Mexico is a large country with diverse landscapes. Much of the northern part of the country is on a high plateau and is made up of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts. Two mountain chains—the Sierra Madre Occidental, to the west, and the Sierra Madre Oriental, to the east—extend for a good length of the country. Between these and some smaller mountain ranges are several plains and valleys that hold many of the country's major cities. Mexico also features arid coastal plains and the Yucatan's thick tropical jungle. The country has long and alluring coastlines, washed by the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California and the Caribbean Sea.
Mexico has one of the most fascinating histories in the Americas. The first residents reached the area more than 20,000 years ago. In time, the descendants of these first immigrants produced monumental architecture, incredibly precise calendars and advanced agricultural accomplishments (they gave the world corn, chocolate and tomatoes). Beginning around 1200 BC, a series of great civilizations waxed and waned along the Gulf Coast and southern portions of Mexico, including the Olmecs and the Maya. The Toltecs and a number of other groups came later.
The Aztecs began their rise to power around AD 1300, establishing their capital at Tenochtitlan (present-day Mexico City) and eventually conquering all other groups in central and southern Mexico. Like some of their predecessors, they were a warrior civilization. Rivals who were forced to pay tribute to the Aztecs were looking for an opportunity to throw off their rule, and that opportunity soon presented itself.
Hernan Cortes first stepped ashore on the island of Cozumel in 1519, then established the town of Veracruz on the Gulf Coast. With just 500 followers, the conquistador engineered the downfall of an Aztec empire by forming alliances with the Aztec's enemies, which swelled his army to more than 5,000. Diseases that the Spanish brought with them, such as smallpox, also overwhelmed the Aztecs. It took Cortes two years to defeat the Aztecs, and with his victory, Mexico came under Spanish rule.
Spanish-Mexican Indian intermarriage yielded a new race of people, mestizos. Their culture was influenced by the mother country in its language, architecture, traditions and religion. The Spanish colonial capital—Mexico City—was literally built from the rubble of Tenochtitlan, as Aztec temples were dismantled to build royal palaces and churches. For the next 300 years, the city served as the center of the vast colony of New Spain.
Mexican patriots fought for and gained independence from the Spanish crown by 1821. The ensuing decades were turbulent for the new country: Mexico passed through years of dictatorship and instability. From the 1830s through the 1850s, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana ruled the country. During this period, Mexico lost half of its territory in wars against rebellious Texans (in 1836) and against the U.S. (in 1847).
In the 1850s, the country was embroiled in a civil war that eventually resulted in Benito Juarez being elected president. One of Mexico's most progressive presidents, Juarez instituted a liberal government and the separation of church and state in a political movement called La Reforma. He also led the fight against French invaders, who ruled the country for several years and placed Emperor Maximilian on the throne before they were forced to withdraw, leaving Maximilian to the firing squad.
The modern era began in 1910 with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. The decade-long conflict produced some of Mexico's most enduring figures, including the rebel leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) held power through the next seven decades, giving Mexico one of the longest-lasting governments in Latin America.
The 1990s were unstable for Mexico. After years of state control, the government began liberalizing the economy, joining the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. For a time, the economy seemed to be booming, until a massive devaluation of its currency dragged the country back into crisis in late 1994. Earlier that year, a small group of rebels in Chiapas State, calling themselves Zapatistas, staged a rebellion that drew international attention to the poverty endured by the country's Maya Indians. A series of high-profile political assassinations rocked already waning faith in the government.
After several prominent victories by opposition candidates in local and regional elections, Vicente Fox was elected president in 2000, breaking the PRI's hold on power for the first time since the revolution. Fox's party, the PAN, a conservative centrist group, went on the win the next election in 2006 when Felipe Calderon was elected president. Winning by less than 1% of the vote, Calderon's victory was hotly contested by his opponent, Manuel Lopez Obrador of the leftist PRD party. Lopez Obrador tried unsuccessfully to set up a parallel government in the months following the election but failed. The Electoral Institute supported Calderon's win.
Mexico's attractions include its historical sites, archaeological ruins, fiestas, beaches, fishing, watersports (scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing), golf, bullfighting, shopping, handicrafts, music, dance, relaxation and moderate prices.
If you're interested in a unique culture and enjoy sand, sun and surf as well as history, dance and music, you'll love Mexico. Do be aware that you may fall prey to an upset stomach or other illness that can occur where sanitary conditions are less than optimal. You should also be prepared to see extreme poverty. If you become unhappy when service isn't prompt and efficient or when things don't quite go as planned, you may not enjoy a trip to Mexico. If you go with the flow and delight in surreal experiences, you will.
The two rebel heroes of the Mexican Revolution, Emiliano Zapata and Francisco "Pancho" Villa, were both treacherously assassinated—Zapata in 1919 (at the direction of then-President Venustiano Carranza) and Villa in 1923.
The Tarahumara Indians, who live in the vicinity of Copper Canyon, are renowned for their fitness and stamina, which have been honed by years of running up and down the region's steep mountains. One of their many festivals includes an all-night run of more than 100 mi/160 km.
You can tour a tequila factory in the town of Tequila, birthplace of the quintessential Mexican drink.
The Fairmont Pierre Marques, the 344-room luxury resort hotel in Acapulco, was originally the private hideaway of oil billionaire J. Paul Getty.
The Fairmont Acapulco Princess in Acapulco became a refuge for eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes in the 1970s before he fled to Nicaragua.
Some say the word "jalopy" comes from the 1920s, when old U.S. cars were shipped to the capital of Veracruz for reconditioning and resale. U.S. longshoremen pronounced the destination, Jalapa, as ja-la-pa (rather than with the Spanish pronunciation, ha-la-pa). The mispronounced word evolved into "jalopy."
According to one legend, the margarita was invented in the town of Taxco at Bertha's Bar, which is still standing today. The drink reputedly started out as a hot toddy.
Mexican icon Frida Kahlo married and divorced her husband, famed muralist Diego Rivera, twice. Kahlo also had an affair with Russian intellectual Leon Trotsky.
