe a causa de la corrupción en que se desenvuelve? Por que la contestación no puede ser que estamos en México mágico o si o esta otra respuesta que dicen la corrupción es parte del sistema en México. Por que una acción llena de Fe encaminada a la justicia como producto del amor, puede cambiar a esta gran nación o al mundo entero.
http://wn.com/Presos_de_Mexico_claman_al_mundo_JUSTICIA
En este vídeo setenta internos evidenciamos la corrupción que reina en el sistema penitenciario del Distrito Federal, hoy no importa nuestra vida o integridad, lo que importa es que en algún lugar del mundo debe haber alguien dispuesto a hacer Justicia, por que la "JUSTICIA ENGRANDECE LAS NACIONES" Quiero pedir que hagamos conciencia y se den cuenta que las cárceles de cada entidad, es el termómetro de la corrupción e ignorancia en que vive esa entidad. Por lo que hoy no nos intimida el temor, si no que mas bien, es el amor por nuestras generaciones, para que el día de mañana nuestros hijos puedan andar libremente en los parques sin temor, hagamos conciencia o acaso usted cree o mas bien se atrevería a apagar fuego con mas fuego, entonces imagine si los presos lejos de ser reinsertados se les trata como animales, cuando salen tienen sed de venganza, y son mas violentos, recuerde usted que la violencia genera mas violencia, así que por favor no olviden que también somos humanos y nuestra pregunta es: podrá acaso reivindicar a un infractor de la ley, alguien que la infringe a causa de la corrupción en que se desenvuelve? Por que la contestación no puede ser que estamos en México mágico o si o esta otra respuesta que dicen la corrupción es parte del sistema en México. Por que una acción llena de Fe encaminada a la justicia como producto del amor, puede cambiar a esta gran nación o al mundo entero.
- published: 15 Nov 2012
- views: 108701
- author: Roberto Navarro Acosta
Once Upon A Time In Mexico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 101:43
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
The guitar-playing desperado El Mariachi is recruited by a corrupt CIA agent to foil an assassination plot. 2003 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://wn.com/Once_Upon_A_Time_In_Mexico
The guitar-playing desperado El Mariachi is recruited by a corrupt CIA agent to foil an assassination plot. 2003 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
- published: 10 Nov 2011
- author: CrackleUK
Mexico Derrota a Republica Dominicana 4-3 - Campeones serie del caribe hermosillo 2013
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:10
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
Vea Todo lo que paso en el Ultimo Juego Partido entre los Leones del Escogido de Republica Dominicana y los Yaquis de Obregon De Mexico...YAQUIS DE OBREGON MEXICO GANAN GANADORES CAMPEONES SERIE DEL CARIBE 2013 Juego final 7 Febrero 2013 hasta el 8 feb 2013 El juego mas largo de las Historia de la serie del caribe, Hermosillo 2013 mexico 2/8/2013 Un HR de Douglas Clark en la entrada 18 le dio el campeonato de la Serie del Caribe a los Yaquis de México 3-2 ante Leones de RD. HERMOSILLO, México -- El norteamericano Douglas Clark bateó cuadrangular en la entrada 18, guiando a los Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón de México a un dramático triunfo 4-3 sobre los Leones del Escogido de República Dominicana, la madrugada del viernes, en la gran final de la Serie del Caribe Hermosillo 2013 Vea Todo lo que paso en Ultimo Juego Partido entre los Leones del Escogido de Republica Dominicana y los Yaquis de Obregon De Mexico...Juego final El juego mas largo de las Historia de la serie del caribe, Hermosillo 2013 mexico 2/8/2013 Un HR de Douglas Clark en la entrada 18 le dio el campeonato de la Serie del Caribe a los Yaquis de México 3-2 ante Leones de RD. HERMOSILLO, México -- El norteamericano Douglas Clark bateó cuadrangular en la entrada 18, guiando a los Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón de México a un dramático triunfo 4-3 sobre los Leones del Escogido de República Dominicana, la madrugada del viernes, en la gran final de la Serie del Caribe Hermosillo 2013 Dramatico juego de baseball - Dramatic ...
http://wn.com/Mexico_Derrota_a_Republica_Dominicana_4-3_Campeones_serie_del_caribe_hermosillo_2013
Vea Todo lo que paso en el Ultimo Juego Partido entre los Leones del Escogido de Republica Dominicana y los Yaquis de Obregon De Mexico...YAQUIS DE OBREGON MEXICO GANAN GANADORES CAMPEONES SERIE DEL CARIBE 2013 Juego final 7 Febrero 2013 hasta el 8 feb 2013 El juego mas largo de las Historia de la serie del caribe, Hermosillo 2013 mexico 2/8/2013 Un HR de Douglas Clark en la entrada 18 le dio el campeonato de la Serie del Caribe a los Yaquis de México 3-2 ante Leones de RD. HERMOSILLO, México -- El norteamericano Douglas Clark bateó cuadrangular en la entrada 18, guiando a los Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón de México a un dramático triunfo 4-3 sobre los Leones del Escogido de República Dominicana, la madrugada del viernes, en la gran final de la Serie del Caribe Hermosillo 2013 Vea Todo lo que paso en Ultimo Juego Partido entre los Leones del Escogido de Republica Dominicana y los Yaquis de Obregon De Mexico...Juego final El juego mas largo de las Historia de la serie del caribe, Hermosillo 2013 mexico 2/8/2013 Un HR de Douglas Clark en la entrada 18 le dio el campeonato de la Serie del Caribe a los Yaquis de México 3-2 ante Leones de RD. HERMOSILLO, México -- El norteamericano Douglas Clark bateó cuadrangular en la entrada 18, guiando a los Yaquis de Ciudad Obregón de México a un dramático triunfo 4-3 sobre los Leones del Escogido de República Dominicana, la madrugada del viernes, en la gran final de la Serie del Caribe Hermosillo 2013 Dramatico juego de baseball - Dramatic ...
- published: 08 Feb 2013
- views: 54438
- author: Latinusport
euronews cinema - "Hecho en México", un documental para redescubrir la cultura mexicana
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:29
- Updated: 09 Jan 2013
es.euronews.com Mostrar la riqueza y la diversidad de la cultura de este país. Este es el objetivo del documental "Hecho en México" del británico Duncan Bridgeman. Una cultura eclipsada en los últimos años por la violencia, el tráfico de drogas y la corrupción. SÃguenos: En YouTube: bit.ly En Facebook: www.facebook.com En Twitter: twitter.com
http://wn.com/euronews_cinema_Hecho_en_México,_un_documental_para_redescubrir_la_cultura_mexicana
es.euronews.com Mostrar la riqueza y la diversidad de la cultura de este país. Este es el objetivo del documental "Hecho en México" del británico Duncan Bridgeman. Una cultura eclipsada en los últimos años por la violencia, el tráfico de drogas y la corrupción. SÃguenos: En YouTube: bit.ly En Facebook: www.facebook.com En Twitter: twitter.com
- published: 08 Jan 2013
- views: 764
- author: euronewses
VORTICE DE ENERGIA SOBRE MÉXICO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:11
- Updated: 30 Jan 2013
SUSCRIBETE: goo.gl BLOG: www.latinonewstv.com Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com "Audio file(s) provided by www.audiomicro.com"
http://wn.com/VORTICE_DE_ENERGIA_SOBRE_MÉXICO
SUSCRIBETE: goo.gl BLOG: www.latinonewstv.com Facebook www.facebook.com Twitter: twitter.com "Audio file(s) provided by www.audiomicro.com"
- published: 06 Nov 2012
- views: 15629
- author: larutaverde
Piña Express - Viva México
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:09
- Updated: 31 Jan 2013
Hola! Yo soy Piña! Aquí te voy a comentar un par de cosas que no entiendo del grito. Espero que te guste y me ayudes pasándo la voz. Suscríbete también a CHOTGUN RECORDS: youtube.com Redes sociales: Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: facebook.com www.CHOTGUN.com
http://wn.com/Piña_Express_Viva_México
Hola! Yo soy Piña! Aquí te voy a comentar un par de cosas que no entiendo del grito. Espero que te guste y me ayudes pasándo la voz. Suscríbete también a CHOTGUN RECORDS: youtube.com Redes sociales: Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: facebook.com www.CHOTGUN.com
- published: 19 Sep 2012
- views: 1786
- author: chotgunmx
The incredible moment a humpback whale tips up a motor boat
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:27
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
A woman vacationing on Mexico's Sea of Cortez shows the shocking moment a humpback whale breached onto a fishing boat. Gillian Panasewicz, who is from Arizona, captured a series of stunning pictures showing the massive mammal coming up for air right as a boat was overhead. Thankfully, neither the whale nor those on the boat were injured. Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Panasewicz was vacationing in the country and captured the whale breaching from a nearby vessel. She captured several other stunning images, one of the whale nearly capsizing a small Mexican fishing boat. Humpbacks are among the most easily recognised whales because of their long flippers. They get their name from the hump under the dorsal fin, which is particularly noticeable when the mammal arches its back to dive. The humpback can reach a maximum length of 15-18 meters and weigh up to 40 tons. During the peak of the whaling industry's activities in the 1960s and 70s, the numbers of humpbacks fell dramatically, and although they are now protected, they are still considered a vulnerable species by marine environmentalists.
http://wn.com/The_incredible_moment_a_humpback_whale_tips_up_a_motor_boat
A woman vacationing on Mexico's Sea of Cortez shows the shocking moment a humpback whale breached onto a fishing boat. Gillian Panasewicz, who is from Arizona, captured a series of stunning pictures showing the massive mammal coming up for air right as a boat was overhead. Thankfully, neither the whale nor those on the boat were injured. Canada's Globe and Mail reports that Panasewicz was vacationing in the country and captured the whale breaching from a nearby vessel. She captured several other stunning images, one of the whale nearly capsizing a small Mexican fishing boat. Humpbacks are among the most easily recognised whales because of their long flippers. They get their name from the hump under the dorsal fin, which is particularly noticeable when the mammal arches its back to dive. The humpback can reach a maximum length of 15-18 meters and weigh up to 40 tons. During the peak of the whaling industry's activities in the 1960s and 70s, the numbers of humpbacks fell dramatically, and although they are now protected, they are still considered a vulnerable species by marine environmentalists.
- published: 06 Feb 2013
- views: 484753
- author: zineb kenza
WRC 2: The Game Play/Walkthrough - Rookie Championship: México
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:10
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
[PART: Rookie Championship] [STAGE: Rally Guanajuato México]
http://wn.com/WRC_2_The_Game_Play_Walkthrough_Rookie_Championship_México
[PART: Rookie Championship] [STAGE: Rally Guanajuato México]
- published: 30 Sep 2012
- views: 309
- author: MLZGameplays
![Oro: El Día Que Todo Cambió [Documental Selección Olímpica]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130212045403im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PdV__wsvjP8/default.jpg "Oro: El Día Que Todo Cambió [Documental Selección Olímpica]")
Oro: El Día Que Todo Cambió [Documental Selección Olímpica]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 47:01
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
Oro: El Día Que Todo Cambió. México en Londres ORO, un documental sobre el triunfo de la selección mexicana de futbol en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012 ★ www.facebook.com ★
http://wn.com/Oro_El_Día_Que_Todo_Cambió_Documental_Selección_Olímpica_
Oro: El Día Que Todo Cambió. México en Londres ORO, un documental sobre el triunfo de la selección mexicana de futbol en los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012 ★ www.facebook.com ★
- published: 12 Jan 2013
- views: 659207
- author: HistoriaAzul
EDWARD MAYA presents Violet Light - LOVE STORY (Tribute to Mexico | New song 2012)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:12
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
www.facebook.com Edward Maya present Violet Light - Love Story Performed by - Sonia Devi Tribute To Mexico (Estrellas Del Bicentenario ,Chihuahua,Tamaulipas,Oaxaca,Veracruz,Quintana,Chiapas,Sonora.Coahuila )
http://wn.com/EDWARD_MAYA_presents_Violet_Light_LOVE_STORY_Tribute_to_Mexico_|_New_song_2012
www.facebook.com Edward Maya present Violet Light - Love Story Performed by - Sonia Devi Tribute To Mexico (Estrellas Del Bicentenario ,Chihuahua,Tamaulipas,Oaxaca,Veracruz,Quintana,Chiapas,Sonora.Coahuila )
- published: 09 Feb 2012
- views: 27393765
- author: VioletLightMusic
Piña Express - Hecho en México
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:51
- Updated: 10 Feb 2013
Hola! Yo soy Piña, y en este video tevoy a explicar por qué vale la pena conocer y comprar productos hechos en México. Espero te guste y me ayudes pasando la voz. Redes sociales: Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: facebook.com Gmail: chotgunmx@gmail.com www.CHOTGUN.com
http://wn.com/Piña_Express_Hecho_en_México
Hola! Yo soy Piña, y en este video tevoy a explicar por qué vale la pena conocer y comprar productos hechos en México. Espero te guste y me ayudes pasando la voz. Redes sociales: Twitter: twitter.com Facebook: facebook.com Gmail: chotgunmx@gmail.com www.CHOTGUN.com
- published: 24 May 2012
- views: 4152
- author: chotgunmx
Callejeros Viajeros - Ciudad de México Distrito Federal - Tiene Un Precio 1/4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:33
- Updated: 01 Sep 2012
Ciudad Capital Estados Unidos Mexicanos
http://wn.com/Callejeros_Viajeros_Ciudad_de_México_Distrito_Federal_Tiene_Un_Precio_1_4
Halo Reach TOP 10 México - | V3 | Mejores Muertes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:54
- Updated: 03 Feb 2013
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Halo_Reach_TOP_10_México_|_V3_|_Mejores_Muertes
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
- published: 23 Feb 2012
- views: 64534
- author: LeviathanerCom
MEXICAN ELECTIONS: Mexican votes "for sale"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:56
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
By Laurence CUVILLIER FRANCE 24 correspondent in Mexico City SEE ARTICLE: "Irregularities cast doubt over Mexican poll" f24.my REPORTS - Visual report live from the scene of events, between 3 seconds and two minutes long. 4 news reports daily broadcast from 6.15 am. FRANCE 24 take you on location to give you an in-depth look on current affairs. More FRANCE24 reports: www.france24.com FRANCE 24 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 24/7 www.france24.com
http://wn.com/MEXICAN_ELECTIONS_Mexican_votes_for_sale
By Laurence CUVILLIER FRANCE 24 correspondent in Mexico City SEE ARTICLE: "Irregularities cast doubt over Mexican poll" f24.my REPORTS - Visual report live from the scene of events, between 3 seconds and two minutes long. 4 news reports daily broadcast from 6.15 am. FRANCE 24 take you on location to give you an in-depth look on current affairs. More FRANCE24 reports: www.france24.com FRANCE 24 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 24/7 www.france24.com
- published: 27 Jun 2012
- views: 98454
- author: france24english
Fascination Mexico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 51:31
- Updated: 10 Feb 2013
Mexico, land of the Maya and Aztec, temples and beaches and with a population of twenty-six million the bubbling metropolis of Mexico City is a maze of streets, flat roofs, skyscrapers and parks. Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Aztecs, lies in the centre of the city, in the large main square, Zocalo. The magnificent Catedral Metropolitana with its massive dimensions and fine stone masonry dominates the square, with equal prominence being given to the Palacinio Nacional, governmental seat of the Mexican President. In 1519, when the Spanish conquerors reached Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec kingdom, they discovered a lagoon paradise with floating gardens, Xochimilco, a labyrinth of lakes and canals, which today can be explored by boat. Known as the Pearl Of The Pacific, Acapulco is a world famous holiday resort of the rich and famous where luxury liners dock each day and endless golden sands beck on a swim under the Caribbean sun. Each evening, the famous cliff jumpers of Acapulco congregate when, from a height of 42 metres, they jump fearlessly from the top of the La Quebrada Cliff into the narrow bay below. In the legendary ruins of Palenque, numerous monuments of the Maya culture can be found such as a palace, and several pyramids and temples. From the air, there is a unique view of the lush growth of the impenetrable forests around Palenque, and of Mexico's most beautiful waterfalls of Agua Azul. Chichen Itza is thought to have been built by the Mayas around 450 ...
http://wn.com/Fascination_Mexico
Mexico, land of the Maya and Aztec, temples and beaches and with a population of twenty-six million the bubbling metropolis of Mexico City is a maze of streets, flat roofs, skyscrapers and parks. Templo Mayor, the main temple of the Aztecs, lies in the centre of the city, in the large main square, Zocalo. The magnificent Catedral Metropolitana with its massive dimensions and fine stone masonry dominates the square, with equal prominence being given to the Palacinio Nacional, governmental seat of the Mexican President. In 1519, when the Spanish conquerors reached Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec kingdom, they discovered a lagoon paradise with floating gardens, Xochimilco, a labyrinth of lakes and canals, which today can be explored by boat. Known as the Pearl Of The Pacific, Acapulco is a world famous holiday resort of the rich and famous where luxury liners dock each day and endless golden sands beck on a swim under the Caribbean sun. Each evening, the famous cliff jumpers of Acapulco congregate when, from a height of 42 metres, they jump fearlessly from the top of the La Quebrada Cliff into the narrow bay below. In the legendary ruins of Palenque, numerous monuments of the Maya culture can be found such as a palace, and several pyramids and temples. From the air, there is a unique view of the lush growth of the impenetrable forests around Palenque, and of Mexico's most beautiful waterfalls of Agua Azul. Chichen Itza is thought to have been built by the Mayas around 450 ...
