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Martin Luther King, Jr. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Martin Luther King (disambiguation), MLK (disambiguation), and MLK, Jr. (disambiguation)
This article is semi-protected. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King Jr NYWTS.jpg Martin Luther King Jr Signature2.svg Date of birth: January 15, 1929(1929-01-15) Place of birth: Atlanta, Georgia, United States Date of death: April 4, 1968 (aged 39) Place of death: Memphis, Tennessee, United States Movement: African-American Civil Rights Movement and Peace movement Major organizations: Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Notable prizes: Nobel Peace Prize (1964) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977, posthumous) Congressional Gold Medal (2004, posthumous) Major monuments: Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial (planned) Alma mater: Morehouse College Crozer Theological Seminary Boston University Religion: Baptist Influences Jesus, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Benjamin Mays, Hosea Williams, Bayard Rustin, Henry David Thoreau, Howard Thurman, Leo Tolstoy
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, and he has become a human rights icon: King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches.[1] A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career.[2] He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King's efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986. Contents [show]
* 1 Early life
* 2 Education
* 3 Influences
o 3.1 Populist tradition and Black populism
o 3.2 Thurman
o 3.3 Gandhi and Rustin
* 4 Sermons and speeches
* 5 Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955
* 6 Southern Christian Leadership Conference
o 6.1 Albany movement
o 6.2 Birmingham campaign
o 6.3 Augustine and Selma
* 7 March on Washington, 1963
* 8 Stance on compensation
* 9 "Bloody Sunday", 1965
* 10 Chicago, 1966
* 11 Opposition to the Vietnam War
* 12 Poor People's Campaign, 1968
* 13 Assassination
o 13.1 Allegations of conspiracy
o 13.2 Developments
o 13.3 Riots
* 14 FBI and wiretapping
o 14.1 Allegations of Communist connections
o 14.2 Allegations of adultery
* 15 Legacy
o 15.1 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
* 16 Awards and recognition
* 17 Capital memorial
* 18 Bibliography
* 19 See also
* 20 Notes
* 21 References
* 22 Further reading
* 23 External links
o 23.1 Video and audio material
Early life
Martin Luther King, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King.[3] King's father was born "Michael King," and Martin Luther King, Jr., was originally named "Michael King, Jr.," until the family traveled to Europe in 1934 and visited Germany. His father soon changed both of their names to Martin Luther in honor of the German Protestant leader Martin Luther.[4] He had an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King.[5] King sang with his church choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind.[6] King was originally skeptical of many Christianity's claims.[7] Most striking, perhaps was his denial of the bodily resurrection of Jesus during Sunday school at the age of thirteen. From this point he stated, "doubts began to spring forth unrelentingly."[8]
King married Coretta Scott, on June 18, 1953, on the lawn of her parents' house in her hometown of Heiberger, Alabama.[9] King and Scott had four children; Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice King.[10] King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama when he was twenty-five years old in 1954.[11] Education
Growing up in Atlanta, King attended Booker T. Washington High School. He skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grade and entered Morehouse College at age fifteen without formally graduating from high school.[12] In 1948, he graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1951.[13][14] King then began doctoral studies in systematic theology at Boston University and received his Doctor of Philosophy on June 5, 1955, with a dissertation on "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman." A 1980s inquiry concluded portions of his dissertation had been plagiarized and he had acted improperly but that his dissertation still "makes an intelligent contribution to scholarship."[15][16] Influences Populist tradition and Black populism African American topics History [show]
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Harry C. Boyte, a self-proclaimed populist, field secretary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and white civil rights activist describes an episode in his life that gives insight on some of King's influences:
My first encounter with deeper meanings of populism came when I was nineteen, working as a field secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in St. Augustine, Florida in 1964. One day I was caught by five men and a woman who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. They accused me of being a "communist and a Yankee." I replied, "I'm no Yankee – my family has been in the South since before the Revolution. And I'm not a communist. I'm a populist. I believe that blacks and poor whites should join to do something about the big shots who keep us divided." For a few minutes we talked about what such a movement might look like. Then they let me go.
When he learned of the incident, Martin Luther King, head of SCLC, told me that he identified with the populist tradition and assigned me to organize poor whites.[17]
Thurman
Civil rights leader, theologian, and educator Howard Thurman was an early influence on King. A classmate of King's father at Morehouse College,[18] Thurman mentored the young King and his friends.[19] Thurman's missionary work had taken him abroad where he had met and conferred with Mahatma Gandhi.[20] When he was a student at Boston University, King often visited Thurman, who was the dean of Marsh Chapel.[21] Walter Fluker, who has studied Thurman's writings, has stated, "I don't believe you'd get a Martin Luther King, Jr. without a Howard Thurman".[22] Gandhi and Rustin
Inspired by Gandhi's success with non-violent activism, King visited Gandhi's birthplace in India in 1959, with assistance from the Quaker group the American Friends Service Committee.[23] The trip to India affected King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights. In a radio address made during his final evening in India, King reflected, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity. In a real sense, Mahatma Gandhi embodied in his life certain universal principles that are inherent in the moral structure of the universe, and these principles are as inescapable as the law of gravitation."[24] African American civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who had studied Gandhi's teachings,[25] counseled King to dedicate himself to the principles of non-violence,[26] served as King's main advisor and mentor throughout his early activism,[27] and was the main organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.[28] Rustin's open homosexuality, support of democratic socialism, and his former ties to the Communist Party USA caused many white and African-American leaders to demand King distance himself from Rustin.[29] Sermons and speeches Main article: Sermons and speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Throughout his career of service, King wrote and spoke frequently, drawing on his experience as a preacher. His "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in 1963, is a "passionate" statement of his crusade for justice.[30] On October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in the United States.[31] Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955 Main articles: Montgomery Bus Boycott, Jim Crow laws#Public arena, Claudette Colvin, and Rosa Parks
In March 1955, a fifteen-year-old school girl, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in compliance with the Jim Crow laws. King was on the committee from the Birmingham African-American community that looked into the case; Edgar Nixon and Clifford Durr decided to wait for a better case to pursue.[32] On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat.[33] The Montgomery Bus Boycott, urged and planned by Nixon and led by King, soon followed.[34] The boycott lasted for 385 days,[35] and the situation became so tense that King's house was bombed.[36] King was arrested during this campaign, which ended with a United States District Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle that ended racial segregation on all Montgomery public buses.[37] Southern Christian Leadership Conference
In 1957, King, Ralph Abernathy, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created to harness the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform. King led the SCLC until his death.[38]
In 1958, while signing copies of his book Stride Toward Freedom in Blumstein's department store on 125th Street, in Harlem,[39][40] he was stabbed in the chest by Izola Curry, a deranged black woman with a letter opener, and narrowly escaped death.[41]
Gandhi's nonviolent techniques were useful to King's campaign to correct the civil rights laws implemented in Alabama.[42] King applied non-violent philosophy to the protests organized by the SCLC. In 1959, he wrote The Measure of A Man, from which the piece What is Man?, an attempt to sketch the optimal political, social, and economic structure of society, is derived.[43] His SCLC secretary and personal assistant in this period was Dora McDonald.
The FBI, under written directive from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, began telephone tapping King in the Fall of 1963.[44] Concerned that allegations (of Communists in the SCLC), if made public, would derail the Administration's civil rights initiatives, Kennedy warned King to discontinue the suspect associations, and later felt compelled to issue the written directive authorizing the FBI to wiretap King and other leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.[45] J. Edgar Hoover feared Communists were trying to infiltrate the Civil Rights Movement, but when no such evidence emerged, the bureau used the incidental details caught on tape over the next five years in attempts to force King out of the preeminent leadership position.[46]
King believed that organized, nonviolent protest against the system of southern segregation known as Jim Crow laws would lead to extensive media coverage of the struggle for black equality and voting rights. Journalistic accounts and televised footage of the daily deprivation and indignities suffered by southern blacks, and of segregationist violence and harassment of civil rights workers and marchers, produced a wave of sympathetic public opinion that convinced the majority of Americans that the Civil Rights Movement was the most important issue in American politics in the early 1960s.[47]
King organized and led marches for blacks' right to vote, desegregation, labor rights and other basic civil rights.[48] Most of these rights were successfully enacted into the law of the United States with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.[49]
King and the SCLC applied the principles of nonviolent protest with great success by strategically choosing the method of protest and the places in which protests were carried out. There were often dramatic stand-offs with segregationist authorities. Sometimes these confrontations turned violent.[50] Albany movement Main article: Albany movement
The Albany Movement was a desegregation coalition formed in Albany, Georgia in November, 1961. In December King and the SCLC became involved. The movement mobilized thousands of citizens for a broad-front nonviolent attack on every aspect of segregation within the city and attracted nationwide attention. When King first visited on December 15, 1961, he "had planned to stay a day or so and return home after giving counsel."[51] But the following day he was swept up in a mass arrest of peaceful demonstrators, and he declined bail until the city made concessions. "Those agreements", said King, "were dishonored and violated by the city," as soon as he left town.[51] King returned in July 1962, and was sentenced to forty-five days in jail or a $178 fine. He chose jail. Three days into his sentence, Chief Pritchett discreetly arranged for King's fine to be paid and ordered his release. "We had witnessed persons being kicked off lunch counter stools ... ejected from churches ... and thrown into jail ... But for the first time, we witnessed being kicked out of jail."[51]
After nearly a year of intense activism with few tangible results, the movement began to deteriorate. King requested a halt to all demonstrations and a "Day of Penance" to promote non-violence and maintain the moral high ground. Divisions within the black community and the canny, low-key response by local government defeated efforts.[52] However, it was credited as a key lesson in tactics for the national civil rights movement.[53] Birmingham campaign Main article: Birmingham campaign
The Birmingham campaign was a strategic effort by the SCLC to promote civil rights for African Americans. Many of its tactics of "Project C" were developed by Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, Executive Director of SCLC from 1960–1964. Based on actions in Birmingham, Alabama, its goal was to end the city's segregated civil and discriminatory economic policies. The campaign lasted for more than two months in the spring of 1963. To provoke the police into filling the city's jails to overflowing, King and black citizens of Birmingham employed nonviolent tactics to flout laws they considered unfair. King summarized the philosophy of the Birmingham campaign when he said, "The purpose of ... direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation".[54]
Protests in Birmingham began with a boycott to pressure businesses to offer sales jobs and other employment to people of all races, as well as to end segregated facilities in the stores. When business leaders resisted the boycott, King and the SCLC began what they termed Project C, a series of sit-ins and marches intended to provoke arrest. After the campaign ran low on adult volunteers, SCLC's strategist, James Bevel, initiated the action and recruited the children for what became known as the "Children's Crusade". During the protests, the Birmingham Police Department, led by Eugene "Bull" Connor, used high-pressure water jets and police dogs to control protesters, including children. Not all of the demonstrators were peaceful, despite the avowed intentions of the SCLC. In some cases, bystanders attacked the police, who responded with force. King and the SCLC were criticized for putting children in harm's way. By the end of the campaign, King's reputation improved immensely, Connor lost his job, the "Jim Crow" signs in Birmingham came down, and public places became more open to blacks.[55] Augustine and Selma
King and SCLC were also driving forces behind the protest in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1964.[56] The movement engaged in nightly marches in the city met by white segregationists who violently assaulted them. Hundreds of the marchers were arrested and jailed.
King and the SCLC joined forces with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Selma, Alabama, in December 1964, where SNCC had been working on voter registration for several months.[57] A sweeping injunction issued by a local judge barred any gathering of 3 or more people under sponsorship of SNCC, SCLC, or DCVL, or with the involvement of 41 named civil rights leaders. This injunction temporarily halted civil rights activity until King defied it by speaking at Brown Chapel on January 2, 1965.[58] March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom March on Washington, 1963 Main article: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
King, representing SCLC, was among the leaders of the so-called "Big Six" civil rights organizations who were instrumental in the organization of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place on August 28, 1963. The other leaders and organizations comprising the Big Six were: Roy Wilkins from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Whitney Young, National Urban League; A. Philip Randolph, Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; John Lewis, SNCC; and James L. Farmer, Jr. of the Congress of Racial Equality.[59] The primary logistical and strategic organizer was King's colleague Bayard Rustin.[60] For King, this role was another which courted controversy, since he was one of the key figures who acceded to the wishes of President John F. Kennedy in changing the focus of the march.[61] Kennedy initially opposed the march outright, because he was concerned it would negatively impact the drive for passage of civil rights legislation, but the organizers were firm that the march would proceed.[62]
The march originally was conceived as an event to dramatize the desperate condition of blacks in the southern United States and a very public opportunity to place organizers' concerns and grievances squarely before the seat of power in the nation's capital. Organizers intended to excoriate and then challenge the federal government for its failure to safeguard the civil rights and physical safety of civil rights workers and blacks, generally, in the South. However, the group acquiesced to presidential pressure and influence, and the event ultimately took on a far less strident tone.[63] As a result, some civil rights activists felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington," and members of the Nation of Islam were not permitted to attend the march.[63][64] King is perhaps most famous for his "I Have a Dream" speech, given in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Play sound MLKDream.ogg audio recording of King's I Have a Dream speech
The march did, however, make specific demands: an end to racial segregation in public school; meaningful civil rights legislation, including a law prohibiting racial discrimination in employment; protection of civil rights workers from police brutality; a $2 minimum wage for all workers; and self-government for Washington, D.C., then governed by congressional committee.[65] Despite tensions, the march was a resounding success. More than a quarter million people of diverse ethnicities attended the event, sprawling from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial onto the National Mall and around the reflecting pool. At the time, it was the largest gathering of protesters in Washington's history.[66] King's "I Have a Dream" speech electrified the crowd. It is regarded, along with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Franklin D. Roosevelt's Infamy Speech, as one of the finest speeches in the history of American oratory.[67] Stance on compensation King giving a lecture on March 26, 1964
Martin Luther King Jr. expressed a view that black Americans, as well as other disadvantaged Americans, should be compensated for historical wrongs. In an interview conducted for Playboy in 1965, he said that granting black Americans only equality could not realistically close the economic gap between them and whites. King said that he did not seek a full restitution of wages lost to slavery, which he believed impossible, but proposed a government compensatory program of US$50 billion over ten years to all disadvantaged groups. He posited that "the money spent would be more than amply justified by the benefits that would accrue to the nation through a spectacular decline in school dropouts, family breakups, crime rates, illegitimacy, swollen relief rolls, rioting and other social evils".[68] He presented this idea as an application of the common law regarding settlement of unpaid labor but clarified that he felt that the money should not be spent exclusively on blacks. He stated, "It should benefit the disadvantaged of all races".[69] "Bloody Sunday", 1965 Main article: Selma to Montgomery marches
King, James Bevel, and the SCLC, in partial collaboration with SNCC, attempted to organize a march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, for March 7, 1965. The first attempt to march on March 7 was aborted because of mob and police violence against the demonstrators. This day has since become known as Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was a major turning point in the effort to gain public support for the Civil Rights Movement, the clearest demonstration up to that time of the dramatic potential of King's nonviolence strategy. King, however, was not present. After meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson, he decided not to endorse the march, but it was carried out against his wishes and without his presence on March 7 by the director of the Selma Movement, James Bevel, and by local civil rights leaders. Footage of police brutality against the protesters was broadcast extensively and aroused national public outrage.[70]
King next attempted to organize a march for March 9. The SCLC petitioned for an injunction in federal court against the State of Alabama; this was denied and the judge issued an order blocking the march until after a hearing. Nonetheless, King led marchers on March 9 to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then held a short prayer session before turning the marchers around and asking them to disperse so as not to violate the court order. The unexpected ending of this second march aroused the surprise and anger of many within the local movement.[71] The march finally went ahead fully on March 25, 1965.[72] At the conclusion of the march and on the steps of the state capitol, King delivered a speech that has become known as "How Long, Not Long".[73] Chicago, 1966 King with President Lyndon Johnson in 1966
In 1966, after several successes in the South, King and others in the civil rights organizations tried to spread the movement to the North, with Chicago as its first destination. King and Ralph Abernathy, both from the middle classes, moved into the slums of North Lawndale[74] on the west side of Chicago as an educational experience and to demonstrate their support and empathy for the poor.[75]
The SCLC formed a coalition with CCCO, Coordinating Council of Community Organizations, an organization founded by Albert Raby, and the combined organizations' efforts were fostered under the aegis of The Chicago Freedom Movement.[76] During that spring, several dual white couple/black couple tests on real estate offices uncovered the practice (now banned in the U.S.) of racial steering. These tests revealed the racially selective processing of housing requests by couples who were exact matches in income, background, number of children, and other attributes, with the only difference being their race.[77]
The needs of the movement for radical change grew, and several larger marches were planned and executed, including those in the following neighborhoods: Bogan, Belmont Cragin, Jefferson Park, Evergreen Park (a suburb southwest of Chicago), Gage Park and Marquette Park, among others.[78]
In Chicago, Abernathy later wrote that they received a worse reception than they had in the South. Their marches were met by thrown bottles and screaming throngs, and they were truly afraid of starting a riot.[79] King's beliefs mitigated against his staging a violent event, and he negotiated an agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley to cancel a march in order to avoid the violence that he feared would result from the demonstration.[80] King, who received death threats throughout his involvement in the civil rights movement, was hit by a brick during one march but continued to lead marches in the face of personal danger.[81]
When King and his allies returned to the south, they left Jesse Jackson, a seminary student who had previously joined the movement in the South, in charge of their organization.[82] Jackson continued their struggle for civil rights by organizing the Operation Breadbasket movement that targeted chain stores that did not deal fairly with blacks.[83] Opposition to the Vietnam War
Starting in 1965, King began to express doubts about the United States' role in the Vietnam War. In an April 4, 1967 appearance at the New York City Riverside Church—exactly one year before his death—King delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".[84] In the speech, he spoke strongly against the U.S.'s role in the war, insisting that the U.S. was in Vietnam "to occupy it as an American colony"[85] and calling the U.S. government "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today".[86] He also argued that the country needed larger and broader moral changes:
A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just."[87]
King also was opposed to the Vietnam War on the grounds that the war took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare services like the War on Poverty. The United States Congress was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs at the same time. He summed up this aspect by saying, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death".[87]
Many white southern segregationists vilified King; moreover, this speech soured his relationship with many members of the mainstream media. Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi",[84] and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."[88]
King stated that North Vietnam "did not begin to send in any large number of supplies or men until American forces had arrived in the tens of thousands".[89] King also criticized the United States' resistance to North Vietnam's land reforms.[90] He accused the United States of having killed a million Vietnamese, "mostly children."[91]
The speech was a reflection of King's evolving political advocacy in his later years, which paralleled the teachings of the progressive Highlander Research and Education Center, with whom King was affiliated.[92] King began to speak of the need for fundamental changes in the political and economic life of the nation. Towards the time of his murder, King more frequently expressed his opposition to the war and his desire to see a redistribution of resources to correct racial and economic injustice.[93] Though his public language was guarded, so as to avoid being linked to communism by his political enemies, in private he sometimes spoke of his support for democratic socialism. In one speech, he stated that "something is wrong with capitalism" and claimed, "There must be a better distribution of wealth, and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism."[94]
King had read Marx while at Morehouse, but while he rejected "traditional capitalism," he also rejected Communism because of its "materialistic interpretation of history" that denied religion, its "ethical relativism," and its "political totalitarianism."[95]
King also stated in his "Beyond Vietnam" speech that "true compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar....it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring".[96] King quoted a United States official, who said that, from Vietnam to South America to Latin America, the country was "on the wrong side of a world revolution."[96] King condemned America's "alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America," and said that the United States should support "the shirtless and barefoot people" in the Third World rather than suppressing their attempts at revolution.[97]
King spoke at an Anti-Vietnam demonstration where he also brought up issues of civil rights and the draft.
