|  Modern Mexico 2
that Mexico may be thought of as an agglomeration of a number of smaller nations
within the larger notion of a unified Mexico.
Its large and diverse physical landscape also comes with a rich and varied trove of
natural resources. Mexico’s national territory contains some of the world’s richest min-
eral deposits of silver and iron ore. These mineral resources generally reside in Mexico’s
northern region, which also is home to Mexico’s industrial and manufacturing centers,
given its proximity to the U.S.-Mexican border and to the markets of the United States.
Mexican-controlled waters in the Gulf of Mexico contain some of the world’s largest
deposits of petroleum in the world, making Mexico one of the most significant players
in the global fossil-fuel energy market.
Mexico’s impressive physical geography is complemented by its equally noteworthy
human geography. Mexico is home to two of the Western Hemisphere’s most populous
and extensive pre-Columbian civilizations, and it was a major administrative and pop-
ulation center throughout the history of Spain’s colonial enterprise in the Americas,
which drew a large contingent of European (mostly Spanish) peoples to the country.
Since the Spanish colonial period, Mexico has continued to serve as an attractive desti-
nation for global migration flows. Consequently, Mexico’s population is among one of
the largest in the world, albeit with a 1.4 percent population replacement rate, which
means that Mexico should see an increase in its older populations and a decrease in its
younger populations as a percentage share of the country’s total population. Currently,
Mexico has approximately 124 million residents, which ranks the country 11th in the
world in terms of total national population. And this population is ethnically, linguisti-
cally, socioeconomically, and culturally quite diverse. Nevertheless, Mexico is still a
country with a majority of its population under the age of 30, and almost 30 percent of
its population under the age of 15. Most of Mexico’s people live in urban areas. As of the
latest estimates, approximately 79 percent of Mexican citizens reside in metropolitan
areas.
The fact that Mexico shares a long land border with the United States is a geographi-
cal feature that has long conditioned Mexico’s history and identity. The border with the
United States, which itself has a dramatic history, continues to remain a critical element
of the country’s socioeconomic reality. The border has been a source of conflict and
warfare between Mexico and the United States at various moments in Mexico’s history.
Twice in Mexico’s history as an independent nation has the northern border been sig-
nificantly redrawn, each time resulting in the shrinking of Mexico’s national territory.
The border continues to be a source of contention between the two countries, as well as
a focal point for Mexican nationalism and sovereignty, because of the flows across the
border of people and goods, both licit and illicit.
In summary, Mexico’s geography is among the most unique in the world. It is a de-
veloping country that shares an extensive border with arguably the most developed and
powerful economy in the world. It is a country whose bicoastal geography has bound it
to both Atlantic and Pacific world systems, and Eastern and Western cultures and econ-
omies. Moreover, its geographical positioning within the Western Hemisphere makes
Mexico a connector between the relatively wealthier and more developed Anglo North
America and the relatively poorer and less developed Latin Central and South
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