If you find maps, especially old maps, as fascinating as I do, you’ll enjoy reading the chapter on “Mesoamerican Cartography” (link is to pdf file) in the University of Chicago’s History of Cartography. In this wide-ranging chapter, author Dr. Barbara Mundy explores many aspects of Mesoamerican Cartography, from the different styles and materials used to […]
Environmental sustainability is a highly politicized term which almost all nations now eagerly claim as one of their goals. How true are these claims? The Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) combines five major components (see diagram) which include 76 separate measurements in all. It assesses how close countries are to environmental sustainability. The ESI includes the […]
In a previous post, we described the considerable geotourism potential of the Primavera Forest near Guadalajara: Mexico’s geomorphosites: the Primavera Forest, Guadalajara, Jalisco In this post, we take a closer look at how this unusual area was formed. Stages 1 and 2 (see diagram): 140,000 BP. The magma chamber beneath the surface began to fill […]
This 30 minute video (narrated in Spanish with English subtitles) looks at the vexed situation of Mexican workers that have been deported from the USA back into Mexico. About 200 migrants are deported daily. Almost all are male,. Many of them have lived for several years in the USA prior to deportation, and some have […]
Earlier this week, the headline “Ocupa México primer lugar mundial en obesidad; supera a EU” (Mexico in first place for obesity; more obese than the USA) grabbed my attention. The headline appeared in the Mexican magazine Proceso, normally a stickler for getting its facts straight. Last time we checked (October 2012)–Obesity in Mexico compared to […]
For the first time ever, five Mexican beaches have been awarded Blue Flag certification. The Blue Flag system is a voluntary, international eco-label program run by the non-government, non-profit organization the Foundation for Environmental Education that recognizes beaches where water quality is excellent, where information and environmental education is readily available, and which are well managed, […]
The Primavera Forest (aka Bosque de la Primavera, Sierra de la Primavera) is a volcanic region located immediately west of Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara. The Primavera Forest occupies an ancient volcanic caldera, where the last eruptions are thought to have been about 30,000 years ago. The Primavera is a wilderness area of pine and oak […]
The Social Progress Index measures the extent to which countries provide for the social and environmental needs of their citizens. It is a compound index, based on 52 indicators in the areas of Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity that show relative performance in order to elevate the quality of discussion on national […]
Kudos to the Earth Island Institute for responding to the many criticisms we and others made of a blog article (“Water Pollution Plagues Mexico’s Scenic Pacific Coast”) by pulling it from their website. The following post has been edited to reflect that fact. Water quality is a serious concern in many parts of Mexico and […]
No Mexican festival is complete without a dazzling display of fireworks. Gunpowder was unknown in Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, but its use in fireworks quickly caught on. Firework production is usually a small-scale family affair, and there are workshops specializing in fireworks throughout the country. The undisputed capital of fireworks is […]
Welcome to our third quiz about the geography of Mexico. Previous quizzes: How well do you know Mexico? The geography of Mexico: Quiz 1 How well do you know Mexico? The geography of Mexico: Quiz 2 How many of the following can you answer correctly? If you answer a question incorrectly, you can have more […]
What happens if or when Mexico City needs more water than it is using at present? There are several options, depending on whether authorities choose to modify demand, supply, or both in order to improve the future situation. In terms of managing (reducing) demand, conservation measures are one possibility. Changing consumer habits may require not […]
Each year the United National Development Program (UNDP) publishes Human Development Index (HDI) scores and ranks for all countries with available data. The 2013 report, which is based on 2012 data, was just published. (Summary HDI 2013 Report: Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World) The index takes account of three key […]
Our grateful thanks to Felisa Churpa Rosa Rogers for the following review which appeared in The People’s Guide to Mexico, March 2011: Growing up in a parochial school system, I was under the impression that the subject geography was limited to identifying countries by their shapes. Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton’s Geo-Mexico: The Geography and […]
Mexican rivers are not well suited for navigation and thus have had only a minor influence on Mexico’s historical development. Their most important use has been as sources of irrigation water and hydroelectric power. Mexico’s annual flow of river water (roughly 410 km3) is about 25% more than the St. Lawrence River, but 25% less […]
