Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. The United States is the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico. Colombia is the world’s third largest Spanish-speaking country.
Se habla español (we speak Spanish)
Mexico is named after the Aztec god, Mexitli. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec empire in May 1521 and named it Nueva España (New Spain). The present official name of the country is 'United Mexican States' (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos)
Names of Mexico
Mexico is thr largest producer of silver metal in the world. Veta madre, a 6.8 mile-long silver vein discovered in 1548 in Guanajuato, Mexico, made Guanajuato City the world's leading silver producer in the 18th century.
Maize (corn) was first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Before domestication, each maize plant grew only one one-inch-long corn cob. Centuries of artificial selection by the indigenous people resulted in the development of maize plants capable of growing several long cobs per plant.
Birthplace of Maize
The Chihuahua, the smallest breed of dog in the world, is named after the biggest Mexican state by area, Chihuahua. There are two varieties of Chihuahua – the Smooth Coat and the Long Coat. Chihuahuas of either coat type may be identified as either "apple head" or "deer head".
Mexico is home to world's second biggest Catholic Christian population (Only Brazil has more Catholics than Mexico) On the request of Hernán Cortés, a group of twelve Franciscan missionaries reached Mexico City on June 17, 1524 with the goal of converting its indigenous population to Christianity.
Early natives of southern Mexico have introduced chocolate to the world. The cacao tree was cultivated more than 3,000 years ago by the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec peoples. The word chocolate came from the Nahuatl word xocolātl (meaning "bitter water")
Birthplace of chocolate
Chichen Itza is one of the most visited archaeological sites in Mexico. The Great Pyramid of Cholula, also known as Tlachihualtepetl ("made-by-hand mountain"), is the largest pyramid on the planet, with a base four times larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza and nearly twice the volume. Its also the oldest continuously occupied building on the American continent.
If you want to climb a volcano under five minutes, head for Mexico. The Cuexcomate volcano, located in the suburbs of Puebla, Mexico, is the smallest volcano in the world. The 13 meters tall Cuexcomate volcano's name came from the Nahuatl word, cuexcomac, meaning bowl or a place to keep things.
The National University of Mexico was founded in 1551 by Charles V of Spain and is the oldest university in North America. The university, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), was founded in 1551 by Charles V, a holy Roman Emperor
Oldest university in N. America
Plaza Mexico in Mexico City is the largest bullring in the world with over 48,000 seats. In the traditional 'corrida de toros', three matadores each fight two bulls, each of which is between four and six years old. In Spanish, the lead bullfighter is called 'torero'.
Corrida de toros
The poinsettia, the plant species of the diverse spurge family, is indigenous to Mexico. It derives its name from Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant to the US in 1825. It is well known for its red and green foliage and is widely used in Christmas floral displays.
Discovery of silver in the 16th century propelled the Mexico City as the "first world city". Mexico City was the location of the first printing shop (1539), first university (1551), and first public park (1592) in the Americas. The city sinks 10 inches each year as it was built on an ancient lake
First world city
Mexico City is a cultural oasis for art lovers. The city has about 150 museums, highest number of museums of all non-European cities. (Only London and Paris have the more museums than Mexico city) There are museums for every taste, from ancient Pre-Columbian collections to Tequila and Mezcal exhibits.
City of museums
Cinco de Mayo ("Fifth of May") is annually being celebrated by Mexicans to commemorate the Mexican Army's unlikely victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza.
Cinco de Mayo
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had the unique distinction of being a father in three senses of the word: a priestly father in the Roman Catholic Church, a biological father who produced illegitimate children in violation of his clerical vows, and the father of his country. He has been hailed as the Father of the Nation even though it was Agustin de Iturbide and not Hidalgo who achieved Mexican Independence in 1821
Father of the Nation
Mexico is home to the largest number of U.S. citizens abroad. Mexico is the largest source of immigration to the United States. The Mexico–United States border is the most frequently crossed border in the world.
Most porous border
The Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana, Mexico, in the kitchen of chef Caesar Cardini.
Birthplace of Caesar salad
On November 12, 1853, President Antonio López de Santa Anna announced a competition to write a national anthem for Mexico. The competition offered a prize for the best poetic composition representing patriotic ideals. Francisco González Bocanegra, a talented poet, showed no interested in participating in the competition. His fiancée, Guadalupe González del Pino, lured him to a secluded bedroom in her parents' house, locked him into the room, and refused to let him out until he produced an entry for the competition. After four hours, Francisco regained his freedom by slipping all ten verses of his creation under the door. González was announced the winner.
Mexican national anthem
Financially-strapped government of Antonio López de Santa Anna agreed to sell a 29,670-square-mile region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico to the United States via a treaty signed on December 30, 1853, by James Gadsden, U.S. ambassador to Mexico at that time. The purchase, known as the Gadsden Purchase, was the last substantial territorial acquisition in the contiguous United States. The price paid was $10 million (equivalent to about $270 million in 2018).
Sold to the USA
The charreada is the national sport of Mexico. It is a competitive event similar to rodeo and was developed from animal husbandry practices used on the haciendas of old Mexico. The sport has been described as "living history," or as an art form drawn from the demands of working life. Evolving from the traditions brought from Spain in the 16th century, the first charreadas were ranch work competitions between haciendas. The modern Charreada developed after the Mexican Revolution when charro traditions were disappearing. The charreada consists of nine events for men plus one for women, all of which involve horses, cattle or both. The charreada is an elaborate Mexican rodeo consisting of nine separately scored events featuring everything from bull riding to cala de caballo, or reining, which is literally where the rider is required to demonstrate mastery of the reins by forcing the horse to “dance” about the ring. There is even an event called El Paso de la Muerte (literally the pass of death), where the charro rides bareback and attempts to leap from his own horse to the bare back of a wild horse without reins and ride it until it stops bucking.
Mexico witnessed several advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved its independence early in the 19th century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely indigenous population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON, but the PRI regained the presidency in 2012. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides
Crossroads of civilizations