Mexico (Alternity)

Mexico, officially the Federal Republic of Mexico (Spanish: República Federal de México), is a federal presidential republic located in southern North America. Mexico is bordered to the north by the United States and to the south by Central America and British Honduras. It also shares a maritime border with the US state of Cuba to the east, across the Yucatan Channel. Mexico's population of 110.9 million ranks it as the 13th-largest nation in the world.

Since gaining its independence from Spain in 1821 after a bloody, eleven-year war, Mexico's political history has been turbulent at best, having gone through multiple constitutions and leaders. The most turbluent of these years was the mid-19th century, when, following the so-called 'First Mexican Empire', the United Mexican States was established and existed for forty years, until its collapse in 1864. The most infamous Mexican of this era was General/President Antonio López de Santa Anna (or simply Santa Anna), who led the Mexican Army against the Texan rebellion in 1836, against the American Army in the First Mexican-American War, served as president on eleven separate occasions, and sold the state of Baja California and the northern 1/4 of Sonora to the United States in 1853 for $30 million.

Following the Baja/Gadsden Purchase, Santa Anna became extremely unpopular in Mexico and was ousted in 1854. Ten years later, the government was overthrown by a French military occupation to become the short-lived Second Mexican Empire. The French were removed in 1867 and the current republic was established, though it was not without its troubles. With only one interruption, Porfirio Díaz was president from 1876 to 1911, when he resigned as a result an electoral fraud, and the 1910 Revolution. Díaz's resignation was followed by nearly a decade of civil war, the yearlong rule of Victoriano Huerta, and at last, the nation's current constitution (an amended version of the 1857 Constitution) in 1917. Since then, Mexico has been relatively stable politically, though in recent years armed drug cartels have been making their presence known, notably in the US border states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila.

Mexico is a US 'partner nation' in the G-11, and a member of the G-30, NAFTA, and United Nations. It is classified as an emerging power, both economically and - somewhat - militarily. Cancún and Acapulco's famous beaches draw in millions of tourists annually, while historical sites in and around Mexico City bring millions more, largely to the ancient city of Teotihuacan.

First Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Main Article: First Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

Second Mexican-American War (1877-1879)
Main Article: Second Mexican-American War (1877-1879)

World War II (1942-1946)
Main Article: World War II (1942-1946)

Mexico City Olympics (1968)
Main Article: 1968 Summer Olympics

Territory
Main Article: States of Mexico