Mexico (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

United Mexican States Estados Unidos Mexicanos Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: Mexico minus Baja California and Sonora
Flag Great seal
Motto:  La Patria Es Primero (Spanish) ("The Homeland is First")
Anthem:  Himno Nacional Mexicano
Location of Mexico
Capital		Mexico City
Official languages		Spanish
Ethnic groups		Whites; Mestizo; Amerindian; Lebanese; Asians
Religion		Christianity; Irreligion; Judaism; Islam; Buddhism
Demonym		Mexican
Government		Federal state; Constitutional presidential republic
-	President
-	Vice President
Legislature		Congress of the Union of Mexico
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	Chamber of Deputies
Establishment
-	Independence from Spain	September 16, 1810
-	Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire	September 28, 1821
Population
-	estimate	120,114,291
Currency		Mexican peso (MXN)
Time zone		various (UTC−8 to −6)
Internet TLD		.mx
Calling code		+52
Membership international or regional organizations		Union of South American Nations

Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered by the United States of America to the northwest; by the Confederate States of America to the north and northeast; by the Pacific Ocean to the south and west; by the Central American Federation and Yucatan to the southeast; and by the Gulf of Mexico to the east.

Early political and social upheavals in Mexico's history as an independent nation state occurred both at home and abroad. Following the American settlers' Texas Revolt, which resulted in the Mexican–American War and significant territory losses in 1848. Conservatives responded to liberal reforms in the 1857 Constitution by starting the War of Reform, which led France to invade the nation and impose an empire. The Republican opposition, led by liberal President Benito Juárez, however, prevailed. Porfirio Díaz's dictatorship ruled over Mexico throughout the final decades of the 19th century, with the goal of modernizing the country and bringing order back. Yet the Porfiriato period brought about a great deal of social unrest, and it came to an end in 1910 when the Mexican Revolution broke out, followed by a decade-long a civil war.

An immediate result of the revolution was the 1917 Constitution, which is still in force today. The war generals who remained in power served as presidents until 1929, when Plutarco Elías Calles founded the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to monopolize the country's politics. Calles served as president from 1924 to 1928 and continued to rule behind the scene until 1945 in a period known as the Maximato during where he implemented a wide range of social and economic reforms despite heavy resistance from conservative elements. During most of parts of World War II, Mexico was nominally neutral, but formally joined the Allies in 1945 to join the United Nations. Democratization process in the late 1940s brought the single-party rule of the PRI to an end and reintroduced political freedoms for the Mexicans. Mexico is a rare instance in Latin-speaking America for its political stability and democratic civilian rule, never witnessed any military coup since 1926.

Further readings