The largest salt-making facility on the planet is near Guerrero Negro on the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. It produces about 9 million metric tons of salt each year. The salt here is not mined, but extracted from ocean water by evaporation. The salt fields cover 33,000 hectares (acres), including 28,000 ha of […]
Los ninis are young people (aged 15-29) that “ni trabaja, ni estudia” (neither work nor study). They have become the focus of much press attention in the past few years, often accompanied by the phrase “Mexico’s lost generation”. According to a recent OECD report, “Education at Glance 2015”, two out of every ten Mexicans in […]
The local authorities in Iztapalapa, in the eastern section of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, and one of the most interesting locations in Mexico in which to witness Easter celebrations, calculate that around 10,000 homes are in the area are at “high risk” of serious damage due to ground subsidence. Some parts of the city are […]
A series of graphics prepared by Mexico City daily El Universal includes a map showing the details of all the mining concessions in Mexico. According to the newspaper’s analysis, one fifth of Mexico’s total land area is subject to mining concessions belonging to one company or another. The six companies holding the largest areas of […]
In a previous post – The emergence of two major beer-makers in Mexico – we looked at how Mexico’s beer industry came to be dominated by two large players: Femsa and Modelo, both now owned by foreign corporations. The map below shows the location and date of inauguration of all major breweries in Mexico. How […]
A survey of more than 75,000 Condé Nast Traveler readers placed seven Mexican hotels in the world’s top 100. Mexico’s top hotel (#15 in the rankings) was the Viceroy Rivera Maya hotel, in Playa del Carmen (Quintana Roo). It was joined in the top 100 by Rancho La Puerta in Tecate (Baja California), St. Regis […]
According to its website, “The QMI Agency is French and English Canada’s leading news reference for daily, intermittent and event-driven needs. Its offering most notably includes texts, images, videos and other interactive content.” QMI’s Facebook page promotes its graphics department which “creates infographics for use throughout our chain” and boasts that “QMI Agency provides reliable, […]
The table shows the number of tourists (national and international) visiting Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2000-2013. From 2000 until 2011, tourist numbers fluctuated between 2.8 and 3.3 million. Since 2011, tourist numbers have risen sharply, to 3.6 million in 2012, 4.1 million in 2013 and a preliminary estimate of 4.3 million for 2014. Cancún currently […]
The Codex Mendoza, which we have referred to in several previous posts, can now be viewed via an amazing online interactive resource organized by INAH, Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, in association with Oxford’s Bodleian Library and King’s College, London. Compiled in 1542, and richly illustrated, the Codex Mendoza is one of the […]
The Lacondon Maya are one of the most isolated and culturally conservative of Mexico’s numerous indigenous peoples. Their homeland is in the remote Lacondon Jungle in eastern Chiapas, close to the Guatemalan border. The Lacondon were the only Mayan people not conquered or converted by the Spanish during the colonial era. Until the mid-20th century […]
At this time of year, Mexico attracts millions of visitors seeking to escape the cold weather further north. The vast majority of visitors will never experience any problem during their travels in Mexico, but both the US State Department and Canadian government continue to issue regular warnings to those considering travel in Mexico. Some of […]
This post looks at where branches of Banamex (Banco Nacional de México) were founded in the period prior to 1960. Banamex is one of the oldest banking institutions in Mexico. It is now a subsidiary of Citigroup, but remains the second largest bank in the country after BBVA Bancomer. Banamex was formed on 2 June […]
Unlike the USA and Canada, where gifts are usually exchanged on Christmas Day (25 December), the original tradition in Mexico over the Christmas season was to exchange presents on Three Kings Day (Día de los Reyes, 6 January). In the Christian calendar, 6 January marks the Feast of the Epiphany, the day when the magi […]
The northern state of Nuevo León is an industrial powerhouse, centered on Monterrey, Mexico’s third-largest city. The state’s shape on a map is unusual in more ways than one. The state has a long north-south axis and is very narrow from west to east. The strange indentation south of Monterrey is largely determined by relief. […]
We had no idea when we first published Geo-Mexico, the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico, and started this associated blog, how many readers we would reach. On the one hand, very few U.S. or Canadian universities have courses devoted specifically to Mexico. There are quite a number of geography courses with titles such as […]
