50 Amazing Facts about Mexico

Amazing facts about Mexico

1.  Estados Unidos Mexicanos(United Mexican States), is the official name of Mexico.

2.  Chocolate, chilies and corn are introduced to world by Mexico.

3.  Volcano rabbit, it is one of the very rare rabbit, found in Mexico near Mexican volcanoes.

4. Jaguar is the largest wildcat in North America, which can be found in Mexico’s southern jungles.

5.  In 1539, the first printing press in North America was used in Mexico city.

Also read: Amazing Facts about USA and Interesting Facts about USA

6.  The oldest university in North America is The National University of Mexico founded by Charles V Spain, in 1551.

7.  Every year, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate from U.S and Canada to Mexico.

8.  The second largest border in the world is between Mexico and United States.

9.  Mexico has the second highest number of Catholic citizens.

10.  Mexican children receive gifts on January 6, the day on which they celebrate the arrival of Three Wise Men.  They don’t receive gifts on Christmas day.

11.  Mexico is located in the earth’s most violent earthquake and volcano zones, called “Ring of Fire”.

12.  Mexico city is sinking at a rate of 6 to 8 inches a year.  Mexico city is built on a lake, over the ruins of a great Aztec city, Tenochtitlan.  Pumps draw water out for the city’s growing population.

13.  Mexico’s flag is made up of three vertical stripes which are green, white and red, and there is a picture of an eagle eating a snake which is based on Aztec legend.  The right red stripe represents the blood of Mexican people, the left green stripe stand for hope and the middle white stripe represents purity.

14.  Chihuahua is the name of a Mexican state, which is the world’s smallest dog.

15.  Mexico’s size is almost three times larger than Texas, which is 756,066 square miles.

16.  Mexico ranks 11th, in terms of population. It has a population of 118,395,054 in 2013.

17.  Mexico ranks 13th, in terms of total area.

18.  Mexico city is one of the largest cities in the world, it has the highest elevation and is oldest city in North America.

19.  Olmecs (1400-300 B.C.), is the first greatest civilization in Mexico.  They worshiped a mysterious, unnamed god that was part of jaguar and part human.  They established many cities along the eastern coast of Mexico.

20.  The Zapotec civilization (600 B.C. – A.D. 800) developed the first writing system in the Americans and established great cities along southern Mexico.

21.  Human sacrifice is common in Aztec.  During this sacrifice five priests, sometimes with their faces painted with different colors perform certain rituals .  The heart was cut from the live victim, referred as “precious eagle cactus fruit”, was burned on a fire in the temple.

22.  “Tlachtli”, is a ritual ball game played by Aztecs.  The losers were often sacrificed to the gods.

23.  According to statistics, about 60% of the Mexican population is mestizo(Indian-spanish), 30% is Indian, 9% is Caucasian and 1% is other.

24.  Bullfighting is Mexico’s national sport, which was introduced by Spanish conquerors.  It takes place from November to April.  Plaza Mexico is the world’s largest bullring.

25.  Spanish is the national language of Mexico.  Over 50 native tongues are still spoken in rural areas of Mexico.  Mexico is the most populated Spanish-speaking country.

26.  Texas was a Mexican province.  Its independence from Mexico was declared in 1836.

27.  A war broke between United states and Mexico in 1936-1838.

28.  A civil war started in the year 1910, which lasted for 10 years, under the guidance of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata against the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz.

29.  Voting by women started in the year 1958.  But they played an important role in 1910 revolution, serving as arm smugglers, spies and soldiers.

30.  A group of Mexican farmers and peasants called the Zapatistas started another revolt to highlight the differences between the rich and poor in the year 1994.

31.  In 1994, The North Atlantic Free Trade Association(NAFTA) was created.  It was created to encourage trade among United States, Canada and Mexico.  But, it failed to lift Mexico out of poverty due to Mexico’s inability to enforce rule of law and it’s weak public education system, government corruption and repeated economic crisis.

32.  The Chichen Itza Pyramid was named one of the seven wonders of world, present in Mexico.

33.  In 1913,  in a span of one hour, Mexico had three different presidents.

34.  Pedro Lascurain, held the president post for an estimated 26 minutes, the shortest term on record.

35.  The second biggest producer of horse meat is Mexico, China comes first.

36.  In Mexico lot of people die due to scorpion stings.  ten times as many people are killed from scorpion stings as die from snakebites.

37.  Football is one the famous games in the country. Mexico won gold medal in 2012 London Olympics.  In the final Mexico beat Brazil.

38.  Mexico ranks third in the export of honey.

39.  Tequila and Tabasco are named after places in Mexico.

40.  In 2011, more than 27,000 intentional homicides occurred in Mexico.

41.  The minimum age of consent for sexual activity is 12, under Mexican federal law.  In individual states vary from 12 to 15.

42.  Mexico stands in second place when it comes to ecosystems in the world.

43.  Actor Anthony Quinn was the first Mexican to win Academy Award.  He got it for the movie viva zapata in 1952.

44.  Mexico ranks first in salt production.

45.  Mexico has 31 states as well as the capital city(Mexico city).

46.  Golden Eagle is the national symbol of Mexico, which features prominently on the coat of arms.

47.  Mexico is the largest source of immigration to the United States.

48.  Mexico is the second fattest country in the world, first comes the United States.

49.  Mexico is the 10th largest oil producer in the world and the largest producer of silver.

50.  Mexico has 32 UNESCO world heritage sites.

Also read: Amazing Facts about USA and Interesting Facts about USA