"I have not urged a mechanical fusion of the civil rights and peace movements. There are people who have come to see the moral imperative of equality, but who cannot yet see the moral imperative of world brotherhood. I would like to see the fervor of the civil-rights movement imbued into the peace movement to instill it with greater strength. And I believe everyone has a duty to be in both the civil-rights and peace movements. But for those who presently choose but one, I would hope they will finally come to see the moral roots common to both."[98]
In 1967, King gave another speech, in which he lashed out against what he called the "cruel irony" of American blacks fighting and dying for a country which treated them as second class citizens:
"We were taking the young black men who had been crippled by our society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee liberties which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem.... We have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them in the same schools"[99][100]
Poor People's Campaign, 1968 Main article: Poor People's Campaign
In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the "Poor People's Campaign" to address issues of economic justice. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D.C. demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. King traveled the country to assemble "a multiracial army of the poor" that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created a bill of rights for poor Americans.[101][102]
However, the campaign was not unanimously supported by other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Rustin resigned from the march stating that the goals of the campaign were too broad, the demands unrealizable, and thought these campaigns would accelerate the backlash and repression on the poor and the black.[103] Throughout his participation in the civil rights movement, King was criticized by many groups. This included opposition by more militant blacks and such prominent critics as Nation of Islam member Malcolm X.[104] Stokely Carmichael was a separatist and disagreed with King's plea for racial integration because he considered it an insult to a uniquely African-American culture.[105] Omali Yeshitela urged Africans to remember the history of violent European colonization and how power was not secured by Europeans through integration, but by violence and force.[106]
King and the SCLC called on the government to invest in rebuilding America's cities. He felt that Congress had shown "hostility to the poor" by spending "military funds with alacrity and generosity". He contrasted this with the situation faced by poor Americans, claiming that Congress had merely provided "poverty funds with miserliness".[102] His vision was for change that was more revolutionary than mere reform: he cited systematic flaws of "racism, poverty, militarism and materialism", and argued that "reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced".[107] Assassination Main article: Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination The Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum.
On March 29, 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of the black sanitary public works employees, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment. In one incident, black street repairmen received pay for two hours when they were sent home because of bad weather, but white employees were paid for the full day.[108][109]
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane.[110] In the close of the last speech of his career, in reference to the bomb threat, King said the following:
And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.[111]
King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel, owned by Walter Bailey, in Memphis. The Reverend Ralph Abernathy, King's close friend and colleague who was present at the assassination, swore under oath to the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed at room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often it was known as the "King-Abernathy suite."[112]
According to Jesse Jackson, who was present, King's last words on the balcony prior to his assassination were spoken to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was attending: "Ben, make sure you play "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty."[113]
Then, at 6:01 p.m., April 4, 1968, a shot rang out as King stood on the motel's second floor balcony. The bullet entered through his right cheek, smashing his jaw, then traveled down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder.[114] Abernathy heard the shot from inside the motel room and ran to the balcony to find King on the floor.[115] The events following the shooting have been disputed, as some people have accused Jackson of exaggerating his response.[116]
After emergency chest surgery, King was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Hospital at 7:05 p.m.[117] According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though only thirty-nine years old, he had the heart of a sixty-year-old man, perhaps a result of the stress of thirteen years in the civil rights movement.[118]
The assassination led to a nationwide wave of riots in more than 100 cities.[119] Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy was on his way to Indianapolis for a campaign rally when he was informed of King's death. He gave a short speech to the gathering of supporters informing them of the tragedy and asking them to continue King's idea of non-violence.[120] President Lyndon B. Johnson declared April 7 a national day of mourning for the civil rights leader.[121] Vice-President Hubert Humphrey attended King's funeral on behalf of Lyndon B. Johnson, as there were fears that Johnson's presence might incite protests and perhaps violence.[122] At his widow's request, King's last sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church was played at the funeral.[123] It was a recording of his "Drum Major" sermon, given on February 4, 1968. In that sermon, King made a request that at his funeral no mention of his awards and honors be made, but that it be said that he tried to "feed the hungry", "clothe the naked", "be right on the [Vietnam] war question", and "love and serve humanity".[124] His good friend Mahalia Jackson sang his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", at the funeral.[125] The city of Memphis quickly settled the strike on terms favorable to the sanitation workers.[126][127]
Two months after King's death, escaped convict James Earl Ray was captured at London Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the United Kingdom on a false Canadian passport in the name of Ramon George Sneyd on his way to white-ruled Rhodesia.[128] Ray was quickly extradited to Tennessee and charged with King's murder. He confessed to the assassination on March 10, 1969, though he recanted this confession three days later.[129] On the advice of his attorney Percy Foreman, Ray pleaded guilty to avoid a trial conviction and thus the possibility of receiving the death penalty. Ray was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.[129][130] Ray fired Foreman as his attorney, from then on derisively calling him "Percy Fourflusher".[131] He claimed a man he met in Montreal, Quebec with the alias "Raoul" was involved and that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy.[132][133] He spent the remainder of his life attempting (unsuccessfully) to withdraw his guilty plea and secure the trial he never had.[130] On June 10, 1977, shortly after Ray had testified to the House Select Committee on Assassinations that he did not shoot King, he and six other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. They were recaptured on June 13 and returned to prison.[134] Allegations of conspiracy
Ray's lawyers maintained he was a scapegoat similar to the way that alleged John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is seen by conspiracy theorists.[135] One of the claims used to support this assertion is that Ray's confession was given under pressure, and he had been threatened with the death penalty.[130][136] Ray was a thief and burglar, but he had no record of committing violent crimes with a weapon.[133]
Those suspecting a conspiracy in the assassination point out the two separate ballistics tests conducted on the Remington Gamemaster recovered by police had neither conclusively proved Ray had been the killer nor that it had even been the murder weapon.[130][137] Moreover, witnesses surrounding King at the moment of his death say the shot came from another location, from behind thick shrubbery near the rooming house – which had been inexplicably cut away in the days following the assassination – and not from the rooming house window.[138] Martin Luther King's & Coretta Scott King's tomb, located on the grounds of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site Developments
In 1997, King's son Dexter Scott King met with Ray, and publicly supported Ray's efforts to obtain a new trial.[139] Two years later, Coretta Scott King, King's widow, along with the rest of King's family, won a wrongful death claim against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators". Jowers claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six whites and six blacks found Jowers guilty and that government agencies were party to the assassination.[140] William F. Pepper represented the King family in the trial.[141] King biographer David Garrow disagrees with William F. Pepper's claims that the government killed King.[142] He is supported by author Gerald Posner who has researched and written about the assassination.[143]
In 2000, the United States Department of Justice completed the investigation about Jowers' claims but did not find evidence to support allegations about conspiracy. The investigation report recommended no further investigation unless some new reliable facts are presented.[144] The New York Times reported a church minister, Rev. Ronald Denton Wilson, claimed his father, Henry Clay Wilson—not James Earl Ray—assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. He stated, "It wasn't a racist thing; he thought Martin Luther King was connected with communism, and he wanted to get him out of the way."[145]
King's friend and colleague, James Bevel, disputed the argument that Ray acted alone, stating, "There is no way a ten-cent white boy could develop a plan to kill a million-dollar black man."[146] In 2004, Jesse Jackson, who was with King at the time of his death, noted:
The fact is there were saboteurs to disrupt the march. And within our own organization, we found a very key person who was on the government payroll. So infiltration within, saboteurs from without and the press attacks. ...I will never believe that James Earl Ray had the motive, the money and the mobility to have done it himself. Our government was very involved in setting the stage for and I think the escape route for James Earl Ray.[147]
Riots
After King's assassination riots broke out in Chicago, Boston, Detroit, and Washington. Black leader James Farmer, Jr. and others called for non-violent action. "Dr. King would be greatly distressed to find that his blood had triggered off bloodshed and disorder... I think instead the nation should be quiet; black and white, and we should be in a prayerful mood, which would be in keeping with his life. We should make that kind of dedication and commitment to the goals which his life served to solving the domestic problems. That's the memorial, that's the kind of memorial we should build for him. It's just not appropriate for there to be violent retaliations, and that kind of demonstration in the wake of the murder of this pacifist and man of peace."[148]
Stokely Carmichael called for immediate forceful action. "White America killed Dr. King last night. She made a whole lot easier for a whole lot of black people today. There no longer needs to be intellectual discussions, black people know that they have to get guns. White America will live to cry that she killed Dr. King last night. It would have been better if she had killed Rap Brown and/or Stokley Carmichael, but when she killed Dr. King, she lost."[148] FBI and wiretapping Allegations of Communist connections
J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for years had been suspicious about potential influence of communists in social movements such as labor unions and civil rights.[149] Hoover directed the FBI to track King in 1957, and the SCLC as it was established (it did not have a full-time executive director until 1960);[46] its investigations were largely superficial until 1962, when it learned that one of King's most trusted advisers was New York City lawyer Stanley Levison. The FBI found Levison had been involved with the Communist Party USA.[150] The FBI had observed his alienation from the Party leadership, but it feared he had taken a low profile in order to work as an "agent of influence" in order to manipulate King, a view it continued to hold despite its own reports in 1963 that Levison had left the Party.[151] Another King lieutenant, Hunter Pitts O'Dell, was also linked to the Communist Party by sworn testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).[152] However, by 1976 the FBI had acknowledged that it had not obtained any evidence that King himself or the SCLC were actually involved with any communist organizations.[153]
The Bureau received authorization to proceed with wiretapping from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the Fall of 1963[154] and informed President John F. Kennedy, both of whom unsuccessfully tried to persuade King to dissociate himself from Levison.[155] Although Robert Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so",[156] Hoover extended the clearance so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy.[157] The Bureau placed wiretaps on Levison's and King's home and office phones, and bugged King's rooms in hotels as he traveled across the country.[155][158]
For his part, King adamantly denied having any connections to Communism, stating in a 1965 Playboy interview that "there are as many Communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida",[159] and claiming that Hoover was "following the path of appeasement of political powers in the South" and that his concern for communist infiltration of the civil rights movement was meant to "aid and abet the salacious claims of southern racists and the extreme right-wing elements".[153] Hoover did not believe his pledge of innocence and replied by saying that King was "the most notorious liar in the country."[160] After King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, the FBI described King as "the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country".[158] In December 1963, FBI officials who were gathered to a special conference alleged that King was "knowingly, willingly and regularly cooperating with and taking guidance from communists" whose long-term strategy was to create a "Negro-labor" coalition detrimental to American security.[161]
The attempt to prove that King was a Communist was related to the feeling of many segregationists that blacks in the South were happy with their lot but had been stirred up by "communists" and "outside agitators".[162] The civil rights movement arose from activism within the black community dating back to before World War I. Levison did have ties with the Communist Party in various business dealings, but the FBI refused to believe its own intelligence bureau reports that Levison was no longer associated in that capacity.[163] In response to the FBI's comments regarding communists directing the civil rights movement, King said that "the Negro revolution is a genuine revolution, born from the same womb that produces all massive social upheavals—the womb of intolerable conditions and unendurable situations."[164] Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, March 26, 1964. Allegations of adultery
Having concluded that King was dangerous due to communist infiltration, the focus of the Bureau's investigations shifted to attempting to discredit King through revelations regarding his private life. FBI surveillance of King, some of it since made public, attempted to demonstrate that he also engaged in numerous extramarital affairs.[158] Further remarks on King's lifestyle were made by several prominent officials, such as Lyndon Johnson, who once said that King was a "hypocritical preacher".[165] Ralph Abernathy, a close associate of King's, stated in his 1989 autobiography And the Walls Came Tumbling Down that King had a "weakness for women".[166][167] In a later interview, Abernathy said he only wrote the term "womanizing", and did not specifically say King had extramarital sex.[168] King's biographer David Garrow detailed what he called King's "compulsive sexual athleticism." Garrow wrote about numerous extramarital affairs, including one with a woman King saw almost daily. According to Garrow, "that relationship, rather than his marriage, increasingly became the emotional centerpiece of King's life, but it did not eliminate the incidental couplings that were a commonplace of King's travels." King explained his extramarital affairs as "a form of anxiety reduction." Garrow noted that King's promiscuity was the cause of "painful and overwhelming guilt".[169]
The FBI distributed reports regarding such affairs to the executive branch, friendly reporters, potential coalition partners and funding sources of the SCLC, and King's family.[170] The Bureau also sent anonymous letters to King threatening to reveal information if he did not cease his civil rights work.[171] One anonymous letter sent to King just before he received the Nobel Peace Prize read, in part, "The American public, the church organizations that have been helping—Protestants, Catholics and Jews will know you for what you are—an evil beast. So will others who have backed you. You are done. King, there, is only one thing left for you to do. You know what it is. You have just 34 days in which to do (this exact number has been selected for a specific reason, it has definite practical significant [sic]). You are done. There is but one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy fraudulent self is bared to the nation."[172] King interpreted this as encouragement for him to commit suicide,[173] although William Sullivan, head of the Domestic Intelligence Division at the time, argued that it may have only been intended to "convince Dr. King to resign from the SCLC."[153] King refused to give in to the FBI's threats.[174]
On January 31, 1977, United States district Judge John Lewis Smith, Jr., ordered all known copies of the recorded audiotapes and written transcripts resulting from the FBI's electronic surveillance of King between 1963 and 1968 to be held in the National Archives and sealed from public access until 2027.[175]
Across from the Lorraine Motel, next to the rooming house in which James Earl Ray was staying, was a fire station. Police officers were stationed in the fire station to keep King under surveillance.[176] Using papered-over windows with peepholes cut into them, the agents were watching the scene while Martin Luther King was shot.[177] Immediately following the shooting, officers rushed out of the station to the motel, and Marrell McCollough, an undercover police officer, was the first person to administer first-aid to King.[178] The antagonism between King and the FBI, the lack of an all points bulletin to find the killer, and the police presence nearby have led to speculation that the FBI was involved in the assassination.[179] Legacy From the Gallery of 20th Century Martyrs at Westminster Abbey—l. to r. Mother Elizabeth of Russia, Rev. Martin Luther King, Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer
King's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, which has enabled more Americans to reach their potential. He is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. His name and legacy have often been invoked since his death as people have debated his likely position on various modern political issues.