The 2013 hurricane season in Mexico is underway. The “official” hurricane season is from 15 May to 30 November each year for Pacific coast storms, and from 1 June to 30 November for Atlantic storms, though most hurricane activity is concentrated in the months from July to September. Hurricanes are also known as typhoons or […]
Mexico City is one of the world’s largest cities, and the metropolitan area of Greater Mexico City (map) extends well beyond the borders of the Federal District (Mexico City proper) into neighboring states, especially the State of Mexico. The total population of Greater Mexico City is about 22 million, all of whom need safe access […]
In the past few months, it has become harder than ever to assess the cleanliness of Mexico’s beaches. Alejandro Calvillo, director of the consumer rights organization “El Poder del Consumidor” recently published an alarming blog post alleging that Mexican authorities have gone to considerable lengths in recent months to mask the true state of Mexico’s […]
Note: This is a copy of an article by an unknown author (publication date also unknown) as found originally at http://webspace.webring.com/people/hi/ilg21/puebla.htm and cached on waybackmachine.com: Author’s Note: This article was drawn from a set of notes created during a trip to Mexico City, most of which were destroyed in a subsequent flood. Details on the […]
Mexico City is one of the world’s largest cities, and the metropolitan area of Greater Mexico City (population about 22 million) extends well beyond the borders of the Federal District (Mexico City proper) into neighboring states. The city is ringed by hills. Homes have sprawled up the hillsides, often in a haphazard or unplanned way, […]
The American Cities of the Future 2013/14 rankings were published recently by the fDi Intelligence division of the U.K. Financial Times. The rankings are designed to identify the most promising destinations around the world for future inward investment. Data were collected for 422 cities relating to more than 70 criteria, grouped into five main categories: […]
An amendment to Mexico’s constitution in 2011 made access to potable water a basic human right, but Mexico’s major cities face unprecedented challenges in meeting future demands for drinking water. In this post we look at some of the water supply issues relating to Mexico City and Guadalajara. In 2009, the National Water Commission (Conagua) […]
According to Mexico’s National Chamber for the Clothing Industry (Cámara Nacional de la Industria del Vestido, Conaive), this was an unanswered question prior to a randomized survey of 17,364 individuals carried out by INEGI in 2010-11 in four areas of the country. 49.3% of those measured were men, 50.7% women. The survey, limited to people […]
One of the most curious of Mexico’s dozens of indigenous languages is the whistled language of one group of the Chinantec people who live in the state of Oaxaca. This group’s conventional spoken language is complemented by a language based entirely on whistles. Only a few people remain who speak this whistled language fluently. The […]
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) periodically identifies 100 companies from rapidly developing economies as “global challengers.” (Bcgperspectives, “Introducing the 2013 BCG Global Challengers“). BCG has identified 100 companies for this list in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. They focus on companies in developing Asia (excluding Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore), Eastern […]
Cynthia Roderick is an award-winning photographer whose work has been widely published in major newspapers, magazines and TV news programs. However, I had not realized until recently that Roderick has a strong affection for Oaxaca. Several portfolios of work related to Oaxaca can be accessed via her website: Ocotlan Small Animal Market (23 images) Zaachilla […]
In an earlier post, we described President Enrique Peña Nieto’s very ambitious “Pact for Mexico”. Very briefly, the Pact addresses 95 important issues in five broad categories: reducing violence, combating poverty, boosting economic growth, reforming education, and fostering social responsibility. Achieving these reforms will require passage of new legislation by a majority in both houses […]
El Sótano de las Golondrinas, in the municipality of Aquismón in the state of San Luis Potosí, is a massive limestone sinkhole (pit cave), one of the largest known in the world. In terms of depth, it is thought to be the second deepest sinkhole in Mexico and is probably in the world’s top 20. […]
On-going rural-urban migration has led to a proliferation of metropolitan areas and the construction of millions of new homes across Mexico. Thirty years ago, there were only 15 recognized metropolitan areas in Mexico, today there are 59. In recent decades, there has been insufficient coordination between the various government departments responsible for housing, services and […]
In a presentation entitled “Mexico’s Outlook” in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico, on 20 March 2013, noted Mexican political economist Leo Zuckermann explained how many economists see Mexico as the “flavor of the month” among Latin American economies. Brazil previously was the star of Latin America as evidenced by the 14-20 November 2009 cover of The Economist. […]