Mexico (Austria and others)

Mexico (Spanish: México), officially known as the Mexican Empire (Spanish: Imperio Mexicano ), is a constitutional monarchy in North America. It is bordered on the north and by the west by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Honduras, Al Salvador, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2 million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), Mexico is the fifth-largest country in the Americas by total area and the 7th largest independent nation in the world. With an estimated population of 37 million, is the most populous Hispanophone country on Earth. Mexico is a federation comprising twenty-five states and a Federal District, the capital city.

In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory, which was administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This territory would eventually become Mexico as the colony independence was recognized in 1821. The post-independence period was characterized by economic instability, the First Mexican–American War and territorial cession to the US. The latter led to the Second Mexican-American War in 1910, which culminated with the re-annexation of the territories lost in the First Mexican-American War (with exception of some parts of the South of California and the area surrounding the city of San Francisco) and the annexation of Oregon,and Florida.

After rapid economic, social and technological growth beginning in the 1930s, Mexico is now both one of the world's largest economies and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a stable growth rate of 7.6%. As a regional power, and since 1994 the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico was firmly established as an upper middle-income country, and in 2009 Mexico surpassed the world bank's high income economic threshold to become a high income country. Mexico is considered a industrialized country and an emerging power. It has the 13th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity. The economy is strongly linked to tourism, being the world's tenth most visited country with over 21.4 million international arrivals. Mexico boasts a long tradition in the arts, renowned cuisine, and culture, and it ranks fifth in the world and first in the Americas on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with 31.