- published: 13 Aug 2012
- views: 35307
- author: sjentertainmenttv
Halo Reach TOP 10 México - | V4 | Mejores Muertes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:25
- Updated: 09 Feb 2013
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Halo_Reach_TOP_10_México_|_V4_|_Mejores_Muertes
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
- published: 30 Mar 2012
- views: 62391
- author: LeviathanerCom
![Francisco Javier 'Maza' Rodríguez le para el dedo a la afición - México vs Jamaica 0-0 [06/02/13]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130212045403im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3XggnUpnKGM/default.jpg "Francisco Javier 'Maza' Rodríguez le para el dedo a la afición - México vs Jamaica 0-0 [06/02/13]")
Francisco Javier 'Maza' Rodríguez le para el dedo a la afición - México vs Jamaica 0-0 [06/02/13]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:38
- Updated: 12 Feb 2013
tuligamx.com - http - twitter.com Francisco Javier 'Maza' Rodríguez le para el dedo medio a la afición - México vs Jamaica 0-0 Hexagonal Final Eliminatorias CONCACAF para el Mundial de Brasil 2014 [06/02/13]
http://wn.com/Francisco_Javier_'Maza'_Rodríguez_le_para_el_dedo_a_la_afición_México_vs_Jamaica_0-0_06_02_13_
tuligamx.com - http - twitter.com Francisco Javier 'Maza' Rodríguez le para el dedo medio a la afición - México vs Jamaica 0-0 Hexagonal Final Eliminatorias CONCACAF para el Mundial de Brasil 2014 [06/02/13]
- published: 07 Feb 2013
- views: 591627
- author: FutbisionMexico
Halo Reach TOP 10 México - | V5 | Mejores Muertes
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:01
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Halo_Reach_TOP_10_México_|_V5_|_Mejores_Muertes
Comienza el TOP 10 de Leviathaner.com, lo mejor de lo mejor en jugadas Mexicanas . Envíanos tus videos para poder participar en este rating con Clase... Visita: Leviathaner.com Más videos: www.youtube.com
- published: 17 May 2012
- views: 37663
- author: LeviathanerCom
euronews cinema - Made in Mexico
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:29
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
fr.euronews.com Avertissement : dans ce documentaire sur la musique mexicaine, il n'y a pas de mariachis. Vous savez, ces groupes de guitaristes qui portent des ponchos et des sombreros. "Hecho en México" casse les clichés. Et présente toute la diversité de la culture mexicaine. "Ceux qui iront voir le film auront une meilleure idée de ce qu'est vraiment le Mexique et les Mexicains parce que ce pays, ce n'est pas un bloc, ce n'est pas une seule chose", se félicite l'acteur Sergio Arau. "Si vous comparez les cultures du Chiapas, du Chihuahua, de Sonora par exemple, ça n'a rien à voir. Ces endroits ont des histoires très différentes. Physiquement aussi les gens sont très différents". Musique traditionnelle, électro, rock, techno... Le Mexique, c'est un mix. "Ce film, c'est pour nous une super opportunité pour dire au monde ce qui se passe au Mexique : notre musique, notre culture, notre manière de penser, de ressentir les choses", souligne le chanteur Ulises Lozano. "Ca permet de dire au monde que ce pays, ce n'est pas seulement l'insécurité, la pauvreté, mais aussi un pays riche, très riche de sa culture". C'est un Anglais, Duncan Bridgeman, qui a réalisé ce documentaire. Un Anglais qui ne parle pas espagnol et qui craignait donc de ne pas être crédible. "Au départ, je pensais faire un film pour les non-Mexicains", explique Duncan Bridgeman. "Je me disais "Comment faire un film pour les Mexicains alors que je ne suis pas Mexicain et que je ne parle pas espgnol ?". "Mais j ...
http://wn.com/euronews_cinema_Made_in_Mexico
fr.euronews.com Avertissement : dans ce documentaire sur la musique mexicaine, il n'y a pas de mariachis. Vous savez, ces groupes de guitaristes qui portent des ponchos et des sombreros. "Hecho en México" casse les clichés. Et présente toute la diversité de la culture mexicaine. "Ceux qui iront voir le film auront une meilleure idée de ce qu'est vraiment le Mexique et les Mexicains parce que ce pays, ce n'est pas un bloc, ce n'est pas une seule chose", se félicite l'acteur Sergio Arau. "Si vous comparez les cultures du Chiapas, du Chihuahua, de Sonora par exemple, ça n'a rien à voir. Ces endroits ont des histoires très différentes. Physiquement aussi les gens sont très différents". Musique traditionnelle, électro, rock, techno... Le Mexique, c'est un mix. "Ce film, c'est pour nous une super opportunité pour dire au monde ce qui se passe au Mexique : notre musique, notre culture, notre manière de penser, de ressentir les choses", souligne le chanteur Ulises Lozano. "Ca permet de dire au monde que ce pays, ce n'est pas seulement l'insécurité, la pauvreté, mais aussi un pays riche, très riche de sa culture". C'est un Anglais, Duncan Bridgeman, qui a réalisé ce documentaire. Un Anglais qui ne parle pas espagnol et qui craignait donc de ne pas être crédible. "Au départ, je pensais faire un film pour les non-Mexicains", explique Duncan Bridgeman. "Je me disais "Comment faire un film pour les Mexicains alors que je ne suis pas Mexicain et que je ne parle pas espgnol ?". "Mais j ...
- published: 08 Jan 2013
- views: 267
- author: euronewsfr
photo: AP / Los Angeles Police Department
11 Feb 2013
A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy searches a home for Christopher Dorner, a former police officer, on Sunday in Big Bear Lake, Calif. (Jae C. Hong, The Associated Press) ... "We will not tolerate anyone undermining the security of the community," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a news conference. "We will not tolerate this reign of terror." ... "He has targeted those we entrust to protect the public." ... Copyright 2012 The Denver Post ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
photo: AP / L'Osservatore Romano
11 Feb 2013
Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will resign the papacy because of ill health, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. The decision will send shockwaves through the global Catholic community. It is extremely rare for a Pope to give up the papacy and is unheard of in modern times. The vast majority serve until they die, even when struck down by ill health....(size: 1.9Kb)
photo: AP / Kevin Frayer
11 Feb 2013
ALLAHABAD, India (Reuters) - A stampede at a railway station in northern India killed at least 36 Hindu pilgrims on Sunday, the busiest day of the world's largest religious festival at which some 30 million had gathered to wash away their sins in the sacred Ganges river. Twenty-seven of the dead were women, mostly elderly and poor. An eight-year-old girl was also crushed to death ... Daily Press Eyewitness ... M ... ....(size: 5.2Kb)
photo: AP / Ugarit News via AP video
09 Feb 2013
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The video has gone viral in recent days. Syrian government soldiers, in camouflage gear, carrying rocket-propelled grenades and brandishing rifles, mugging for the camera while dancing in a circle to Usher’s hit song “Yeah!”. Enlarge This Image. Ugarit News, via Associated Press. In a video posted online, Syrian soldiers chant and dance to Usher’s hit song “Yeah!”. Related. U.N ... Twitter List ... Raw ... ....(size: 8.2Kb)
photo: AP / Armando Franca
11 Feb 2013
Nigeria won its first Africa Cup of Nations title since 1994, beating Burkina Faso, 1-0, on Sunday Mba’s left-footed volley in the 40th minute. Victor Moses, who recovered from an ankle injury just in time to play, was voted the best player of the match. ¶ Manchester United opened a season-high 12-point lead in the Premier League, beating Everton, 2-0, at Old Trafford on goals by Ryan Giggs and Robin van Persie ... ... N.Y ... ....(size: 5.7Kb)
U~T San Diego
12 Feb 2013
La Habana, 11 feb (EFE) ... Los organizadores esperan una participación superior a los quince países, entre ellos potencias de primer nivel como China, Rusia y México, además de Australia, Canadá, Suecia y Ucrania, entre otros concursantes ... Los cubanos realizarán a partir de este martes los entrenamientos previos a las pruebas ... Comentarios () ... Videos. Secciones ... An MLIM Company ... ....(size: 1.9Kb)
U~T San Diego
12 Feb 2013
Montevideo, 11 feb (EFE) ... Alonso es una de las flamantes incorporaciones de este año en el club tricolor junto con el defensa central colombiano Efraín Cortés, que también viene de México, en su caso del Querétaro, y el centrocampista Juan Albín, repatriado desde el Espanyol de Barcelona ... Alineaciones probables.. Nacional ... Entrenador. Gustavo Díaz. Barcelona ... Entrenador. Gustavo Costas. Árbitros ... Estadio ... Hora. 19.15 hora local (22.15 GMT) ... ....(size: 4.1Kb)
U~T San Diego
11 Feb 2013
Nueva York, 10 feb (EFE). — La convulsionada década de los 60, caracterizada por movimientos de protesta, inspiró la colección otoñoinvierno para hombres que presentó hoy el hondureño Carlos Campos en el marco de la Semana de la Moda de Nueva York ... "Este movimiento de protestas comenzó en Francia, y de allí a Alemania, pasó por Argentina, México u Honduras ... "Todo lo que leo y veo me llena de inspiración ... Comentarios () ... Videos ... ....(size: 4.0Kb)
U~T San Diego
11 Feb 2013
Los Ángeles, 11 feb (EFE) ... "Estos 'aliens' vienen de otro planeta, llegan a la Tierra, crean todas las cosas que la gente usa a diario y nadie se lo agradece ... "Este país no funciona sin nosotros ... Aún en un horizonte lejano planea la producción "Speedy Gonzales", un proyecto al que sigue vinculado y que no termina de cerrarse para llevar a la gran pantalla al roedor animado más rápido de México ... Por Fernando Mexía. Comentarios () ... ....(size: 4.5Kb)
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
Goal
11 Feb 2013
This article is about the country in North America. For other uses, see Mexico (disambiguation).
| United Mexican States | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||
| Anthem: "Himno Nacional Mexicano" Mexican National Anthem |
||||||
| National seal: Seal of the United Mexican States  |
||||||
.svg) |
||||||
| Capital (and largest city) |
Mexico City 19°03′N 99°22′W / 19.05°N 99.367°W / 19.05; -99.367 |
|||||
| Ethnic groups (2010) | Amerindian (14.86%)[3] | |||||
| Demonym | Mexican | |||||
| Government | Federal presidential constitutional republic[4] |
|||||
| - | President | Felipe Calderón (PAN) | ||||
| - | Secretary of the Interior | Alejandro Poiré | ||||
| - | Supreme Court President | Juan Silva Meza | ||||
| Legislature | Congress | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | Chamber of Deputies | ||||
| Independence | from Spain | |||||
| - | Declared | September 16, 1810 | ||||
| - | Recognized | September 27, 1821 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 1,972,550 km2 (14th) 761,606 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | 2.5 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2010 census | 112,336,538[5] (11th) | ||||
| - | Density | 57/km2 (142nd) 142/sq mi |
||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1,661 trillion[6] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $14,609[6] | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1.154 trillion[6] | ||||
| - | Per capita | $10,153[6] | ||||
| Gini (2008) | 48.3[7] (high) | |||||
| HDI (2011) | 0.770[8] (high) (57th) | |||||
| Currency | Peso (MXN) |
|||||
| Time zone | Official Mexican Timezones (UTC−8 to −6) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | varies (UTC−7 to −5) | ||||
| Drives on the | right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | MX | |||||
| Internet TLD | .mx | |||||
| Calling code | +52 | |||||
Mexico (i/ˈmɛksɨkoʊ/; Spanish: México, IPA: [ˈmexiko] ( listen)),[9] officially the United Mexican States[10] (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States of America; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico.[11] Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi),[2] Mexico is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the thirteenth largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of over 113 million,[12] it is the eleventh most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mexico many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory from its base in México-Tenochtitlan, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony's independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the Mexican-American War and territorial cession to the United States, a civil war, two empires and a domestic dictatorship. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Mexico has one of the world's largest economies, and is considered both a regional power and middle power.[13][14][15][16] In addition, Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD (since 1994), and considered an upper-middle income country by the World Bank.[17] Mexico is considered a newly industrialized country[18][19][20][21] and an emerging power.[22] It has the thirteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, especially the United States.[23][24] Mexico ranks fifth in the world and first in the Americas by number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with 31,[25][26][27] and in 2007 was the tenth most visited country in the world with 21.4 million international arrivals per year.[28]
Contents |
Etymology[link]
Main article: Name of Mexico
After New Spain won independence from Spain, it was decided that the new country would be named after its capital, Mexico City, which was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Aztec capital of México-Tenochtitlan. The name comes from the Nahuatl language, but its meaning is not well known.
Mēxihco was the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica, and surrounding territories which became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence (compare Latium). It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley which became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result, or vice versa.
The suffix -co is the Nahuatl locative, making the word a place name. Beyond that, the etymology is uncertain. It has been suggested that it is derived from Mextli or Mēxihtli, a secret name for the god of war and patron of the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, in which case Mēxihco means "Place where Huitzilopochtli lives".[29] Another hypothesis[30] suggests that Mēxihco derives from a portmanteau of the Nahuatl words for "moon" (mētztli) and navel (xīctli). This meaning ("Place at the Center of the Moon") might then refer to Tenochtitlan's position in the middle of Lake Texcoco. The system of interconnected lakes, of which Texcoco formed the center, had the form of a rabbit, which the Mesoamericans pareidolically associated with the moon. Still another hypothesis suggests that it is derived from Mēctli, the goddess of maguey.[30]
The name of the city-state was transliterated to Spanish as México with the phonetic value of the letter <x> in Medieval Spanish, which represented the voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ]. This sound, as well as the voiced postalveolar fricative [ʒ], represented by a <j>, evolved into a voiceless velar fricative [x] during the 16th century. This led to the use of the variant Méjico in many publications in Spanish, most notably in Spain, whereas in Mexico and most other Spanish–speaking countries México was the preferred spelling. In recent years the Real Academia Española, which regulates the Spanish language, determined that both variants are acceptable in Spanish but that the normative recommended spelling is México.[31] The majority of publications in all Spanish-speaking countries now adhere to the new norm, even though the alternative variant is still occasionally used.[citation needed] In English, the <x> in Mexico represents neither the original nor the current sound, but the consonant cluster [ks].
The official name of the country has changed as the form of government has changed. 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[32]—or the variants Estados Unidos mexicanos[33] and Estados-Unidos Mexicanos,[34] all of which have been translated as "United Mexican States". The term República Mexicana, "Mexican Republic" was used in the 1836 Constitutional Laws.[35]
History[link]
Main article: History of Mexico
Ancient cultures[link]
Archaic period[link]
The earliest human remains in Mexico are chips of stone tools found near campfire remains in the Valley of Mexico and radiocarbon-dated to c. 23,000 years ago.[36] Mexico is the site of the domestication of maize and beans which caused a transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural villages beginning around 7000 BCE.
Classic periods[link]
In the subsequent formative areas maize cultivation and cultural traits such as a complex mythological and religious complex, a vigesimal numeric system, were diffused from the Mexican cultures to the rest of the Mesoamerican culture area.[37] In this period villages began to become socially stratified and develop into chiefdoms, and the development of large ceremonial centers.[38]
Among the earliest complex civilizations in Mexico was the Olmec culture which flourish on the gulf coast from around 1500 BCE. Olmec cultural traits diffused through Mexico into other formative era cultures in Chiapas, Oaxaca and the Valley of Mexico. The formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes.[39] In the subsequent pre-classical period, complex centers began to develop among the Maya with centers at Calakmul and the Zapotec at Monte Albán. During this period the first true Mesoamerican writing systems were developed in the Epi-Olmec and the Zapotec cultures, and the Mesoamerican writing tradition reached its height in the Classic Maya Hieroglyphic script.[40]
In Central Mexico, the height of the classic period saw the ascendancy of Teotihuacan which formed a military and commercial empire whose political influence stretched south into the Maya area and north. At its peak, Teotihuacan, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas, had a population of more than 150,000 people.[41] At the collapse of Teotihuacán around 600 CE, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico such as Xochicalco and Cholula ensued. At this time during 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.
Post-classic period[link]
During the early post-classic 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. Towards the end of the post-Classic period the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mexico.[42] The Aztecs were noted for practicing human sacrifice on a large scale.[43] The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, and over the next centuries Mexican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule.[44]
Conquest[link]
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire began in February 1519 when Hernán Cortés arrived on the coast of Veracruz with ca. 500 conquistadores. Following a strategy of allying with Indigenous city states that were subject to the Aztec empire and supporting them in a rebellion against the Aztecs, Cortés and his men were able to defeat the Aztecs after two years of campaigning on August 13, 1521.
New Spain[link]
In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived at the port in Veracruz, and later moved on to the Aztec capital. On his search for gold and other riches, Cortés decided to invade and conquer the Aztec empire.[45]
The ruler of the Aztec empire upon the arrival of the Spaniards was Moctezuma II, who was later killed; his successor and brother Cuitláhuac took control of the Aztec empire, but was among the first to fall from the smallpox epidemic a short time later.[46] Unintentionally introduced by Spanish conquerors, smallpox ravaged Mesoamerica in the 1520s, killing more than 3 million Aztecs.[47] Other sources, however, mentioned that the death toll of the Aztecs might have reached up to 15 million (out of a population of less than 30 million).[48] Severely weakened, the Aztec empire was easily defeated by Hernán Cortés and his forces on his second return.[49] Smallpox was a devastatingly selective disease—it generally only killed the Aztecs, while the Spaniards were immune to the disease.[50] The deaths caused by smallpox are believe to have triggered a rapid growth of Christianity in Mexico and the Americas. At first, the Aztecs believed the epidemic was a punishment from an angry god, but they later accepted their fate and no longer resisted the Spanish rule.[51] Many of the surviving Aztecs blamed the cause of smallpox to the superiority of the Christian god, which resulted in the acceptance of Catholicism and yielding to the Spanish rule throughout Mexico.[52]
The territory became part of the Spanish Empire under the name of New Spain. Mexico City was systematically rebuilt by Cortés following the Fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. Much of the identity, traditions and architecture of Mexico were created during the colonial period.[53]
Independence[link]
On September 16, 1810, independence from Spain was declared by priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, in the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato.[54] The first insurgent group was formed by Hidalgo, the Spanish viceregal army captain Ignacio Allende, the militia captain Juan Aldama and "La Corregidora" Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. Hidalgo and some of his soldiers were captured and executed by firing squad in Chihuahua, on July 31, 1811. Following his death, the leadership was assumed by priest José María Morelos, who occupied key southern cities.
In 1813 the Congress of Chilpancingo was convened and, on November 6, signed the "Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America". Morelos was captured and executed on December 22, 1815. In subsequent years, the insurgency was near collapse, but in 1820 Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca sent an army under the criollo general Agustín de Iturbide against the troops of Vicente Guerrero. Instead, Iturbide approached Guerrero to join forces, and in 1821 representatives of the Spanish Crown and Iturbide signed the "Treaty of Córdoba" and the "Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire", which recognized the independence of Mexico under the terms of the "Plan of Iguala".
Juárez reforms and territorial losses[link]
Agustín de Iturbide immediately proclaimed himself emperor of the First Mexican Empire. A revolt against him in 1823 established the United Mexican States. In 1824, a Republican Constitution was drafted and Guadalupe Victoria became the first president of the newly born country. The first decades of the post-independence period were marked by economic instability, which led to the Pastry War in 1836, and a constant strife between liberales, supporters of a federal form of government, and conservadores, proposals of a hierarchical form of government.[citation needed]
General Antonio López de Santa Anna, a centralist and two-time dictator, approved the Siete Leyes in 1836, a radical amendment that institutionalized the centralized form of government. When he suspended the 1824 Constitution, civil war spread across the country, and three new governments declared independence: the Republic of Texas, the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of Yucatán.
Texas successfully achieved independence and was annexed by the United States. A border dispute led to the Mexican-American War, which began in 1846 and lasted for two years; the War was settled via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which forced Mexico to give up over half of its land to the U.S., including Alta California, New Mexico, and the disputed parts of Texas. A much smaller transfer of territory in what is today southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico — the Gadsden Purchase — occurred in 1854. The Caste War of Yucatán, the Mayan uprising that began in 1847,[55] was one of the most successful modern Native American revolts.[56] Maya rebels, or Cruzob,[57] maintained relatively independent enclaves until the 1930s.[citation needed]
Dissatisfaction with Santa Anna's return to power led to the liberal "Plan of Ayutla", initiating an era known as La Reforma, after which a new Constitution was drafted in 1857 that established a secular state, federalism as the form of government, and several freedoms. As the conservadores refused to recognize it, the Reform War began in 1858, during which both groups had their own governments. The war ended in 1861 with victory by the Liberals, led by Amerindian President Benito Juárez. In the 1860s Mexico underwent a military occupation by France, which established the Second Mexican Empire under the rule of Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria with support from the Roman Catholic clergy and the conservadores, who later switched sides and joined the liberales. Maximilian surrendered, was tried on June 14 and was executed on June 19, 1867.
Porfiriato[link]
Porfirio Díaz, a republican general during the French intervention, ruled Mexico from 1876 to 1880 and then from 1884 to 1911 in five consecutive reelections, period known as the Porfiriato, characterized by remarkable economic achievements, investments in the arts and sciences, but also of economic inequality and political repression.[citation needed]
Mexican Revolution[link]
A likely electoral fraud that led to Diaz's fifth reelection sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution, initially led by Francisco I. Madero. Díaz resigned in 1911 and Madero was elected president but overthrown and murdered in a coup d'état two years later directed by conservative general Victoriano Huerta. That event re-ignited the civil war, involving figures such as Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata, who formed their own forces. A third force, the constitutional army led by Venustiano Carranza, managed to bring an end to the war, and radically amended the 1857 Constitution to include many of the social premises and demands of the revolutionaries into what was eventually called the 1917 Constitution. It is estimated that the war killed 900,000 of the 1910 population of 15 million.[58][59] Assassinated in 1920, Carranza was succeeded by another revolutionary hero, Álvaro Obregón, who in turn was succeeded by Plutarco Elías Calles. Obregón was reelected in 1928 but assassinated before he could assume power.
PRI rule[link]
In 1929, Calles founded the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), later renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and started a period known as the Maximato, which ended with the election of Lázaro Cárdenas, who implemented many economic and social reforms, and most significantly expropriated the oil industry into Pemex on March 18, 1938, but sparked a diplomatic crisis with the countries whose citizens had lost businesses by Cárdenas' radical measure.
Between 1940 and 1980, Mexico experienced a substantial economic growth that some historians call the "Mexican miracle".[60] Although the economy continued to flourish, social inequality remained a factor of discontent. Moreover, the PRI rule became increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive[61] (see the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre,[62] which claimed the life of around 30–800 protesters).[63]
Electoral reforms and high oil prices followed the administration of Luis Echeverría,[64][65] mismanagement of these revenues led to inflation and exacerbated the 1982 Crisis. That year, oil prices plunged, interest rates soared, and the government defaulted on its debt. President Miguel de la Madrid resorted to currency devaluations which in turn sparked inflation.
In the 1980s the first cracks emerged in PRI's monopolistic position. In Baja California, Ernesto Ruffo Appel was elected as governor. In 1988, electoral fraud prevented leftist candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas from winning the national presidential elections, giving Carlos Salinas de Gortari the Presidency and leading to massive protests in Mexico City.[66]
Salinas embarked on a program of neoliberal reforms which fixed the exchange rate, controlled inflation and culminated with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect on January 1, 1994. The same day, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) started a two-week-long armed rebellion against the federal government, and has continued as a non-violent opposition movement against neoliberalism and globalization.
Democratization[link]
In December 1994, a month after Salinas was succeeded by Ernesto Zedillo, the Mexican economy collapsed, with a rapid rescue packaged authorized by U.S. President Bill Clinton and major macroeconomic reforms started by president Zedillo, the economy rapidly recovered and growth peaked at almost 7% by the end of 1999.[67]
In 2000, after 71 years, the PRI lost a presidential election to Vicente Fox of the opposition National Action Party (PAN). In the 2006 presidential elections, Felipe Calderón from the PAN was declared the winner, with a very narrow margin 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".[68]
Politics[link]
Main article: Politics of Mexico
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, the state governments and the municipal governments. According to the constitution, all constituent states of the federation must have a republican form of government composed of three branches: the executive, represented by a governor and an appointed cabinet, the legislative branch constituted by a unicameral congress and the judiciary, which will include called state Supreme Court of Justice. They also have their own civil and judicial codes.
The bicameral Congress of the Union, composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, makes federal law, declares war, imposes taxes, approves the national budget and international treaties, and ratifies diplomatic appointments.[69] Seats to federal and state legislatures are elected by a system of parallel voting that includes plurality and proportional representation.[70] The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union is conformed by 300 deputies elected by plurality and 200 deputies by proportional representation with closed party lists[71] for which the country is divided into 5 electoral constituencies or circumscriptions.[72] The Senate is conformed by a total of 128 senators: 64 senators, two for each state and two for the Federal District, elected by plurality in pairs; 32 senators assigned to the first minority or first-runner up (one for each state and one for the Federal District), and 32 are assigned by proportional representation with closed party lists for which the country conforms a single electoral constituency.[71]
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 is responsible for executing and enforcing the law, and has the authority of vetoing bills.[73]
The Judiciary branch of government is the Supreme Court of Justice, comprised by eleven judges appointed by the President with Senate approval, who interpret laws and judge cases of federal competency. Other institutions of the judiciary are the Electoral Tribunal, collegiate, unitary and district tribunals, and the Council of the Federal Judiciary.[74]
Three parties have historically been the dominant parties in Mexican politics: the National Action Party: a right-wing conservative party founded in 1939 and belonging to the Christian Democrat Organization of America;[75] the Institutional Revolutionary Party, a center-left party and member of Socialist International[76] 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; the Party of the Democratic Revolution: a left-wing party,[77] founded in 1989 as the successor of the coalition of socialists and liberal parties.
Foreign relations[link]
Main article: Foreign relations of Mexico
The foreign relations of Mexico are directed by the President of Mexico[78] and managed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[79] The principles of 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, non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organizations.[78] Since the 1930s, the Estrada Doctrine has served as a crucial complement to these principles.[80]
Mexico is one of the founding members of several international organizations, most notably the United Nations,[81] the Organization of American States,[82] the Organization of Ibero-American States,[83] the OPANAL[84] and the Rio Group.[85] In 2008, Mexico contributed over 40 million dollars to the United Nations regular budget.[86] In addition, it has been the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since it joined in 1994 though Chile is in the process of gaining full membership.[87][88] Mexico is considered as a regional power[89][90] hence its presence in major economic groups such as the G8+5 and the G-20. In addition, since the 1990s Mexico has sought a reform of the United Nations Security Council and its working methods[91] with the support of Canada, Italy, Pakistan and other nine countries, which form a group informally called the Coffee Club.[92]
After the War of Independence, the relations of Mexico were focused primarily on the United States, its northern neighbor, largest trading partner,[93] and the most powerful actor in hemispheric and world affairs.[94] Mexico supported the Cuban government since its establishment in the early 1960s,[95] the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua during the late 1970s,[96] and leftist revolutionary groups in El Salvador during the 1980s.[97] A greater priority to Latin America and the Caribbean has been given in the administration of President Felipe Calderón.[98]
Military[link]
Main article: Mexican Armed Forces
The Mexican Armed Forces have two branches: the Mexican Army (which includes the Mexican Air Force), and the Mexican Navy. The Mexican Armed Forces maintain significant infrastructure, including facilities for design, research, and testing of weapons, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, defense systems and electronics;[99][100] military industry manufacturing centers for building such systems, and advanced naval dockyards that build heavy military vessels and advanced missile technologies.[101]
In recent years, Mexico has improved its training techniques, military command and information structures and has taken steps to becoming more self-reliant in supplying its military by designing as well as manufacturing its own arms,[102] missiles,[100] aircraft,[103] vehicles, heavy weaponry, electronics,[99] defense systems,[99] armor, heavy military industrial equipment and heavy naval vessels.[104] 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,[99] urban warfare equipment and rapid troop transport.[105]
Mexico has the capabilities to manufacture nuclear weapons, but forwent this possibility with the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1968 and pledged to only use its nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.[106] In 1970 Mexico's national institute for nuclear research successfully refined weapons grade uranium[107][not in citation given] which is used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons but in April 2010, Mexico agreed to turn over its weapons grade uranium to the United States.[108][109]
Historically, Mexico has remained neutral in international conflicts[110] with the exception of World War II. However, in recent years some political parties have proposed an amendment of the Constitution in order 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.[111]
Administrative divisions[link]
Main articles: Political divisions of Mexico and List of Mexican states by population
The United Mexican States are a federation of thirty-one free and sovereign states, which form a union that exercises a degree of jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories.
Each state has its own constitution, congress, and a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting a governor for a six-year term, and representatives to their respective unicameral state congresses for three-year terms.[112]
The Federal District is a special political division that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state, and as such, has more limited local rule than the nation's states.[113]
The states are divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or municipal president (Presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality.[114]
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Mexico
Mexico is located between latitudes 14° and 33°N, and longitudes 86° and 119°W in the southern portion of North America.[citation needed] Almost all of Mexico lies in 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.[115] Geopolitically, however, Mexico is entirely considered part of North America, along with Canada and the United States.[116]
Mexico's total area is 1,972,550 km2 (761,606 sq mi), making it the world's 14th largest country by total area, and includes approximately 6,000 km2 (2,317 sq mi) of islands in the Pacific Ocean (including the remote Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Gulf of California. From its farthest land points, Mexico is a little over 2,000 mi (3,219 km) in length.
On its north, Mexico shares a 3,141 km (1,952 mi) border with the United States. The meandering Río Bravo del Norte (known as the Rio Grande in the United States) defines the border from Ciudad Juárez east to the Gulf of Mexico. A series of natural and artificial markers delineate the United States-Mexican border west from Ciudad Juárez to the Pacific Ocean. On its south, Mexico shares an 871 km (541 mi) border with Guatemala and a 251 km (156 mi) border with Belize.
Mexico is crossed from north to south by two mountain ranges known as Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental, which are the extension of the Rocky Mountains from northern North America. From east to west at the center, the country is crossed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt also known as the Sierra Nevada. A fourth mountain range, the Sierra Madre del Sur, runs from Michoacán to Oaxaca.[117]
As such, the majority of the Mexican central and northern territories are located at high altitudes, and the highest elevations are found at the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt: Pico de Orizaba (5,700 m, 18,701 ft), Popocatepetl (5,462 m, 17,920 ft) and Iztaccihuatl (5,286 m, 17,343 ft) and the Nevado de Toluca (4,577 m, 15,016 ft). Three major urban agglomerations are located in the valleys between these four elevations: Toluca, Greater Mexico City and Puebla.[117]
Climate[link]
Main article: Climate of Mexico
The Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the twenty-fourth parallel experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the twenty-fourth parallel, temperatures are fairly constant year round and vary solely as a function of elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather systems.
Areas south of the twenty-fourth parallel with elevations up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft) (the southern parts of both coastal plains as well as the Yucatán Peninsula), have a yearly median temperature between 24 to 28 °C (75.2 to 82.4 °F). Temperatures here remain high throughout the year, with only a 5 °C (9 °F) difference between winter and summer median temperatures. Both Mexican coasts, except for the south coast of the Bay of Campeche and northern Baja, are also vulnerable to serious hurricanes during the summer and fall. Although low-lying areas north of the twentieth-fourth parallel are hot and humid during the summer, they generally have lower yearly temperature averages (from 20 to 24 °C or 68 to 75.2 °F) because of more moderate conditions during the winter.
Many large cities in Mexico are located in the Valley of Mexico or in adjacent valleys with altitudes generally above 2,000 m (6,562 ft). This gives them a year-round temperate climate with yearly temperature averages (from 16 to 18 °C or 60.8 to 64.4 °F) and cool nighttime temperatures throughout the year.
