[Intro] [Metromex] [Mexamerica] [South Mexico] [New Spain] [Club Mex] [SRU sites]
In the Spring 1987 issue of Focus (pp. 2-9) published by the American Geographical Society ???? Louis Casagrande described what he called the "Five Nations of Mexico". In the article he explains the growing importance of Mexico to the United States and the extreme lack of knowledge most Americans have of their southern neighbor. Rather than describing Mexico's 31 states, or its overall physical geography, Casagrande categorizes the "diverse cultural, political and economic geographies" of Mexico by defining five nations, or regions, each with a distinct cultural, and physical, geography of its own. The Five Nations are: (1) Metromex comprising Mexico City, the federal district and the surrounding state of Mexico; (2) Mexamerica in the north; (3) South Mexico along Mexico's southern boundary; (4) New Spain in the colonial core across the center of the country; and (5) Club Mex, tourist enclaves along the Mexican coasts.
Why not describe each Mexican state? Geographers use regions to simplify and classify spatial information. Mexico is a large and complex country. By dividing it into five regions Casagrande enables us to better understand this important country. A region is a portion of the earth's surface characterized by certain criteria. Different geographers, utilizing different criteria, come up with different regions. Casagrande emphasized cultural criteria, or those things that people learn and pass on to their offspring such as material culture, religion and superstition, language, art, music, etc. By examining the cultural aspects of Mexican society, he described and located five nations, or cultural groups, with a certain degree of internal homogeneity.
(For corresponding pages in the Blouet & Blouet text see Chapter 8, pp. 231-233, "Mexico City: The Dominant Metropolis.)
Metromex [see metromap] is comprised of the Mexico City, the Federal District , and the 45 municipalities of the state of Mexico including industrial corridors radiating out from the city to the northeast to Pachuca, to the northwest to Queretaro, to the east to Puebla, and to the south to Cuernavaca.
More than a quarter of Mexico's nearly 100 million people live in Metromex and its population is growing rapidly [Population of Mexico City Area]. With a population density that rivals that of Tokyo and twice that of New York City, this is the core of Mexican society including the headquarters for its government, banking, commerce, television, sports, and music. In 1987 Metromex contained one half of all industry in Mexico and produced about 38% of Mexico's GNP.
Mexico City is situated in the valley of Mexico at over 7000 feet above sea level surrounded by mountains. This combination of population density, industrial activity, thin air, and physical geography has produced one of the world's worst air pollution problems
(For corresponding pages in the Blouet & Blouet text see Chapter 8, pp. 222-227, "The Independent North".)
Mexamerica comprises the northern half of Mexico and extends into the United States to include Los Angeles, Albuquerque, and San Antonio. It's major Mexican cities include Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Monterrey, and Nuevo Laredo.
Mexamerica rivals Metromex in population ( approx. 40 million) and industrial output. Its cities have benefited from Mexico's maquiladora program and from N.A.F.T.A. Its isolated location, distance from Mexico's core, harsh environment [climate], sparse population [density],and "frontier" history has given the people of Mexamerica a sense of independence. These nortenos tend to look to the north for cultural inspiration. They watch the LA dodgers and Dallas Cowboys on television, eat hamburgers and hot dogs along with tortillas and burritos, and support the Partido de Accion Nacional (PAN), the leading political party opposing the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) party. Recently the PAN has won four governorships in Mexamerica breaking the political monopoly that the PRI has held since the 1910-17 revolution.
The economy of Mexamerica is diversified. Along the US/Mexican border you find tourism, immigration, drug trafficking, and manufacturing. In the dry west coast [climate] dammed rivers coming down from the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains [elevation] provides water for irrigated agricultural production which has overtaken that of the traditional Mexican breadbasket of New Spain. The northeast is heavily industrialized producing beer, steel, petrochemicals, building products, and financial services. In the dry interior [climate] you can find cattle ranching and lumbering.
(For corresponding pages in the Blouet & Blouet text see Chapter 8, pp. 227-228, "The Central Breadbasket.")
New Spain is the densely populated [density] colonial center of Mexico. This is "traditional" Mexico. Once the center of the Mesoamerican culture hearth, now Mestizo culture predominates [ethnicity] with the Spanish language and the traditional Mexican diet of maize, beans, and chilies.
With its abundant rainfall [precip] New Spain is the traditional breadbasket, or agricultural area, of Mexico, but it now ranks second to the irrigated agriculture of western Mexamerica.
Current problems in New Spain include overpopulation (approximately 30 million), undercapitalized industrial development, and "traditional" inefficient agriculture. New Spain is the source of 80% of the young men who migrate al norte to Mexamerica or to the United States.
(For corresponding pages in the Blouet & Blouet text see Chapter 8, pp. 229-231, "The Southern Mountains" and "Chiapas and the Yucatan: the Remote Periphery.)
The southern part of Mexico is poor, agricultural, and Amerindian [Amerindian Languages]. Its population of about 15 million is over half Amerindian most of whom are subsistence farmers. There are few large cities with the population dispersed in small towns and agricultural villages [population].
The physical geography varies from mountainous State of Chiapas [elevation] to the tropical lowlands of the Yucatan [Climate] where small scale agriculture predominates.
Current dissatisfaction with the ruling PRI party recently resulted in an armed uprising in the state of Chiapas.
(For corresponding pages in the Blouet & Blouet text see Chapter 8, p. 229 - last paragraph and p. 230-231 - last paragraph.)
Club Mex is a new nation in Mexico made up of resort enclaves. These include the converted port towns of Acapulco, Mazatlan, and Manzanillo; the former fishing villages of Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido, and Cozumel; and the new tourist centers of Cancun and Ixtapa.
Club Mex has been the recipient of more than its share of limited government development funds and foreign investment. This has created a degree of resentment among Mexicans outside of Club Mex examplified in the saying: "Todo Mexico es Cancun" (all of Mexico is Cancun).
As tourism has grown bilingual migrants, mostly from Metromex, have moved to Club Mex giving it a population of over 1.5 million. They entertain more than two million tourists annually. Other "nations" also contribute to the tourist industry of Club Mex. Building materials, beer, and wine come from Mexamerica, Indian crafts from South Mexico, and food from New Spain.
Five Nations sites from Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock Pennsylvania: