conventional long form: United Mexican States

conventional short form: Mexico

local long form: Estados Unidos Mexicanos

local short form: Mexico

former: Mexican Republic, Mexican Empire

etymology: named after the capital city, whose name stems from the Mexica, the largest and most powerful branch of the Aztecs; the meaning of the name is uncertain
Government type

federal presidential republic
Capital

name: Mexico City (Ciudad de Mexico)

geographic coordinates: 19 26 N, 99 08 W

time difference: UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time: +1hr, begins first Sunday in April; ends last Sunday in October

time zone note: Mexico has four time zones

etymology: named after the Mexica, the largest and most powerful branch of the Aztecs; the meaning of the name is uncertain
Administrative divisions

32 states (estados, singular - estado); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Cuidad de Mexico, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas
Independence

16 September 1810 (declared independence from Spain); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)
National holiday

Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Constitution

history: several previous; latest approved 5 February 1917

amendments: proposed by the Congress of the Union; passage requires approval by at least two thirds of the members present and approval by a majority of the state legislatures; amended many times, last in 2020
Legal system

civil law system with US constitutional law influence; judicial review of legislative acts
International law organization participation

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship

citizenship by birth: yes

citizenship by descent only: yes

dual citizenship recognized: not specified

residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Executive branch

chief of state: President Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (since 1 December 2018); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (since 1 December 2018)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general, the head of the Bank of Mexico, and senior treasury officials require consent of the Senate

elections/appointments: president directly elected by simple majority popular vote for a single 6-year term; election last held on 1 July 2018 (next to be held in July 2024)

election results:
2018: Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR elected president; percent of vote - Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (MORENA) 53.2%, Ricardo ANAYA (PAN) 22.3%, Jose Antonio MEADE Kuribrena (PRI) 16.4%, Jaime RODRIGUEZ Calderon 5.2% (independent), other 2.9%

2012: Enrique PENA NIETO elected president; percent of vote - Enrique PENA NIETO (PRI) 38.2%, Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR (PRD) 31.6%, Josefina Eugenia VAZQUEZ Mota (PAN) 25.4%, other 4.8%
Legislative branch

description: bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of:
Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 32 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 6-year terms)
Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 200 directly elected in a single, nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 3-year terms)

elections:
Senate - last held on 1 July 2018 (next to be held in July 2024)
Chamber of Deputies - last held on 6 June 2021 (next to be held in July 2024)

election results:
Senate - percent of vote by party - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MORENA 58, PAN 22, PRI 14, PRD 9, MC 7, PT 7, PES 5, PVEM 5, PNA/PANAL 1; composition (as of July 2018) - men 65, women 63, percent of women 49.2%
Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MORENA 197, PAN 111, PRI 69, PVEM 44, PT 38, MC 25, PRD 16; composition - men 250, women 250, percent of women 50%; note - overall percent of women in National Congress 49.8%

note: as of the 2018 election, senators will be eligible for a second term and deputies up to 4 consecutive terms
Judicial branch

highest courts: Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (consists of the chief justice and 11 justices and organized into civil, criminal, administrative, and labor panels) and the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary (organized into the superior court, with 7 judges including the court president, and 5 regional courts, each with 3 judges)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court justices nominated by the president of the republic and approved by two-thirds vote of the members present in the Senate; justices serve 15-year terms; Electoral Tribunal superior and regional court judges nominated by the Supreme Court and elected by two-thirds vote of members present in the Senate; superior court president elected from among its members to hold office for a 4-year term; other judges of the superior and regional courts serve staggered, 9-year terms

subordinate courts: federal level includes circuit, collegiate, and unitary courts; state and district level courts

note: in April 2021, the Mexican congress passed a judicial reform which changed 7 articles of the constitution and preceded a new Organic Law on the Judicial Branch of the Federation
Political parties and leaders

Citizen's Movement (Movimiento Ciudadano) or MC [Clemente CASTANEDA Hoeflich]
Institutional Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) or PRI [Claudia RUIZ Massieu]
Labor Party (Partido del Trabajo) or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]
Mexican Green Ecological Party (Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico) or PVEM [Karen CASTREJON Trujillo]
Movement for National Regeneration (Movimiento Regeneracion Nacional) or MORENA [Mario DELGADO Carillo]
National Action Party (Partido Accion Nacional) or PAN [Antonio CORTES Mendoza]
Party of the Democratic Revolution (Partido de la Revolucion Democratica) or PRD [Jesus ZAMBRANO Grijalva]
This Is For Mexico (Va Por Mexico) – alliance that includes PAN, PRI, and PRD
Together We Make History (Juntos Hacemos Historia) - alliance that includes MORENA, PT, PVEM (dissolved 23 December 2020)