Many parts of Mexico, particularly the north, have a dry climate with 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 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.
Biodiversity[link]
Mexico is one of the 18 megadiverse countries of the world. With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity.[118] 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.[119] Mexico is also considered the second country in the world in ecosystems and fourth in overall species.[120] Approximately 2,500 species are protected by Mexican legislations.[120]
As of 2002, Mexico had the second fastest rate of deforestation in the world, second only to Brazil.[121] The government has taken another initiative in the late 1990s to expand the people's knowledge, interest and use of the country's esteemed biodiversity, through the Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad.
In Mexico, 170,000 square kilometres (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).[118]
The discovery of the Americas brought to the rest of the world many widely used food crops and edible plants. Some of Mexico's native culinary ingredients include: chocolate, avocado, tomato, maize, vanilla, guava, chayote, epazote, camote, jícama, nopal, zucchini, tejocote, huitlacoche, sapote, mamey sapote, many varieties of beans, and an even greater variety of chiles, such as the habanero and the jalapeño. Most of these names come from indigenous languages like Nahuatl.
Due to its high biodiversity Mexico has also been a frequent site of bioprospecting by international research bodies.[122] The first highly successful instance being the discovery in 1947 of the tuber "Barbasco" (Dioscorea composita) which has a high content of diosgenin, revolutionizing the production of synthetic hormones in the 1950es and 1960es and eventually leading to the invention of combined oral contraceptive pills.[123]
Economy[link]
Main articles: Economy of Mexico and Economic history of Mexico
Mexico has the 13th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity. GDP annual average growth for the period of 1995–2002 was 5.1%.[65] Foreign debt decreased to less than 20% of GDP.[65] 17% of the population lives below Mexico's own poverty line, ranking behind Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and Thailand. The overall poverty rate however is 44.2%, while a full 70% lack one of the 8 economic indicators used to define poverty by the Mexican government.[124] From the late 1990s, the majority of the population has been part of the growing middle class.[125] But from 2004 to 2008 the portion of the population who received less than half of the median income has risen from 17% to 21% and the absolute levels of poverty have risen considerably from 2006 to 2010, with a rise in persons living in extreme or moderate poverty rising from 35 to 46% (52 million persons).[126][127] This is also reflected by the fact that infant mortality in Mexico is three times higher than the average among OECD nations, and the literacy levels are in the median range of OECD nations. The Mexican economy is expected to nearly triple by 2020.[128] According to Goldman Sachs, by 2050 Mexico will have the 5th largest economy in the world.[129]
According to the OECD, Mexico is the country in the world with the second highest degree of economic disparity between the extremely poor and extremely rich, after Chile – although it has been falling over the last decade. The bottom ten percent in the income hierarchy disposes of 1,36% of the country's resources, whereas the upper 10% dispose of almost 36%. OECD also notes that Mexico's budgeted expenses for poverty alleviation and social development is only about a third of the OECD average – both in absolute and relative numbers.[126]
According to a 2008 UN report the average income in a typical urbanized area of Mexico was $26,654, a rate higher than advanced nations like South Korea or Taiwan, while the average income in rural areas just miles away was only $8,403, a rate comparable to developing countries such as Russia or Turkey.[130] Daily minimum wages are set annually by law and determined by zone; $57.46 Mexican pesos ($5.75 US$) in Zona A (Baja California, Federal District, State of Mexico, and large cities), $55.84 Mexican pesos ($5.59 USD) in Zone B (Sonora, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Jalisco), and $54.47 Mexican pesos ($5.45 USD) in Zone C (all other states)[131]
In 2006, trade with the United States and Canada accounted for almost 50% of its exports and 45% of its imports.[2] During the first three quarters of 2010, the United States had a $46.0 billion trade deficit with Mexico.[132] In August 2010 Mexico surpassed France to became the 9th largest holder of US debt.[133] The commercial and financial dependence on the US is a cause for concern.[134] The remittances from Mexican citizens working in the United States account for 0.2% of Mexico's GDP[135] which was equal to US$20 billion dollars per year in 2004 and is the tenth largest source of foreign income after oil, industrial exports, manufactured goods, electronics, heavy industry, automobiles, construction, food, banking and financial services.[136] According to Mexico's central bank, remittances in 2008 amounted to $25bn.[137]
Mexico is the largest North American auto-producing nation, recently surpassing Canada and the U.S.[138] The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities.[139] The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s.[140] In Puebla alone, 70 industrial part-makers cluster around Volkswagen.[139] The relatively small domestic car industry is represented by DINA S.A., which has built buses and trucks for almost half a century,[141] and the new Mastretta company that builds the high performance Mastretta MXT sports car.[142]
Major players in the broadcasting industry are Televisa, the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world,[143] and TV Azteca.
Tourism[link]
Main article: Tourism in Mexico
Mexico reports the twenty-third highest tourism-based income in the world, and the highest in Latin America.[144] The vast majority of tourists come to Mexico from the United States and Canada followed by Europe and Asia. A smaller number also come from other Latin American countries.[145] In the 2008 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, fifth among Latin American countries, and the ninth in the Americas.[146]
Energy[link]
See also: Electricity sector in Mexico
Energy production in Mexico is managed by state-owned companies: the Federal Commission of Electricity and Pemex.
Pemex, the public company in charge of exploration, extraction, transportation and marketing of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the refining and distribution of petroleum products and petrochemicals, is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, making US $86 billion in sales a year.[147][148][149] Mexico is the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, with 3.7 million barrels per day.[150] In 1980 oil exports accounted for 61.6% of total exports; by 2000 it was only 7.3%.[139]
The largest hydro plant in Mexico is the 2,400 MW Manuel Moreno Torres Dam in Chicoasén, Chiapas, in the Grijalva River. This is the world's fourth most productive hydroelectric plant.[151]
Transportation[link]
Main article: Transportation in Mexico
The paved-roadway network extended for 116,802 km (72,577 mi) in 2005; 10,474 km (6,508 mi) were multi-lane freeways or expressways,[152] most of which were tollways. Nonetheless, it still cannot meet national needs adequately.[153] Most of the domestic passenger transport needs are served by an extensive bus network.[154]
Mexico was one of the first Latin American countries to promote railway development,[153] and the network covers 30,952 km (19,233 mi).[154] The Secretary of Communications and Transport of Mexico proposed a high-speed rail link that will transport its passengers from Mexico City to Guadalajara, Jalisco.[155][156] The train, which travels at 300 kilometers per hour,[157] allows passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours.[157] The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion US$[155] and is being paid for jointly by the Mexican government and the local private sector including the wealthiest man in the world, Mexico's billionaire business tycoon Carlos Slim.[158] The government of the state of Yucatán is also funding the construction of a high speed line connecting the cities of Cozumel to Mérida and Chichen Itza and Cancún.[159]
In 1999, Mexico had 233 airports with paved runways; of these, 35 carry 97% of the passenger traffic.[154] The Mexico City International Airport remains the largest in Latin America and the 44th largest in the world[160] transporting 21 million passengers a year.[161]
Communications[link]
Main article: Telecommunications in Mexico
The telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by Telmex (Teléfonos de México), privatized in 1990. As of 2006, Telmex had expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and the United States. Other players in the domestic industry are Axtel and Maxcom. Due to Mexican orography, providing landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and the penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other Latin American countries, at forty-percent, however 82% of Mexicans over the age of 14 own a mobile phone. Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, and the total number of mobile lines is almost two times that of landlines, with an estimation of 63 million lines.[162] The telecommunication industry is regulated by the government through Cofetel (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones).
The Mexican satellite system is domestic and operates 120 earth stations. There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable.[162] Mexican satellites are operated by Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex), a private company, leader in Latin America and servicing both North and South America.[163] It offers broadcast, telephone and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. Through business partnerships Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services.[164] Satmex maintains its own satellite fleet with most of the fleet being Mexican designed and built.
Usage of radio, television, and Internet in Mexico is prevalent.[154] There are approximately 1,410 radio broadcast stations and 236 television stations (excluding repeaters).[162] Major players in the broadcasting industry are Televisa—the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world[143]—and TV Azteca.
Science and technology[link]
Main article: History of science and technology in Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico was officially established in 1910,[166] and the university become one of the most important institutes of higher learning in Mexico.[167] UNAM provides world class education in science, medicine, and engineering.[168] Many scientific institutes and new institutes of higher learning, such as National Polytechnic Institute (founded in 1936),[169] were established during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the new research institutes were created within UNAM. Twelve institutes were integrated into UNAM from 1929 to 1973.[170] In 1959, the Mexican Academy of Sciences was created to coordinate scientific efforts between academics.
In 1995 Mexican chemist Mario J. Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul J. Crutzen, and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.[171] Molina, an alumnus of UNAM, became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science.[172]
In recent years, the biggest scientific project being developed in Mexico was the construction of the Large Millimeter Telescope (Gran Telescopio Milimétrico, GMT), the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency range.[173] It was designed to observe regions of space obscured by stellar dust.
The electronics industry of Mexico has grown enormously within the last decade. In 2007 Mexico surpassed South Korea as the second largest manufacturer of televisions, and in 2008 Mexico surpassed China, South Korea and Taiwan to become the largest producer of smartphones in the world. There are almost half a million (451,000) students enrolled in electronics engineering programs.[174]
Demographics[link]
Main article: Demographics of Mexico
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1895 | 12,632,427 | — |
| 1900 | 13,607,272 | +7.7% |
| 1910 | 15,160,369 | +11.4% |
| 1921 | 14,334,780 | −5.4% |
| 1930 | 16,552,722 | +15.5% |
| 1940 | 19,653,552 | +18.7% |
| 1950 | 25,791,017 | +31.2% |
| 1960 | 34,923,129 | +35.4% |
| 1970 | 48,225,238 | +38.1% |
| 1980 | 66,846,833 | +38.6% |
| 1990 | 81,249,645 | +21.5% |
| 1995 | 91,158,290 | +12.2% |
| 2000 | 97,483,412 | +6.9% |
| 2005 | 103,263,388 | +5.9% |
| 2010 | 112,336,538 | +8.8% |
| Source: INEGI | ||
The recently conducted 2010 Census[175] showed a population of 112,336,538, making it the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.[176]
Mexico is ethnically diverse, the various indigenous peoples and European immigrants are united under a single national identity.[177] The core part of Mexican national identity is formed on the basis of a synthesis of European culture with Indigenous cultures in a process known as mestizaje, alluding to the mixed biological origins of the majority of Mexicans.[177][178] Mexican politicians and reformers such as José Vasconcelos and Manuel Gamio were instrumental in building a Mexican national identity on the concept of mestizaje.[179][180] The term mestizo often used in literature about Mexican social identities carries a variety of meanings containing both socio-cultural, economic, racial and biological components and for this reason it has been deemed too imprecise to be used for ethnic classification, for which reason it has been abandoned in Mexican censuses.[153][181]
The category of "indígena" (indigenous) can be defined narrowly according to linguistic criteria including only persons that speak one of Mexicos 62 indigenous languages or self-identify as having an indigenous cultural background. According with the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples as of 2005, there are 10.1 million Mexicans who speak an indigenous language and claim indigenous heritage, representing 9.8% of the total population.[182]
The word "mestizo" is sometimes used with the meaning of a person with mixed Indigenous and European blood. This usage does not conform to the Mexican social reality where a person of pure indigenous genetic heritage would be considered Mestizo either by rejecting his indigenous culture or by not speaking an indigenous language,[183] and a person with a very low percentage of indigenous genetic heritage would be considered fully indigenous either by speaking an indigenous language or by identifying with a particular indigenous cultural heritage.[184]
Mexico represents the largest source of immigration to the United States. About 9% of the population born in Mexico is now living in the United States.[185] 28.3 million Americans listed their ancestry as Mexican as of 2006.[186] Per the 2000 U.S. Census, a plurality of 47.3% of Mexican Americans self identify as White, closely followed by Mexican Americans who self identify as "Some other race", usually Mestizo (European/Indian) with 45.5%.[187]
Mexico is home to the largest number of U.S. citizens abroad (estimated at one million as of 1999).[188] The Argentine community is considered to be the second largest foreign community in the country (estimated somewhere between 30,000 and 150,000).[189][190] Mexico also has a large Lebanese community, now numbering around 400,000.[191] In October 2008, Mexico agreed to deport Cubans using the country as an entry point to the US.[192] Large numbers of Central American migrants who have crossed Guatemala's western border into Mexico are deported every year.[193] Small numbers of illegal immigrants come from Ecuador, Cuba, China, South Africa, and Pakistan.[194]
Indigenous peoples[link]
Main article: Indigenous peoples of Mexico
According to the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI) there are 9,854,301 indigenous people reported in Mexico in 2000, which constitute 9.54% of the population in the country. The absolute indigenous population is growing, but at a slower rate than the rest of the population so that the percentage of indigenous peoples is nonetheless falling.[195][196][197] The majority of the indigenous population is concentrated in the central and southern states, that are generally the least developed, and the majority of the indigenous population live in rural areas. Some indigenous communities have a degree of autonomy under the legislation of "usos y costumbres", which allows them to regulate some internal issues under customary law. According to the CDI, the states with the greatest percentage of indigenous population are:[198] Yucatán, with 59%, Quintana Roo with 39% and Campeche with 27% of the population being indigenous, most of them Maya; Oaxaca with 48% of the population, the most numerous groups being the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples; Chiapas has 28%, the majority being Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya; Hidalgo with 24%, the majority being Otomi; Puebla with 19%, and Guerrero with 17%, mostly Nahua people and the states of San Luis Potosí and Veracruz both home to a population of 15% indigenous people, mostly from the Totonac, Nahua and Teenek (Huastec) groups.[199]
All of the indices of social development for the indigenous population are considerably lower than the national average. In all states indigenous people have higher infant mortality, in some states almost double of the non-indigenous populations. Literacy rates are also much lower, with 27% of indigenous children between 6 and 14 being illiterate compared to a national average of 12%. The indigenous population participate in the workforce longer than the national average, starting earlier and continuing longer. However, 55% of the indigenous population receive less than a minimum salary, compared to 20% for the national average. Many practice subsistence agriculture and receive no salaries. Indigenous people also have less access to health care and a lower quality of housing.[199]
Population genetics[link]
A study by the American Society of Human Genetics reported that Mestizo Mexicans are 58.96% European, 35.05% "Asian" (Amerindian), and 5.03% African. Sonora shows the highest European contribution (70.63%) and Guerrero the lowest (51.98%) where we also observe the highest Asian contribution (37.17%). African contribution ranges from 2.8% in Sonora to 11.13% in Veracruz. 80% of the Mexican population was classed as mestizo (defined as "being racially mixed in some degree").[200][year needed][volume & issue needed][citation needed]
In May 2009, Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine issued a report on a genomic study of 300 mestizos from the states of Guerrero, Sonora, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato. The study found that the Mestizo population of these Mexican states were on average 55% of indigenous ancestry followed by 41.8 % of European, 1.8% of African, and 1.2% of East Asian ancestry. The study also noted that whereas Mestizo individuals from the southern state of Guerrero showed on average 66% of indigenous ancestry, those from the northern state of Sonora displayed about 61.6% European ancestry. The study found that there was an increase in indigenous ancestry as one traveled towards to the Southern states in Mexico, while the indigenous ancestry declined as one traveled to the Northern states in the country, such as Sonora.[201]
Languages[link]
Main article: Languages of Mexico
See also: Mexican Spanish and List of endangered languages in Mexico
The country has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world with almost a third of all Spanish native speakers.[176][202]
Mexico is home to a large number of indigenous languages, spoken by some 5.4% of the population – 1.2% of the population are monolingual speakers of an indigenous language.[203] The indigenous languages with most speakers are Nahuatl, spoken by approximately 1,45 million people,[204] Yukatek Maya spoken by some 750,000 people and the Mixtec[205] and Zapotec languages[206] each spoken by more than 400,000 people. The National Institute of Indigenous Languages INALI recognizes 68 linguistic groups and some 364 different specific varieties of indigenous languages.[207] Since the promulgation of the Law of Indigenous Linguistic Rights in 2003, these languages have had status as national languages, with equal validity with Spanish in all the areas and contexts in which they are spoken.[208]
In addition to the indigenous languages other minority languages are spoken by immigrant populations such as the 80,000 German-speaking Mennonites in Mexico.[209] And 5,000 the Chipilo dialect of the Venetian language spoken in Chipilo, Puebla.
