墨西哥(Mexico)
西班牙语作México
正式名称墨西哥合众国（United Mexican States）
美洲南部共和国。东北部的格兰德河与美国为界。面积1,958,201平方公里。人口约99,969,000（2001）。首都︰墨西哥城。约3/5到墨西哥人口是梅斯蒂索（mestizo），1/3为美洲印第安人，其余为欧洲人後裔。语言︰西班牙语（官方语）；逾五十种印第安语。宗教︰天主教。货币︰墨西哥披索（Mex$）。墨西哥有两个半岛，东南方的犹加敦半岛和西北方的下加利福尼亚半岛。墨西哥高原形成该国的核心地区，四周被山岭环抱︰西马德雷山脉、东马德雷山脉和科迪勒拉新火山，後者有该国最高峰锡特拉尔特佩特峰。墨西哥的混合经济以农业、制造业和炼油为主。约1/8的土地是可耕地，主要的作物有玉蜀黍、小麦、稻米、豆类、棉花、水果和蔬菜。为世界最大银、铋、天青石产国，而其原油储量占世界第七位。制造业包括了食品加工、化工、运输车辆和电机制品。政府形式为共和国，两院制。国家元首暨政府首脑是总统。
该地区在两万多年前就有人定居，西元100～900年发展出许多伟大的文明，包括奥尔梅克人、托尔特克人、马雅人以及阿兹特克人。1521年西班牙探险家科尔特斯征服了阿兹特克人，在阿兹特克人的首都特诺奇蒂特兰的位置上建起了墨西哥城。1526年蒙特霍（F. de Montejo）征服了马雅文明的剩余部分，墨西哥成为新西班牙总督辖区的一部分。1821年造反者们通过谈判脱离西班牙而独立，1823年新国会宣布墨西哥为共和国。1845年美国通过投票决定兼并德克萨斯，开始了墨西哥战争。根据1848年的「瓜达卢佩伊达尔戈和约」，墨西哥割让了大片领土，即如今美国的西部和西南部。19世纪末和20世纪初，墨西哥政府承受了数次造反和内战（参阅Mexican Revolution）。第二次世界大战期间，墨西哥向轴心国宣战（1942），战後，它是联合国（1945）和美洲国家组织（1948）的创建成员。1993年它批准了北美自由贸易协定。2000年福克斯（V. Fox）赢得了大选，结束了革命制度党七十一年的统治。
English version：
Mexico
officiallyUnited Mexican StatesRepublic, southern North America. The Rio Grande forms part of its northeastern border with the U.S. Area: 756,066 sq mi (1,958,201 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 94,270,000. Capital: Mexico City. About three-fifths of Mexico's population is mestizo, one-third is American Indian, and the rest are of European ancestry. Languages: Spanish (official); more than 50 Indian languages are spoken. Religion: Roman Catholicism. Currency: Mexican peso. Mexico has two major peninsulas, the Yucatán in the southeast and Baja California in the northwest. The high Mexican Plateau forms the core of the country and is enclosed by mountain ranges: the Sierra Madre Occidental, the Sierra Madre Oriental, and the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica. The last has the nation's highest peak, the volcano Citlaltépetl. Mexico has a mixed economy based on agriculture, manufacturing, and petroleum extraction. About one-eighth of the land is arable; its major crops include corn, wheat, rice, beans, coffee, cotton, fruits, and vegetables. It is the world's largest producer of silver, bismuth, and celestite, and its crude-oil reserves rank seventh in the world. Manufactures include processed foods, chemicals, transport vehicles, and electrical machinery. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state and head of government is the president. Inhabited for more than 20,000 years, the area produced great civilizations in AD 100-900, including the Olmec, Toltec, Mayan, and Aztec. The Aztec were conquered in 1521 by Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes, who established Mexico City on the site of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Francisco de Montejo conquered the remnants of Maya civilization in 1526, and Mexico became part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821 rebels negotiated a status quo independence from Spain, and in 1823 a new congress declared Mexico a republic. In 1845 the U.S. voted to annex Texas, initiating the Mexican War. Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, it ceded a vast territory in what is now the western and southwestern U.S. The Mexican government endured several rebellions and civil wars in the late 19th and early 20th century (see Mexican Revolution). During World War II it declared war on the Axis powers (1942), and in the postwar era it was a founding member of the United Nations (1945) and the Organization of American States (1948). In 1993 it ratified the North American Free Trade Agreement. The election of Vicente Fox (2000) ended 71 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party.