About Mexico Officially named the United Mexican States, republic (1995 est. pop. 93,986,000), 753,665 sq miles (1,952,500 sq km), It borders on the United States in the north, on the Gulf of Mexico (including its arm, the Bay of Campeche) and the Caribbean Sea in the east, on Belize and Guatemala in the southeast, and on the Pacific Ocean in the south and west. Mexico is divided into 31 States and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. Land Most of Mexico is highland or mountainous and less than 15% of the land is arable; about 25% of the country is forested. Most of the Yucatán peninsula and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast is lowland, and there are low-lying strips of land along the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California. In the south the deserts yield to the broad, shallow lakes of a region, comprising the Valley of Mexico, known as the Anáhuac and famous for its rich cultural heritage. South of the Anáhuac, which includes Mexico City, is a chain of extinct volcanoes, including Citlaltépetl or Orizaba (18,700 ft/5,700 m, the highest point in Mexico), Popocatépetl , and Iztaccihuatl. To the south are jumbled masses of mountains and the Sierra Madre del Sur.
People The great majority of the population are of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent and speak Spanish, the official language, as their first language. Various Mayan dialects are also spoken. Since 1920 the population of Mexico has had a very high rate of growth, almost entirely the result of natural increase; from 1940 to 1990 the population grew from 19.6 million to 81.1 million. The first society to settle the Riviera Maya were the Maya, an Indian people who developed one of the most advanced civilization in Mesoamerica, the region of southern Mexico, Guatemala, western Honduras, Belize, and northern El Salvador. Researchers believe their ancestors crossed the Bering Strait at least 25,000 years ago when glacial ice enabled passage from Siberia to Alaska. Originating in the Yucatan around 2600 B.C., the Maya rose to prominence around 250 A.D. and flourished for a millennium, to be eventually conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century. The early Maya are recognized for their religious beliefs and practices, the foundation for their way of life. As notable are their intellectual achievements that were manifested in great construction feats as well as tremendous advancements in mathematics, astronomy and writing system. The Maya developed one of the most sophisticated cultures in the ancient world. To most of us, the Maya are known for their elaborate architecture in which they created temples, palaces and brilliant pyramids. Researchers are baffled as to how the Maya were able to accomplish such engineering marvels without cutting instruments or use of wheeled transport. Without the wheel, draft animals or metal cutting tools, Mayans built magnificent cities, and cleared routes through jungles to create extensive trade networks with distant peoples. Interesting, apparently they had toys with wheels, yet for an unknown reason, the wheel was never developed for commercial use. Did something else perform a similar function, or did the concept elude them? *Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003. 
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