Geography: The Republic of Mexico covers 763,565 sq. miles.(1.97 million sq. km). As one of the world's most strategically positioned countries, Mexico shares its entire 2,000 mile (3,218 km) northern border with the United States, and in the southeast, it borders Guatemala and Belize along 700 miles (1,126.3 km). On one coastline, Mexico faces the fast-growing markets of the Pacific Rim; on the other, Europe.

Capital City: Mexico City (population of about 20 million) Other Large Cities: Guadalajara, Monterrey, Leon, Puebla. Terrain: coastal lowlands, central high plateaus and mountains up to 18,000 ft. (5,400 m.) Climate: varies from tropical to desert.

The capital, Mexico City, houses a population of some 20 million.

Population: Mexico is currently 91 million, making it the 11th most populous country in the world. The average annual population growth rate is 1.9 percent, and population density is 46.2 inhabitants per sq. km. As a developing country, Mexico continues to have a predominantly young population; 37.5 percent of the population is under 15 years of age. Nevertheless the population structure is gradually becoming older.

Literacy: 87 percent (male 90 percent, female 85 percent) of those 15 and over can read and write.

Economically Active Population (EAP): The country's EAP amounts to nearly 35 million people, or 39 percent of the total population. Mexico's labor force is larger than that of such countries as France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Austria and Denmark, a mark of the country's high potential as an investment and production site.

The education and skills of the labor force have a fundamental bearing on its productivity. Of the urban force, more than half of the EAP (62.9 percent) have completed high school or higher level education.

Currently, 50.4 percent of the EAP is in the service sector, 22.7 percent in the industrial sector and 26.9 percent in the agriculture sector.

Inflation rate: 26 percent (expected for 1996).