Geologists have discovered that some strange things are happening off the southern coast of the Baja California Peninsula. In essence, while most of Mexico rests on the North American plate, the Baja California Peninsula is on the gigantic Pacific plate. The Pacific plate is moving slowly northwest and the pressures in the zone where these […]
Mexico is one of the world’s “Top Ten” countries for vehicle production and for vehicle exports. In 2014, it has overtaken Brazil to become the world’s 7th largest vehicle producer and fourth largest exporter. 80% of Mexico’s production of around 3.3 million vehicles in 2014 were made for export. The trade surplus generated by the […]
Geo-Mexico wishes all its readers the warmest seasonal greetings. The photo shows Mexico’s only floating Christmas Tree. It can be seen near Tenago de las Flores in the municipality of Huachinango in the northern part of the state of Puebla. The 15-meter-high tree, with Christmas lights, stands on a wooden platform atop a raft of […]
Plans to expand Mexico City’s metro network, announced by the federal government, will require investments totaling around 2.8 billion dollars. The first contracts are expected to be awarded next year, with most projects due to be completed by 2018, the final year of this administration. The major proposals affect three metro lines: Metro Line A […]
At the end of the nineteenth century, during the successive presidencies of Porfirio Díaz, railway building leapt forward. Díaz aggressively encouraged rail development through generous concessions and government subsidies to foreign investors. By 1884 Mexico had 12,000 km of track, including a US-financed link from Mexico City to the USA through Torreón, Chihuahua and Ciudad […]
According to consumer surveys, only one out of every five Mexican households decorates a natural Christmas tree during the holiday season; the other 80% of households decorate artificial trees. About 75% of natural trees are bought from traditional retailers, with the remaining 25% purchased from informal street vendors. Almost all purchases of natural Christmas trees […]
A week ago, we highlighted the first of a series of four articles in the LA Times about the living and working conditions faced by migrant farmworkers in Mexico as they harvest crops that end up on dinner tables not only in Mexico, but also in the USA. The other three articles in the series […]
Earlier this year, David Korenfeld, the director of Mexico’s National Water Commission (Conagua), was chosen to head the inter-governmental council that oversees UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program (IHP). The IHP is the only inter-governmental program of the U.N. system devoted to water research, water-resources management, and education and capacity building. In his acceptance speech, Korenfeld called […]
Preventing, diagnosing and treating dengue fever is a major public health issue in many parts of the world, including central America and Mexico. The disease is transmitted by mosquitoes. Infected patients develop a sudden high fever, usually accompanied by generalized body pain and a skin rash. The pain can be very severe, hence the disease’s […]
Every so often, a news article comes along which rattles our perceptions, causes us to think, and begs us to discuss big issues. This is one of those times. Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Marosi and photojournalist Don Bartletti traveled across nine Mexican states, observing conditions and interviewing workers at some of the mega-farms that […]
In the second half of the 19th century, the Mexican government undertook am ambitious railway building program that eventually connected Mexico City with the USA, as well as with ports on the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean Since the privatization of the railway system in 1995, many lines have fallen out of use and passenger […]
The Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad AC, IMCO) has published its annual analysis of the competitiveness of Mexico’s states. The report provides some interesting insights into which areas of Mexico are “most competitive” in business terms, defined as their capacity to attract and retain investments and a talented workforce. This suggests […]
Early concessions (the first was in 1837) came to nothing. By 1860 Mexico had less than 250 km of short disconnected railroad lines and was falling way behind its northern neighbor, the USA, which already had almost 50,000 km. Political, administrative and financial issues, coupled with Mexico’s rugged topography, also prevented Mexico from keeping up […]
For the fourth year running, Mexico was the world’s leading beer exporter in 2013, with beer exports reaching a record 2.2 billion dollars, a rise of 4.2% compared to 2012, and well ahead of both the Netherlands ($2.0 billion) and Belgium ($1.6 billion). Mexico has become the leading supplier of beer to the USA and […]
Many of the arts and crafts found in Michoacán date back to pre-Columbian times, but now incorporate techniques and materials that were brought from Europe and elsewhere. Many of the introductions occurred during the time of Vasco de Quiroga (ca 1470-1565), after whom the town of Quiroga, at the eastern extremity of Lake Pátzcuaro, is […]