Religion[link]
See also: Religion in Mexico and Our Lady of Guadalupe
| Religion in Mexico (2010 census)[210] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Catholicism |
|
82.7% | ||
| Other Christian |
|
9.7% | ||
| Other Religion |
|
0.2% | ||
| No religion |
|
4.7% | ||
| Unspecified |
|
2.7% | ||
The 2010 census by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía gave Roman Catholicism as the main religion, with 82.7% of the population, while 9.7% (10,924,103) belong to other Christian denominations, including Evangelicals (5.2%); Pentecostals (1.6%); other Protestant or Reformed (0.7%); Jehovah's Witnesses (1.4%); Seventh-day Adventists (0.6%); and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (0.3%).[210] 172,891 (or less than 0.2% of the total) belonged to other, non-Christian religions; 4.7% declared having no religion; 2.7% were unspecified.[210]
The 92,924,489[210] Catholics of Mexico constitute in absolute terms the second largest Catholic community in the world, after Brazil's.[211] 47% percent of them attend church services weekly.[212] Most Mexican cities, towns and villages hold a yearly feast day to commemorate their local patron saints.[citation needed] The feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico, is celebrated on December 12 and is regarded by many Mexicans as the most important religious holiday of their country.[213]
The 2010 census reported 314,932 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,[210] though the church in 2009 claimed to have over one million registered members.[214] About 25% of registered members attend a weekly sacrament service although this can fluctuate up and down.[215]
The presence of Jews in Mexico dates back to 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos.[216] According to the 2010 census, there are 67,476 Jews in Mexico.[210] Islam in Mexico is practiced by a small population in the city of Torreón, Coahuila, and there are an estimated 300 Muslims in the San Cristóbal de las Casas area in Chiapas.[217][218] In the 2010 census 18,185 Mexicans reported belonging to an Eastern religion,[210] a category which includes a tiny Buddhist population.
Gender equality[link]
The World Economic Forum 2011 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Mexico 89th out of 135 countries for gender parity, making it one of the least gender balanced countries in the North American region, particularly to the disadvantage of women, who have a below average degree of political participation and labor equality. Education and health indicators for Mexican women were however better than the average in the study.[219]
Metropolitan areas[link]
Main article: Metropolitan areas of Mexico
Metropolitan areas in Mexico have been traditionally defined as the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city.[220] In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO, INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:[220]
- the group of two or more municipalities in which a city with a population of at least 50,000 is located whose urban area extends over the limit of the municipality that originally contained the core city incorporating either physically or under its area of direct influence other adjacent predominantly urban municipalities all of which have a high degree of social and economic integration or are relevant for urban politics and administration; or
- a single municipality in which a city of a population of at least one million is located and fully contained, (that is, it does not transcend the limits of a single municipality); or
- a city with a population of at least 250,000 which forms a conurbation with other cities in the United States.
Culture[link]
Main article: Culture of Mexico
File:Tradicionalranchero.JPG
Jarabe Tapatío, an example of traditional Mexican dance and costumes.
Mexican culture reflects the complexity of the country's history through the blending of indigenous cultures and the culture of Spain, imparted during Spain's 300-year colonization of Mexico. Exogenous cultural elements mainly from the United States have been incorporated into Mexican culture.[citation needed]
The Porfirian era (el Porfiriato), in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, was marked by economic progress and peace. After four decades of civil unrest and war, Mexico saw the development of philosophy and the arts, promoted by President Díaz himself. Since that time, as accentuated during the Mexican Revolution, cultural identity has had its foundation in the mestizaje, of which the indigenous (i.e. Amerindian) element is the core. In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races (thus extending the definition of the mestizo) not only biologically but culturally as well.[221] This exalting of mestizaje was a revolutionary idea that sharply contrasted with the idea of a superior pure race prevalent in Europe at the time.[citation needed]
Literature[link]
Main articles: Mexican literature and Mesoamerican literature
The literature of Mexico has its antecedents in the literatures of the indigenous settlements of Mesoamerica. The most well known prehispanic poet is Nezahualcoyotl. Modern Mexican literature was influenced by the concepts of the Spanish colonialization of Mesoamerica. Outstanding colonial writers and poets include Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and Juana Inés de la Cruz.
In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races, biologically as well as culturally.[221]
Other writers include Alfonso Reyes, José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz (Nobel Laureate), Renato Leduc, Carlos Monsiváis, Elena Poniatowska, Mariano Azuela ("Los de abajo") and Juan Rulfo ("Pedro Páramo"). Bruno Traven wrote "Canasta de cuentos mexicanos", "El tesoro de la Sierra Madre."
Visual arts[link]
See also: Mexican art
.jpg)
Post-revolutionary art in Mexico had its expression in the works of renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Federico Cantú Garza, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Juan O'Gorman. Diego Rivera, the most well-known figure of Mexican muralism, painted the Man at the Crossroads at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, a huge mural that was destroyed the next year due to the inclusion of a portrait of Russian communist leader Lenin.[222] Some of Rivera's murals are displayed at the Mexican National Palace and the Palace of Fine Arts.
Mesoamerican architecture is mostly noted for its pyramids which are the largest such structures outside of Ancient Egypt.[citation needed] Spanish Colonial architecture is marked by the contrast between the simple, solid construction demanded by the new environment and the Baroque ornamentation exported from Spain.[citation needed] Mexico, as the center of New Spain has some of the most renowned buildings built in this style.
Cinema and media[link]
Main article: Cinema of Mexico
Mexican films from the Golden Age in the 1940s and 1950s are the greatest examples of Latin American cinema, with a huge industry comparable to the Hollywood of those years. Mexican films were exported and exhibited in all of Latin America and Europe. Maria Candelaria (1944) by Emilio Fernández, was one of the first films awarded a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, the first time the event was held after World War II. The famous Spanish-born director Luis Buñuel realized in Mexico, between 1947 to 1965 some of him master pieces like Los Olvidados (1949), Viridiana (1961) and El angel exterminador (1963). Famous actors and actresses from this period include María Félix, Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete and the comedian Cantinflas.
More recently, films such as Como agua para chocolate (1992), Cronos (1993), Amores perros (2000), Y tu mamá también (2001), El crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) (2002), Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and Babel (2006) have been successful in creating universal stories about contemporary subjects, and were internationally recognised, as in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Mexican directors Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores perros, Babel), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Guillermo del Toro, Carlos Carrera (The Crime of Father Amaro), and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga are some of the most known present-day film makers.
Two of the major television networks based in Mexico are Televisa and TV Azteca. Televisa is also the largest producer of Spanish-language content in the world and also the world's largest Spanish-language media network.[223] Grupo Multimedios is another media conglomerate with Spanish-language broadcasting in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Soap operas (telenovelas) are translated to many languages and seen all over the world with renowned names like Verónica Castro, Lucía Méndez, Lucero, and Thalía.
Music[link]
Main article: Music of Mexico
Mexican society enjoys a vast array of music genres, showing the diversity of Mexican culture. Traditional music includes Mariachi, Banda, Norteño, Ranchera and Corridos; on an every-day basis most Mexicans listen to contemporary music such as pop, rock, etc. in both English and Spanish. Mexico has the largest media industry in Latin America, producing Mexican artists who are famous in Central and South America and parts of Europe, especially Spain. Some well-known Mexican singers are Thalía, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Fernández, Julieta Venegas and Paulina Rubio. Mexican singers of traditional music are: Lila Downs, Susana Harp, Jaramar, GEO Meneses and Alejandra Robles. Popular groups are Café Tacuba, Molotov and Maná, among others. Since the early years of 2000s (decade), Mexican rock has seen widespread growth both domesticly and internationally.[citation needed]
According to the Sistema Nacional de Fomento Musical, there are between 120 and 140 youth orchestras affiliated to this federal agency from all federal states.[citation needed] Some states, through their state agencies in charge of culture and the arts—Ministry or Secretary or Institute or Council of Culture, in some cases Secretary of Education or the State University—sponsor the activities of a professional Symphony Orchestra or Philharmonic Orchestra so all citizens can have access to this artistic expression from the field of classical music$3. Mexico City is the most intense hub of this activity hosting 12 professional orchestras sponsored by different agencies such as the National Institute of Fine Arts, the Secretary of Culture of the Federal District, The National University, the National Polytechnic Institute, a Delegación Política (Coyoacán) and very few are a kind of private ventures.[citation needed]
Cuisine[link]
Main article: Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine is known for its intense and varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices. Most of today's Mexican food is based on pre-Columbian traditions, including the Aztecs and Maya, combined with culinary trends introduced by Spanish colonists.
The conquistadores eventually combined their imported diet of rice, beef, pork, chicken, wine, garlic and onions with the native pre-Columbian food, including maize, tomato, vanilla, avocado, guava, papaya, pineapple, chili pepper, beans, squash, sweet potato, peanut, and turkey.
Mexican food varies by region, because of local climate and geography and ethnic differences among the indigenous inhabitants and because these different populations were influenced by the Spaniards in varying degrees. The north of Mexico is known for its beef, goat and ostrich production and meat dishes, in particular the well-known Arrachera cut.
Central Mexico's cuisine is largely made up of influences from the rest of the country, but also has its authentics, such as barbacoa, pozole, menudo, tamales, and carnitas.
Southeastern Mexico, on the other hand, is known for its spicy vegetable and chicken-based dishes. The cuisine of Southeastern Mexico also has quite a bit of Caribbean influence, given its geographical location. Veal is common in the Yucatan. Seafood is commonly prepared in the states that border the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, the latter having a famous reputation for its fish dishes, in particular à la veracruzana.
In modern times, other cuisines of the world have become very popular in Mexico, thus adopting a Mexican fusion. For example, sushi in Mexico is often made with a variety of sauces based on mango or tamarind, and very often served with serrano-chili-blended soy sauce, or complemented with vinegar, habanero and chipotle peppers
The most internationally recognized dishes include chocolate, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, tamales and mole among others. Regional dishes include mole poblano, chiles en nogada and chalupas from Puebla; cabrito and machaca from Monterrey, cochinita pibil from Yucatán, Tlayudas from Oaxaca, as well as barbacoa, chilaquiles, milanesas, and many others.
Sports[link]
Main article: Sport in Mexico
Mexico City hosted the XIX Olympic Games in 1968, making it the first Latin American city to do so.[224] The country has also hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1970 and 1986.[225]
Mexico's most popular sport is association football (soccer). It is commonly believed that Football was introduced in Mexico by Cornish miners at the end of the 19th century. By 1902 a five-team league had emerged with a strong British influence.[226][227] Mexico's top clubs are Guadalajara with 11 championships, América with 10 and Toluca with 10.[228] Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups,[citation needed] and Hugo Sánchez was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by IFFHS.[citation needed]
Baseball has traditionally been more popular than soccer in some regions.[citation needed] The Mexican professional league is named the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. While usually not as strong as the United States, the Caribbean countries and Japan, Mexico has nonetheless achieved several international baseball titles.[citation needed] Mexico has had several players signed by Major League teams, the most famous of them being Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.[citation needed]
Bullfighting is a popular sport in the country, and almost all large cities have bullrings. Plaza México in Mexico City, is the largest bullring in the world, which seats 55,000 people. Professional wrestling (or Lucha libre in Spanish) is a major crowd draw with national promotions such as AAA, LLL, CMLL and others.
Mexico is an international power in professional boxing (at the amateur level, several Olympic boxing medals have also been won by Mexico).[citation needed] Vicente Saldivar, Rubén Olivares, Salvador Sánchez, Julio César Chávez, Ricardo Lopez and Erik Morales are but a few Mexican fighters who have been ranked among the best of all time.[citation needed]
Notable Mexican athletes include golfer Lorena Ochoa, who was ranked first in the LPGA world rankings prior to her retirement,[229] Ana Guevara, former world champion of the 400 metres (1,300 ft) and Olympic subchampion in Athens 2004, and Fernando Platas, a numerous Olympic medal winning diver.
Health care[link]
Main article: Health care in Mexico
File:Mexicohospital.jpg
Hospital Angeles in Mexico City, the largest Mexican private hospitals chain.
Since the early 1990s, Mexico entered a transitional stage in the health of its population and some indicators such as mortality patterns are identical to those found in highly developed countries like Germany or Japan.[230] Although all Mexicans are entitled to receive medical care by the state, 50.3 million Mexicans had no medical insurance as of 2002.[231] Efforts to increase the number of people are being made, and the current administration intends to achieve universal health care by 2011.[232][233]
Mexico's medical infrastructure is highly rated for the most part and is usually excellent in major cities,[234][235] but rural communities still lack equipment for advanced medical procedures, forcing patients in those locations to travel to the closest urban areas to get specialized medical care.[153]
State-funded institutions such as Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) play a major role in health and social security. Private health services are also very important and account for 13% of all medical units in the country.[236]
Medical training is done mostly at public universities with much specializations done in vocational or internship settings. Some public universities in Mexico, such as the University of Guadalajara, have signed agreements with the U.S. to receive and train American students in Medicine. Health care costs in private institutions and prescription drugs in Mexico are on average lower than that of its North American economic partners.[234]
Education[link]
Main article: Education in Mexico
In 2004, the literacy rate was at 97%[237] for youth under the age of 14 and 91% for people over 15,[238] placing Mexico at the 24th place in the world rank accordingly to UNESCO.[239]
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ranks 190th place in the Top 200 World University Ranking published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2009.[240] Private business schools also stand out in international rankings. IPADE and EGADE, the business schools of Universidad Panamericana and of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education respectively, were ranked in the top 10 in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Joutnal among recruiters outside the United States.[241]
Law enforcement[link]
Public security is enacted at the three levels of government, each of which has different prerogatives and responsibilities. Local and state police department are primarily in charge of law enforcement, whereas the Mexican Federal Police is in charge of specialized duties. All levels report to the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (Secretary of Public Security). The General Attorney's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) is the executive power's agency in charge of investigating and prosecuting crimes at the federal level, mainly those related to drug and arms trafficking,[242] espionage, and bank robberies.[243] The PGR operates the Federal Investigations Agency (Agencia Federal de Investigación, AFI) an investigative and preventive agency.[244]
While the government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, serious abuses of power have been reported in security operations in the southern part of the country and in indigenous communities and poor urban neighborhoods.[153] 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 the officials who ignore its recommendations.[245] By law, all defendants have the rights that assure them fair trials and human treatment; however, the system is overburdened and overwhelmed with several problems.[153]
Despite the efforts of the authorities to fight crime and fraud, few Mexicans have strong confidence in the police or the judicial system, and therefore, few crimes are actually reported by the citizens.[153] The Global Integrity Index which measures the existence and effectiveness of national anti-corruption mechanisms rated Mexico 31st behind Kenya, Thailand, and Russia.[246] In 2008, president Calderón proposed a major reform of the judicial system, which was approved by the Congress of the Union, which included oral trials, the presumption of innocence for defendants, the authority of local police to investigate crime—until then a prerogative of special police units—and several other changes intended to speed up trials.[247]
Crime[link]
Main articles: Crime in Mexico and Mexican Drug War
According to a 2012 OECD study 15% of Mexicans report having been a victim of crime in the past year, a figure which among OECD countries is only higher in South Africa.[126] As of 2009 Mexico's homicide rate varied from 10~14 per 100,000 inhabitants; the world average is 10.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.[248] Drug-traffic and narco-related activities are a major concern in Mexico.[249] Mexico's drug war has claimed nearly 50,000 lives.[250] The Mexican drug cartels have as many as 100,000 members.[251]
Current president Felipe Calderón made abating drug-trafficking one of the top priorities of his administration deploying military personnel to cities where drug cartels operate. This move has been criticized by the opposition parties and the National Human Rights Commission for escalating the violence, but its effects have been positively evaluated by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as having obtained "unprecedented results..." with "many important successes".[252] Since President Felipe Calderón launched a crackdown against cartels in 2006 more than 28,000 alleged criminals have been killed.[253][254] Of the total drug-related violence 4% are innocent people,[255] mostly by-passers and people trapped in between shootings; 90% accounts for criminals and 6% for military personnel and police officers.[255] In October 2007, the president Calderón and US president George W. Bush announced the Mérida Initiative a plan of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries.[256]
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ "Official Name of the Country". MX: Presidency of Mexico. March 31, 2005. http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/index.php?DNA=91. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c Mexico entry at The World Factbook
- ^ "Población de 3 años y más en entidades federativas seleccionadas y su distribución porcentual según condición de autoadscripción étnica para cada entidad federativa, sexo y condición de habla indígena" (in Spanish). Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010. Cuestionario ampliado. INEGI. 2011. http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/TabuladosBasicos/LeerArchivo.aspx?ct=27495&c=27303&s=est&f=2. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
- ^ "Political Constitution of the United Mexican States Title 2 Article 40" (PDF). MX: SCJN. http://www.scjn.gob.mx/SiteCollectionDocuments/PortalSCJN/RecJur/BibliotecaDigitalSCJN/PublicacionesSupremaCorte/Political_constitucion_of_the_united_Mexican_states_2008.pdf. Retrieved August 14, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "RESULTADOS DEFINITIVOS CENSO DE POBLACIÓN Y VIVIENDA 2010" (in Spanish). INEGI. 2011-03-03. http://www.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/comunicados/AbrirArchivo.aspx?consec=17181&a=2011&m=3&n=comunica.pdf. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ a b c d "Mexico". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=68&pr.y=3&sy=2009&ey=2012&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=273&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
- ^ "Gini Index". World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI/. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2011 – Human development statistical annex". HDRO (Human Development Report Office United Nations Development Programme. pp. 127–130. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Tables.pdf. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- ^ [wEr\ Ar\ ju: fr6m] Place names in IPA. IO. http://www.io.com/~hmiller/lang/places.html. Retrieved June 5, 2011. [dead link]
- ^ The alternative translation Mexican United States has also been used. The Federal Constitution of the Mexican United States. HA. http://historical.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=661&Lot_No=56012&src=pr.