On the international scene, King's legacy included influences on the Black Consciousness Movement and Civil Rights Movement in South Africa.[180] King's work was cited by and served as an inspiration for Albert Lutuli, another black Nobel Peace prize winner who fought for racial justice in that country.[181] The day following King's assassination, school teacher Jane Elliott conducted her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise with her class of elementary school students in Riceville, Iowa. Her purpose was to help them understand King's death as it related to racism, something they little understood from having lived in a predominately white community.[182]
King's wife, Coretta Scott King, followed her husband's footsteps and was active in matters of social justice and civil rights until her death in 2006. The same year that Martin Luther King was assassinated, Mrs. King established the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, dedicated to preserving his legacy and the work of championing nonviolent conflict resolution and tolerance worldwide.[183] His son, Dexter King, currently serves as the center's chairman.[184] Daughter Yolanda King is a motivational speaker, author and founder of Higher Ground Productions, an organization specializing in diversity training.[185]
There are opposing views even within the King family — regarding the slain civil rights leader's religious and political views about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. King's widow Coretta said publicly that she believed her husband would have supported gay rights. However, his daughter Bernice believed he would have been opposed to gay marriage.[186] The King Center includes discrimination, and lists homophobia as one of its examples, in its list of "The Triple Evils" that should be opposed.[187]
In 1980, the Department of Interior designated King's boyhood home in Atlanta and several nearby buildings the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. In 1996, United States Congress authorized the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity to establish a foundation to manage fund raising and design of a Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial on the Mall in Washington, DC.[188] King was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by and for African Americans.[189] King was the first African American honored with his own memorial in the National Mall area and the first non-President to be commemorated in such a way.[190] The sculptor chosen was Lei Yixin.[191] The King Memorial will be administered by the National Park Service.[192]
King's life and assassination inspired many artistic works. A 1976 Broadway production, I Have a Dream, was directed by Robert Greenwald and starred Billy Dee Williams as King.[193] In spring of 2006, a stage play about King was produced in Beijing, China with King portrayed by Chinese actor, Cao Li. The play was written by Stanford University professor, Clayborne Carson.[194]
King spoke earlier about what people should remember him for if they are around for his funeral. He said rather than his awards and where he went to school, people should talk about how he fought peacefully for justice.:
“ I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."1968 Year In Review, UPI.com" ” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Main article: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. Observed for the first time on January 20, 1986, it is called Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Following President George H. W. Bush's 1992 proclamation, the holiday is observed on the third Monday of January each year, near the time of King's birthday.[195] On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was officially observed in all fifty U.S. states.[196] Awards and recognition
King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities in the U.S. and elsewhere.[15][197] Besides winning the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, in 1965 King was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his "exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty".[197][198] Reverend King said in his acceptance remarks, "Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free".[199] King was also awarded the Pacem in Terris Award, named after a 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXIII calling for all people to strive for peace.[200]
In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for "his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity."[201] King was posthumously awarded the Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights by Jamaica in 1968.[15]
In 1971, King was posthumously awarded the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam.[202] Six years later, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was awarded to King by Jimmy Carter.[203] King and his wife were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.[204]
King was second in Gallup's List of Widely Admired People in the 20th century.[205] In 1963 King was named Time Person of the Year and in 2000, King was voted sixth in the Person of the Century poll by the same magazine.[206] King was elected third in the Greatest American contest conducted by the Discovery Channel and AOL.[207]
More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King.[208] King County, Washington rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007.[209] The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King.[210] King is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (feast day April 4)[1][211] and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (feast day January 15).[212]
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Martin Luther King, Jr. on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.[213] Capital memorial
A memorial to King has been planned for construction on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. In April 2009, the media reported that King's family had charged the Foundation $800,000 for the use of his words and image in fund-raising materials for the memorial.[214]
Intellectual Properties Management Inc., an organization operated by King's family, has been charging the Foundation licensing and management fees since 2003. Cambridge University historian David Garrow, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of King, said of King's family's behavior, "One would think any family would be so thrilled to have their forefather celebrated and memorialized in D.C. that it would never dawn on them to ask for a penny." He added that King would have been "absolutely scandalized by the profiteering behavior of his children." King's family responded that the money would be used to maintain the King Center in Atlanta where King and his wife are entombed.[214][215][216] Bibliography
* Stride toward freedom; the Montgomery story (1958) * The Measure of a Man (1959) * Strength to Love (1963) * Why We Can't Wait (1964) * Where do we go from here: Chaos or community? (1967) * The Trumpet of Conscience (1968) * A Testament of Hope : The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1986) * The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1998), ed. Clayborne Carson
See also African American portal Atlanta portal Biography portal
* Anti-racism * Black Nobel Prize laureates * Christian left * American philosophy * List of American philosophers * Civil rights leaders * Congressional Gold Medal recipients * List of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates * List of notable African Americans * List of pacifists * List of protest marches on Washington, DC * List of religious leaders * List of speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. * Opposition to the Vietnam War * Pacifism * Racism in the United States
list of us president
[edit]"Presidents of the United States" and "US Presidents" redirect here. For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). The White House, the president's official residence and center of the administration
Under the U.S. Constitution, the President of the United States is the head of state and the head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and head of the federal government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition. The president is also the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. armed forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College (or by the House of Representatives should the Electoral College fail to award an absolute majority of votes to any {| class="wikitable" | |}person). Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected to the office of the president more than twice.[1] Upon death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the Vice President assumes the office. This list includes only those persons who were sworn into office as president following the ratification of the United States Constitution, which took effect on March 4, 1789. For American leaders before this ratification, see President of the Continental Congress. The list does not include any Acting Presidents under the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
There have been forty-three people sworn into office, and forty-four presidencies, due to the fact that Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the twenty-second and the twenty-fourth president. Of the individuals elected as president, four died in office of natural causes (William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin D. Roosevelt), one resigned (Richard Nixon), and four were assassinated (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy). The first president was George Washington, who was inaugurated in 1789 after a unanimous Electoral College vote. William Henry Harrison spent the shortest time in office at 31 days in 1841. At over twelve years, Franklin D. Roosevelt spent the longest time in office, and is the only president to serve more than two terms; he died shortly into his fourth term in 1945. The current president is Barack Obama; he assumed the office on January 20, 2009, and is the first African American president and the first president born outside the Contiguous United States, being born in Hawaii. Presidents
Parties
Independent Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
Presidency[n 1] President Took office Left office Party Vice President Term 1 Washington (3).jpg George Washington [2][3][4][5] April 30, 1789 March 4, 1797 Independent John Adams 1 2 2 Adamstrumbull.jpg John Adams [6][7][8][9] March 4, 1797 March 4, 1801 Federalist Thomas Jefferson 3 3 Tj3.gif Thomas Jefferson [10][11][12][13] March 4, 1801 March 4, 1809 Democratic-Republican Aaron Burr 4 George Clinton 5 4 James Madison.jpg James Madison [14][15][16][17] March 4, 1809 March 4, 1817 Democratic-Republican George Clinton[n 2] March 4, 1809 – April 20, 1812 6 vacant[n 3] April 20, 1812 – March 4, 1813 Elbridge Gerry[n 2] March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 7 vacant [n 3] November 23, 1814 – March 4, 1817 5 Jm5.gif James Monroe [18][19][20][21] March 4, 1817 March 4, 1825 Democratic-Republican Daniel D. Tompkins 8 9 6 Ja6.gif John Quincy Adams [22][23][24][25] March 4, 1825 March 4, 1829 Democratic-Republican National Republican John C. Calhoun 10 7 Andrew jackson head.gif Andrew Jackson [26][27][28][29] March 4, 1829 March 4, 1837 Democratic John C. Calhoun [n 4] March 4, 1829 – December 28, 1832 11 vacant[n 3] December 28, 1832 – March 4, 1833 Martin Van Buren 12 8 Mb8.gif Martin Van Buren [30][31][32][33] March 4, 1837 March 4, 1841 Democratic Richard Mentor Johnson 13 9 Wh9.gif William Henry Harrison [34][35][36][37] March 4, 1841 April 4, 1841[n 2] Whig John Tyler 14 10[n 5] WHOportTyler.jpg John Tyler [38][39][40][41] April 4, 1841 March 4, 1845 Whig April 4, 1841 – September 13, 1841 vacant [n 3] Independent[n 6] September 13, 1841 – March 4, 1845 11 Jp11.gif James K. Polk [42][43][44][45] March 4, 1845 March 4, 1849 Democratic George M. Dallas 15 12 Zachary Taylor 2.jpg Zachary Taylor [46][47][48][49] March 4, 1849 July 9, 1850[n 2] Whig Millard Fillmore 16 13 Millard Fillmore.gif Millard Fillmore [50][51][52][53] July 9, 1850 March 4, 1853 Whig vacant [n 3] 14 美国总统皮尔斯.gif Franklin Pierce [54][55][56][57] March 4, 1853 March 4, 1857 Democratic William R. King[n 2] March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 17 vacant [n 3] April 18, 1853 – March 4, 1857 15 Jb15.gif James Buchanan [58][59][60][61] March 4, 1857 March 4, 1861 Democratic John C. Breckinridge 18 16 Al16.jpg Abraham Lincoln [62][63][64][65] March 4, 1861 April 15, 1865[n 7] Republican National Union[n 8] Hannibal Hamlin 19 Andrew Johnson 20 17 Aj17.gif Andrew Johnson [66][67][68][69] April 15, 1865 March 4, 1869 Democratic National Union[n 8] vacant [n 3] National Union[n 8] Independent[n 9] 18 Ug18.gif Ulysses S. Grant [70][71][72][73] March 4, 1869 March 4, 1877 Republican Schuyler Colfax 21 Henry Wilson[n 2] March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 22 vacant [n 3] November 22, 1875 – March 4, 1877 19 Rhayes.png Rutherford B. Hayes [74][75][76][77] March 4, 1877 March 4, 1881 Republican William A. Wheeler 23 20 James Garfield portrait.jpg James A. Garfield [78][79][80][81] March 4, 1881 September 19, 1881[n 7] Republican Chester A. Arthur 24 21 Ca21.gif Chester A. Arthur [82][83][84][85] September 19, 1881 March 4, 1885 Republican vacant [n 3] 22 Grover Cleveland portrait2.jpg Grover Cleveland [86][87][88][89] March 4, 1885 March 4, 1889 Democratic Thomas A. Hendricks[n 2] March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 25 vacant [n 3] November 25, 1885 – March 4, 1889 23 Bharrison.PNG Benjamin Harrison [90][91][92][93] March 4, 1889 March 4, 1893 Republican Levi P. Morton 26 24 Grover Cleveland, painting by Anders Zorn.jpg Grover Cleveland (second term) [86][87][88][89] March 4, 1893 March 4, 1897 Democratic Adlai E. Stevenson I 27 25 Wm25.gif William McKinley [94][95][96][97] March 4, 1897 September 14, 1901[n 7] Republican Garret Hobart[n 2] March 4, 1897 – November 21, 1899 28 vacant [n 3] November 21, 1899 – March 4, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt 29 26 TRSargent.jpg Theodore Roosevelt [98][99][100][101] September 14, 1901 March 4, 1909 Republican vacant [n 3] Charles W. Fairbanks 30 27 TaftOfficial Portrait.jpg William Howard Taft [102][103][104][105] March 4, 1909 March 4, 1913 Republican James S. Sherman[n 2] March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 31 vacant [n 3] October 30, 1912 – March 4, 1913 28 Ww28.gif Woodrow Wilson [106][107][108][109] March 4, 1913 March 4, 1921 Democratic Thomas R. Marshall 32 33 29 Wh29.gif Warren G. Harding [110][111][112][113] March 4, 1921 August 2, 1923[n 2] Republican Calvin Coolidge 34 30 CoolidgeWHPortrait.gif Calvin Coolidge [114][115][116][117] August 2, 1923 March 4, 1929 Republican vacant [n 3] Charles G. Dawes 35 31 Hhover.gif Herbert Hoover [118][119][120][121] March 4, 1929 March 4, 1933 Republican Charles Curtis 36 32 Fdrpics.gif Franklin D. Roosevelt [122][123][124][125] March 4, 1933 April 12, 1945[n 2] Democratic John Nance Garner 37[n 10] 38 Henry A. Wallace 39 Harry S. Truman 40 33 HarryTruman.jpg Harry S. Truman [126][127][128][129] April 12, 1945 January 20, 1953 Democratic vacant [n 3] Alben W. Barkley 41 34 Dwight D. Eisenhower, official Presidential portrait.jpg Dwight D. Eisenhower [130][131][132][133] January 20, 1953 January 20, 1961 Republican Richard Nixon 42 43 35 John F Kennedy Official Portrait.jpg John F. Kennedy [134][135][136][137] January 20, 1961 November 22, 1963[n 7] Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson 44 36 Lyndon B. Johnson - portrait.gif Lyndon B. Johnson [138][139][140][141] November 22, 1963 January 20, 1969 Democratic vacant [n 3] Hubert Humphrey 45 37 Rn37.gif Richard Nixon [142][143][144][145] January 20, 1969 August 9, 1974[n 4] Republican Spiro Agnew[n 4] January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 46 47 vacant [n 3] October 10, 1973 – December 6, 1973 Gerald Ford December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 38 Gerald R. Ford - portrait.jpg Gerald Ford [146][147][148][149] August 9, 1974 January 20, 1977 Republican vacant [n 3] August 9, 1974 – December 19, 1974 Nelson Rockefeller December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 39 James E. Carter - portrait.gif Jimmy Carter [150][151][152][153] January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 Democratic Walter Mondale 48 40 REAGANWH.jpg Ronald Reagan [154][155][156][157] January 20, 1981 January 20, 1989 Republican George H. W. Bush 49 50 41 George H. W. Bush - portrait by Herbert Abrams (1994).jpg George H. W. Bush [158][159][160][161] January 20, 1989 January 20, 1993 Republican Dan Quayle 51 42 Clinton.jpg Bill Clinton [162][163][164][165] January 20, 1993 January 20, 2001 Democratic Al Gore 52 53 43 Official painting of George W. Bush.jpg George W. Bush [166][167][168][169] January 20, 2001 January 20, 2009 Republican Dick Cheney 54 55 44 Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg Barack Obama [170][171][172][173] January 20, 2009 Incumbent Democratic Joe Biden 56
Mexico
[edit]Mexico From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the country in North America. For other uses, see Mexico (disambiguation). This article is semi-protected indefinitely in response to an ongoing high risk of vandalism. United Mexican States Estados Unidos Mexicanos[1][2] (Spanish)
Flag Coat of arms Anthem: "Himno Nacional Mexicano" Mexican National Anthem National seal: Seal of the United Mexican States Seal of the Government of Mexico.svg Capital (and largest city) Mexico City 19°03′N 99°22′W / 19.05°N 99.367°W / 19.05; -99.367 Official language(s) Spanish [1] Recognised regional languages 62 Indigenous Amerindian languages[3] Demonym Mexican Government Federal presidential republic
- President Felipe Calderón
(PAN) Legislature Congress
- Upper House Senate - Lower House Chamber of Deputies
Independence from Spain
- Declared September 16, 1810 - Recognized September 27, 1821
Area
- Total 1,972,550 km2 (15th)
761,606 sq mi
- Water (%) 2.5
Population
- July 2009 estimate 111,211,789[4] (11th) - 2005 census 103,263,388 - Density 55/km2 (142nd)
142/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
- Total $1.550 trillion[5] (11th) - Per capita $14,534[5] (55th)
GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
- Total $1.088 trillion[5] (13th) - Per capita $10,199[5] (46th)
Gini (2008) ▼ 46.1[6] (high) HDI (2007) ▲ 0.854[7] (high) (53rd) Currency Peso (MXN) Time zone Official Mexican Timezones (UTC-8 to -6)
- Summer (DST) varies (UTC-7 to -5)
Drives on the right Internet TLD .mx Calling code +52
The United Mexican States[8] (Spanish: About this sound Estados Unidos Mexicanos (help·info)), commonly known as Mexico ([ˈmexiko] ( listen), English /ˈmɛksɪkoʊ/), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico.[9][10] Covering almost 2 million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi),[11] Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 111 million,[12] it is the 11th most populous country and the most populous Hispanophone country on earth. Mexico is a federation comprising thirty-one states and a Federal District, the capital city.
