About Mexico Officially United Mexican States, republic (1995 est. pop. 93,986,000), 753,665 sq mi (1,952,500 sq km), S North America. It borders on the United States in the north, on the Gulf of Mexico (including its arm, the Bay of Campeche) and the Caribbean Sea in the  east, on Belize and Guatemala in the southeast, and on the Pacific Ocean in the south and west. Mexico is divided into 31 states and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. Land Most of Mexico is highland or mountainous and less than 15% of the land is arable; about 25% of the country is forested. Most of the Yucatán peninsula and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast is lowland, and there are low-lying strips of land along the  Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California In the south the deserts yield to the broad, shallow lakes of a region, comprising the Valley of Mexico, known as the Anáhuac and famous for its rich cultural heritage. South of the Anáhuac, which includes Mexico City, is a chain of extinct volcanoes, including Citlaltépetl , or Orizaba (18,700 ft/5,700 m, the highest point in Mexico), Popocatépetl , and Iztaccihuatl . To the south are jumbled masses of mountains and the Sierra Madre del Sur.
People The great majority of the population are of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent and speak Spanish, the official language, as their first language. Various Mayan dialects are also spoken. Since 1920 the population of Mexico has had a very high rate of growth, almost entirely the result of natural increase; from 1940 to 1990 the population grew from 19.6 million to 81.1 million. *Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003. Baja California Sur Baja is the world's fourth longest peninsula with a length of 806 miles. The highway that stretches the length of Baja, from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas is 1045 miles long. The peninsula is 143 miles wide at it's widest point and just over 28 miles wide at it's narrowest point, near La Paz in the state of Baja California Sur. Baja's coastline is over 2500 miles long when you take into consideration all of the bays and lagoons. There are over 100 islands surrounding Baja and just the islands in the Sea of Cortez account for over half of all the islands in México. Baja is separated from the Mexican mainland by 155 miles at the farthest point. A few areas on the peninsula are actually under sea level while the highest point is over 10,000 feet in elevation. The peninsula, still primitive in places, is home to some of the most pristine beaches and incredible scenery to be found anywhere in North America.
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