Portal:Mexico


The Temple of Warriors at Chichen Itza, Mexico
The Temple of Warriors at Chichen Itza, Mexico

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Mexico
Location of Mexico
LocationSouthern portion of North America

Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Mexico covers 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), and is the thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area. With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the tenth-most populous country in the world and is home to the largest number of native Spanish speakers. Mexico City is the capital and largest city, which ranks among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world.


Human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, considered a cradle of civilization, was home to numerous advanced societies, including the Olmecs, Maya, Zapotecs, Teotihuacan civilization, and Purépecha. Spanish colonization began in 1521 with an alliance that defeated the Aztec Empire, establishing the colony of New Spain with its capital at Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). New Spain became a major center of the transoceanic economy during the Age of Discovery, fueled by silver mining and its position as a hub between Europe and Asia. This gave rise to one of the largest multiracial populations in the world. The Peninsular War led to the 1810–1821 Mexican War of Independence, which ended Peninsular rule and led to the creation of the First Mexican Empire, which quickly collapsed into the short-lived First Mexican Republic. In 1848, Mexico lost nearly half its territory to the American invasion. Liberal reforms set in the Constitution of 1857 led to civil war and French intervention, culminating in the establishment of the Second Mexican Empire under Emperor Maximilian I of Austria, who was overthrown by Republican forces led by Benito Juárez. The late 19th century saw the long dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz, whose modernization policies came at the cost of severe social unrest. The 1910–1920 Mexican Revolution led to the overthrow of Díaz and the adoption of the 1917 Constitution. Mexico experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth in the 1940s–1970s, amidst electoral fraud, political repression, and economic crises. Unrest included the Tlatelolco massacre of 1968 and the Zapatista uprising in 1994. The late 20th century saw a shift towards neoliberalism, marked by the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. (Full article...)

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The battle of Agua Dulce Creek was a skirmish during the Texas Revolution between Mexican troops and the colonists of the Mexican province of Texas, known as Texians. As part of the Goliad Campaign to retake the Texas Gulf Coast, Mexican troops ambushed a group of Texians on March 2, 1836. The skirmish began approximately 26 miles (42 km) south of San Patricio, in territory belonging to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

When Mexico transitioned to a centralized government in 1835, supporters of federalism took up arms. Colonists in Texas revolted in October 1835 and by the end of the year had expelled all Mexican troops from their province. With hostilities temporarily suspended, Frank W. Johnson, the commander of the volunteer army in Texas, and James Grant gathered volunteers for a planned invasion of the Mexican port town of Matamoros. In late February 1836, Johnson and half of the volunteers drove a herd of horses to San Patricio, while Grant took the remaining men to gather more horses and to attempt contact with federalist sympathizers near Matamoros. (Full article...)

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Mural by Diego Rivera showing the pre-Columbian Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. In the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City.

Mexican muralism refers to the art project initially funded by the Mexican government in the immediate wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) to depict visions of Mexico's past, present, and future, transforming the walls of many public buildings into didactic scenes designed to reshape Mexicans' understanding of the nation's history. The murals, large artworks painted onto the walls themselves had social, political, and historical messages. Beginning in the 1920s, the muralist project was headed by a group of artists known as "The Big Three" or "The Three Greats". This group was composed of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Although not as prominent as the Big Three, women also created murals in Mexico. From the 1920s to the 1970s, murals with nationalistic, social and political messages were created in many public settings such as chapels, schools, government buildings, and much more. The popularity of the Mexican muralist project started a tradition which continues to this day in Mexico; a tradition that has had a significant impact in other parts of the Americas, including the United States, where it served as inspiration for the Chicano art movement. (Full article...)

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Ex voto [San Sebastián] (English: Votive Offering [Saint Sebastian]) (1912), by Ángel Zárraga, at the Museo Nacional de Arte
image credit: public domain

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Antonio Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén (5 March 1962 – 5 November 2010), commonly referred to by his alias Tony Tormenta ("Tony Storm"), was a Mexican drug lord and co-leader of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in Tamaulipas. He headed the criminal group along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez. Antonio was considered by Mexican security forces to be one of Mexico's most-wanted men.

Born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Antonio initially worked as a car washer at a local police station with his brother Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, former leader of the cartel. By the late 1980s, he entered the drug trade, and later became the crime boss of Matamoros, where he controlled the city's drug trafficking shipments and all organized crime activities. Few details were known of Antonio's criminal career prior to 1999, when his brother Osiel confronted federal agents at gunpoint with several of his gunmen in Matamoros. In 1998, Antonio avoided arrest after FBI and DEA agents tracked his whereabouts inside a domicile in Houston. Back in Mexico, his brother Osiel was the Gulf Cartel's main leader and had created a paramilitary squad known as Los Zetas, formed by soldiers who deserted the Mexican military. (Full article...)

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Posthumous portrait as Emperor of Mexico by Primitivo Miranda, 1865.

Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (Spanish pronunciation: [aɣusˈtin de ituɾˈbiðe] ⓘ; 27 September 1783 – 19 July 1824), commonly known as Agustín de Iturbide and later by his regnal name Agustín I, was the first Emperor of Mexico from 1822 until his abdication in 1823. An officer in the royal Spanish army, during the Mexican War of Independence he initially fought insurgent forces rebelling against the Spanish crown before changing sides in 1820 and leading a coalition of former royalists and long-time insurgents under his Plan of Iguala. The combined forces under Iturbide brought about Mexican independence in September 1821. After securing the secession of Mexico from Spain, Iturbide was proclaimed president of the Regency in 1821; a year later, he was proclaimed Emperor, reigning from 19 May 1822 to 19 March 1823, when he abdicated. In May 1823 he went into exile in Europe. When he returned to Mexico in July 1824, he was arrested and executed. (Full article...)

In the news

12 July 2025 – Tariffs in the second Trump administration
United States president Donald Trump announces a 30% tariff increase on imported items from Mexico and the European Union to take effect on August 1. (BBC News)
8 July 2025 – July 2025 Southern New Mexico floods
At least three people are killed, four people are trapped, including a father and his two children, and 85 others are rescued when they are washed away in flash floods in Ruidoso, New Mexico, United States. (AP) (LBC)
6 July 2025 – 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
In association football, the defending champions Mexico win a record-extending 10th Gold Cup title after defeating the United States 2–1 in the final at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Edson Álvarez is named the tournament's best player. (France 24)
4 July 2025 –
Anti-gentrification protests in Mexico City, Mexico, lead to tourist harassment and vandalism in Condesa. (AP)
30 June 2025 – 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett announces that the United States will restart trade talks with Canada after they cancel their digital services tax on American technology firms. (CBC)
27 June 2025 – 2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico
U.S. president Donald Trump announces the suspension of the trade talks with Canada, also announcing new tariffs on goods crossing the Canada–United States border. (BBC News)

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Huachinango a la Veracruzana (Snapper Veracruz style)

The cuisine of Veracruz is the regional cooking of Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. Its cooking is characterized by three main influences—indigenous, Spanish, and Afro-Cuban—per its history, which included the arrival of the Spanish and of enslaved people from Africa and the Caribbean. These influences have contributed many ingredients to the cooking including native vanilla, corn and seafood, along with rice, spices and tubers. How much the three mix depending on the area of the state, with some areas more heavily favoring one or another. The state has worked to promote its cuisine both in Mexico and abroad as part of its tourism industry. (Full article...)

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