In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory, which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain which would eventually become Mexico as the colony gained independence in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, territorial secession and civil war, including foreign intervention, two empires and two long domestic dictatorships. The latter led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the country's current political system. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time that an opposition party won the presidency from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI).
As a regional power,[13][14] and currently the only Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country,[15] and is considered a newly industrialized country[16][17][18][19] and an emerging power.[20] It has the 13th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, especially the United States,[21][22] as well as tourism, being the world's tenth most visited country with over 21.4 million international arrivals.[23] Mexico boasts a long tradition in the arts, renowned cuisine, and culture, ranking as the world's fifth country with the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites to date (29) and first in the Americas.[24][25][26] Contents [show]
* 1 Etymology
* 2 History
o 2.1 20th century
* 3 Administrative divisions
* 4 Geography and climate
o 4.1 Topography
o 4.2 Climate
o 4.3 Biodiversity
* 5 Government and politics
o 5.1 Legislature
o 5.2 Executive
o 5.3 Judiciary
* 6 Foreign relations
* 7 Military
* 8 Law enforcement
* 9 Economy
o 9.1 Industry
o 9.2 Tourism
o 9.3 Energy
o 9.4 Transportation
o 9.5 Communications
* 10 Demographics
o 10.1 Metropolitan areas
o 10.2 Immigration
o 10.3 Ethnography
o 10.4 Language
o 10.5 Religion
* 11 Culture
o 11.1 Cinema
o 11.2 Music
o 11.3 Fine arts
o 11.4 Broadcast media
o 11.5 Cuisine
* 12 Sports
* 13 Healthcare and education
* 14 Science and technology
* 15 International rankings
* 16 See also
* 17 References
* 18 Bibliography
* 19 External links
Etymology Main article: Toponymy of Mexico Image of Mexico-Tenochtitlan from the Codex Mendoza
After New Spain won independence from Spain, it was decided that the new country would be named after its capital, Mexico City, which was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Aztec capital of México-Tenochtitlan. The name comes from the Nahuatl language, but its meaning is not known. It has been suggested that it is derived from Mextli or Mēxihtli, a secret name for the god of war and patron of the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli, in which case Mēxihco means "Place where Mēxihtli lives".[27]
Another hypothesis suggests that the word Mēxihco derives from the mētztli ("moon"), xictli ("navel", "center" or "son"), and the suffix -co (place), in which case it means "Place at the center of the moon" or "Place at the center of the Lake Moon", in reference to Lake Texcoco.[28] The system of interconnected lakes, of which Texcoco was at the center, had the form of a rabbit, the same image that the Aztecs saw in the moon. Tenochtitlan was located at the center (or navel) of the lake (or rabbit/moon).[28] Still another hypothesis suggests that it is derived from Mēctli, the goddess of maguey.
The name of the city was transliterated to Spanish as México with the phonetic value of the x in Medieval Spanish, which represented the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. This sound, as well as the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/, represented by a j, evolved into a voiceless velar fricative /x/ during the sixteenth century.[29] This led to the use of the variant Méjico in many publications in Spanish, most notably in Spain, whereas in Mexico and most other Spanish–speaking countries México was the preferred spelling. In recent years the Real Academia Española, which regulates the Spanish language, determined that both variants are acceptable in Spanish but that the normative recommended spelling is México.[30] The majority of publications in all Spanish-speaking countries now adhere to the new norm, even though the alternative variant is still occasionally used.[31] In English, the x in Mexico represents neither the original nor the current sound, but the consonant cluster /ks/.
The official name of the country has changed as the form of government has changed. On two occasions (1821–1823 and 1863–1867), the country was known as Imperio Mexicano (Mexican Empire). All three federal constitutions (1824, 1857 and 1917, the current constitution) used the name Estados Unidos Mexicanos[32]—or the variants Estados Unidos mexicanos[33] and Estados-Unidos Mexicanos,[34] all of which have been translated as "United Mexican States". The term República Mexicana, "Mexican Republic" was used in the 1836 Constitutional Laws.[35] History Main article: History of Mexico Archaeological sites of Chichén-Itzá, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World
Campfire remains in the Valley of Mexico have been radiocarbon-dated to 21,000 BCE, and a few chips of stone tools have been found near the hearths, indicating the presence of humans at that time.[36] Around 9,000 years ago, ancient indigenous peoples domesticated corn and initiated an agricultural revolution, leading to the formation of many complex civilizations. Between 1,800 and 300 BCE, many matured into advanced pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations such as: the Olmec, the Teotihuacan, the Maya, the Zapotec, the Mixtec, the Toltec and the Aztec, which flourished for nearly 4,000 years before the first contact with Europeans.
These civilizations are credited with many inventions and advancements in fields such as architecture (pyramid-temples), mathematics, astronomy, medicine and theology. The Aztecs were noted for practicing human sacrifice on a large scale.[37] At its peak, Teotihuacan, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas, had a population of more than 150,000 people.[38] Estimates of the population before the Spanish conquest range from 6 million to 25 million.[39][40] Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla "The Father of Mexico"
In the early 16th century, from the landing of Hernán Cortés, the Aztec civilization was invaded and conquered by the Spaniards.[41] Unintentionally introduced by Spanish conquerors, smallpox ravaged Mexico in the 1520s, killing millions of Aztecs,[42] including the emperor, and was credited with the victory of Hernán Cortés over the Aztec empire.[43] The territory became part of the Spanish Empire under the name of New Spain. Much of the identity, traditions and architecture of Mexico were created during the colonial period.
On September 16, 1810, independence from Spain was declared by priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, in the small town of Dolores, Guanajuato.[44] The first insurgent group was formed by Hidalgo, the Spanish viceregal army captain Ignacio Allende, the militia captain Juan Aldama and "La Corregidora" Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. Hidalgo and some of his soldiers were captured and executed by firing squad in Chihuahua, on July 31, 1811. Following his death, the leadership was assumed by priest José María Morelos, who occupied key southern cities.
In 1813, the Congress of Chilpancingo was convened and, on November 6, signed the "Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America". Morelos was captured and executed on December 22, 1815. In subsequent years, the insurgency was near collapse, but in 1820 Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca sent an army under the criollo general Agustín de Iturbide against the troops of Vicente Guerrero. Instead, Iturbide approached Guerrero to join forces, and in 1821 representatives of the Spanish Crown and Iturbide signed the "Treaty of Córdoba", which recognized the independence of Mexico under the terms of the "Plan of Iguala". Mexico's Territorial Evolution since 1821 Benito Juárez is generally regarded as Mexico's greatest president for resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as for his role in modernizing the country.
Agustin de Iturbide immediately proclaimed himself emperor of the First Mexican Empire. A revolt against him in 1823 established the United Mexican States. In 1824, a Republican Constitution was drafted and Guadalupe Victoria became the first president of the newly born country. The first decades of the post-independence period were marked by economic instability, which led to the Pastry War in 1836, and a constant strife between liberales, supporters of a federal form of government, and conservadores, proposals of a hierarchical form of government.[45]
General Antonio López de Santa Anna, a centralist and two-time dictator, approved the Siete Leyes in 1836, a radical amendment that institutionalized the centralized form of government. When he suspended the 1824 Constitution, civil war spread across the country, and three new governments declared independence: the Republic of Texas, the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Republic of Yucatán.
Texas successfully achieved independence and was annexed by the United States. A border dispute led to the Mexican–American War, which began in 1846 and lasted for two years; the War was settled via the "Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo", which forced Mexico to give up nearly half of its land to the U.S., including California and New Mexico. A much smaller transfer of territory in parts of southern Arizona and New Mexico — the Gadsden Purchase — occurred in 1854. The Caste War of Yucatán, the Mayan uprising that began in 1847,[46] was one of the most successful modern Native American revolts.[47] Maya rebels, or Cruzob, maintained the Maya free state until the 1930s.[48]
Dissatisfaction with Santa Anna's return to power led to the liberal "Plan of Ayutla", initiating an era known as La Reforma, after which a new Constitution was drafted in 1857 that established a secular state, federalism as the form of government, and several freedoms. As the conservadores refused to recognized it, the War of Reform began in 1858, during which both groups had their own governments. The war ended in 1861 with victory by the Liberals, led by Amerindian President Benito Juárez. In the 1860s Mexico underwent a military occupation by France, which established the Second Mexican Empire under the rule of Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria with support from the Roman Catholic clergy and the conservadores, who later switched sides and joined the liberales. Maximilian surrendered, was tried on June 14 and was executed on June 19, 1867. Porfirio Diaz and his wife with other members of the Porfirian ruling faction Venustiano Carranza, one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution and supporter of the 1917 Constitution
Porfirio Díaz, a republican general during the French intervention, ruled Mexico from 1876–1880 and then from 1884–1911 in five consecutive reelections, period known as the Porfiriato, characterized by remarkable economic achievements, investments in arts and sciences, but also of economic inequality and political repression.[49] 20th century
A likely electoral fraud that led to Diaz's fifth reelection sparked the 1910 Mexican Revolution, initially led by Francisco I. Madero.
Díaz resigned in 1911 and Madero was elected president but overthrown and murdered in a coup d'état two years later directed by conservative general Victoriano Huerta. Event that re-ignited the civil war, involving figures such as Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata, who formed their own forces. A third force, the constitutional army led by Venustiano Carranza, managed to bring an end to the war, and radically amended the 1857 Constitution to include many of the social premises and demands of the revolutionaries into what was eventually called the 1917 Constitution. It is estimated that the war killed 900,000 of the 1910 population of 15 million.[50][51]
Assassinated in 1920, Carranza was succeeded by another revolutionary hero, Álvaro Obregón, who in turn was succeeded by Plutarco Elías Calles. Obregón was reelected in 1928 but assassinated before he could assume power. In 1929, Calles founded the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), later renamed the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and started a period known as the Maximato, which ended with the election of Lázaro Cárdenas, who implemented many economic and social reforms, and most significantly expropriated the oil industry into PEMEX on March 18, 1938, but sparked a diplomatic crisis with the countries whose citizens had lost businesses by Cárdenas radical measure.
Between 1940 and 1980, Mexico experienced a substantial economic growth that some historians call the "Mexican Miracle".[52] Although the economy continued to flourish, social inequality remained a factor of discontent. Moreover, the PRI rule became increasingly authoritarian and at times oppressive[53] (i.e.: the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre,[54] which claimed the life of around 30–800 protesters).[55] NAFTA Initialing Ceremony, October 1992. From left to right (standing) President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President George H. W. Bush, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. (Seated) Jaime Serra Puche, Carla Hills, Michael Wilson.
Electoral reforms and high oil prices followed the administration of Luis Echeverría,[56][57] mismanagement of these revenues led to inflation and exacerbated the 1982 Crisis. That year, oil prices plunged, interest rates soared, and the government defaulted on its debt. President Miguel de la Madrid resorted to currency devaluations which in turn sparked inflation. Vicente Fox was the first president from an opposition party to win the presidential election in over 70 years
In the 1980s, first cracks in the political monopolistic position of PRI were seen such as the election of Ernesto Ruffo Appel in Baja California and the 1988 electoral fraud, which prevented leftist candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas from winning the national presidential elections, who lost to Carlos Salinas de Gortari, leading to massive protests in Mexico City.[58]
Salinas embarked on a program of neoliberal reforms which fixed the exchange rate, controlled inflation and culminated with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect on January 1, 1994. The same day, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) started a two-week-lived armed rebellion against the federal government, and has continued as a non-violent opposition movement against neoliberalism and globalization.
In December 1994, a month after Salinas was succeeded by Ernesto Zedillo, the Mexican economy collapsed, with a rapid rescue packaged authorized by U.S. President Bill Clinton and major macroeconomic reforms started by president Zedillo, the economy rapidly recovered and growth peaked at almost 7% by the end of 1999.[59]
In 2000, after 71 years, the PRI lost a presidential election to Vicente Fox of the opposition National Action Party (PAN). In the subsequent presidential elections, Felipe Calderón from the PAN was declared the winner, with a razor-thin margin over leftist politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). López Obrador, however, contested the election and pledged to create an "alternative government".[60] Administrative divisions Gulf of Mexico Pacific Ocean Central America United States of America Federal District AG Baja California Baja California Sur Campeche Chiapas Chihuahua Coahuila Colima Durango Guanajuato Guerrero HD Jalisco EM Michoacán MO Nayarit Nuevo León Oaxaca PB QU Quintana Roo SLP Sinaloa Sonora Tabasco Tamaulipas TL Veracruz Yucatán Zacatecas Main articles: Political divisions of Mexico and Mexican state name etymologies
The United Mexican States are a federation of thirty-one free and sovereign states, which form a union that exercises jurisdiction over the Federal District and other territories. Each state has its own Constitution and Congress, as well as a judiciary, and its citizens elect by direct voting, a governor for a six-year term, as well as representatives to their respective unicameral state congresses, for three-year terms.[61]
The states are also divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or municipal president (Presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality.[62] Municipalities can be further subdivided into non-autonomous boroughs or in semi-autonomous auxiliary presidencies.
