Everything about Mexicans totally explained
| Demography of Mexico |
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| Population | 103,263,388
|
| Male population | 50,249,955
|
| Female population | 53,013,433
|
| Population growth | 1.0%
|
| Birth rate | 19/1,000
|
| Death rate | 4.9/1,000
|
| Infant mortality rate | 18.1/1,000
|
| Life expectancy | 75.6 years
|
| Nationality | Mexican
|
| Demographic bureaus | INEGI, CONAPO and CDI
|
|
With a
population 103,263,388 in 2005,
Mexico is the most populous
Spanish-speaking country in the world, the second-most populous country in
Latin America after
Portuguese-speaking
Brazil, and the second in
North America, after the
United States. Throughout most of the twentieth century Mexico's population was characterized by rapid growth. Even though this tendency has been reverted and average annual population growth over the last five years was less than 1%, the demographic transition is still in progress, and Mexico still has a large
cohort of youths. The most populous city in the country is the capital city,
Mexico City, with a population of 8.7 million (2005), and its
metropolitan area is also the most populous in the country with 19.2 million (2005). Approximately 50% of the population lives in one of the 55 large metropolitan areas in the country.
The Census Bureau in Mexico is the
National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI). The National Population Council (CONAPO), is an institution under the
Secretary of the Interior in charge of the analysis and research of population dynamics. The National Council for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples (CDI), amongst other things, undertakes research and analysis of the sociodemographic and linguistic indicators of the
indigenous peoples of Mexico.
Demographic dynamics
In 1900, the Mexican population was 13.6 million. During the period of economic prosperity that was dubbed by economists as the "Mexican Miracle", the Mexican government invested in efficient social programs that reduced
infant mortality rate and increased
life expectancy which jointly led to an intense demographic increase between 1930 and 1980. The population's annual growth rate has been reduced from a 3.5% peak, in 1965 to 0.99% in 2005. While Mexico is now transitioning to the third phase of
demographic transition, close to 50% of the population in 2005 was 25 and younger.
Fertility rates have also decreased from 5.7 children per woman in 1976 to 2.2 in 2006.
From 2000 to 2005 the average annual population growth rate of the capital, the
Federal District, was the first in the country at a mere 0.2%. The state with the lowest population growth rate over the same period was
Michoacán (-0.1%), whereas the states with the highest population growth rates were
Quintana Roo (4.7%) and
Baja California Sur (3.4%), both of which are two of the least populated states and the last to be admitted to the Union in the 1970s. The average annual
net migration rate of the Federal District over the same period was negative and the lowest of all
political divisions of Mexico, whereas the states with the highest net migration rate were Quintana Roo (2.7),
Baja California (1.8) and Baja California Sur (1.6). While the national annual growth rate is still positive (1.0%), the national net migration rate is negative (-4.75/1000 inhabitants), given the intense flow of immigrants to the
United States; an estimated 5.3 million undocumented Mexicans lived in the United States in 2004 and 18.2 million American citizens in the 2000 Census declared having Mexican ancestry. Mexico itself constitutes the second country of total number of immigrants to the United States from 1830 to 2000, after
Germany.
The states and the Federal District that conform the Mexican federation are collectively called "
federal entities". The five most populated federal entities in 2005 were the
State of Mexico (14.4 million), the Federal District (8.7 million), Veracruz (7.1 million),
Jalisco (6.7 million) and
Puebla (5.4 million) which collectively contain 40.7% of the national population. Mexico City, being coextensive with the Federal District, is the most populated city in the country, whereas
Greater Mexico City, that includes the adjacent municipalities that conform a
metropolitan area, is estimated to be the second most populated in the world, by the UN Urbanization Report.
Intense population growth in the Northern states, especially in the US-Mexican border, changed the country's demographic profile in the second half of the 20th century since the 1967 US-Mexico maquiladora agreement through which all products manufactured in the border cities could be imported duty-free to the US. Since NAFTA, however, in which all products are allowed to be imported duty free regardless of their origin within Mexico, non-border maquiladora share of exports has increased while that of border cities has decreased, allowing for the growth of middle-size cities in different regions in Mexico. This has also lead to decentralization and growth of other metropolitan areas that conform regional centers of economic growth, like Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, León and Torreón.
International migration
Immigration to Mexico
Aside of the Spanish colonists, European immigration to Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was smaller in number compared to the massive influx of immigrants to South American countries like Argentina, Brazil or Uruguay. Non-Spanish immigrant groups included British, Irish, Italian, German, French and Dutch.
Mexico is also the country where the largest number of American citizens live abroad. The American Citizens Abroad Association estimated in 1999 that a little more than one million Americans live in Mexico (which represent 1% of the population in Mexico and 25% of all American citizens living abroad). This immigration phenomenon could well be explained by the interaction of both countries under
NAFTA, but also by the fact that Mexico has become a popular destination for retirees, especially the small towns: just in the State of Guanajuato, in
San Miguel de Allende and its environs, 200,000 Americans have their residence.
