The country I chose to study throughout the semester in Geography 266 is Mexico. Mexico is a country that is located in North America, directly south of the continental United States. In regard to the physical geography of Mexico, Mexico is a country that has some mountains scattered throughout it. These mountains have high elevations, with the highest peak reaching around 18,700 feet. The country also has low plains, mostly located around the coasts and at the center of the country, with the lowest point of the plains being at -33feet. In the northern part of the country, mainly along the U.S. border, a large portion of the geography is desert.
In regard to the Mexican economy, the Mexican economy ranks as the 15th largest economy in the world, with the 2019 GDP being around 1.2 trillion dollars. The GDP per capita of Mexico is quite poor, being at 9,900 placing it at just 70th in the world. This GDP per capita indicates that a large portion of the Mexican population lives in poverty, with around 56 million people living in poverty, which is about 44% of the entire population. Of this 44%, 10% of which, being around 11 million people, are listed as living in extreme poverty.
In regard to exports, the Mexican economy exports around 430 billion dollars worth of goods per year. The vast majority of these goods are exported to the U.S., around 80% of which or about 340 billion dollars worth. Mexico also exports smaller amounts of goods to countries such as Canada, China, and Germany. By far the largest export of Mexico includes crude oil, which accounts for 30% of Mexico’s total revenue. Of this oil, almost half of it is exported to the United States. The second biggest export of Mexico are cars, accounting for 11% of Mexican exports, while car parts and car accessories accounting for about 7% of Mexican exports. Many manufacturing plants, especially from the U.S., have moved down to Mexico in recent decades. Such companies include General Motors, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, and KIA. Vehicle exports of Mexico reached its peak before 2019, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused exports and the overall economy to shrink in 2020 and 2021.
In regard to imports, one of the largest imports of Mexico is corn. This is quite surprising, given the fact that corn actually originated in Mexico around 9,000 years ago. Another large import of Mexico is electrical machinery, in particular integrated circuits, with around $29.8 billion worth of these integrated circuits imported to Mexico yearly. While crude oil is one of Mexico’s largest exports, refined oil is one of Mexico’s largest imports. A lot of this refined oil is imported from the U.S., approximately $29.3 billion being imported per year. Other imports of Mexico include vehicle parts, about $27.2 billion per year, and office machine parts, around $16.5 billion per year.
Mexico is a country that has also been frequently featured in the news over the past few years due to the number of Mexican migrants trying to cross the border into the U.S. This was highlighted by former American President Donald Trump during his 2020, and especially 2016 campaigns. Drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border have been high and haven’t shown signs of decreasing, with approximately 901,000 pounds of drugs being seized at the border. This includes drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and most dangerous of all, fentanyl. The number of drugs seized at the border increased in 2020, with around 1,059,000 pounds being seized by border security. These high numbers of drugs trying to be brought into the U.S. are partly why Trump implemented tough border policies, but these policies result in negative effects for innocent families seeking better lives in the United States. Fortunately for Mexican migrants, President Biden has reversed some of President Trump’s tough policies. Oftentimes, these families come from extremely poor areas of Mexico and are part of the 44% of the Mexican population (56 million people) that live in poverty. The high numbers of Mexicans trying to emigrate to the U.S. highlight the failures of the Mexican economy, with wealth inequality being a big problem. Wealthy areas, such as coastal tourist areas, tend to prosper while inland rural areas tend to suffer the most.
Overall, I am grateful for the opportunity to have studied Mexico this semester. I find Mexico to be an intriguing country not only because of its fascinating culture and geography, but also because of the fact that it borders the U.S., and is very interconnected to the U.S. economically. While Mexico has some problems, particularly in regard to the economy, I still find it to be a beautiful country that has the opportunity to be more prosperous in the future.