Constitutionally, Mexico City, as the capital and seat of the federal powers, is the Federal District, a special political division that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state, and as such, has more limited local rule than the nation's states.[63] Since 1987, it has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy, and residents now elect a head of government and representatives of a Legislative Assembly directly. Unlike the states, the Federal District does not have a Constitution but a Statute of Government. Mexico City is coterminous and coextensive with the Federal District. Administrative Divisions of Mexico State Capital State Capital State Capital State Capital
Aguascalientes Aguascalientes Federal District Mexico City Morelos Cuernavaca Sinaloa Culiacán Baja California Mexicali Durango Durango Nayarit Tepic Sonora Hermosillo Baja California Sur La Paz Guanajuato Guanajuato Nuevo León Monterrey Tabasco Villahermosa Campeche Campeche Guerrero Chilpancingo Oaxaca Oaxaca Tamaulipas Ciudad Victoria Chiapas Tuxtla Gutiérrez Hidalgo Pachuca Puebla Puebla Tlaxcala Tlaxcala Chihuahua Chihuahua Jalisco Guadalajara Querétaro Querétaro Veracruz Xalapa Coahuila Saltillo Mexico State Toluca Quintana Roo Chetumal Yucatán Mérida Colima Colima Michoacán Morelia San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí Zacatecas Zacatecas
Geography and climate Main article: Geography of Mexico A picture of Mexico as seen from outer space. A winding river in the valley of Michoacán
Mexico is located at about 23° N and 102° W[64] in the southern portion of North America.[65][66] Almost all of Mexico lies in the North American Plate, with small parts of the Baja California peninsula on the Pacific and Cocos Plates. Geophysically, some geographers include the territory east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (around 12% of the total) within Central America.[67] Geopolitically, however, Mexico is entirely considered part of North America, along with Canada and the United States.[68][69]
Mexico's total area is 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), making it the world's 14th largest country by total area, and includes approximately 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi) of islands in the Pacific Ocean (including the remote Guadalupe Island and the Revillagigedo Islands), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Gulf of California. On its north, Mexico shares a 3,141 km (1,952 mi)border with the United States. The meandering Río Bravo del Norte (known as the Rio Grande in the United States) defines the border from Ciudad Juárez east to the Gulf of Mexico. A series of natural and artificial markers delineate the United States-Mexican border west from Ciudad Juárez to the Pacific Ocean. On its south, Mexico shares an 871 km (541 mi) border with Guatemala and a 251 km (156 mi) border with Belize. Topography Topographic map of Mexico
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.[70]
As such, the majority of the Mexican central and northern territories are located at high altitudes, and the highest elevations are found at the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt: Pico de Orizaba (5,700 m, 18,701 ft), Popocatépetl (5,462 m, 17,920 ft) and Iztaccíhuatl (5,286 m, 17,343 ft) and the Nevado de Toluca (4,577 m, 15,016 ft). Three major urban agglomerations are located in the valleys between these four elevations: Toluca, Greater Mexico City and Puebla.[70] Climate Updated Köppen-Geiger climate map[71]
Af Am Aw BWh BWk BSh BSk Csa Csb Cwa Cwb Cfa Cfb Cfc
Snowfall is common in the mountainous area of the Sierra Madre del Sur
The Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the country into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the twenty-fourth parallel experiences cooler temperatures during the winter months. South of the twenty-fourth parallel, temperatures are fairly constant year round and vary solely as a function of elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather systems.
Areas south of the twenty-fourth parallel with elevations up to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) (the southern parts of both coastal plains as well as the Yucatán Peninsula), have a yearly median temperature between 24 to 28 °C (75 to 82 °F). Temperatures here remain high throughout the year, with only a 5 °C (9 °F) difference between winter and summer median temperatures. Both Mexican coasts, except for the south coast of the Bay of Campeche and northern Baja, are also vulnerable to serious hurricanes during the summer and fall. Although low-lying areas north of the twentieth-fourth parallel are hot and humid during the summer, they generally have lower yearly temperature averages (from 20 to 24 °C or 68 to 75 °F) because of more moderate conditions during the winter.
Many large cities in Mexico are located in the Valley of Mexico or in adjacent valleys with altitudes generally above 2,000 m (6,600 ft). This gives them a year-round temperate climate with yearly temperature averages (from 16 to 18 °C or 61 to 64 °F) and cool nighttime temperatures throughout the year.
Many parts of Mexico, particularly the north, have a dry climate with sporadic rainfall while parts of the tropical lowlands in the south average more than 200 cm (79 in) of annual precipitation. For example, many cities in the north like Monterrey, Hermosillo, and Mexicali experience temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) or more in summer. In the Sonoran desert temperatures reach 50 °C (122 °F) or more. Northern Mexico is characterized by desert because it is located in a latitude where all deserts around the globe are formed.[72] Biodiversity The Golden Eagle, the national symbol of Mexico is a protected species by national law and is used in many government functions. It can be found throughout the north and central areas of the country. The jaguar, a native mammal of Mexico.
Mexico is one of the 18 megadiverse countries of the world. With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity.[73] Mexico ranks first in biodiversity in reptiles with 707 known species, second in mammals with 438 species, fourth in amphibians with 290 species, and fourth in flora, with 26,000 different species.[74] Mexico is also considered the second country in the world in ecosystems and fourth in overall species.[75] Approximately 2,500 species are protected by Mexican legislations.[75]
The Mexican government created the National System of Information about Biodiversity, in order to study and promote the sustainable use of ecosystems. Deforestation is one of the most serious environmental issues in Mexico, with more than one million hectares of forest being lost each year. As of 2002, Mexico had the second fastest rate of deforestation in the world, second only to Brazil.[76] The government has taken another initiative in the late 1990s to expand the people's knowledge, interest and use of the country's esteemed biodiversity, through the Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad.
In Mexico, 170,000 square kilometres (66,000 sq mi) are considered "Protected Natural Areas." These include 34 reserve biospheres (unaltered ecosystems), 64 national parks, 4 natural monuments (protected in perpetuity for their aesthetic, scientific or historical value), 26 areas of protected flora and fauna, 4 areas for natural resource protection (conservation of soil, hydrological basins and forests) and 17 sanctuaries (zones rich in diverse species).[73]
The discovery of the Americas brought to the rest of the world many widely used food crops and edible plants. Some of Mexico's native culinary ingredients include: chocolate, avocado, tomato, maize, vanilla, guava, chayote, epazote, camote, jícama, nopal, zucchini, tejocote, huitlacoche, sapote, mamey sapote, many varieties of beans, and an even greater variety of chiles, such as the Habanero and the Xalapeño. Most of these names come from indigenous languages like Nahuatl. Government and politics Mexico
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Mexico
* Constitution (history)
* President (List)
o Felipe Calderon
* Cabinet
* Congress (current)
o Senate
o Chamber of Deputies
* Supreme Court
* Political parties
* Elections
o 1988 - 1991 - 1994 - 1997
2000 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
o Federal Electoral Institute
* States
* Foreign relations
* Military of Mexico
Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view • talk • edit Main article: Politics of Mexico The National palace, symbolic seat of the Executive
The United Mexican States are a federation whose government is representative, democratic and republican based on a presidential system according to the 1917 Constitution. The constitution establishes three levels of government: the federal Union, the state governments and the municipal governments. All officials at the three levels are elected by voters through first-past-the-post plurality, proportional representation or are appointed by other elected officials.
The federal government is constituted by the Powers of the Union, the three separate branches of government: Legislature
Legislative: the bicameral Congress of the Union, composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, which makes federal law, declares war, imposes taxes, approves the national budget and international treaties, and ratifies diplomatic appointments.[77] Executive
Executive: the President of the United Mexican States, who is the head of state and government, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Mexican military forces. The President also appoints the Cabinet and other officers. The President is responsible for executing and enforcing the law, and has the authority of vetoing bills.[78] Judiciary
Judiciary: The Supreme Court of Justice, comprised by eleven judges appointed by the President with Senate approval, who interpret laws and judge cases of federal competency. Other institutions of the judiciary are the Electoral Tribunal, collegiate, unitary and district tribunals, and the Council of the Federal Judiciary.[79] Mexican Congress
All elected executive officials are elected by plurality (first-past-the-post). Seats to federal and state legislatures are elected by a system of parallel voting that includes plurality and proportional representation.[80] The Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Union is conformed by 300 deputies elected by plurality and 200 deputies by proportional representation with closed party lists[81] for which the country is divided into 5 electoral constituencies or circumscriptions.[82]
The Senate is conformed by a total of 128 senators: 64 senators, two for each state and two for the Federal District, elected by plurality in pairs; 32 senators assigned to the first minority or first-runner up (one for each state and one for the Federal District), and 32 are assigned by proportional representation with closed party lists for which the country conforms a single electoral constituency.[81]
According to the constitution, all constituent states of the federation must have a republican form of government composed of three branches: the executive, represented by a governor and an appointed cabinet, the legislative branch constituted by a unicameral congress and the judiciary, which will include called state Supreme Court of Justice. They also have their own civil and judicial codes.
In the 2009-2012 Congress of the Union, seven parties are therein represented; four of them, however, have not received neither in this nor in previous congresses more than 4% of the national votes.[83] The other three parties have historically been the dominant parties in Mexican politics: President Felipe Calderón
* PAN party.png National Action Party (Partido Acción Nacional, PAN): a center-right conservative party founded in 1939. PAN has gained plurality, but not absolute majority in several parliamentary elections. In 2000, it gained the presidency for the first time. It belongs to the Christian Democrat Organization of America.[84] * PRI party.png Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI): a center-left party that ascribes to social democracy—it is a member of Socialist International—[85] founded in 1929 to unite all the factions of the Mexican Revolution. Prominent left-wing Mexican politicians have been members of the party. Having dominated Mexican politics since the Revolution, PRI includes diverse factions including some center-right members. * PRD party.png Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD): a left-wing party,[86] founded in 1989 as the successor of the coalition of socialists and liberal parties, the National Democratic Front that had presented the candidacy of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas in the controversial 1988 elections.
The PRI held an almost hegemonic power in Mexican politics since 1929. Since 1977 consecutive electoral reforms allowed opposition parties to win more posts at the local and federal level. This process culminated in the 2000 presidential elections in which Vicente Fox, candidate of the PAN, became the first non-PRI president to be elected in 71 years.
In 2006, Felipe Calderón of the PAN faced Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD in a very close election (0.58% difference), by simple plurality—the Mexican electoral system does not include runoff voting. López Obrador contested the elections, but on September 6, 2006, Felipe Calderón was declared President-elect by the Electoral Tribunal. His cabinet was sworn in at midnight on December 1, 2006 and Calderón was handed the presidential band by outgoing Vicente Fox at Los Pinos. He was officially sworn as President on the morning of December 1, 2006 in Congress. Foreign relations Main article: Foreign relations of Mexico President Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Harper at the 2007 North American Leaders' Summit.
The foreign policy of Mexico is directed by the President[87] and managed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[88] whose constitutionally recognized principles are: respect for international law and legal equality of states, their sovereignty and independence, non-intervention, peaceful resolution of conflicts and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organizations.[87] President Felipe Calderón with other national leaders at the meeting of G5 leaders in Berlin, Germany. From left to right: Manmohan Singh of India, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Hu Jintao of China and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
Since the 1930s, the Estrada Doctrine has served as a crucial complement to these principles.[89] The foreign relations of Mexico have been focused primarily on the United States and its historically tied neighbors in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the 20th century, Mexico developed a foreign policy based on hemispheric prestige. However, in the 2000s, former President Vicente Fox adopted a new foreign policy that called for an openness and an acceptance of criticism from the international community and the increase of Mexican involvement in foreign affairs, as well as a further integration towards its northern neighbors.[90] A greater priority to Latin America and the Caribbean has been given in the administration of President Felipe Calderón.[91]
In addition, since the 1990s Mexico has sought a reform of the United Nations Security Council and its working methods[92] with the support of Canada, Italy, Pakistan and other nine countries, which form a group informally called the Coffee Club.[93] As an regional and emerging power, Mexico has a significant global presence and is a member of several international organizations and forums such as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the G8+5, the G-20 major economies, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Military Main articles: Military of Mexico, Mexican Army, Mexican Air Force, and Mexican Navy Durango class patrol vessel of the Mexican Navy.
Mexico has the third-largest defense budget in Latin America, with reported annual military expenditures of US $24.944 billion or about 1.6% of GDP. Since the 1990s, when the military escalated its role in the war on drugs, increasing importance has been placed on acquiring airborne surveillance platforms, aircraft, helicopters, digital war-fighting technologies[94], urban warfare equipment and rapid troop transport.[95]
The Mexican Military has two branches: the Mexican Army (which includes the Mexican Air Force), and the Mexican Navy. The Mexican armed forces maintain significant infrastructure, including facilities for design, research, and testing of weapons, vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, defense systems and electronics;[94][96] military industry manufacturing centers for building such systems, and advanced naval dockyards that build heavy military vessels and advanced missile technologies.[97]
These facilities have a significant employment and economic impact. In recent years, Mexico has improved its training techniques, military command and information structures and has taken steps to becoming more self-reliant in supplying its military by designing as well as manufacturing its own arms,[98] missiles,[96] aircraft,[99] vehicles, heavy weaponry, electronics,[94] defense systems,[94] armor, heavy military industrial equipment and heavy naval vessels.[100]
Historically, Mexico has remained neutral in international conflicts[101] with the exception of World War II. However, in recent years some political parties have proposed an amendment of the Constitution in order to allow the Mexican army, air force or navy to collaborate with the United Nations in peacekeeping missions, or to provide military help to countries that officially ask for it.[102] Law enforcement Mexican Federal Police.
Public security is enacted at the three levels of government, each of which has different prerogatives and responsibilities. Local and state police department are primarily in charge of law enforcement, whereas the Federal Preventive Police is in charge of specialized duties. All levels report to the Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (Secretariat of Public Security). The General Attorney's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) is the executive power's agency in charge of investigating and prosecuting crimes at the federal level, mainly those related to drug and arms trafficking, espionage, and bank robberies.[103] The PGR operates the Federal Investigations Agency (Agencia Federal de Investigación, AFI) an investigative and preventive agency.[104]
While the government respects the human rights of most citizens,[105] serious abuses of power have been reported in security operations in indigenous communities and poor urban neighborhoods.[105] The National Human Rights Commission has had little impact in reversing this trend, engaging mostly in documentation but failing to use its powers to issue public condemnations to the officials who ignore its recommendations.[106] By law, all defendants have the rights that assure them fair trials and human treatment; however, the system is overburdened and overwhelmed with several problems.[107]
Despite the efforts of the authorities to fight crime and fraud, few Mexicans have strong confidence in the police or the judicial system, and therefore, few crimes are actually reported by the citizens.[107] In 2008, president Calderón proposed a major reform of the judicial system, which was approved by the Congress of the Union, which included oral trials, the presumption of innocence for defendants, the authority of local police to investigate crime—until then a prerogative of special police units—and several other changes intended to speed up trials.[108]
Total crimes per capita average 12 per 1,000 people in Mexico, ranking 39 in a survey of 60 countries.[109] Violent crime is a critical issue in Mexico; with a rate of homicide varying from 11 to 14 per 100,000 inhabitants.[110] Drug-traffic and narco-related activities are a major concern in Mexico.[111] The Mexican drug cartels have as many as 100,000 foot soldiers, which is about the size of the Mexican army.[112] Drug cartels are active in the shared border with the US and police corruption and collusion with drug cartels is a crucial problem.[110]
Current president Felipe Calderón made abating drug-trafficking one of the top priorities of his administration. In a very controversial move, Calderón deployed military personnel to cities where drug cartels operate. While this move has been criticized by the opposition parties and the National Human Rights Commission, its effects have been praised by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as having obtained "unprecedented results..." with "many important successes".[113] In October 2007, the president Calderón and US president George W. Bush announced the Mérida Initiative a historic plan of law enforcement cooperation between the two countries.[114] Economy Economy of Mexico Mexican Economy.png Aspects of Mexican economy Currency Mexican peso (MXN, $) Fiscal year calendar Trade organisations APEC, CARICOM, NAFTA, OECD and WTO Statistics GDP $1.563 Trillion[115] (2008) GDP growth 4.8% (2009) GDP per capita $14,932 (2009 est.)[116] GDP by sector agriculture: 4%, industry: 26.6%, services: 69.5% (2007 est.) Inflation (CPI) 2.88% (Central bank report for February 2009) Population below poverty line 4.8% using food-based definition of poverty; asset based poverty amounted at approximately 15% (December 2008) Labour force 45.38 million (2007 est.) Labour force by occupation agriculture: 13%, industry: 29%, services: 58% (2003) Unemployment 3.7% plus considerable underemployment(21%) (2007 est.) Main industries Food and Beverages, Aerospace, Electronics, Tobacco, chemicals, Iron and Steel, Petroleum, Biotechnology, Mining, Shipbuilding, Electricity, Defense Products, Textiles, Clothing, Motor vehicles, Computers, consumer durables, Information Technologies, Tourism and Ecotourism External Exports $419.9 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) Export goods Manufactured goods, electronics, automobiles, oil and oil products, aircraft, silver, computers and servers, fruits, meats, consumer electronics, processed foods, vegetables, ships, coffee, LCD screens, electricity, biotechnology, cotton, rolling stock, automotive and aircraft enigines, cellular phones, metals, industrial equipment, granite and marble, lithium, batteries, firearms, aluminium, information technologies, foodstuffs, silicone, medical technology, gold, plastics, microproccesors, Main export partners United States 49.2%, Germany 15%, South Korea 12.5% China 10.3% Chile 8.4% (2008) Imports $283 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) Main import partners United States 44.3%, Brazil 31.5%, Chile 9.3%, China 5.5%, South Korea 5.3%, Japan 4.1% (2008) Public finances Public debt $92.7 billion (October 2008) Revenues $571.2 billion (2008) Expenses $321.2 billion (2000 est.) Economic aid $189.4 million (2008) Main data source: CIA World Fact Book All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars Main articles: Economy of Mexico and Economic history of Mexico Although the Mexican Peso has historically been a relatively unstable currency, it has in recent years become a secure stable currency and has maintained a low inflation rate becoming increasingly prominent on the international level.