Discrepancies between the figures of official legal aliens and all foreign-born residents is quite large. The official figure for foreign-born residents in Mexico in 2000 was 493,000, with a majority (86.9%) of these born in the United States (except
Chiapas, where the majority of immigrants are from Central America). The six 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%). Since World Wars I and II, the United States government approved the recruitment of Mexican workers in their territory, and tolerated unauthorized migration to obtain additional farm and industrial workers to fill the necessary spots vacated by the population in war, and to supply the increase in the demand for labor. Nonetheless, the United States, unilaterally ended the program as a result of civil rights groups.
INEGI estimated in 2000 that about 8 million Mexican-born individuals live in the United States of America; that's 8.7% of total Mexican population. In that same year, the states with the greatest number emigrants to the United States were
Jalisco (170,793),
Michoacán (165,502) and
Guanajuato (163,338), with the total number of emigrants being 1,569,157 the great majority of which were men. Approximately 30% of emigrants come from rural communities. That same year, only 260,650 emigrants returned to Mexico.
In spite of the improved economic conditions in Mexico and the growing interdependence of both countries the emigration of Mexicans to the United States hasn't slowed. While some argue that this is due to economic disparities between rural and urban, rich and poor populations, others suggest that the migration phenomenon is simply moving in inertia, as Mexican residents in the United States are now bringing their families who had stayed in Mexico.
Cities and metropolitan areas
Settlements, cities and municipalities
| Most populated municipalities |
}}
| Municipality |
Pop. (2005) |
| Ecatepec de Morelos |
1,688,258 |
| Guadalajara |
1,600,940 |
| Puebla |
1,485,941 |
| Tijuana |
1,410,700 |
| León |
1.325.210 |
| Juárez |
1,313,338 |
|
In 2005 Mexico had 187,938
localidades (lit. "localities" or "settlements"), which are census-designated places, which could be defined as a small town, a large city, or simply as a single unit housing in a rural area whether situated remotely or even close to an urban area. A
city is defined to be a settlement with more than 2,500 inhabitants. In 2005 there were 2,640 cities with a population between 2,500 and 15,000 inhabitants, 427 with a population between 15,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, 112 with a population between 100,000 and one million, and 11 with a population of more than one million. All cities are considered "urban areas" and represent 76.5% of total population. Settlements with less than 2,500 inhabitants are considered "rural communities" (in fact, more than 80,000 of those settlements have only one or two housing units). Rural population in Mexico is 23.5% of total population. In 2004, a joint effort between CONAPO,
INEGI and the Ministry of Social Development (SEDESOL) agreed to define metropolitan areas as either:
Religion
| Religion affiliation |
}}
Religion |
Pop. professing |
| Catholics |
74,612,373 |
Protestant and Evangelical
Historic [denominations]
Pentecostalism
Luz del Mundo
Others
|
4,408,159
599,875
1,373,.383
69,254
2,365,647
|
Other Biblical
Adventism
Mormonism
Jehovah's Witnesses
|
1,751,910
488,945
205,229
1,057,736
|
| Judaism |
45,260 |
| No Religion |
2,982,929 |
| Not specified |
732,630 |
|
The Mexican population is predominantly
Catholic (in the 2000 census, 87.9% of the population 5 and older identified themselves as Catholic), even though a much smaller percent (46%) attends church on a weekly basis. About 5.2% of the population was classified as
Protestant or Evangelic, 2.1% were classified as "Non-Evangelical Biblical" (a classification that groups
Adventists,
Mormons and
Jehovah's Witnesses), 0.05% as practicing
Jews, and 2.5% without a religion. The largest group of Protestants are
Pentecostals and
Charismatics (classified as Neo-Pentecostals).
The states with the greatest percentage or professing Catholics are central states, namely
Guanajuato (96.4%),
Aguascalientes (95.6%) and
Jalisco (95.4%), whereas southeastern states have the least percentage of Catholics, namely
Chiapas (63.8%),
Tabasco (70.4%) and
Campeche (71.3%). Given that average annual population increase over the same time period was 1.8%, the percentage of Catholics with respect to total population is still decreasing.
Unlike some other countries in
Latin America or
Ibero-America, the 1857 Mexican Constitution drastically separated Church and State. The State doesn't support or provide any economic resource for the Church (as is the case in
Spain and
Argentina), and the Church can't participate in public education (no public school can be operated by a Catholic order, even though they can participate in private education). Moreover, the government nationalized all the Church's properties (some of which were given back in the 1990s), and priests lost the right to vote or to be voted (in the 1990s they were given back the right to vote).
Languages
The most important and
de facto official
language in Mexico is
Spanish. Mexican Spanish has a great variety of dialects, accents and variations from one region to another, and changes in state by state.
The Law of Linguistic Rights, published in 2001, declared the 62 indigenous languages spoken in Mexico as "national languages" with the "same validity" in the territories where they're spoken. The indigenous language with the greatest number of speakers is
Nahuatl (1.5% of the nation's population), followed by
Yucatec Maya (0.8%) mainly spoken in Chiapas, Oaxaca and the
Yucatan Peninsula. In Mexico City and other major cities after half a century of rural-to-urban migration, large districts and sections have Amerindian languages written and heard.
