Just south of the United States and north of Guatemala is Mexico, a fact which I'm sure all of you know. However, most people don't know that much about Mexico. There are caricatures of Mexico, and many people are familiar with some of the tourist areas.
But that's about it. In reality, Mexico is one of the world's largest countries, and its unique geography has influenced its history and economy. Learn more about Mexico's physical, cultural, and economic geography on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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I'll start this episode by talking about Mexico generally before getting into details about specific parts of the country. And I'll start with the size of Mexico. Mexico is a pretty big country, and most people don't realize just how big it is. Let's begin by looking at the big picture and how Mexico compares to other countries. In terms of land area, Mexico is the 13th largest country in the world, with a total area of 1,964,375 square kilometers or 758,449 square miles.
In size, it falls between Saudi Arabia, another deceptively large country, and Indonesia. Mexico is big enough that you could fit 30 different European countries inside of it and still have room to spare. In terms of population, Mexico is also among the largest countries in the world. With a population of almost 129 million people, it is the 11th most populous country behind Russia and just ahead of Ethiopia.
This makes Mexico the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world by a wide margin. It has over twice the number of Spanish speakers as the second largest Spanish-speaking country, which is, surprisingly, the United States. After that, it's Colombia and then Spain. Economically, Mexico is a solidly middle-class country, and this surprises most Americans who think of Mexico as poor, but taken globally, Mexico is far from the bottom.
It ranks 65th in the world in terms of GDP per capita at a rate of $15,249 per person. This places it right at the borderline near the top third of countries. It is just below Chile and Bulgaria and just above Russia and Malaysia. My point in mentioning all this is that Mexico is often overshadowed by its larger and richer neighbor to the north, so it doesn't get the recognition it often deserves in terms of just how big and significant of a country it is.
Now looking at Mexico by its parts. In the northwest is the Baja Peninsula. In the southeast is the Yucatan Peninsula. And the center is the majority of the country, which is a funnel-shaped section of land that goes from the border of the United States all the way down to the border of Guatemala. In terms of geology,
Almost all of Mexico lies on the North American tectonic plate along with the United States and Canada. The Caribbean plate lies just south of the Mexican border with Guatemala. The only part of the country that isn't part of the North American plate is the Baja Peninsula. The peninsula is part of the Pacific plate, and it is very slowly moving past the North American plate. This is part of the same tectonic plate that Southern California is a part of. At some point,
Probably millions of years from now, the Baja Peninsula, along with Southern California, will become an island. Baja is very dry and mountainous. The Gulf of California, which is located between Baja and the Mexican mainland, is a warm, protected area which is a popular breeding ground for whales. The Mexican mainland, which is the funnel-shaped part that comprises the vast majority of the country, is also very mountainous. In fact, Mexico is one of the most mountainous countries in the world.
The percentage of Mexico that is mountainous is actually on a par with Afghanistan. There are several major mountain ranges in Mexico. The Sierra Madre Occidental runs parallel to the Pacific Coast. The Sierra Madre Oriental is on the other side of the country, running roughly parallel with the coast along the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Range runs roughly in the east-west direction in the southern-central part of Mexico.
The land between these three ranges isn't a flat plain like you might see in other mountain ranges. It too is mountainous and is known as the Mexican Plateau. It extends from the U.S. border all the way down to the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. It is hot and dry in the north and has an average elevation of about 1,825 meters or 5,988 feet. The population density is low in the north, but extremely dense once you get to the central section of Mexico.
While there are a few large cities in the north, more on that in a bit, by far the densest population center lies in central Mexico. This is the region that houses the capital of Mexico City. Mexico City is the largest city in North America, and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the world, behind Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai, and Sao Paulo. Mexico City is not just the largest city on the continent,
but it's also the oldest city if you consider the origin of the city predates the European arrival as it was the capital of the Aztec Empire. The fact that Mexico is so mountainous and so much of it is uninhabitable has led it to become a very urban country. Mexico has 10 cities with a population over 1 million people. And to put that into perspective, the United States has only 9.
The reason why this part of the Mexican Plateau is so densely populated is because of the rich volcanic soil and the elevation which provides for a cooler climate. Another anomalous fact about Mexico is that most of the population lives inland and not on the coast. The largest coastal city by far is Tijuana, which has a population of approximately 1.6 million people.
While it does lie on the Pacific Ocean, it really isn't a coastal city so much as it is a border city that just happens to be on the coast. Tijuana was founded because it was right across the border from San Diego. It wasn't much of a city before the 20th century, and despite having a beach, it has no major shipping port. The other major city on the US border is Juarez.