The economy of Mexico is the 11th largest in the world. Since the 1994 crisis, administrations have improved the country's macroeconomic fundamentals. Mexico was not significantly influenced by the recent 2002 South American crisis, and has maintained positive rates of growth after a brief period of stagnation in 2001. Moody's (in March 2000) and Fitch IBCA (in January 2002) issued investment-grade ratings for Mexico's sovereign debt. In spite of its unprecedented macroeconomic stability, which has reduced inflation and interest rates to record lows and has increased per capita income, enormous gaps remain between the urban and the rural population, the northern, central, and southern states, and the rich and the poor although there has been a large growing middle class since the mid 1990's.[117] Some of the government's challenges include the upgrade of infrastructure, the modernization of the tax system and labor laws, and the reduction of income inequality.
The economy contains rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership. Recent administrations have expanded competition in ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports, with the aim of upgrading infrastructure. As an export-oriented economy, more than 90% of Mexican trade is under free trade agreements (FTAs) with more than 40 countries, including the European Union, Japan, Israel, and much of Central and South America.
The most influential FTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which came into effect in 1994, and was signed in 1992 by the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2006, trade with Mexico's two northern partners accounted for almost 50% of its exports and 45% of its imports.[118] Recently, the Congress of the Union approved important tax, pension and judicial reforms, and reform to the oil industry is currently being debated. According to the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies in 2008, Mexico had 16 companies in the list.[119]
Mexico has a free market mixed economy, and is firmly established as an upper middle-income country.[15] It is the 11th largest economy in the world as measured in gross domestic product in purchasing power parity.[120] According to the latest information available from the International Monetary Fund, Mexico had the second-highest Gross National Income per capita in Latin America in nominal terms, at $9,716 in 2007, and the highest in purchasing power parity (PPP), at $14,119 in 2007.[120]
After the 1994 economic debacle, Mexico has made an impressive recovery, building a modern and diversified economy.[15] Oil is Mexico's largest source of foreign income.[121] According to Goldman Sachs, BRIMC review of emerging economies, by 2050 the largest economies in the world will be as follows: China, India, United States, Brazil and Mexico.[122] Mexico is the largest North American auto producing nation, recently surpassing Canada and U.S.[123]
Mexico is the first and only Latin American country to be included in the World Government Bond Index or WGBI, which list the most important global economies that circulate government debt bonds.[124]
According to the director for Mexico at the World Bank, the population in poverty has decreased from 24.2% to 17.6% in the general population and from 42% to 27.9% in rural areas from 2000 to 2004.[125] As of January 2009 4.6% of the population is impoverished if measured by food based poverty and 15% of the population is considered to be impoverished by asset based measurments (living on less than $10,000 per year).
Nonetheless, income inequality remains a problem, and huge gaps remain not only between rich and poor but also between the north and the south, and between urban and rural areas. Sharp contrasts in income and Human Development are also a grave problem in Mexico. The 2004 United Nations Human Development Index report for Mexico states that Benito Juárez, a district of Mexico City, and San Pedro Garza García, in the State of Nuevo León, would have a similar level of economic, educational and life expectancy development to Germany or New Zealand. In contrast, Metlatonoc, in the state of Guerrero, would have an HDI similar to that of Syria.[126][127] Electronics now play an important role in the Mexican economy, with over 600 new electronics related companies formed since 2000.
GDP annual average growth for the period of 1995–2002 was 5.1%.[57] The economic downturn in the United States also caused a similar pattern in Mexico, from which it rapidly recovered to grow 4.1% in 2005 and 3% in 2005. Inflation has reached a record low of 3.3% in 2005, and interest rates are low, which have spurred credit-consumption in the middle class. Mexico has experienced in the last decade monetary stability: the budget deficit was further reduced and foreign debt was decreased to less than 20% of GDP.[57] Along with Chile, Mexico has the highest rating of long-term sovereign credit in Latin America.
The remittances from Mexican citizens working in the United States account for only 0.2% of Mexico's GDP[128] which was equal to US$20 billion dollars per year in 2004 and is the tenth largest source of foreign income after oil, industrial exports, manufactured goods, electronics, heavy industry, automobiles, construction, food, banking and financial services.[129] According to Mexico's central bank, remittances fell 3.6% in 2008 to $25bn.[130]
Ongoing economic concerns include the commercial and financial dependence on the US,[131] low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution (the top 32% of income earners account for 55% of income), and few advancement opportunities for the largely Mayan population in the southern states. Industry An automated Volkswagen factory in Puebla, Puebla.
Among the most important industrial manufacturers in Mexico is the automotive industry, whose standards of quality are internationally recognized. The automobile sector in Mexico differs from that in other Latin American countries and developing nations in that it does not function as a mere assembly manufacturer. The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities.[132] The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s.[133]
Later, Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz established a presence. Given the high requirements of North American components in the industry, many European and Asian parts suppliers have also moved to Mexico: in Puebla alone, 70 industrial part-makers cluster around Volkswagen.[132] The relatively small domestic car industry still is represented by DINA Camiones S.A. de C.V., that has built buses and trucks for almost half a century and the new car company Mastrettadesign that builds the race car Mastretta MXT.
Some large industries of Mexico include Cemex, the third largest cement conglomerate in the world;[134] the alcohol beverage industries, including world-renowned players like Grupo Modelo; conglomerates like FEMSA, which apart from owning breweries and the OXXO convenience store chain, is also the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world; Gruma, the largest producer of corn flour and tortillas in the world; and Grupo Bimbo, Telmex, Televisa, among many others. In 2005, according to the World Bank, high-tech industrial production represented 19.6% of total exports.[135] The Mexican aerospace industry builds high end aircraft and aircraft systems and parts for foreign companies.[136][137] Mexico is the worlds second largest producer of construction materials.[138]
Maquiladoras (Mexican factories which take in imported raw materials and produce goods for export) have become the landmark of trade in Mexico. This sector has benefited from NAFTA, in that real income in the maquiladora sector has increased 15.5% since 1994, though from the non-maquiladora sector has grown much faster.[133] Contrary to popular belief, this should be no surprise since maquiladora's products could enter the US duty free since the 1960s industry agreement. Other sectors now benefit from the free trade agreement, and the share of exports from non-border states has increased in the last 5 years while the share of exports from maquiladora-border states has decreased.
Currently Mexico is focusing in developing an aerospace industry[citation needed] and the assembly of helicopter and commercial jet aircraft is taking place. Foreign firms such as MD Helicopters and Bombardier build helicopters and commercial jets respectively in Mexico. Although the Mexican aircraft industry is mostly foreign, as is its car industry, Mexican firms have been founded such as Aeromarmi, which builds light propeller airplanes, and Hydra Technologies, which builds Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
As compared with the United States or countries in Western Europe, a larger sector of Mexico's industrial economy is food manufacturing, which includes several world class companies; but the regional industry is undeveloped. There are national brands that have become international, and local Mom and Pop producers, but little manufacturing in between. Tourism Main article: Tourism in Mexico Coastal skyline of Cancún, Quintana Roo
According to the World Tourism Organization, Mexico has one of the largest tourism industries in the world. In 2005 it was the seventh most popular. The most notable tourist draws are the ancient Mesoamerican ruins, and popular beach resorts. The coastal climate and unique culture – a fusion of European (particularly Spanish) and Mesoamerican cultures; also make Mexico attractive. The peak tourist seasons in Mexico are during December and during July and August, with brief surges during the week before Easter and during spring break at many of the beach resort sites which are popular among vacationing college students from the United States.[139]
Mexico is the twenty-third highest tourism spender in the world, and the highest in Latin America.[140] Energy
See also: Electricity sector in Mexico El Cajón Hydroelectric Dam in the state of Nayarit Laguna Verde nuclear power plant
Energy production in Mexico is managed by state-owned companies: the Federal Commission of Electricity (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE) and Pemex (Petróleos Mexicanos). The CFE is in charge of the operation of electricity-generating plants and its distribution all across the territory, with the exception of the states of Morelos, Mexico State, Hidalgo and Mexico City, whose distribution of electricity is in charge of the state-owned Luz y Fuerza del Centro. Most of the electricity is generated in thermoelectrical plants, even though CFE operates several hydroelectric plants, as well as wind power, geothermal and nuclear generators.[141]
Natural resources are the "nation's property" (i.e. public property) by constitution. As such, the oil sector is administered by the government with varying degrees of private investment. Mexico is the sixth-largest oil producer in the world, with 3.7 million barrels per day.[142]
Pemex, the public company in charge of exploration, extraction, transportation and marketing of crude oil and natural gas, as well as the refining and distribution of petroleum products and petrochemicals, is one of the largest companies (oil or otherwise) in Latin America, making US $86 billion in sales a year,[143] a sum larger than the GDP of some countries. Nonetheless, the company is heavily taxed, a significant source of revenue for the government, of almost 62 per cent of the company's sales. In 1980 oil exports accounted for 61.6% of total exports; by 2000 it was only 7.3%.[132] Transportation Main article: Transportation in Mexico
See also: List of Mexican Federal Highways and List of Mexican railroads
Much of Mexico's automotive traffic depends on the national highway system. An Aeroméxico plane landing at Mexico City International Airport.
The paved-roadway network in Mexico is the most extensive in Latin America at 116,802 km (72,577 mi) in 2005; 10,474 km (6,508 mi) were multi-lane freeways or expressways,[144] most of which were tollways. Nonetheless, Mexico's diverse orography—most of the territory is crossed by high-altitude ranges of mountains—as well as economic challenges have led to difficulties in creating an integrated transportation network and even though the network has improved, it still cannot meet national needs adequately.[145]
Being one of the first Latin American countries to promote railway development,[145] the network, though extensive at 30,952 km (19,233 mi),[146] is still inefficient to meet the economic demands of transportation.[145] Most of the rail network is mainly used for merchandise or industrial freight and was mostly operated by National Railway of Mexico (Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, FNM), privatized in 1997.
In 1999, Mexico had 1,806 airports, of which 233 had paved runways; of these, 35 carry 97% of the passenger traffic.[146] The Mexico City International Airport remains the largest in Latin America and the 44th largest in the world[147] transporting 21 million passengers a year.[148] There are more than 30 domestic airline companies of which only two are known internationally: Aeroméxico and Mexicana.
Mass transit in Mexico is modest. Most of the domestic passenger transport needs are served by an extensive bus network[146] with several dozen companies operating by regions. Train passenger transportation between cities is limited. Inner-city rail mass transit is available at Mexico City—with the operation of the metro, elevated and ground train, as well as a Suburban Train connecting the adjacent municipalities of Greater Mexico City—as well as at Guadalajara and Monterrey, the first served by a commuter rail and the second by an underground and elevated metro. Communications Main article: Communications in Mexico A Satmex communications satellite being deployed from its launch vehicle
The telecommunications industry is mostly dominated by Telmex (Teléfonos de México), privatized in 1990. As of 2006, Telmex had expanded its operations to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay and the United States. Other players in the domestic industry are Axtel and Maxcom. Due to Mexican orography, providing landline telephone service at remote mountainous areas is expensive, and the penetration of line-phones per capita is low compared to other Latin American countries, at forty-percent, however 82% of Mexicans over the age of 15 own a mobile phone. Mobile telephony has the advantage of reaching all areas at a lower cost, and the total number of mobile lines is almost two times that of landlines, with an estimation of 63 million lines.[149] The telecommunication industry is regulated by the government through Cofetel (Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones). A Telmex retail store in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
The Mexican satellite system is domestic and operates 120 earth stations. There is also extensive microwave radio relay network and considerable use of fiber-optic and coaxial cable.[149] Mexican satellites are operated by Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex), a private company, leader in Latin America and servicing both North and South America.[150] It offers broadcast, telephone and telecommunication services to 37 countries in the Americas, from Canada to Argentina. Through business partnerships Satmex provides high-speed connectivity to ISPs and Digital Broadcast Services.[151] Satmex maintains its own satellite fleet with most of the fleet being Mexican designed and built.
Mexico has recently emerged as a major producer of communications technology. In 2008 Mexico manufactured over 130 million mobile phones making it the sixth largest producer of mobile phones.
Usage of radio, television, and Internet in Mexico is prevalent.[146] There are approximately 1,410 radio broadcast stations and 236 television stations (excluding repeaters).[149] Major players in the broadcasting industry are Televisa—the largest Spanish media company in the Spanish-speaking world[152]—and TV Azteca. Demographics Main article: Demographics of Mexico
According to the latest official estimate, which reported a population of 111 million, Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.[153] Mexican annual population growth has drastically decreased from a peak of 3.5% in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005. Life expectancy in 2006 was estimated to be at 75.4 years (72.6 male and 78.3 female). The states with the highest life expectancy are Baja California (75.9 years) and Nuevo León (75.6 years). The Federal District has a life expectancy of the same level as Baja California.
The lowest levels are found in Chiapas (72.9), Oaxaca (73.2) and Guerrero (73.2 years). The mortality rate in 1970 was 9.7 per 1000 people; by 2001, the rate had dropped to 4.9 men per 1000 men and 3.8 women per 1000 women. The most common reasons for death in 2001 were heart problems (14.6% for men 17.6% for women) and cancer (11% for men and 15.8% for women).
Mexican population is increasingly urban, with close to 75% living in cities. The five largest urban areas in Mexico (Greater Mexico City, Greater Guadalajara, Greater Monterrey, Greater Puebla and Greater Toluca) are home to 30% of the country's population. Migration patterns within the country show positive migration to north-western and south-eastern states, and a negative rate of migration for the Federal District. While the annual population growth is still positive, the national net migration rate is negative (-4.7/1000), attributable to the emigration phenomenon of people from rural communities to the United States. Metropolitan areas Main article: Metropolitan areas of Mexico
Metropolitan areas in Mexico have been traditionally defined as the group of municipalities that heavily interact with each other, usually around a core city.[154] In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO, INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:[154]
* the group of two or more municipalities in which a city with a population of at least 50,000 is located whose urban area extends over the limit of the municipality that originally contained the core city incorporating either physically or under its area of direct influence other adjacent predominantly urban municipalities all of which have a high degree of social and economic integration or are relevant for urban politics and administration; or * a single municipality in which a city of a population of at least one million is located and fully contained, (that is, it does not transcend the limits of a single municipality); or * a city with a population of at least 250,000 which forms a conurbation with other cities in the United States.
It should be noted, however, that northwestern and southeastern states are divided into a small number of large municipalities whereas central states are divided into a large number of smaller municipalities. As such, metropolitan areas in the northwest usually do not extend over more than one municipality (and figures usually report population for the entire municipality) whereas metropolitan areas in the center extend over many municipalities.