During the first half of the 20th century the government promoted a policy of
castellanización, that is, promoting the use of Spanish as a way to integrate indigenous peoples into the Mexican society. However, this policy changed, and since the 1980s the government sponsors bilingual and intercultural education in all indigenous communities. This policy has mainly been successful in large communities with a significant amount of speakers while some languages, with less than 1,000 speakers are still facing extinction.
The second most spoken language in Mexico, however, is
English used extensively at the border areas, tourist centers and large metropolitan areas, a phenomenon arguably caused by the economic integration of North American under
NAFTA as well as the immigration phenomenon and the return of workers and their families form the United States. In border cities, American TV and radio waves in English (and Spanish) are received as much Spanish-speaking radio and TV stations from Mexico on the US side of the border, thus a bilingual cross-cultural exchange is at work.
Among the languages brought by immigrants are the
Venetian of
Chipilo, and
Plattdeutsch, a
German dialect that's spoken in
Durango and
Chihuahua. Other European languages spoken in Mexico are
French,
German and
Russian. Even though some of these may have a greater number of speakers than the national languages, they're not recognized by the government.
Ethnography
Mexico is ethnically diverse. The second article of the
Mexican Constitution defines the country to be a pluricultural nation originally founded upon the
indigenous peoples .
Even though there are no official statistics for ethnicity (other than those reported for indigenous peoples), it's estimated that around 75% of the population is ethnically
mestizo, and 12% is purely Amerindian. Whites or Europeans make up 10 to 17% of the population, mostly descendants of Spaniards, whereas other ethnic groups -namely Afro-Mexicans and Asians- make up less than 1% of the total population.
Indigenous peoples
The constitution not only recognizes the 62 indigenous peoples living in Mexican territory but also grants them autonomy and protects their culture and languages. This protection and autonomy is extended to those Amerindian ethnic groups which have migrated from the
United States—like the
Cherokees and
Kickapoos—and
Guatemala during the
nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Municipalities in which indigenous peoples are located can keep their normative traditional systems in relation to the election of their municipal authorities. This system is known as
Usos y Costumbres, roughly translated as "customs and traditions".
According to official statistics—as reported by the
Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples or CDI—Amerindians make up close to 12% (as of 2000) of the country's population, even though only a little more than half of them (7.1% of total population) still speak an indigenous language and a tenth (1.2% of total population) don't speak Spanish. Other international organizations, however, prefer to report a 30% of
predominantly Amerindians. Official statistics of the CDI report that the states with the greatest percentage of Amerindian population or individuals of Amerindian origin are
Yucatán (59%),
Oaxaca (48%),
Quintana Roo (39%),
Chiapas (28%),
Campeche (27%),
Hidalgo (24%),
Puebla (19%),
Guerrero (17%),
San Luis Potosí (15%) and
Veracruz (15%). Oaxaca is the state with the greatest number of distinct indigenous peoples and languages in the country.
Europeans
Apart from the recognition of indigenous peoples, neither INEGI nor CONAPO classify the population according to ethnicity. International organizations usually report that between 9% of the country's population could be classified as European, Caucasian or
White. Most of these are
criollo, the relatively unmixed descendants of the Spanish colonists. However, many other immigrants arrived during the
Second Mexican Empire (mostly
French) and during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, mostly from
Italy, the
United Kingdom,
Ireland and
Germany.
White Americans,
Yugoslavians,
Armenians,
Greeks,
Germans,
Polish,
Romanians,
Russians and
Ashkenazic Jews, The European Jewish immigrants joined the
Sephardic community that lived in Mexico since colonial times, though many lived as Crypto-Jews, mostly in the northern states of Nuevo León and
Tamaulipas. Some communities of European immigrants have remained isolated from the rest of the population since their arrival, amongst them the
Dutch Menonites of
Chihuahua and
Durango, the
Venets of
Chipilo,
Puebla, which have retained their original languages.
Other ethnic groups
Other groups of immigrants include Arabs of
Lebanese and
Syrian origin present in significant numbers in
Puebla, as well as Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. Mexicans of
Filipino descent are estimated at 200,000, mostly located at
Michoacán,
Guerrero, and
Colima.
Afro-Mexicans, mostly of mixed ancestry, live in the coastal areas of
Veracruz,
Tabasco,
Oaxaca and
Guerrero.
Mexican nationality and citizenship
The
Constitution of Mexico grants Mexican nationality based on "birth" and "naturalization". Mexican laws regarding nationality by birth are very open. Mexican nationality by "birth" is granted to:
all those individuals born in Mexican territory,
all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by birth,
all those individuals born outside Mexico, whose father or mother is Mexican by naturalization,
all those individuals born in Mexican aircrafts or sea vessels, whether warships or commercial vessels.
Mexican nationals by "birth" are eligible to be president of Mexico; as such the constitution clearly establishes—unlike the US constitution— that Mexican nationals by "birth", but born outside national territory are eligible.
Mexican nationality by "naturalization" is granted to:[
foreign citizens granted Mexican nationality by the Secretariat of Government (Ministry of the Interior);
foreign citizens married to a Mexican national, whether by birth or naturalization.Further Information]
Get more info on 'Mexicans'.
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