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Home | Travel Guide | North America | Mexico <<

Overview

Mexico is the world's most populous Spanish speaking country, and the colorful diversity of its many cultures is by far its most valuable asset. Mexico was inhabited for centuries by pre-Columbian civilizations, including the Aztec, Olmec, Maya and Toltec, then ruled by the Spanish for 300 years. It finally gained its independence from Spain on September 16, 1810. Coastal resort cities like Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, as well as Isla Cozumel and the Baja Peninsula, have transformed Mexico into one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet.

Mexico enjoys a cultural blend that is wholly unique: among the fastest growing industrial powers in the world, its vast cities boast modern architecture to rival any in the world, yet it can still feel, in places, like a half-forgotten Spanish colony, while the all-pervading influence of native American culture, five hundred years on from the Conquest, is extraordinary. Mexico is a traveller's paradise, crammed with a multitude of opposing identities: desert landscapes, snow-capped volcanoes, ancient ruins, teeming industrialised cities, time-warped colonial towns, glitzy resorts, lonely beaches and a world-beating collection of flora and fauna.

Each aspect can be found in isolation, but far more often, the three co-exist - indigenous markets, little changed in form since the arrival of the Spanish, thrive alongside elaborate colonial churches in the shadow of the skyscrapers of the Mexican miracle. Occasionally, the marriage is an uneasy one, but for the most part it works unbelievably well. Physically, Mexico resembles a vast horn, curving away south and east from the US border with its final tip bent right back round to the north. It is an extremely mountainous country

Population: 101,457,200
Languages: Spanish, local indian dialects
Area: 1,908,690 sq km (736.945 sq miles),

Acapulco Mexico City Puerto Vallarta

Aguascalientes Cancun Celaya

Cozumel Merida Monterey

Oaxaca Chichen Itza Guadalajara

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