Few metropolitan areas extend beyond the limits of one state, namely: Greater Mexico City (Federal District, Mexico State and Hidalgo), Puebla-Tlaxcala (Puebla and Tlaxcala, but excludes the city of Tlaxcala), Comarca Lagunera (Coahuila and Durango), and Tampico (Tamaulipas and Veracruz). Metropolitan areas of Mexico (2009 National Population Council Estimations)[155] Rank Metropolitan Area Federative Entity Pop. Rank Core City Pop. Region view • talk • edit
Mexico City Mexico City Guadalajara Guadalajara
Monterrey Monterrey 1 Mexico City[156] DF, Mexico, Hidalgo 21,163,226 1 Mexico City 8,841,916 Center 2 Guadalajara Jalisco 4,365,104 5 Guadalajara 1,564,514 West 3 Monterrey Nuevo León 3,985,457 9 Monterrey 1,138,711 North 4 Puebla Puebla, Tlaxcala 2,647,099 4 Puebla 1,590,256 East 5 Tijuana Baja California 1,784,034 3 Tijuana 1,590,420 North West 6 Toluca Mexico 1,775,337 14 Toluca 815,068 Center 7 León Guanajuato 1,554,786 7 León 1,397,446 Center-North 8 Juárez Chihuahua 1,407,849 6 Juárez 1,407,849 North West 9 Comarca Lagunera Coahuila, Durango 1,118,612 28 Torreón 609,509 North 10 San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí 1,036,555 19 San Luis Potosí 775,759 Center-North 11 Querétaro Querétaro 1,036,154 17 Querétaro 790,416 Center-North 12 Mérida Yucatán 954,813 12 Mérida 825,328 South East 13 Mexicali Baja California 926,042 11 Mexicali 926,042 North West 14 Aguascalientes Aguascalientes 906,758 18 Aguascalientes 776,495 Center-North 15 Cuernavaca Morelos 850,405 51 Cuernavaca 362,300 Center-South 16 Chihuahua Chihuahua 839,129 15 Chihuahua 812,490 North West 17 Tampico Tamaulipas, Veracruz 834,983 60 Tampico 306,486 North 18 Saltillo Coahuila 792,697 24 Saltillo 702,568 North 19 Veracruz Veracruz 786,356 32 Veracruz 549,939 East 20 Morelia Michoacán 782,890 21 Morelia 725,894 West Immigration Main article: Immigration to Mexico The Mexico–U.S. border separates densely populated Tijuana (right), from San Diego (left). This is the most frequently crossed international border in the world, with 250 million legal crossings per year.[157][158]
Mexico is home to the largest number of U.S. citizens abroad (estimated at one million as of 1999),[159] which represents 1% of the Mexican population and 25% of all U.S. citizens abroad. Other significant communities of foreigners are those of Central and South America, most notably from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Belize. Though estimations vary, the Argentine community is considered to be the second largest foreign community in the country (estimated somewhere between 30,000 and 150,000).[160][161]
Throughout the 20th century, Mexico followed a policy of granting asylum to fellow Latin Americans and Europeans (mostly Spaniards in the 1940s) fleeing political persecution in their home countries. In October 2008, Mexico tightened its immigration rules and agreed to deport Cubans using the country as an entry point to the US.[162] Because Mexico is much richer than the countries to its immediate southeast, it has a chronic problem with illegal immigration from those countries, especially Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Large numbers of Central American migrants who have crossed Guatemala's western border into Mexico are deported every year.[163]
Discrepancies between the figures for official legal aliens and those of all foreign-born residents regardless of their immigration status are quite large. The official figure for foreign-born legal residents in Mexico is 493,000 (since 2004), with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (except Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The five states with the most immigrants are Baja California (12.1% of total immigrants), Mexico City (the Federal District; 11.4%), Jalisco (9.9%), Chihuahua (9%) and Tamaulipas (7.3%). More than 54.6% of the immigrant population are fifteen years old or younger, while 9% are fifty or older.
Mexico represents the largest source of immigration to the United States. About 9% of the population born in Mexico is now living in the United States.[164] 28.3 million Americans listed their ancestry as Mexican as of 2006.[165] Ethnography See also: Mexican people Demographic diversity in school children.
Mexico is ethnically diverse, and the constitution defines the country to be a multicultural nation. Mexican nationality is relatively young, stemming back only to 1821 when Mexico achieved independence from the Spanish empire, and it consists of many, separate regional and ethnic groups such as the various indigenous peoples and European immigrants. The majority of Mexicans are Mestizos which makes up the core of the Mexican cultural identity.[166]
In 2004, the Mexican government founded the National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN) which launched the Mexican Genome Diversity Project. In May 2009, the Institute issued a report on a major genomic study of the Mexican population. Among the findings, it was reported that of the 80% of the population that is mestizo, the proportions of European and indigenous ancestry are approximately even, with the indigenous component slightly predominating overall. The proportions of admixture were found to vary geographically from north to south, as previous pre-genomic studies had surmised, with the European contribution predominating in the north and the indigenous component greater in central and southern regions. One of the significant conclusions of the study as reported was that even while it is composed of diverse ancestral genetic groups, the Mexican population is genetically distinctive among the world's populations.[167] Mestizos
Those of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry. They form the largest group, comprising up to 60–80% of the total population.[168][169] Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif
Amerindians
Descendants of the native American peoples who inhabited Mesoamerica. They comprise around 15%-30% of the population[170][171][172]. The CDI identifies 62 indigenous groups in Mexico, each with a unique language.[173] Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif
Whites
Around 9-16% of the population is of white European descent[172][174][175]. Whites are mostly descendants of the first Spanish settlers; although there are Mexicans of French, Italian, Portuguese, Basque, German, Irish, Polish, Romanian, Russian, and British descents from contemporary migration [176][177] Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif
Others
Approximately 1% of Mexico's population is composed of other type of ethnic groups, these include Asian-Mexicans and Afro-Mexicans, descendants of slaves brought to Mexico, live in the coastal areas of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco and Guerrero and are mostly of mixed ancestry. Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Pix.gif Language Main article: Languages of Mexico See also: Mexican Spanish Mexico is home to some of the worlds oldest writing systems such as Mayan Script. Maya writing uses logograms complemented by a set of alphabetical or syllabic glyphs and characters, similar in function to modern Japanese writing.
There is no de jure constitutional official language at the federal level in Mexico.[178] Spanish, spoken by 97% of the population, is considered a national language by The General Law of Linguistic Rights of the Indigenous Peoples, which also grants all indigenous minority languages spoken in Mexico, regardless of the number of speakers, the same validity as Spanish in all territories in which they are spoken, and indigenous peoples are entitled to request some public services and documents in their native languages.[179]
Mexican law has granted these indigenous minority languages the status of "national languages", along with Spanish. The law includes all Amerindian languages regardless of origin; that is, it includes the Amerindian languages of ethnic groups non-native to the territory. As such the National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples recognizes the language of the Kickapoo, which immigrated from the United States,[180] and recognizes the languages of the Guatemalan Amerindian refugees.[181] The Mexican government has promoted and established bilingual primary and secondary education in some indigenous rural communities. Approximately 7.1% of the population speaks an indigenous language and 1.2% do not speak Spanish.[182]
Mexico has the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world with more than twice as many as the second largest Spanish-speaking country. (Spain, Argentina, and Colombia all have about 40 million speakers each.) Almost a third of all Spanish native speakers in the world live in Mexico.[153] Nahuatl is spoken by 1.5 million people and Yucatec Maya by 800,000. Some of the national languages are in danger of extinction; Lacandon is spoken by fewer than one hundred people.
English is widely used in business at the border cities, as well as by the one million U.S. citizens that live in Mexico, mostly retirees in small towns in Baja California, Guanajuato and Chiapas[citation needed]. Other European languages spoken by sizable communities in Mexico are Venetian, Plautdietsch, German, French and Romani.[citation needed] Religion See also: Religion in Mexico, Roman Catholicism in Mexico, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Irreligion in Mexico Religion in Mexico (2000 census)[183] Religion Percent Roman Catholicism
87.99% Protestantism and Evangelicalism
5.19% No religion
3.51% Other
3.31%
Mexico has no official religion, and the Constitution of 1917 and the anti-clerical laws imposed limitations on the church and sometimes codified state intrusion into church matters. The government does not provide any financial contributions to the church, and the church does not participate in public education.
The last census reported, by self-ascription, that 95% of the population is Christian. Roman Catholics are 89%[184] of the total population, 47% percent of whom attend church services weekly.[185] In absolute terms, Mexico has the world's second largest number of Catholics after Brazil.[186]
About 6% of the population (more than 4.4 million people) is Protestant[184], of whom Pentecostals and Charismatics (called Neo-Pentecostals in the census) are the largest group (1.37 million people).[184] There are also a sizeable number of Seventh-day Adventists (0.6 million people).[187] The 2000 national census counted more than one million Jehovah's Witnesses.[184] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims over one million registered members as of 2009.[188] About 25% of registered members attend a weekly sacrament service although this can fluctuate up and down.[189]
The presence of Jews in Mexico dates back to 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. According to the last national census by the INEGI, there are now more than 45,000 Mexican Jews.[184] Almost three million people in the 2000 National Census reported having no religion.[184] Islam in Mexico is practiced by a small Muslim population in the city of Torreón, Coahuila, and there are an estimated 300 Muslims in the San Cristóbal de las Casas area in Chiapas.[190][191] Mexico's Buddhist population currently makes up a tiny minority, some 108,000 according to latest accounts. Most of its members are of Asian descent, while people of various other walks of life have turned toward Buddhism in the recent past.
In 1992, Mexico lifted almost all restrictions on the Catholic Church and other religions, including granting all religious groups legal status, conceding them limited property rights, and lifting restrictions on the number of priests in the country.[192] Until recently, priests did not have the right to vote, and even now they cannot be elected to public office. Culture Main article: Culture of Mexico Jarabe Tapatío, an example of traditional Mexican dance and costumes.
Mexican culture reflects the complexity of the country's history through the blending of pre-Hispanic civilizations and the culture of Spain, imparted during Spain's 300-year colonization of Mexico. Exogenous cultural elements mainly from the United States have been incorporated into Mexican culture. As was the case in most Latin American countries, when Mexico became an independent nation, it had to slowly create a national identity, being an ethnically diverse country in which, for the most part, the only connecting element amongst the newly independent inhabitants was Catholicism[citation needed].
The Porfirian era (el Porfiriato), in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth century, was marked by economic progress and peace. After four decades of civil unrest and war, Mexico saw the development of philosophy and the arts, promoted by President Díaz himself. Since that time, as accentuated during the Mexican Revolution, cultural identity has had its foundation in the mestizaje, of which the indigenous (i.e. Amerindian) element is the core. In light of the various ethnicities that formed the Mexican people, José Vasconcelos in his publication La Raza Cósmica (The Cosmic Race) (1925) defined Mexico to be the melting pot of all races (thus extending the definition of the mestizo) not only biologically but culturally as well.[193] This exalting of mestizaje was a revolutionary idea that sharply contrasted with the idea of a superior pure race prevalent in Europe at the time. Cinema Main article: Cinema of Mexico Famous actors Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete in the 1952 film Dos Tipos de Cuidado
Mexican films from the Golden Age in the 1940s and 1950s are the greatest examples of Latin American cinema, with a huge industry comparable to the Hollywood of those years. Mexican films were exported and exhibited in all of Latin America and Europe. Maria Candelaria (1944) by Emilio Fernández, was one of the first films awarded a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946, the first time the event was held after World War II. The famous Spanish-born director Luis Buñuel realized in Mexico, between 1947 to 1965 some of him master pieces like Los olvidados (1949), Viridiana (1961) and El angel exterminador (1963). Famous actors and actresses from this period include María Félix, Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Jorge Negrete and the comedian Cantinflas.
More recently, films such as Como agua para chocolate (1992), Cronos (1993), Amores perros (2000), Y tu mamá también (2001), El Crimen del Padre Amaro (2002), Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and Babel (2006) have been successful in creating universal stories about contemporary subjects, and were internationally recognised, as in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Mexican directors Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores perros, Babel), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Guillermo del Toro, Carlos Carrera (The Crime of Father Amaro), and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga are some of the most known present-day film makers. Music Main article: Music of Mexico Jalisco Symphony Orchestra
Mexican society enjoys a vast array of music genres, showing the diversity of Mexican culture. Traditional music includes Mariachi, Banda, Norteño, Ranchera and Corridos; on an every-day basis most Mexicans listen to contemporary music such as pop, rock, etc. in both English and Spanish. Mexico has the largest media industry in Latin America, producing Mexican artists who are famous in Central and South America and parts of Europe, especially Spain. Some well-known Mexican singers are Thalía, Luis Miguel, Alejandro Fernández and Paulina Rubio. Popular groups are Café Tacuba, Molotov and Maná, among others.
According to the Sistema Nacional de Fomento Musical, there are between 120 and 140 youth orchestras affiliated to this federal agency from all federal states. Some states, through their state agencies in charge of culture and the arts—Ministry or Secretariat or Institute or Council of Culture, in some cases Secretariat of Education or the State University—sponsor the activities of a professional Symphony Orchestra or Philharmonic Orchestra so all citizens can have access to this artistic expression from the field of classical music. There is no public information about the exact number of professional orchestras in the country (probably 40 ensembles of very diverse caliber). Mexico City is the most intense hub of this activity hosting 12 professional orchestras sponsored by different agencies such as the National Intitute of Fine Arts, the Secretariat of Culture of the Federal District, The National University, the National Polytechnic Institute, a Delegación Política (Coyoacán) and very few are a kind of private ventures.
Orquestas in Mexico are mainly subsidized by a governmental body or agency, unlike their American counterparts, therefore, these organizations do not have departments such as marketing or development. States such as Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Morelos, Nayarit, Quintana Roo, Sonora, Tabasco, and Tlaxcala do not have a professional Symphony orchestra. The only permanent opera company belongs to the National Institute of Fine Arts, offering six productions yearly, however, some cities such as Guadalajara, Monterrey or Morelia make important efforts to present this kind of expression to local audiences. Fine arts Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City
Post-revolutionary art in Mexico had its expression in the works of renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, Rufino Tamayo, Federico Cantú Garza, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Juan O'Gorman. Diego Rivera, the most well-known figure of Mexican Muralism, painted the Man at the Crossroads at the Rockefeller Center in New York City, a huge mural that was destroyed the next year due to the inclusion of a portrait of Russian communist leader Lenin.[194] Some of Rivera's murals are displayed at the Mexican National Palace and the Palace of Fine Arts.
Academic music composers of Mexico include Manuel María Ponce, José Pablo Moncayo, Julián Carrillo, Mario Lavista, Carlos Chávez, Silvestre Revueltas, Arturo Márquez, and Juventino Rosas, many of whom incorporated traditional elements into their music. Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo, Elena Poniatowska, and José Emilio Pacheco, are some of the most recognized authors of Mexican literature. Broadcast media
Two of the major television networks based in Mexico are Televisa and TV Azteca. Televisa is also the largest producer of Spanish-language content in the world and also the world's largest Spanish-language media network.[195] Grupo Multimedios is another media conglomerate with Spanish-language broadcasting in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. Soap operas (telenovelas) are translated to many languages and seen all over the world with renowned names like Verónica Castro, Lucía Méndez, Lucero, and Thalía. Even Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna from Y tu mamá también and current Zegna model have appeared in some of them.
Some of their TV shows are modeled after counterparts from the U.S. like Family Feud (100 Mexicanos Dijeron or "A hundred Mexicans said" in Spanish) and ¿Qué dice la gente?, Big Brother, American Idol, Saturday Night Live and others. Nationwide news shows like Las Noticias por Adela on Televisa resemble a hybrid between Donahue and Nightline. Local news shows are modeled after counterparts from the U.S. like the Eyewitness News and Action News formats. Border cities receive television and radio stations from the U.S., while satellite and cable subscription is common for the middle-classes in most cities, and they often watch movies and TV shows from the U.S. Cuisine Main article: Mexican cuisine "Chocolate" originates from Mexico's Aztec cuisine, derived from the Nahuatl word xocolatl.
Mexican cuisine is known for its intense and varied flavors, colorful decoration, and variety of spices. Most of today's Mexican food is based on pre-Columbian traditions, including the Aztecs and Maya, combined with culinary trends introduced by Spanish colonists.
The conquistadores eventually combined their imported diet of rice, beef, pork, chicken, wine, garlic and onions with the native pre-Columbian food, including maize, tomato, vanilla, avocado, papaya, pineapple, chili pepper, beans, squash, limes (limón in Mexican Spanish), sweet potato, peanut and turkey. Cabrito con Tamales
Mexican food varies by region, because of local climate and geography and ethnic differences among the indigenous inhabitants and because these different populations were influenced by the Spaniards in varying degrees. The north of Mexico is known for its beef, goat and ostrich production and meat dishes, in particular the well-known Arrachera cut.
