Mexico's President Felipe Calderon listens during a press conference with Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President George W. Bush at Gallier Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 22, 2008. The three countries are participating in the North American Leaders' Summit. AFP PHOTO/SAUL LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)SAUL LOEB/AFP / Getty Images
Kesterton's Mexico
- Founded as the colony of New Spain, the country freed itself from the mother country in the early 19th century. It then reclaimed its identity by adopting the name of an Aztec tribe, the Mexica. Its official name is United Mexican States.
- Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. About 76 per cent live in urban areas. By some estimates, the greater Mexico City population is nearly 22 million, making it the largest concentration of people in the Western Hemisphere.
- Since 1957, the Mexican government has told artists: Can't afford to pay your income taxes? Paint a picture instead. As a result, the country has quietly amassed a modern-art collection.
- Poverty is widespread. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Mexicans come to the United States to trade their blood plasma for dollars.
- Drug trafficking produces billions of dollars for the Mexican drug cartels. Last year, a cartel kingpin made the Forbes billionaires list.
World Cup
- Odds: 80:1
- Team nickname: El Tri (named after the three colours on the Mexican flag)
- Star players: Hector Moreno, Guillermo Franco, Rafael Marquez, Carlos Vela
- Globe Sports: Group A news archive
Culture
Top cultural exports: Literature, painting and sculpture
Food: Tacos, chile relleno, guacamole, tequila
Most Famous Canadian relation: Roy Heenan (chairman, founding partner law firm Heenan Blaikie), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (visual artist)
Speed Limit: 110 kilometres an hour
National pastime: Charrería (rodeo), soccer
Politics
President: Felipe Calderón Hinojosa
- Age: 47
- Elected: July 6, 2006; declared president-elect on Sept. 5, 2006.
- Party: National Action Party (PAN)
- Legislature: Bicameral, elected Federal Chamber of Deputies, elected Senate
- Political System: Federal Republic
Background: Mr. Calderón studied law and economics in Mexico before obtaining his Master's of Public Administration from Harvard in 2000.
Mr. Calderón is known for his prolonged and bloody war against drug cartels. Before becoming president, Mr. Calderón was energy secretary in former president Vicente Fox's cabinet. But he quit the post in 2004 in protest of Mr. Fox's criticism of his presidential ambitions.
The Canadian government's imposition of visitors' visas on Mexicans last summer has been a major irritant between the nations. "It certainly gets in the way of … what Prime Minister Harper and I are doing to have good relations between our two countries," Mr. Calderón said at the North American Leaders' Summit in Mexico last August.
G20 Goals: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Felipe Calderon worked together last year to resist protectionist economic policies.
Economy
Gross Domestic Product: $1.09-trillion
Jobless rate: 5.4%
Gross government debt (as a percentage of GDP)
- 2000: 45.5
- 2009: 44.9
- 2015 (projected): 42.4
Sources: Bloomberg, IMF
NATION PROFILES
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