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc.; p. 733
- ^ "INEGI 2010 Census Statistics". inegi.org.mx. http://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/comunicados/rpcpyv10.asp. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
- ^ James Scott, Matthias vom Hau and David Hulme. [https%3A%2F%2Fwww.escholar.manchester.ac.uk%2Fapi%2Fdatastream%3FpublicationPid%3Duk-ac-man-scw%3A105725%26datastreamId%3DSUPPLEMENTARY-1.DOC&ei=fMKFT7SMKIye8gS71NHACA&usg=AFQjCNHKPFxJk5bu6Qs5R2SKSUs8IwidWw&sig2=_lt4YNVT-1ECYQBh61EWgA "Beyond the BICs: Strategies of influence"]. The University of Manchester. https%3A%2F%2Fwww.escholar.manchester.ac.uk%2Fapi%2Fdatastream%3FpublicationPid%3Duk-ac-man-scw%3A105725%26datastreamId%3DSUPPLEMENTARY-1.DOC&ei=fMKFT7SMKIye8gS71NHACA&usg=AFQjCNHKPFxJk5bu6Qs5R2SKSUs8IwidWw&sig2=_lt4YNVT-1ECYQBh61EWgA. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ "How to compare regional powers: analytical concepts and research topics". British International Studies Association. http://www.giga-hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/staff/nolte/publications/how_to_compare_nolte.pdf. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan" (PDF). http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2006/05.pdf. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
- ^ Oxford Analytica[dead link]
- ^ "Country and Lending Groups". World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups#Upper_middle_income. Retrieved March 5, 2011. "Uppermiddle Income defined as a per capita income between $3,976 – $12,275"
- ^ Paweł Bożyk (2006). "Newly Industrialized Countries". Globalization and the Transformation of Foreign Economic Policy. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 164. ISBN 0-7546-4638-6.
- ^ Mauro F. Guillén (2003). "Multinationals, Ideology, and Organized Labor". The Limits of Convergence. Princeton University Press. pp. 126 (Table 5.1). ISBN 0-691-11633-4.
- ^ David Waugh (3rd edition 2000). "Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22)". Geography, An Integrated Approach. Nelson Thornes Ltd.. pp. 563, 576–579, 633, and 640. ISBN 0-17-444706-X.
- ^ N. Gregory Mankiw (4th Edition 2007). Principles of Economics. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. ISBN 0-324-22472-9.
- ^ "G8: Despite Differences, Mexico Comfortable as Emerging Power". Ipsnews.net. June 5, 2007. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38056. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ Mexico (05/09). US Department of State. Accessed on:2009-11-25
- ^ CRS Report for Congress. Congressional Research Service. November 4, 2008
- ^ "Mexico's World Heritage Sites". Worldheritagesite.org. http://www.worldheritagesite.org/countries/mexico.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Mexico on the UNESCO World Heritage". Whc.unesco.org. http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/mx. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Mexico's World Heritage Sites Photographic Exhibition at UN Headquarters". Whc.unesco.org. http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/295. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Tourism" (PDF). http://www.unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/highlights/UNWTO_Highlights08_en_HR.pdf. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel (2006). Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Facts of Life, Inc.. p. 19. ISBN 0-8160-5673-0.
- ^ a b "Nombre del Estado de México". Government of the State of Mexico. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070427111842/http://www.edomexico.gob.mx/identidad/civica/htm/NomMexico.htm. Retrieved October 3, 2007. (Spanish)
- ^ http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/SrvltConsulta?lema=méxico
- ^ "El cambio de la denominación de "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" por la de "México" en la Constitución Federal". Ierd.prd.org.mx. http://ierd.prd.org.mx/coy128/hlb.htm. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
- ^ "Constitucion Federal de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (1824)". Tarlton.law.utexas.edu. September 2, 2009. http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/image/A02.html. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Constitución Mexicana de 1857". Tlahui.com. http://www.tlahui.com/politic/politi99/politi8/con1857.htm. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ Leyes Constitucionales de 1836. Cervantes Virtual
- ^ "Native Americans: Earliest Migrations". MSN Encarta. 2009. Archived from the original on November 1, 2009. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1257037540134054.
- ^ Kirchhoff, Paul (1943). "Mesoamérica. Sus Límites Geográficos, Composición Étnica y Caracteres Culturales". Acta Americana 1 (1): 92–107.
- ^ Carmack, Robert; et al. (1996). The legacy of Mesoamerica: history and culture of a Native American civilization. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
- ^ Diehl, Richard A. (2004). The Olmecs : America's First Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 9–25.
- ^ Sampson, Geoffrey; Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction, Hutchinson (London), 1985.
- ^ Cowgill, George (1997). "State and Society at Teotihuacan, Mexico" (PDF online reproduction). Annual Review of Anthropology (Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews Inc) 26 (1): pp.129–161. DOI:10.1146/annurev.anthro.26.1.129. ISSN 0084-6570. OCLC 202300854.
- ^ Coe, Michael D.; with Rex Koontz (2002). Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs (5th edition, revised and enlarged ed.). London and New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28346-X. OCLC 50131575.
- ^ "The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice". Natural History. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/sacrifice.htm. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
- ^ Weaver, Muriel Porter (1993). The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors: Archaeology of Mesoamerica (3rd ed.). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-739065-0. OCLC 25832740.
- ^ Hassig, Ross (2006). Mexico and the Spanish Conquest (2nd ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3793-3. OCLC 64594483.
- ^ True Peters, Stephanie (2004). Smallpox in the New World. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-0-7614-1637-1. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=v0zEiM_hijsC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=small+pox+killing+aztecs&source=bl&ots=z4mrxE0Pdo&sig=9Ugb5VPtgITdHXy9aU7p8b-FvmQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ty3-TsGeN4rO2AX639WUAQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=small%20pox%20killing%20aztecs&f=false.
- ^ Flight, Colette (February 17, 2011). "Smallpox: Eradicating the Scourge". BBC News | History. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/smallpox_01.shtml. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Koplow, David A. (2003). Smallpox: The Fight to Eradicate a Global Scourge. University of California Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-520-23732-2. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=nlQpbYPuTX0C&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=small+pox+killing+aztecs&source=bl&ots=GFvJ9Zq8dc&sig=wtCYmmf9t-Txz7jrjebjuObNAa0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3TL-Tte2F6W42wWW9fSyCA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=small%20pox%20killing%20aztecs&f=false.
- ^ "Smallpox: Conquered Killer". National Geographic. http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-diseases/smallpox-article/. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Sherman, Irwin W. (2006). The power of plagues. American Society for Microbiology. p. 431. ISBN 1-55581-356-9. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=LOjqWL-u9VMC&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=small+pox+killing+aztecs&source=bl&ots=T8_SUFZDdM&sig=JWxo20cbxLaK_cy2wgM1hyjJYWg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pDT-TsvyGOHq2wWd-YmMAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=small%20pox%20killing%20aztecs&f=false.
- ^ Torrence, Paul F. (2005). Antiviral drug discovery for emerging diseases and bioterrorism threats. Wiley-Interscience. p. 428. ISBN 0-471-66827-3. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=wHDj8Z0jqQwC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=smallpox+aztecs+and+christianity&source=bl&ots=k10d0YXm0E&sig=Q8p5A2tHb9zmJSh98Tn6Pmdtby0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3jf-TtWTFtLs2AWe6Pi7Ag&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=smallpox%20aztecs%20and%20christianity&f=false.
- ^ Robertson, Roland G. (2001). Rotting face: smallpox and the American Indian. Caxton Press. p. 329. ISBN 0-87004-419-2. http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=-EoEm_OO8RgC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=smallpox+aztecs+and+christianity&source=bl&ots=GxbaQMRQSQ&sig=Kx1PAXa9nzIdUGL_OkPaQr_GPvc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3jf-TtWTFtLs2AWe6Pi7Ag&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=smallpox%20aztecs%20and%20christianity&f=false.
- ^ Gibson, Charles (1964). The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810 (Reprinted 1976 ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0196-2. OCLC 190295.
- ^ "Miguel Hidalgo Biography". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/16045a.htm. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Caste War (Central American history). Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ The Caste War of Yucatán: Revised Edition, By Nelson Reed, Published by Stanford University Press, 2002 ISBN 0-8047-4001-1, ISBN 978-0-8047-4001-2, 448 pages
- ^ Chandler, Gary; Prado, Liza (2007). Moon Cancun and Cozumel: Including the Riviera Maya. Avalon Travel. p. 272. ISBN 1-56691-780-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=kzJQnRiR1NoC&pg=PA272&dq#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ^ The Mexican Revolution. PBS.org
- ^ Missing millions: the human cost of the Mexican Revolution. Robert McCaa, University of Minnesota Population Center
- ^ "The Mexican Miracle: 1940–1968". World History from 1500. Emayzine. http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/mex9.html. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
- ^ Krauze, Enrique (January–February 2006). "Furthering Democracy in Mexico". Foreign Affairs. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060101faessay85106/enrique-krauze/furthering-democracy-in-mexico.html. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ Elena Poniatowska (1975). Massacre in Mexico (Original "La noche de Tlatelolco"). Viking, New York. ISBN 0-8262-0817-7.
- ^ Duncan Kennedy Mexico's long forgotten dirty war BBC News, Saturday, July 19, 2008
- ^ Schedler, Andreas (2006). Electoral Authoritarianism: The Dynamics of Unfree Competition. L. Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-440-8.
- ^ a b c Crandall, R.; Paz and Roett (2004). "Mexico's Domestic Economy: Policy Options and Choices". Mexico's Democracy at Work. Lynne Reinner Publishers. p. 160. ISBN 0-8018-5655-8.
- ^ "Photius Geographic.org, "Mexico The 1988 Elections", (Sources: The Library of the Congress Country Studies, CIA World Factbook)". Photius.com. http://www.photius.com/countries/mexico/government/mexico_government_the_1988_elections.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ (Spanish)Cruz Vasconcelos, Gerardo. "Desempeño Histórico 1914–2004" (PDF). Archived from the original on July 3, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060703181721/http://www.imef.org.mx/NR/rdonlyres/F722BEDD-A8DE-49BA-AF4F-1A00889CE618/1192/CAPITULOI1.pdf. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
- ^ (Spanish)Reséndiz, Francisco (2006). "Rinde AMLO protesta como "presidente legítimo"". El Universal. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/389114.html.
- ^ "Articles 50 to 79". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ (Spanish) "Third Title, First Chapter, About Electoral systems" (PDF). Código Federal de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales (Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures). Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. August 15, 1990. http://normateca.ife.org.mx/normanet/files_otros/COFIPE/cofipe.pdf. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ a b (Spanish) "Third Title, First Chapter, About Electoral systems, Article 11-1" (PDF). Código Federal de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales (Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures). Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. August 15, 1990. http://normateca.ife.org.mx/normanet/files_otros/COFIPE/cofipe.pdf. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ (Spanish) "Fourth Title, Second Chapter, About coalitions, Article 59-1" (PDF). Código Federal de Instituciones y Procedimientos Electorales (Federal Code of Electoral Institutions and Procedures). Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. August 15, 1990. http://normateca.ife.org.mx/normanet/files_otros/COFIPE/cofipe.pdf. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ "Articles 80 to 93". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ "Articles 90 to 107". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ Miembros Titulares[dead link]. ODCA. Retrieved October 16, 2009
- ^ Entrevista a la Lic. Beatriz Paredes Rangel, Presidenta dle Comité Ejecutivo Nacional del PRI[dead link]. Retrieved October 16, 2009
- ^ Estatuto del Partido de la Revolución Democrática. Documentos Básicos. Retrieved October 16, 2009
- ^ a b (Spanish) Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (February 5, 1917). "Article 89, Section 10". Chamber of Deputies. Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070825041639/http://www.cddhcu.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/1.pdf. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ^ (Spanish) Internal Rules of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (August 10, 2001). "Article 2, Section 1". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on June 11, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080611012801/http://www.sre.gob.mx/acerca/marco_normativo/reglamento.htm. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ^ (Spanish) Palacios Treviño, Jorge. "La Doctrina Estrada y el Principio de la No-Intervención". http://www.diplomaticosescritores.org/obras/DOCTRINAESTRADA.pdf. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ UN (November 7, 1945). "United Nations Member States". UN official website. http://www.un.org/members/list.shtml#m. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ Velázquez Flores (2007), p. 145.
- ^ (Spanish) Organization of Ibero-American States. "Members". OEI official website. http://www.oei.es/acercaoei.htm. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ OPANAL. "Members". OPANAL official website. http://www.opanal.org/opanal/about/about-i.htm. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ (Spanish) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (March 7, 2007). "El Presidente Felipe Calderón Hinojosa en la Ceremonia de Entrega de la Secretaría Pro Témpore del Grupo de Río". Gobierno Federal. http://portal2.sre.gob.mx/gruporio/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=2. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ United Nations (2008). "Regular Budget Payments of Largest Payers". Global Policy. http://www.globalpolicy.org/finance/tables/reg-budget/large08.htm. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (May 18, 1994). "Members". OECD official website. http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.html. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
- ^ "Chile joins the OECD's Economic Club". BBC News. January 12, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/business/2010/01/100112_chile_oecd_biz.shtml. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ "Japan's Regional Diplomacy, Latin America and the Caribbean" (PDF). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/other/bluebook/2006/05.pdf. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ "Latin America: Region is losing ground to competitors". Oxford Analytica. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071024190633/http://www.oxanstore.com/displayfree.php?NewsItemID=130098. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005), p. 215.
- ^ Maggie Farley (July 22, 2005). "Mexico, Canada Introduce Third Plan to Expand Security Council". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/22/world/fg-unreform22. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ "Bilateral Trade". Embassy of the U.S. in Mexico. 2006. http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/eng/eataglance_trade.html. Retrieved March 28, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Kim Richard Nossal (June 29 – July 2, 1999). "Lonely Superpower or Unapologetic Hyperpower? Analyzing American Power in the Post-Cold War Era". Queen's University. http://post.queensu.ca/~nossalk/papers/hyperpower.htm. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ^ Renata Keller (2009). "Capitalizing on Castro: Mexico's Foreign Relations with Cuba, 1959–1969". Latin American Network Information Center. http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/etext/llilas/ilassa/2009/keller.pdf. Retrieved March 28, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Salaverry, Jorge (March 11, 1988). "Evolution of Mexican Foreign Policy". The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/latinamerica/bg638.cfm. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ^ "El Salvador in the 1980s". Historical Text Archive. http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=345. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ^ (Spanish) Dirección General de Coordinación Política (December 2, 2008). "Se hará política exterior de Estado: Patricia Espinosa". Senate of the Republic. http://www.senado.gob.mx/gace.php?sesion=2008/12/04/1&documento=4. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Loke. "Capacitarán a militares en combates con rifles láser | Ediciones Impresas Milenio". Impreso.milenio.com. http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8696274. Retrieved May 30, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ a b Mexican Naval missile (in Spanish)
- ^ Buque logístico multipropósito[dead link] (in Spanish).