Central Mexico's cuisine is largely made up of influences from the rest of the country, but also has its authentics, such as barbacoa, pozole, menudo, tamales, and carnitas.
Southeastern Mexico, on the other hand, is known for its spicy vegetable and chicken-based dishes. The cuisine of Southeastern Mexico also has quite a bit of Caribbean influence, given its geographical location. Seafood is commonly prepared in the states that border the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, the latter having a famous reputation for its fish dishes, à la veracruzana.
In modern times, other cuisines of the world have become very popular in Mexico, thus adopting a Mexican fusion. For example, sushi in Mexico is often made with a variety of sauces based on mango or tamarind, and very often served with serrano-chili-blended soy sauce, or complemented with vinegar, habanero and chipotle peppers
The most internationally recognized dishes include chocolate, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, burritos, tamales and mole among others. Regional dishes include mole poblano, chiles en nogada and chalupas from Puebla; cabrito and machaca from Monterrey, cochinita pibil from Yucatán, Tlayudas from Oaxaca, as well as barbacoa, chilaquiles, milanesas, and many others. Sports Main article: Sport in Mexico See also: 1968 Summer Olympics, 1970 FIFA World Cup, and 1986 FIFA World Cup The Estadio Azteca (Aztec Stadium) is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team. Baseball stadium in Monterrey, home to Monterrey Sultans.
Mexico City hosted the XIX Olympic Games in 1968, making it the first Latin American city to do so (Rio de Janeiro will be the second in 2016).[196] The country has also hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, in 1970 and 1986.[197]
Mexico's most popular sport is association football (soccer). It is commonly believed that Football was introduced in Mexico by Cornish miners at the end of the 19th century. By 1902 a five-team league had emerged with a strong English influence.[198][199] Football became a professional sport in 1943. Since the "Era Professional" started, Mexico's top clubs have been Guadalajara with 11 championships, América with 10 and Toluca with 9.[200] In Mexican Football many players have been raised to the level of legend, but two of them have received international recognition above others. Antonio Carbajal was the first player to appear in five World Cups, and Hugo Sánchez was named best CONCACAF player of the 20th century by IFFHS. Mexican's biggest stadiums are Estadio Azteca, Estadio Olímpico Universitario and Jalisco Stadium. Notable achievements by Mexican national soccer teams include winning the 1999 Confederations Cup, the 2005 U-17 World Cup, and being runners-up in the 1977 U-20 World Cup, 1993 Copa America, and 2001 Copa America. The Mexican team was also a runner-up in the 2007 Beach Soccer World Cup. Mexican football clubs have achieved good results in international competitions like the Copa Libertadores and the FIFA Club World Championship.
The national sport of Mexico is Charreada.[201] Bullfighting is also a popular sport in the country, and almost all large cities have bullrings. Plaza México in Mexico City, is the largest bullring in the world, which seats 55,000 people. Professional wrestling (or Lucha libre in Spanish) is a major crowd draw with national promotions such as AAA, LLL, CMLL and others.
Baseball is very popular, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, Yucatán Peninsula and the Northern States. In some regions baseball has traditionally been more popular than soccer. The season runs from March to July with playoffs held in August. The Mexican professional league is named the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol. Current champions (2007) are Sultanes de Monterrey who defeated in a tight series Leones de Yucatán. However, the best level of baseball is played in Liga Mexicana del Pacífico, played in Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California. Given that it is played during the MLB off-season, some of its players are signed to play with the league 8 teams. Current champions (2007) are Yaquis de Obregon. The league champion participates in the Caribbean Series, a tournament between the Champions of Winter Leagues of Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic; the 2009 Caribbean Series edition will be held in Mexicali. While usually not as strong as the United States, the Caribbean countries and Japan, Mexico has nonetheless achieved several international baseball titles. Mexico has had several players signed by Major League teams, the most famous of them being Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.
Mexican clubs (such as Monterrey La Raza) participate in North American indoor soccer leagues. Mexico is also a leading country in Basque Pelota. Tennis has also traditionally been popular in Mexico, having produced some great players like Rafael Osuna, though international successes have been very few in recent years.
Mexico is an international power in professional boxing (at the amateur level, several Olympic boxing medals have also been won by Mexico). Vicente Saldivar, Rubén Olivares, Salvador Sánchez, Julio César Chávez and Ricardo Lopez are but a few Mexican fighters who have been ranked among the best of all time.
The most important professional basketball league is the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional and covers the whole Mexican territory, where the Soles de Mexicali are the current champions. In 2007 three Mexican teams will be competing in the American Basketball Association. In the northwestern states is the CIBACOPA Competition, with professional basketball players from Mexico and the U.S. Universities and some teams from the NBA.
Mexico is a major international power in Taekwondo. Mexican athletes have achieved renown in disciplines like marathon running, racewalking and diving.
American football is played at the major universities like ITESM, UANL, UDLA, IPN and UNAM. The college league in Mexico is called ONEFA. Several Mexican players have been signed by the NFL over the years. Rugby is played at the amateur level throughout the country with the majority of clubs in Mexico City and others in Monterrey, Guadalajara, Celaya, Guanajuato and Oaxaca.
Auto racing is very popular in Mexico. Throughout the years, Mexico has hosted races for some of the most important international championships such as Formula One, NASCAR, Champ Car, A1 Grand Prix, among others. Mexico also has its own NASCAR-sanctioned stock car series, the NASCAR Mexico, which runs 14 events in different cities, drawing large crowds. Other forms of racing include Formula Renault, Formula Vee, touring cars, Pick-up trucks, endurance racing, rallying, and off-road.
Ice hockey is played in larger cities like Monterrey, Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Culiacán and Mexico City.
Notable Mexican athletes include golfer Lorena Ochoa, who is currently ranked first in the LPGA world rankings,[202] Ana Guevara, former world champion of the 400 metres (1,300 ft) and Olympic subchampion in Athens 2004, and Fernando Platas, a numerous Olympic medal winning diver.
Sport fishing is popular in Baja California and the big Pacific coast resorts, while freshwater bass fishing is growing in popularity too. The gentler arts of diving and snorkeling are big around the Caribbean, with famous dive sites at Cozumel and on the reefs further south. The Pacific coast is becoming something of a center for surfing, with few facilities as yet; all these sports attract tourists to Mexico.
Another sport in which Mexico is competitive at the international level is polo. Healthcare and education
Main articles: Health care in Mexico and Education in Mexico. See also 2009 swine flu outbreak.
Mexico city subway passengers wearing masks due to the 2009 swine flu outbreak. Education in Mexico Educational oversight Minister of Public Education Secretariat of Public Education Josefina Vázquez Mota National education budget (2007) MXN$1,309,691,048,383 USD$148,342,469,250 Primary language(s) of education Spanish as the standard. Other minority languages are also available in their local communities. Nationalized system Establishment 25 September 1921 Literacy (2006)
• Men • Women 97.7 %
98.4% 96.8 % Enrollment
• Primary • Secondary • Post-secondary 61.6 million
26.4 million 19.8 million 15.3 million Attainment
• Secondary diploma • Post-secondary diploma
N/A N/A Sources: Sistema Educativo de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. Principales cifras, ciclo escolar 2003-2004 pdf and the 2000 Census (INEGI)
Since the early 1990s, Mexico entered a transitional stage in the health of its population and some indicators such as mortality patterns are identical to those found in highly developed countries like Germany or Japan.[203] Although all Mexicans are entitled to receive medical care by the state, 50.3 million Mexicans had no medical insurance as of 2002.[204] Efforts to increase the number of people are being made, and the current administration intends to achieve universal health care by 2011.[205][206]
Mexico's medical infrastructure is highly rated for the most part and is usually excellent in major cities,[207][208] but rural areas and indigenous communities still lack equipment for advanced medical procedures, forcing patients in those locations to travel to the closest urban areas to get specialized medical care.[209]
State-funded institutions such as Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE) play a major role in health and social security. Private health services are also very important and account for 13% of all medical units in the country.[210] Hospital Oca Galerias, a private hospital in Monterrey
Medical training is done mostly at public universities with some specializations done abroad. Some public universities in Mexico, such as the University of Guadalajara, have signed agreements with the U.S. to receive and train American students in Medicine. Health care costs in private institutions and prescription drugs in Mexico are on average lower than that of its North American economic partners.[207]
In 2004, the literacy rate was at 97%[211] for youth under the age of 14 and 91% for people over 15,[212] placing Mexico at the 24th place in the world rank accordingly to UNESCO.[213] Primary and secondary education (9 years) is free and mandatory. Even though different bilingual education programs have existed since the 1960s for the indigenous communities, after a constitutional reform in the late 1990s, these programs have had a new thrust, and free text books are produced in more than a dozen indigenous languages. The Main campus of The National Autonomous University of Mexico. The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.
In the 1970s, Mexico established a system of "distance-learning" through satellite communications to reach otherwise inaccessible small rural and indigenous communities. Schools that use this system are known as telesecundarias in Mexico. The Mexican distance learning secondary education is also transmitted to some Central American countries and to Colombia, and it is used in some southern regions of the United States as a method of bilingual education. There are approximately 30,000 telesecundarias and approximately a million telesecundaria students in the country.[214]
The largest and most prestigious public university in Mexico, today numbering over 269,000 students, is the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) founded in 1910. Three Nobel laureates and most of Mexico's modern-day presidents are among its former students. UNAM conducts an astounding 50% of Mexico's scientific research and has presence all across the country with satellite campuses and research centers. The National Autonomous University of Mexico ranks 15th place in the Top 200 World University Ranking published by The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2008,[215] making it the highest ranked Spanish-speaking university in the world and the highest ranked in Latin America. The second largest university is the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN). These institutions are public, and there are at least a couple of public universities per state.
One of the most prestigious private universities is Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM). It was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as the 7th top International Business School worldwide[216] and 74th among the world's top arts and humanities universities ranking of The Times Higher Education Supplement, published in 2005. ITESM has thirty-two secondary campuses, apart from its Monterrey Campus. Other important private universities include Mexico's Autonomous Technological Institute (ITAM), ranked as the best economics school in Latin America, Fundación Universidad de las Américas, Puebla (UDLAP) and the Ibero-American University (Universidad Iberoamericana).
In April 2009 Mexico saw the outbreak of a new strain of H1N1 influenza, which has infected up to 800 people and infected over 140,000 worldwide as of July 20. Science and technology Main article: Science and technology in Mexico Andrés Manuel del Río was the first person to isloate vanadium.
After the Viceroyalty of New Spain was founded, the Spanish brought the scientific culture that dominated Spain to the Viceroyalty of New Spain.[217] The municipal government (cabildo) of Mexico City formally requested the Spanish crown to establish a university in 1539.[218] The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (Real y Pontificia Universidad de México) was established in 1551. The university was administered by the clergy and it was the official university of the empire. It provided quality education for the people, and it was a hub of intellectual and religious development in the region. It taught subjects such as physics and mathematics from the perspective of Aristotelian philosophy. Augustinian philosopher Alonso Gutiérrez wrote Physica speculatio, America's first scientific text, in 1557. By the late eighteenth century, the university had trained 1,162 doctors, 29,882 bachelors, and many lawyers.[217]
During the Mexican Enlightenment, science can be divided into the four period: the early period (from 1735 to 1767), the creole period (from 1768 to 1788), the official or Spanish period (from 1789 to 1803), and the period of synthesis (from 1804 to the beginning of the Mexico's independence movement in 1810).[219]
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, modern science developed in Europe, but it lagged behind in Mexico. The new ideas developed in science in Europe were not important in Mexico.[220] The 1767 expulsion of Jesuits, who had introduced the new ideas in Mexico, helped to antagonize the creoles, and also promoted nation feelings among Mexicans.[219][221] Guillermo González Camarena inventor of color-wheel color television
After the expulsion, self-taught upper class civilians were the first scientists in Mexico. Later on, they were joined by the Spanish scientists, and they did research, teaching, publishing, and translating texts. The ideas of Francis Bacon and René Descartes were freely discussed at seminars, which caused scholasticism to lose strength. During the Mexican Enlightenment, Mexico made progress in science. Progress were made in subjects such as astronomy, engineering, etc. In 1792 the Seminary of Mining was established. Later it became College of Mining, in which the first modern physics laboratory in Mexico was established.[219]
Famous scientists of the Enlightenment included José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez and Andrés Manuel del Río.[219] Río discovered the chemical element vanadium in 1801.[222]
The Mexican War of Independence brought temporary end to Mexico's scientific progress. The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico closed in 1833. For many years, there were no scientific activities in Mexico.[219] The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico was definitively shut down in 1865.[223] Biotechnology center, ITESM
During the end of the nineteenth century, the process of industrialization began in Mexico. Under the influence of positivists and scientific thinkers, the government assisted in public education. In 1867 Gabino Barreda, a student of Auguste Comte, was charged with the commission aimed at reforming education. Subjects such as physics, chemistry, and mathematics were included into the secondary school curriculum. National Preparatory School was established. The influence of positivists led to a renaissance of scientific activity in Mexico.[224] General Manuel Mondragon, invented the first automatic rifle the Mondragón rifle during this time. The Mondragón rifle
During the twentieth century, Mexico made significant progress in science and technology. New universities and research institutes were established. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) was officially established in 1910,[225] and the university become one of the most important institutes of higher learning in Mexico.[223] UNAM provides world class education in science, medicine, and engineering.[226] Many scientific institutes and new institutes of higher learning, such as National Polytechnic Institute (founded in 1936),[227] were established during the first half of the twentieth century. Most of the new research institutes were created within UNAM. Twelve institutes were integrated into UNAM from 1929 to 1973.[228] In 1995 Mario J. Molina became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science.
In 1959, the Mexican Academy of Sciences (Academia Mexicana de Ciencias) was established as a non-governmental, non-profit organization of distinguished scientists. The Academy has grown in membership and influence, and it represents a strong voice of scientists from different fields, mainly in science policy.[229] Rodolfo Neri Vela, the first Mexican in space
By 1960, science was institutionalized in Mexico. It was viewed as a legitimate endeavor by the Mexican society.[228]
In 1960, the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute was established as a center for graduate studies in subjects such as biology, mathematics, and physics. In 1961, the institute began its graduate programs in physics and mathematics and schools of science were established in Mexican states of Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Monterrey, Veracruz, and Michoacán. The Academy for Scientific Research was established in 1969 and the National Council of Science and Technology was established in 1971.[228]
In 1985 Rodolfo Neri Vela became the first Mexican citizen to enter space as part of the STS-61-B mission.[230]
In 1995 Mexican chemist Mario J. Molina shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Paul J. Crutzen, and F. Sherwood Rowland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.[231] Molina, an alumnus of UNAM, became the first Mexican citizen to win the Nobel Prize in science.[232]
In recent years, the biggest scientific project being developed in Mexico was the construction of the Large Millimeter Telescope (Gran Telescopio Milimétrico, GMT), the world's largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency range.[233] It was designed to observe regions of space obscured by stellar dust.
In 1962, the National Commission of Outer Space (Comisión Nacional del Espacio Exterior, CONNE) was established, but was dismantled in 1977. In 2007, a project was presented to re-open a new Mexican Space Agency (AEXA) and it was approved at the end of 2008 with the headquarters set to be located in the state of Hidalgo.Mexico is also a producer of microprocessors and chip sets producing these systems for both domestic corporations and foreign companies such as AMD and Intel.[citation needed]
Government institutions such as SEMAR and SEDENA have also developed advanced microprocessors, imaging systems, military A.I. systems, rockets, software, long range ballistic missiles,[96] electronic devices and electronic military subsystems many of which have been sold to other Latin American nations. Other consumer electronics companies such as Mabe have been functioning since the nineteen fifties and have expanded out of Latin America into markets around the world such as Asia and Europe and even into the United States where a large percentage of American branded appliances are actually of Mexican design and origin but sold under local brand names.[234][235] In fact as of 2008 one out of every four consumer appliances sold in the United States was of Mexican origin.[236]
Based on the information managed by the Scopus, a bibliographic database for science, the Spanish web portal SCImago places Mexico in the position 18 of the country scientific ranking with 82,792 publications, and in the position 34 if considering its value of 134 for the h-index. Both positions are computed for the period 1996-2