Juarez is a city of 1.5 million people that lies just opposite the city of El Paso, Texas. As with Tijuana, the city exploded in the 20th century as it was able to take advantage of the economic ties with the United States. Other than Tijuana, Acapulco is the only other major city on the Pacific coast, and it is only the 27th largest city in Mexico.
Acapulco is one of the cities that lies on a very narrow Pacific coastal plain that sits between the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains and the sea. Over on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, there's a similar story. North of the Yucatan Peninsula, the two largest cities on the coast are Veracruz and Tempico. Veracruz is the 33rd largest city and Tempico is the 63rd largest. An interesting fact about Veracruz?
Mexico has been invaded multiple times and most of those invasions have all come through Veracruz. The Gulf Coastal Plain is the largest plain in Mexico. It extends along the length of Mexico's Gulf Coast and flows into the Yucatan. You don't see huge cities on the east coast until you get down to the Yucatan Peninsula. The Yucatan is very different than the rest of Mexico.
The Yucatan is relatively flat, gets plenty of rainfall, and is covered in a lush forest, as opposed to most of the rest of the country which is dry and elevated. One of the defining characteristics of the Yucatan is the limestone that makes up most of the rock. This limestone is potmarked with over 10,000 sinkholes known as cenotes. The cenotes expose groundwater below the surface.
and these cenotes served as sources of fresh water for the Maya people who lived there for centuries. Because the water is groundwater and is mostly underground, it is much colder than any surface water, fresh or salt, that can be found in the region. If you look at a map, you can see a very strong concentration of cenotes in an arc in the northern part of the Yucatan.
This arc corresponds to the location of the Chicxulub crater that was formed when a meteor hit the earth 66 million years ago and was believed to be responsible for killing the dinosaurs. The Yucatan is home to the largest city on the Gulf of Mexico, Cancun. Cancun and much of the coastal area in the Yucatan has become a popular tourist destination, and much of what foreigners think about Mexico entirely
comes from people visiting Cancun and the surrounding region. There are several geographical highlights within Mexico that are worth mentioning. Copper Canyon is one of the world's largest canyons, located in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains in the state of Chihuahua. This vast canyon system is actually a series of six interconnected canyons and is longer and deeper than the Grand Canyon in the United States.
Another notable canyon is the Sumidero Canyon, which is located in the south of the country in the state of Chiapas. The canyon is a dramatic geological formation carved by the Grijalva River over millions of years. The canyon features towering vertical walls that rise up to 1,000 meters or 3,300 feet above the river, creating a breathtaking and imposing landscape.
The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, located in the states of Michoacan and Estadio de Mexico, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for hosting one of the world's most remarkable natural phenomena. the annual migration of millions of monarch butterflies. Each year, these butterflies travel up to 3,000 miles from Canada and the United States to overwinter in the Oyamel fir forest of this reserve.
The spectacle of millions of butterflies clustering on tree branches draws visitors and researchers from around the world. And, of course, there are also volcanoes. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt has many active and inactive volcanoes. Two of the most famous and iconic volcanoes are Popocatepal and Ihasiwatl.
Popocatepal is an active straddle volcano and Iyasiwatl is a dormant volcano with a silhouette resembling a sleeping woman, and they're steeped in Aztec mythology symbolizing the tragic tale of two lovers. Of course, we can't forget Paracoutine. I've previously done an entire episode on Paracoutine, but it's a volcano that appeared out of nowhere in 1943 and now stands 2,800 meters or 9,200 feet tall.
Where there are volcanoes, there are also earthquakes. Mexico has had its share of major devastating earthquakes over the years. The main earthquake belt extends along the tectonic plate boundary off the coast of Baja and then across the trans-Mexican volcanic belt. There have been dozens of major earthquakes over the last century that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
But there has been one very strange coincidence regarding earthquakes in Mexico over the last 40 years, and that coincidence is the date of September 19th. On September 19th, 1985, A magnitude 8.1 earthquake off the coast devastated Mexico City, causing thousands of deaths and significant damage to infrastructure. On September 19, 2017, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck near the town of Reboso in the state of Puebla, killing hundreds of people.
Finally, on September 19, 2022, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck off the coast of the state of Mikuakon, again causing serious damage and causing the deaths of many. Many people now believe that September 19th has become a cursed day in the country. Mexico is a very big, geographically diverse country. Its size is often overlooked because of its neighbors, but it is one of the largest countries on earth, and it is one of the most culturally significant countries in the Spanish-speaking world.
The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Kiever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day. And also, Patreon is currently the only place where Everything Everywhere Daily merchandise is available to the top tier of supporters.
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