The Central American country Mexico borders on both the Atlantic ocean as well as the Pacific. The USA is to the north and the Central American states of Guatemala and Belize to the south of Mexico.
According to Estatelearning, Mexico has an area of nearly 2 million square kilometers and a population of 112 million. An estimated 20 million people live in the metropolitan area of the capital Mexico City alone.
With the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico offers a cultural and scenic highlight. This is where the Maya built their pyramids. The ancient Aztecs and Toltecs were also at home in Mexico. Numerous buildings testify to this time before the Spaniards conquered the land. These brought the Spanish colonial style into the country, which is still present especially in the cathedrals of the cities. In the north of Mexico, the Indians of the country still settle in pueblos. On the other hand, on the Pacific coast there are tourist spots like Acapulco.
One of the popular “sports” is bullfighting. As a result, almost every major city in Mexico has its own arena in which these events take place. This part of the cultural past is very controversial today, also in the country itself. The Monumental Plaza de toros Mexico was built in Mexico City in 1946. 41,000 people can be accommodated here. This number of visitors can be increased to 50,000 for concerts. This makes it the largest bullfighting arena in the world.
Besides these events Mexicans are big fans of car racing. The most popular races take place in the American racing series. The country also has its own racing series. The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City is the most famous track that has great popularity. Formula 1 races were held here until 1992.
Topography
The Central American land bridge measures 1,200 km at its widest point in northern Mexico. On the isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico approach each other within 220 km. Mexicali, located in the north-west, is about 3,000 km from the Yucatan peninsula.
The third largest country in Latin America belongs predominantly (about four fifths) to the North American continent, which narrows towards the south and ends at the isthmus of Tehuantepec. The mountain ranges and rows of volcanoes of Central America begin to the east of this isthmus. The up to 4,000 m high Sierra Madre de Chiapas on the border with Guatemala, on the northern edge of which a devastating volcanic eruption (El Chinchonal) occurred in the spring of 1982, is still part of the Central American mountain ranges.
The neighboring Yucatan peninsula is geologically more part of the Caribbean island world. Their low karst limestone plateaus continue in Cuba and on the Florida peninsula.
The North American part of Mexico consists of a wide variety of rocks, from crystalline rocks from primeval times to limestones from the Mesozoic to volcanic lavas and ashes from the modern era, but the landscape is relatively simple and clearly structured: a central highland that is in the southeast Reached heights of 2,500 m and drops to about 1,300 m to the northwest, it is bordered by peripheral mountains in the west, south and east.
The highest peaks in the country are the 5,636 m high Pico de Orizaba and the 5,462 m high Popocatépetl. They are located in a young volcanic mountain range that runs from the Pacific coast to the Gulf coast across the country and seals off the highlands in the south. Most of Mexico’s active volcanoes are also located here.
Beyond the deep depression of the Rio Balsas, the southern Sierra Madre joins the volcanic zone, a mountainous region made up of crystalline and stratified rocks, which reaches heights of 3,000 m.
The western Sierra Madre, which stretches along the western edge of the highlands, consists mainly of younger lava rocks. Their mostly 2,000 to 3,000 m high plateaus are furrowed in the hinterland of the Pacific coast by deep canons, which in places reach into the base of older rocks.
In contrast, the Eastern Sierra Madre is a real fold mountain range with high ridges of hard limestone from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, which have been exposed by erosion from softer layers. On its eastern edge, a wide coastal hill country extends from Veracruz to the mouth of the Rio Grande in the north behind a belt of spits and lagoons.
The highlands themselves are hardly lower in the south than the foothills. The individual and high valleys are separated from each other by narrow mountain ranges (sierras) and table mountains (mesas). In the north, the mountain ranges enclose wide basin landscapes without drainage (Bolsone).
The approximately 1,300 km long Baja California peninsula in the northwest is, so to speak, an appendage of the California coastline. It is crossed by mountains of crystalline rocks, which are about 3,000 m high in the northern part. A single volcano rises up on the steep eastern flank of the narrow peninsula.
