The United Mexican States, is a country located in North America, bordered at the north by the United States, and at the south by Guatemala and Belize in Central America. It is the northernmost and westernmost country in Latin America, and also the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world.

The official name is Estados Unidos Mexicanos, which translates as the United Mexican States. The term State of Mexico (Estado de México) does not refer to the country, but only to one state within Mexico, located near the center of the country adjacent to the Federal District.

The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994 threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Vicente Fox of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in as President on 1 December 2000.