Mexico is a federal republic, composed of 31 states and one federal district. In fact,
United Mexican States is the official name for Mexico. The Mexican states, with their respective capitals are:
- Aguascalientes (Aguascalientes)
- Baja California (Mexicali)
- Baja California Sur (La Paz)
- Campeche (Campeche)
- Chiapas (Tuxtla Gutierrez)
- Chihuahua (Chihuahua)
- Coahuila (Saltillo)
- Colima (Colima)
- Distrito Federal (Mexico City)
- Durango (Durango)
- Estado de Mexico (Toluca)
- Guanajuato (Guanajuato)
- Guerrero (Chilpancingo)
- Hidalgo (Pachuca)
- Jalisco (Guadalajara)
- Michoacan (Morelia)
- Morelos (Cuernavaca)
- Nayarit (Tepic)
- Nuevo Leon (Monterrey)
- Oaxaca (Oaxaca)
- Puebla (Puebla)
- Queretaro (Queretaro)
- Quintana Roo (Chetumal)
- San Luis Potosi (San Luis Potosi)
- Sinaloa (Culiacan)
- Sonora (Hermosillo)
- Tabasco (Villahermosa)
- Tamaulipas (Cd. Victoria)
- Tlaxcala (Tlaxcala)
- Veracruz (Xalapa)
- Yucatan (Merida)
- Zacatecas (Zacatecas)
Some interesting facts:
- The federal entity with most income and also the smallest in terms of area is the Federal District, where Mexico City is located. It has an income of USD$168,164 billion (21.5% for all Mexico), and an area of only 1,499 square kilometers (571 sq mi), which accounts for only 0.1% of all Mexican territory.
- The three wealthiest states in Mexico are the Federal District, Nuevo Leon and Campeche, with an income per capita of USD$23,130 USD$16,342 and USD$15,175 respectively. These states have an income comparable to that of Portugal or Russia.
- On the other hand, the three poorest states are Tlaxcala, Oaxaca and Chiapas, with incomes of USD$4,928 USD$4,003 and USD$3,657. These states have an income comparable to that of Guatemala, Indonesia and Iraq.
- Mexico State (Estado de Mexico) is the most populated state, with 14 million people; the least populated is Baja California Sur, with only half a million people.
- The Human Development Index (HDI) is a ranking created by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to measure countries or regions according to three basic population parameters: health, education and income. For Mexico, the Federal District and Nuevo Leon had the highest HDI in 2004 (0.8837 and 0.8513, respectively), while the lowest corresponded to Chiapas (0.7185) and Oaxaca (0.7336). For comparision, the Federal District's HDI corresponds to that of the Czech Republic, while Oaxaca corresponds to that of Vietnam.
- On a municipality level, The Benito Juarez district (Federal District), the San Pedro Garza Garcia municipality (Nuevo Leon) and the San Sebastian Tula municipality (Oaxaca) have the highest HDI in Mexico (0.9509, 0.95, 0.9204, respectively) which correspond to the life quality levels of Norway, Australia and Spain.
- By contrast, four municipalities are included in the low-HDI group: Tehuipango (Veracruz, 0.4985), Coicoyan de las Flores (Oaxaca, 0.4768), Batopilas (Chihuahua, 0.4734) and Cochoapa el Grande (Guerrero, 0.4354). These correspond to the quality of life of countries such as Madagascar, Haiti, Kenya and Benin.