TOEFL Test Centers in Mexico

EDU February 16, 2019

Mexico Overview

Mexico is a presidential republic in Central America with the capital Mexico City. The landscape of earthquake-prone Mexico is characterized by sharp contrasts. They range from active volcanism and eternal snow to tropical rainforests and deserts. In the north the climate is subtropical, in the south tropical.

Mexico is the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil and the Mexicans the largest Spanish-speaking people in the world. Around 62% of the predominantly Catholic residents are mestizos (German mestizos), around 28% indigenous and 9% whites, mostly of Spanish descent. The indigenous population belongs to over 60 tribes and peoples. The largest are the Maya and the Nahua (Aztec n). Society is characterized by strong social differences. The small upper class consists almost exclusively of whites, the middle class has grown as a result of industrialization and the expansion of the administrative apparatus. The broad, mostly urban lower class lives in poverty. It comprises more than 40% of the population. Some of the unemployed and underemployed have tried for decades to emigrate to the neighboring USA or to hire themselves out as farm workers there. The number of Mexican migrants living in the USA is now over 12 million, of which around 7 million are illegal.

After the conquest of the Aztec Empire by a handful of Spaniards under Hernán Cortés in the 16th century, Mexico formed the Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain. It gained independence in 1821/23. After a war against the USA in 1848 Mexico had to cede California, New Mexico and Texas, among others. Domestic political tensions sparked a civil war in 1857, as a result of which, at the instigation of France, the Empire of Mexico was established in 1864, which, however, soon broke up again. 1877-1911 (with interruptions) reigned Porfirio Díaz authoritarian. His fall ushered in the Mexican Revolution (1911-20), in which the socialist direction prevailed and ruled as the “Institutional Revolutionary Party” for 71 years until 2000. Domestically, the “drug war” has been the main problem for decades. Conflicts between warring drug cartels have resulted in tens of thousands dead, including politicians, journalists and bystanders.

In the emerging country, the exploitation of large oil reserves is the most important economic factor, followed by tourism. Membership in the United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA, formerly NAFTA) with the USA and Canada brings foreign economic advantages. Almost all tariffs between countries were abolished from 1994 onwards. Mexico is a G20 member.