Learn about Mexico in numbers
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| Culture File: Mexico - Lesson 25: Mexico in Numbers |
| Hello, and welcome to the Culture File: Mexico series at SpanishPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring essential cultural information about Mexico, Mexican Culture, and Mexican People. In this closing lesson, we will share some interesting general information about Mexico. I’m Michael, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 25: Mexico in Numbers. |
| Mexico’s capital, Mexico City, is the oldest city in North America, and is one of the largest cities in the world. It was built over the ruins of an Aztec city, Tenochtitlán, which was built on a lake, or "lago". Because of this, the city sinks six to eight inches each year, as water is pumped from underneath to supply the city’s growing population. The population is over 21 million with a gross domestic product of around US$ 411 billion, a third of the country’s GDP of $ 1.3 trillion. |
| Mexico is the fourteenth largest country in the world, with a total area of 756,066 square miles. About 70% of the population live in urban areas. 60% are a mix between Native Mexicans and Spanish, 30% are predominantly indigenous, 9% are Caucasian Europeans, Americans, and Canadians, and the remaining 1% consists of people from a variety of ethnic groups, or "grupos étnicos", such as those from Asia or the Middle East. |
| Mexico is home to one of the richest men in the world, Carlos Slim, who is worth $ 77 billion. Mexico is also home to many people suffering poverty, with around 1% of the population living in extreme poverty. About 13% of Mexican workers--roughly 6.5 million people--receive the minimum wage, or "salario mínimo", which is 70 pesos a day. |
| Mexico is the second largest economy in Latin America. Its major trading partners are the United States, which comprises 80% of Mexico’s exports, or "exportaciones", Canada, accounting for 2.4% of exports, and Germany, which constitutes 1.7%. As Mexico has the sixth largest electronics industry in the world, electronics are the main product for export, especially to the United States. In terms of imports, or "importaciones", 50% comes from the United States, 11% from China, and 5.3% from Japan. |
| 43% of the Mexican population uses or has access to the Internet, which makes up 1.74% of world Internet users and ranks Mexico as the 11th country with the most users of the Internet. On average, these users spend 41 hours a week online, mainly to go on social media, or "medios sociales", websites, which averages out to almost 6 hours of internet use a day. Not surprisingly, 24% of Mexican Internet users are teenagers. |
| Regarding health in Mexico, the government has launched campaigns to inform Mexicans on how to lead a healthy life, or "vida saludable", due to the rising number of overweight and obese citizens. 34% of children are either obese or overweight, and adult obesity is up to 32%. Obesity is closely related to diabetes, and diabetes is among the top causes of death in this country, with over 6.4 million people diagnosed. About 9.2% of adults in Mexico have diabetes or other related complications, and the cost of medical attention for this illness reaches about $ 3.43 billion each year. |
| So listeners, how did you like this lesson? Did you learn anything interesting? |
| Do you know any other interesting facts about Mexico? |
| Leave a comment telling us at SpanishPod101.com, and we'll see you in another series! |
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