- ^ "The 5.56 X 45 mm: 2006". Thegunzone.com. http://www.thegunzone.com/556dw-15.html. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Hydra Technologies Surprises UAV Industry with Mexican-Made System, Earns Coveted Award at AUVSI's Unmanned Systems North America 2007 Show in D.C". .prnewswire.com. http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-07-2007/0004658596&E. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Mexican navy 2006 activities official report". Semar.gob.mx. http://www.semar.gob.mx/boletin/2006/bol_225_06.htm. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ Strategy on recent equipment purchases: The Mexican Armed Forces in Transition
- ^ "Text of the Treaty of Tlatelolco". Opanal.org. November 27, 1963. http://www.opanal.org/opanal/Tlatelolco/Tlatelolco-i.htm. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "instituto nacional de investigaciones nucleares". Inin.gob.mx. http://www.inin.gob.mx/. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "Mexico to slash weapons-grade uranium". UPI.com. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/04/13/Mexico-to-slash-weapons-grade-uranium/UPI-91401271180679/. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "Russia and US sign plutonium pact". BBC News. April 13, 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8618066.stm.
- ^ (Spanish) Gustavo Iruegas (April 27, 2007). "Adiós a la neutralidad". La Jornada. http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2007/04/27/index.php?section=opinion&article=023a2pol. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ (Spanish) Ricardo Gómez & Andrea Merlos (April 20, 2007). "Diputados, en Favor de Derogar Neutralidad en Guerras". El Universal. http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/150273.html. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
- ^ "Article 116". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "Article 112". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "Article 115". Political Constitution of the United Mexican States. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. http://constitucion.gob.mx/index.php?idseccion=12. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ Nord-Amèrica, in Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana
- ^ Parsons, Alan; Jonathan Schaffer (May 2004). Geopolitics of oil and natural gas. Economic Perspectives. U.S. Department of State.
- ^ a b "Mexico Topography". Nationsencyclopedia.com. October 16, 2007. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Mexico-TOPOGRAPHY.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b "Biodiversidad de México". SEMARNAT. http://cruzadabosquesagua.semarnat.gob.mx/iii.html. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "Biodiversidad en México". CONEVYT. http://oregon.conevyt.org.mx/actividades/diversidad/lectura_biodiversidad.htm. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ a b "Sistema Nacional sobre la Biodiversidad en México". CONABIO. http://www.conabio.gob.mx/institucion/snib/doctos/acerca.html. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "Mexico's 'devastating' forest loss". BBC News. March 4, 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1854188.stm. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ Hayden, Cori. 2003. When Nature Goes Public. The making and Unmaking of Bioproscpecting in Mexico. Princeton University Press.
- ^ Soto Laveaga, Gabriela (2009). Jungle Laboratories: MExican peasants, National Projects and the Making of the Pill. Duke University.
- ^ http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/pdf/2010_Poverty_Fact_Sheet.pdf
- ^ "Mexico, World Bank's Country Brief". http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/MEXICOEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20185184~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:338397,00.html. Retrieved February 19, 2007.
- ^ a b c Perspectivas OCDE: México Reformas para el Cambio [1]
Si bien la pobreza había venido disminuyendo a lo largo de los últimos decenios, en fechas recientes ha vuelto a aumentar. Entre 2004 y 2008 la proporción de personas que vivían con menos del 50% del ingreso medio aumentó del 18.4% al 21%. También se registró un crecimiento considerable en las últimas estadísticas oficiales sobre la pobreza absoluta, que tienen en cuenta el acceso a alimentos, salud, educación, vivienda y otros factores. De acuerdo con datos recientes del Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social (CONEVAL), entre 2006 y 2010, la proporción de personas que vivían en la pobreza (extrema y moderada) aumentó del 35% al 46% (lo que equivale a 52 millones de personas). El alto nivel de pobreza absoluta se refleja también en otros indicadores relativos a las condiciones de vida: por ejemplo, la mortalidad infantil, que es tres veces superior al promedio de la OCDE, y la tasa de analfabetismo, que supera a la media del conjunto de la Organización. México es el segundo país con las desigualdades más grandes entre los países de la OCDE, después de Chile, si bien la tendencia ha sido descendente en la última década. Las estadísticas más recientes de la OCDE, que figuran en el informe Divided We Stand (diciembre de 2011), señalan que el 10% más pobre de la población de México percibe alrededor del 1.3% del ingreso total disponible, mientras que el 10% más rico recibe casi el 36%. Aunque México es uno de los pocos países de la OCDE donde las desigualdades han disminuido en las últimas décadas, éstas siguen siendo altas y se han convertido en un obstáculo para el crecimiento y el desarrollo.
- ^ "CONEVAL Informe 2011" (PDF). http://web.coneval.gob.mx/Informes/Evaluaci%C3%B3n%202011/Informe%20de%20Evaluaci%C3%B3n%20de%20la%20Pol%C3%ADtica%20de%20Desarrollo%20Social%202011/Informe_de_evaluacion_de_politica_social_2011.pdf. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
- ^ "Mexico to Overtake Italy as 10th Largest Economy in the World – Analyst Insight from Euromonitor International". Blog.euromonitor.com. July 9, 2010. http://blog.euromonitor.com/2010/07/mexico-to-overtake-italy-as-10th-largest-economy-in-the-world.html. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "Goldman Sachs Paper No.153 Relevant Emerging Markets" (PDF). http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/clubs/pakistan/docs/next11dream-march%20%2707-goldmansachs.pdf. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ (Spanish) "Sobresale Nuevo León por su alto nivel de vida". El Norte. 2006. http://busquedas.gruporeforma.com/utilerias/imdservicios3w.dll?JPrintS&file=mty/norte01/00393/00393608.htm&palabra=.
- ^ "Salarios mínimos 2010". Sat.gob.mx. http://www.sat.gob.mx/sitio_Internet/asistencia_contribuyente/informacion_frecuente/salarios_minimos/. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Korea's Balance of Payments" (PDF). http://www.koreauspartnership.org/pdf/Koreas%20Balance%20of%20Payments.pdf. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt
- ^ Thompson, Adam (June 20, 2006). "Mexico, Economics: The US cast a long shadow". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f53c9268-005a-11db-8078-0000779e2340,dwp_uuid=bfb8911e-ff83-11da-93a0-0000779e2340.html.
- ^ "Workers' Remittances to Mexico – Business Frontier, Issue 1, 2004 – FRB Dallas". Dallasfed.org. July 10, 2003. http://www.dallasfed.org/research/busfront/bus0401.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Free Preview of Members-Only Content". Stratfor. August 30, 2007. http://www.stratfor.com/global_market_brief_mexico_sees_decline_remittances. Retrieved May 30, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Slowdown hits Mexico remittances". BBC News. January 27, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7855021.stm. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
- ^ "Mexico tops U.S., Canadian car makers". Upi.com. December 11, 2008. http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/12/11/Mexico_tops_US_Canadian_car_makers/UPI-17741229011704/. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c Gereffi, G; Martínez, M (September 30, 2004). "Mexico's Economic Transformation under NAFTA". In Crandall, R; Paz, G; Roett, R. Mexico's Democracy at Work: Political and Economic Dynamics. Lynne Reiner Publishers. ISBN 1-58826-300-2.
- ^ Hufbauer, G.C.; Schott, J.J . (October 2005). "Chapter 6, The Automotive Sector". NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics. pp. 1–78. ISBN 0-88132-334-9. http://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/332/06iie3349.pdf.
- ^ DINA Camiones Company. "History". http://www.dina.com.mx/history.html. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Jeremy Korzeniewski. "London 2008: Mastretta MXT will be Mexico's first homegrown car". http://www.autoblog.com/2008/07/25/london-2008-mastretta-mxt-will-be-mexicos-first-homegrown-car/. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
- ^ a b "Televisa Brings 2006 FIFA World Cup to Mexico in HD With Snell & Wilcox Kahuna SD/HD Production Switcher". Snellwilcox.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071214054201/http://www.snellwilcox.com/news_events/press_releases/203. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "UNWTO Archive | World Tourism Organization UNWTO". Unwto.org. http://unwto.org/facts/eng/pdf/indicators/Top%20Spenders.pdf. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ "SECTUR (2006). "Turismo de internación 2001–2005, Visitantes internacionales hacia México" (in Spanish). Secretaría de Turismo (SECTUR). Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080610233248/http://www.sectur.gob.mx/wb/sectur/sect_Estadisticas_del_Sector. Retrieved July 26, 2008. pp. 5
- ^ Jennifer Blanke and Thea Chiesa, Editors (2008). "The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008". World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland. http://www.weforum.org/pdf/CGR08/Rankings.pdf. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
- ^ América Economia. "Top 500 Companies in Latin America" (Requires subscription). Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070929094218/http://www.americaeconomia.com/PLT_WRITE-PAGE.asp?SessionId=&Language=0&Modality=0&DateView=&NamePage=SearchResultArti&Section=1&Content=28380&Style=15624. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
- ^ "Fortune Global 500 2010: 64. Pemex". Fortune Magazine. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2010/snapshots/6385.html. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
- ^ "FT Non-Public 150 – the full list". December 14, 2006. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5de6ef96-8b95-11db-a61f-0000779e2340.html. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
- ^ Energy Information Administration. "Top World Oil Net Exporters and Producers". Archived from the original on February 16, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070216112638/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/topworldtables1_2.html. Retrieved February 16, 2007.
- ^ "EIA". Eia.doe.gov. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Mexico/Background.html. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ Infraestructura Carretera[dead link]. Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes
- ^ a b c d e f g "Mexico". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379167/Mexico. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Infrastructure, Power and Communications, Mexico. Encyclopedia of the Nations
- ^ a b "Mexico reviving travel by train". Azcentral.com. January 6, 2006. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0106mextrain06.html. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Bullet Train To Mexico City Looks To Be Back On Track ?". Guadalajara Reporter. October 17, 2003. http://guadalajarareporter.com/news-mainmenu-82/regional-mainmenu-85/3249-bullet-train-to-mexico-city-looks-to-be-back-on-track-.html. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ a b "Project for a Mexico City – Guadalajara High Speed Line. Rail transport engineering, public transport engineering". Systra. http://www.systra.com/Project-for-a-Mexico-City-Guadalajara-High-Speed-Line?lang=fr. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Slim to invest in Santa Cruz". The America's Intelligence Wire. January 21, 2005. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-127506564/slim-invest-santa-cruz.html.
- ^ "Mexico Real Estate In Yucatan to Benefit from New Bullet Train". Articlealley.com. August 25, 2010. http://www.articlealley.com/article_1717563_33.html. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Acerca del AICM. Posicionamiento del Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (AICM) con los 50 aeropuertos más importantes del mundo". AICM. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080531064833/http://www.aicm.com.mx/acercadelaicm/Estadisticas/index.php?Publicacion=169. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Acerca del AICM, Pasajeros". Aicm.com.mx. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080531064828/http://www.aicm.com.mx/acercadelaicm/Estadisticas/index.php?Publicacion=168. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b c Communications CIA Factbook
- ^ Satmex. Linking the Americas.[dead link]. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
- ^ Source: Arianespace (February 14, 2002). "Mexican Operator Satmex Has Chosen Arianespace to Launch Its New Satmex 6 Satellite". Spaceref.com. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=7420. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ Cintas, Pedro (2004). "The Road to Chemical Names and Eponyms: Discovery, Priority, and Credit". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 43 (44): 5888–94. DOI:10.1002/anie.200330074. PMID 15376297.
- ^ Coerver, Pasztor & Buffington (2004), p. 161
- ^ Summerfield, Devine & Levi (1998), p. 285
- ^ Summerfield, Devine & Levi (1998), p. 286
- ^ Forest & Altbach (2006), p. 882
- ^ Fortes & Lomnitz (1990), p. 18
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995". Nobelprize.org. Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1995/index.html. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
- ^ Thomson, Elizabeth A. (October 18, 1995). "Molina wins Nobel Prize for ozone work". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1995/molina-1018.html. Retrieved January 2, 2009.
- ^ [page needed]Unravelling unidentified γ-ray sources with the large millimeter telescope, Alberto Carramiñana and the LMT-GTM collaboration, in The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-Ray Sources, Josep M. Paredes, Olaf Reimer, and Diego F. Torres, eds., Springer Netherlands, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4020-6117-2.
- ^ "Mexico: Pumping Out Engineers". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. May 22, 2006. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_21/b3985070.htm. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010". Inegi.org.mx. http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/TabuladosBasicos/Default.aspx?c=27302&s=est. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "Spanish Language History". Today Translations. http://www.todaytranslations.com/index.asp-Q-Page-E-Spanish-Language-History--13053095. Retrieved October 1, 2007.
- ^ a b Wimmer, Andreas, 2002. Nationalist exclusion and ethnic conflict: shadows of modernity, Cambridge University Press page 115
- ^ Hall Steckel, Richard; R. Haines, Michael (2000). A population history of North America. Cambridge University Press. p. 621. ISBN 0-521-49666-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=BPdgiysIVcgC&pg=PA621&dq#v=onepage&q=&f=false.
- ^ Wade (1981:32)
- ^ Knight (1990:78–85)
- ^ "mestizo (people)". Britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/377246/mestizo. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ "Síntesis de Resultados". Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas. 2006. http://www.cdi.gob.mx/cedulas/sintesis_resultados_2005.pdf. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
- ^ Bartolomé (1996:2)
- ^ Knight (1990:73)
- ^ "Mexican Immigration to the US: The Latest Estimates". Migrationinformation.org. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=208. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Detailed Tables — American FactFinder. B03001. HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN". 2006 American Community Survey. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-mt_name=ACS_2006_EST_G2000_B03001. Retrieved December 15, 2007.
- ^ Tafoya, Sonya (December 6, 2004). "Shades of Belonging" (PDF). Pew Hispanic Center. http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/35.pdf. Retrieved June 3, 2008.
- ^ "American Citizens Living Abroad By Country" (PDF). US State Department. 1999. http://www.aca.ch/amabroad.pdf. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ Gutiérrez Vega, Mario (October 16, 2005). "Migrantes, votos, remesas: La apuesta política de los ausentes" (PDF). Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME). http://www.ime.gob.mx/investigaciones/bibliografias/apuesta_politica_gutierrez.pdf. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ "Especial Argentinos en el exterior, Mexico". La Nación. 2007. Archived from the original on August 29, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070829152344/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/coberturaespecial/argentinos/mexico/index.asp. Retrieved October 3, 2007.
- ^ Langley, William (July 8, 2007). "The biggest enchilada". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3641163/The-biggest-enchilada.html. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Mexico to deport Cubans bound for U.S.". Msnbc.msn.com. October 20, 2008
- ^ Rodriguez, Olga R. (April 13, 2008). "Central America migrant flow to US slows". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-04-13-1799967311_x.htm. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Digital Immigration Card Shows Mexico's Progressive Views on Immigration – NAM". News.newamericamedia.org. http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=083e0b4728d31cd23a57533cf02c46c5. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "INEGI: Cada vez más mexicanos hablan una lengua indígena - Nacional - CNNMéxico.com". CNN. March 30, 2011. http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/03/30/inegi-cada-vez-mas-mexicanos-hablan-una-lengua-indigena. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ "National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples". http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=62&Itemid=24. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
- ^ "Indicadores seleccionados sobre la población hablante de lengua indígena, 1950 a 2005". Inegi.gob.mx. http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=mlen01&c=3325. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ "Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas. México". Cdi.gob.mx. http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=91. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ a b http://www.inegi.org.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/poblacion_indigena/Pob_ind_Mex.pdf
- ^ "Abstract/Presentation Search and Itinerary Planner". ASHG. http://www.ashg.org/cgi-bin/ashg06s/ashg06?abst=mexican%20mestizo&sort=ptimes&sbutton=Detail&absno=10071&sid=864055. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
- ^ "Analysis of genomic diversity in Mexican Mestizo populations to develop genomic medicine in Mexico". Pnas.org. May 11, 2009. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/05/11/0903045106.abstract. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
- ^ (Spanish) "Título Primero, Capítulo I, De las garantías individuales" (PDF). Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Congress of the Union of the United Mexican States. June 19, 2007. http://www.normateca.gob.mx/Archivos/34_D_1247_22-06-2007.pdf. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
- ^ "POBLACIÓN DE 5 AÑOS Y MÁS POR ENTIDAD FEDERATIVA, SEXO Y GRUPOS LENGUA INDÍGENA QUINQUENALES DE EDAD, Y SU DISTRIBUCIÓN SEGÚN CONDICIÓN DE HABLA INDÍGENA Y HABLA ESPAÑOLA" (PDF). INEGI, México. Archived from the original on January 2, 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080102103605/http://www.inegi.gob.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/2000/definitivos/Nal/tabulados/00li01.pdf. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ INEGI [Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas, Geografia e Informática] (2005) (PDF). Perfil sociodemográfica de la populación hablante de náhuatl. XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda 2000 (Publicación única ed.). Aguascalientes, Mex.: INEGI. ISBN 970-13-4491-X. http://www.inegi.gob.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/poblacion_indigena/Hablantes_Nahuatl.pdf. Retrieved December 2, 2008. (Spanish)
- ^ 2000 census; the numbers are based on the number of total population for each group and the percentages of speakers given on the website of the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=660, accessed July 28, 2008).
