Bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Belize, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico is the world's 13th largest
country by total area, and the 11th most populous. It is a federation
comprising 32 states, including Mexico City, its capital and largest
city, which is also a state. Due to its rich culture and history, Mexico
ranks first in the Americas and sixth in the world by number of UNESCO
World Heritage Sites.
Mexico
is crossed from north to south by two mountain ranges known as Sierra Madre Oriental and Sierra Madre Occidental, which are the extension of the Rocky Mountains from northern North America. From east to west at
the center, the country is crossed by the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
also known as the Sierra Nevada. A fourth mountain range, the Sierra Madre del Sur, runs from Michoacán to Oaxaca. As such, the majority of
the Mexican central and northern territories are located at high
altitudes.
Pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as
the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first
contact with Europeans. Unintentionally introduced by Spanish
conquerors, smallpox ravaged Mesoamerica, killing more than 3 million
Aztecs as they had no immunity (15 million from other sources). Severely
weakened, the Aztec empire was easily defeated by Hernán Cortés and his
forces on his second return. The native population declined 90% by 1600
to 1-2.5 million.
The
territory became part of the Spanish Empire under the name of New Spain, and Mexico City was systematically rebuilt by Cortés following
the Fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521. The Council of Indies and the mendicant establishments, which arose in Mesoamerica as early as 1524,
labored to generate capital for the crown of Spain and convert the
Indian populations to Catholicism. During this period and the following
Colonial periods, the sponsorship of mendicant friars and a process of
religious syncretism combined the Pre-Hispanic cultures with Spanish
socio-religious tradition.
During
the three centuries of colonial rule, fewer than 700,000 Spaniards,
most of them men, settled in Mexico. The settlers intermarried with
indigenous women, fathering the mixed race (mestizo) descendants who
today constitute the great majority of Mexico's population. The
syncretism between indigenous and Spanish cultures gave birth to many of
today's Mexican cultural traits. In order to protect Mexico from the
attacks of English, French and Dutch pirates, only two ports were open
to foreign trade: Veracruz on the Atlantic and Acapulco on the Pacific.
In
1810 was triggered a revolt against the ruling Junta, that led to the
declaration of independence in 1813. After years of fights, in 1821
representatives of the Spanish Crown and the criollo general Agustín de Iturbide signed the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire.
Iturbide proclaimed himself emperor, but a
revolt against him in 1823 established the United Mexican States. In
1829 president Guerrero abolished slavery. When General Antonio López de Santa Anna suspended the 1824 Constitution, civil war spread across the
country.
In
1836 Texas successfully achieved independence as a republic and joined
the United States. A border dispute between the US and Mexico led to the Mexican–American War, which began in 1846 and lasted for two years.
Mexico was forced to give up more than one-third of its land to the US.
The Caste War of Yucatán began in 1847, and Maya rebels, or Cruzob,
maintained relatively independent enclaves in the peninsula until the
1930s. In the 1860s Mexico was occupied by France, which established the Second Mexican Empire, but in 1867 the Emperor Maximilian I was
executed.
In
December 1994 the Mexican economy collapsed, but with a rapid rescue
package authorized by the US, and major macroeconomic reforms, the
economy rapidly recovered. In 2000, after 71 years, the PRI lost the
presidential election, but in 2012 won again. Now, Mexico has the
fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest GDP by purchasing
power parity. By 2050, Mexico could become the world's fifth or seventh
largest economy. The country is considered both a regional power and
middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power.
About the stamps
The stamp is part of the series México creación popular (Folk Art Mexico), about which I wrote here.
References
Mexico - Wikipedia
Sender: Maggie Alonso (direct swap)
Sent from Ecatepec (Mexico / Mexico), on 23.01.2014
Sent from Ecatepec (Mexico / Mexico), on 23.01.2014
Design: Jorge Escudero de Sybaris
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