- ^ Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas. 2008. “Catalogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Variantes lingüísticas de México con sus autodenominaciones y referencias geoestadísticas.”[dead link]
- ^ INALI [Instituto Nacional de Lenguas Indígenas] (January 14, 2008). "Catálogo de las lenguas indígenas nacionales: Variantes lingüísticas de México con sus autodenominaciones y referencias geoestadísticas" (PDF online facsimile). Diario Oficial de la Federación (México, D.F.: Imprenta del Gobierno Federal, SEGOB) 652 (9): 22–78 (first section),1–96 (second section),1–112 (third section). OCLC 46461036. http://www.inali.gob.mx/pdf/CLIN_completo.pdf. (Spanish)
- ^ (Spanish) "Ley General de Derechos Lingüísticos de los Pueblos Indígenas (General Law of the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples)" (PDF). CDI México. Archived from the original on September 25, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070925193420/http://cdi.gob.mx/derechos/vigencia/2006_ley_general_derechos_linguisticos_pueblos_indigenas.pdf. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
- ^ "The Mennonite Old Colony Vision: Under siege in Mexico and the Canadian Connection" (PDF). Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070205052716/http://www.hshs.mb.ca/mennonite_old_colony_vision.pdf. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010 – Cuestionario básico". INEGI. http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/TabuladosBasicos/Default.aspx?c=27302&s=est. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
- ^ "The Largest Catholic Communities". Adherents.com. http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
- ^ "Church attendance". Study of worldwide rates of religiosity. University of Michigan. 1997. http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/print.php?Releases/1997/Dec97/chr121097a. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
- ^ "Our Lady of Guadalupe". Catholic Online. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=456. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ "Mexico, Country profile". The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Days Saints Newsroom. Archived from the original on August 25, 2010. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20100825063153/http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/contact-us/mexico. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
- ^ Ludlow, Daniel H. (1994). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. pp. 4:1527. ISBN 0-87579-924-8.
- ^ Primack, Karen (1998). Jews in places you never thought of. KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. p. 305. ISBN 978-0-88125-608-6. http://books.google.com/?id=GhD0JZAOTHUC&pg=PA77&lpg=PA77&dq=jews+came+to+mexico+in+1521#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2009". US Department of State. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2009/127397.htm. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
- ^ "Mayans in Mexico’s Chiapas Region Convert to Islam". Wwrn.org. February 18, 2005. http://wwrn.org/articles/10271/. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
- ^ World Economic Forum. "The Global Gender Gap Report 2011 : The World Economic Forum". Reports.weforum.org. http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-2011/. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ a b "Delimitación de las zonas metropolitanas de México" (PDF). http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/metodologias/otras/zonas_met.pdf. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b Vasconcelos, José; Didier T. Jaén (translator) (1997). La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race). The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-8018-5655-8.
- ^ "Rockefeller Controversy". Diego Rivera Prints. http://www.diego-rivera.org/rockefellercontroversy.html. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
- ^ "Televisa Brings 2006 FIFA World Cup to Mexico in HD With Snell & Wilcox Kahuna SD/HD Production Switcher". Press release. Snell & Wilcox. June 27, 2006. http://www.snellwilcox.com/news_events/press_releases/203. Retrieved September 30, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ "2016 Binational Olympics". San Diego Metropolitan. December 2003. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930043448/http://www.sandiegometro.com/2003/dec/coverstory2.html. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "About CONCACAF". The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071006070253/http://www.concacaf.com/about.asp. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
- ^ "Introduction". Federacion Mexicana de Futbol. http://www.femexfut.org.mx/portalv2/(hjfqs545niz5yh55yipntw55)/default.aspx?s=135.
- ^ "Mexico – List of Final Tables". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/mexhist.html.
- ^ "Mexico – List of Champions". Rec.Sports.Soccer Statistics Foundation. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/mexchamp.html.
- ^ "LPGA Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings" (PDF). October 1, 2007. http://www.lpga.com/content/RolexRankings10-1-2007.pdf. Retrieved October 7, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ "Mexico – Health Care and Social Security". Countrystudies.us. http://countrystudies.us/mexico/63.htm. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Sistema Nacional de Información en Salud – Poblaciones de las Instituciones Prestadoras de Servicios de Salud de México: Definición y Construcción" (PDF). http://sinais.salud.gob.mx/descargas/pdf/SE01_PoblacionesInst.pdf. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "De seguir por el camino correcto en materia de salud, en tres años todos los mexicanos, sin excepción, contarán con médico, medicinas y tratamiento cuando lo necesiten: Presidente Calderón". Presidencia.gob.mx. http://www.presidencia.gob.mx/prensa/presidencia/?contenido=38260. Retrieved May 30, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ "Calderón promete cobertura universal de salud". .esmas.com. August 29, 2008. http://www2.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/mexico/009174/calderon-promete-cobertura-universal-salud. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ a b "Health Care in Mexico". Expatforum.com. http://www.expatforum.com/articles/health/health-care-in-mexico.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "Health Care Issues Mexico". Kwintessential.co.uk. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Mexico/Health-Care-Issues-Mexico/695. Retrieved November 4, 2009.
- ^ "Sistema Nacional de Información en Salud – Infraestructura". Sinais.salud.gob.mx. http://sinais.salud.gob.mx/medicinaprivada/index.html. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
- ^ "INEGI literacy report −14, 2005". Inegi.gob.mx. http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=medu15&s=est&c=3283. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "INEGI literacy report 15+, 2005". Inegi.gob.mx. http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/rutinas/ept.asp?t=medu16&s=est&c=3284. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Mexico: Youth Literacy Rate". Global Virtual University. http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/indicator_detail.cfm?IndicatorID=41&Country=MX. Retrieved October 2, 2007.
- ^ "The Times Higher Awards 2009". The Times Higher Education Supplement. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=438.
- ^ "Recruiter's scoreboard Highlights" (PDF). The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/MB_06_Scoreboard.pdf. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
- ^ " An Inside Look at Mexican Guns and Arms Trafficking," by Barnard R. Thompson, MexiData.info, May 31, 2010 | url=http://mexidata.info/id2684.html
- ^ Mexico Police and Law Enforcement Organizations. Accessed: 2008-03-04
- ^ Agencia Federal de Investigacion. Procuraduría General de la República. Accessed: 2008-03-04
- ^ Big, expensive and weirdly spineless. The Economist. Issued: 2008-02-14. Retrieved March 4, 2008
- ^ "Global Integrity Report". Report.globalintegrity.org. http://report.globalintegrity.org/globalindex/results.cfm. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ McKinley, JC Jr. (March 7, 2008) Mexico’s Congress Passes Overhaul of Justice Laws. The New York Times. Accessed on: March 18, 2008
- ^ "Seventh United Nations survey of crime trends and operations of criminal justice systems, covering the period 1998–2009" (PDF). United Nations Office on drugs and crime division for policy analysis and public affairs. pp. 13–15. Archived from the original on 2006. http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/seventh_survey/7sv.pdf. Retrieved December 1, 2006.
- ^ "Mexico Boosts Force in War with Drug Gang". Cbsnews.com. July 17, 2009. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/17/world/main5167018.shtml. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
- ^ "Is Mexico's Drug War Worth The Cost?". Npr.org. 2012-04-03. http://www.npr.org/2012/04/03/149919311/is-mexicos-drug-war-worth-the-cost. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
- ^ "100,000 foot soldiers in Mexican cartels". Washingtontimes.com. 2009-03-03. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/03/100000-foot-soldiers-in-cartels/. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
- ^ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. (2008). International Narcotics Control Strategy Report[dead link]. Retrieved March 4, 2008
- ^ "Mexico country profile". BBC News. November 29, 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1205074.stm. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ AP (February 1, 2010). "More Than 30,000 Killed in Mexico's Drug Violence". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/16/killed-mexicos-drug-violence/. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ^ a b "Mexican president: We're not losing drug war". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29413556/ns/world_news-americas. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
- ^ Gómez, Natalia (2007). Otorgará Iniciativa Mérida 500 mdd a México en primer año. El Universal. Retrieved March 4, 2008
Bibliography[link]
- Krauze, Enrique (1998). Mexico: Biography of Power: A history of Modern Mexico 1810–1996. New York, New York: Harper Perennial. p. 896. ISBN 0-06-092917-0.
- Meyer, Michael C.; William H. Beezley, editors (2000). The Oxford History of Mexico. Oxford University Press. p. 736. ISBN 0-19-511228-8.
- Parkes, Henry Bamford (1972). A History of Mexico (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-08410-5.
External links[link]
| Find more about Mexico on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
 |
Definitions and translations from Wiktionary |
 |
Images and media from Commons |
 |
Learning resources from Wikiversity |
 |
News stories from Wikinews |
 |
Quotations from Wikiquote |
 |
Source texts from Wikisource |
 |
Textbooks from Wikibooks |
- The Presidency of Mexico (English)
- Mexico entry at The World Factbook
- Mexico at the Open Directory Project
- Wikimedia Atlas of Mexico
- Mexico travel guide from Wikitravel
- Key Development Forecasts for Mexico from International Futures
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
http://wn.com/Mexico
Related pages:
http://de.wn.com/Mexiko
http://es.wn.com/México
http://ru.wn.com/Мексика
http://cs.wn.com/Mexiko
http://pt.wn.com/México
http://pl.wn.com/Meksyk
http://hi.wn.com/मेक्सिको
http://it.wn.com/Messico
http://id.wn.com/Meksiko
http://nl.wn.com/Mexico (land)
http://fr.wn.com/Mexique
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Edward Maya | |
|---|---|
| Edward Maya Edward Maya |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eduard Marian Ilie |
| Born | (1986-06-29) 29 June 1986 (age 25) |
| Origin | Bucharest, Romania |
| Genres | House, electronic |
| Occupations | Musician, DJ, Record producer, Performer, Song writer |
| Instruments | Vocals, accordion, guitar, flute, piano, bagpipes |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Mayavin Records |
| Associated acts | Vika Jigulina |
| Website | www.edwardmaya.com |
Eduard Marian Ilie (born 29 June 1986 in Bucharest),[1] better known as Edward Maya, is a Romanian musician, producer, performer, and composer. He graduated from George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest and is currently a final year student at the Bucharest Conservatory.
Contents |
Career[link]
In and around 2006, Maya worked with many Romanian artists such as Akcent, Vika Jigulina, Blaxy Girls, DJ Sava, DJ Rynno and Liviu Hodor. He worked also on the song Tornerò, which was performed by Mihai Trăistariu in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. He added in an interview on Beat-Town.com that this song "was the beginning of my career"[2]
In the summer of 2009, Maya launched his first song as an artist, "Stereo Love", reaching number 2 in the Romanian singles charts. Later that year, "Stereo Love" became a hit in clubs all over the world.[3] While this success was followed by concerts worldwide, the song entered the top-5 singles charts in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.[4][5][6][7] "Stereo Love" has received over 173 million YouTube views since August 2009, for just one video.[8]
On May 13, 2010, Maya released his second single "This Is My Life". To help maintain control of his career and provide opportunities for other artists, Maya has formed his own record label, Mayavin Records.[9]
Maya released the song and video for his third single "Desert Rain" on Christmas night worldwide.[10] In an interview Edward Maya talked about his Desert Rain tour he mentions he'll start off with India and later he will be touring Europe, US, South Africa and Pakistan.[11]
Discography[link]
Albums[link]
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Stereo Love Show |
|
Singles[link]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (FLA) [12] |
CAN [13] |
FRA [14] |
GER [15] |
IRE [16] |
NDL [17] |
SPA [18] |
SWE [19] |
SWI [20] |
UK [21] |
US [22] |
|||||
| 2009 | "Stereo Love" (feat. Vika Jigulina) |
7 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 | The Stereo Love Show[30] | ||
| 2010 | "This Is My Life" (feat. Vika Jigulina) |
4 | — | 2 | — | — | 24 | — | 58 | 43 | — | — | |||
| 2011 | "Desert Rain" (feat. Vika Jigulina) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||
Other singles[link]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN [13] |
||||
| 2010 | "Stereo Love" (feat. Mia Martina) |
10 | Devotion |
References[link]
- ^ Biographie Edward Maya : bio, parcours artistique Edward Maya - NRJ
- ^ "Edward Maya speaks to Beat-Town" (in English/Greek). Beat-Town. http://beat-town.com/2010/04/09/edward-maya-beat-town/. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
- ^ ANT1 WEB TV / VIDEO ΧΡΗΣΤΩΝ / Stereo Love - Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina / ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗ
- ^ "Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina: Stereo Love (Nummer)". Hung Medien. http://www.dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Edward+Maya+%26+Vika+Jigulina&titel=Stereo+Love&cat=s. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Maya,Edward Feat.Jigulina,Vika / Single". Musicline.de. http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Maya%2CEdward+Feat.Jigulina%2CVika/single. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ "Search the Charts". irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
- ^ "Chart Stats: Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=12581. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ "Edward Maya-Stereo Love official video". www.youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-Z3YrHJ1sU&feature=fvst. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Edward Maya > Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/edward-maya-p2111631/biography.
- ^ "Exclusive Interview with Edward Maya". Mizzo. http://www.mizozo.com/entertainment/12/2010/24/exclusive-interview-with-edward-maya-composer-of-t....html. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Edward Maya's concert in Pakistan". http://edwardmaya.com/home/361-my-first-time-in-pakistan.
- ^ "Belgium's singles positions for Edward Maya". Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/search.asp?lang=nl&cat=s&artist=Edward+Maya&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- ^ a b "Billboard: Edward Maya (Canada)". Billboard Magazine. http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/artist/edward-maya/chart-history/1355116?f=793&g=Singles. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "France's singles positions for Edward Maya". Hung Medien. http://lescharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Edward+Maya&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Charts.de: Edward Maya (Singles)". Charts.de. http://www.charts.de/ersuche.asp?kategorie=chart&interpret_suche=Edward+Maya&titel_suche=&jahr=&cat=s. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ^ "Search the charts". irishcharts.ie. http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Holland's singles positions for Edward Maya". Dutch Top 40. http://www.top40.nl/search.aspx?keyword=Edward%20Maya&jaar=2012&maand=3&week=13#. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
- ^ "Spain's singles positions for Edward Maya". Hung Medien. http://www.spanishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Edward+Maya&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Sweden's singles positions for Edward Maya". Hung Medien. http://www.swedishcharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Edward+Maya&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Switzerland's singles positions for Edward Maya". Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Edward+Maya&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Chart Stats: Edward Maya". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=12581. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
- ^ "Billboard: Edward Maya (US)". Billboard Magazine. http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/artist/edward-maya/chart-history/1355116?f=379&g=Singles. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Ultratop: Goud En Platina Singles 2010". Ultratop. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/certifications.asp?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Canadian digital download certifications – Edward Maya – Stereo Love Featuring Viki Jigulina". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Stereo+Love+Featuring+Viki+Jigulina&sa=Edward+Maya&smt=0.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Edward Maya; 'Stereo Love')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank/?action=suche&strTitel=Stereo+Love&strInterpret=Edward+Maya&strTtArt=single&strAwards=checked. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
- ^ "SEMANA 46: del 15.11.2010 al 21.11.2010". PROMUSICAE. http://promusicae.es/files/listastonos/historial/TOP%2050%20CANCIONES%2010_46.pdf. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "Swedish Certifications: 2010". IFPI (Sweden). http://www.ifpi.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/%C3%85r-2010.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
- ^ "Switzerland Certifications: Awards 2010". Hung Medien. http://www.swisscharts.com/awards.asp?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
- ^ "American certifications – Edward Maya – Stereo Love". Recording Industry Association of America. 2011-09-01. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Stereo+Love%22. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
- ^ "Edward Maya official site: Desert Rain". edwardmaya.com. http://edwardmaya.com/home/232-edward-maya-feat-vika-jigulina-desert-rain-official-video. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
- ^ "Gold & Platinum Certifications: October 2010". CRIA. http://www.cria.ca/gold/1010_g.php. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
External links[link]
|
||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Maya%2C Edward |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 29 June 1986 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Edward_Maya
Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://cs.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://es.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://ru.wn.com/Эдвард Майя
http://nl.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://pt.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://pl.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://fr.wn.com/Edward Maya
http://de.wn.com/Edward Maya
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Maya
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
