Government and Politics of Mexico

Government Type

federal republic

Administrative Divisions

31 states (estados, singular - estado) and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Distrito Federal*, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro de Arteaga, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz-Llave, Yucatan, Zacatecas

Legal System

mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced)

Citizenship

citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent only: yes dual citizenship recognized: not specified residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

Executive Branch

chief of state: President Claudia Sheinbaum (since October 2024); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Claudia Sheinbaum (since October 2024); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of the attorney general requires consent of the Senate elections: president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term (sexenio); no re-election permitted; election last held on June 2, 2024 (next to be held in 2030); Claudia Sheinbaum of the Morena party won with approximately 59% of the vote, becoming Mexico's first female president

Legislative Branch

bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Federal Chamber of Deputies or Camara Federal de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote, also for three-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 2 July 2000 for all of the seats (next to be held 2 July 2006); Chamber of Deputies - last held 6 July 2003 (next to be held 2 July 2006) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 60, PAN 46, PRD 16, PVEM 5, unassigned 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PRI 222, PAN 151, PRD 95, PVEM 17, PT 6, CD 5, unassigned 4; note - special elections were held in December 2003; the PRI and the PRD each won one seat and were each assigned one additional proportional representation seat

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia Nacional (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)

Political Parties

Convergence for Democracy or CD [Dante DELGADO Ranauro]; Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI [Mariano PALACIOS Alcocer]; Mexican Green Ecological Party or PVEM [Jorge Emilio GONZALEZ Martinez]; National Action Party or PAN [Manuel ESPINO Barrientos]; Party of the Democratic Revolution or PRD [Leonel COTA Montano]; Workers Party or PT [Alberto ANAYA Gutierrez]

Head of State

President Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa

Head of Government

President Felipe de Jesus CALDERON Hinojosa

Cabinet

Cabinet appointed by the president; note - appointment of attorney general requires consent of the Senate

Elections

president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term; election last held on 2 July 2006 (next to be held 1 July 2012)

Election Results

Felipe CALDERON elected president; percent of vote - Felipe CALDERON 35.89%, Andres Manuel LOPEZ OBRADOR 35.31%, Roberto MADRAZO 22.26%, other 6.54%

Constitution

5-Feb-17

Independence

16 September 1810 (from Spain)

National Holiday

Independence Day, 16 September (1810)

International Organization Participation

APEC, BCIE, BIS, Caricom (observer), CDB, CE (observer), EBRD, FAO, G-3, G-6, G-15, G-19, G-24, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM (observer), NEA, OAS, OECD, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Diplomatic Representation in the U.S.

chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Carlos Alberto de ICAZA Gonzalez chancery: 1911 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20006 telephone: [1] (202) 728-1600 FAX: [1] (202) 728-1698 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Omaha, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico) consulate(s): Albuquerque, Brownsville (Texas), Calexico (California), Del Rio (Texas), Detroit, Douglas (Arizona), Eagle Pass (Texas), Fresno (California), Indianapolis (Indiana), Kansas City (Missouri), Laredo (Texas), Las Vegas, McAllen (Texas), Midland (Texas), Oxnard (California), Philadelphia, Portland (Oregon), Presidio (Texas), Raleigh, Saint Paul (Minnesota), Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Santa Ana (California), Seattle, Tucson, Yuma (Arizona)

U.S. Diplomatic Representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio O. GARZA embassy: Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal mailing address: P. O. Box 9000, Brownsville, TX 78520-0900 telephone: [52] (55) 5080-2000 FAX: [52] (55) 5511-9980 consulate(s) general: Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana consulate(s): Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo

Capital City

Mexico City (Ciudad de Mexico)

Location

19 26 N, 99 08 W

Time Difference

UTC-6 (1 hour behind Washington, DC, during Standard Time) time zone note: Mexico has four time zones

History

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

Embassy Location: The U.S. Embassy is located in Mexico City at Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtémoc; telephone from the United States: 011-52-55-5080-2000; telephone within Mexico City: 5080-2000; telephone long distance within Mexico 01-55-5080-2000. You may contact the Embassy by e-mail or visit the Embassy website. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City is also on Facebook & Twitter. The Embassy serves a consular district encompassing the Federal District of Mexico; the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Michoacán, the State of Mexico (Estado de México), Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chiapas; and the city of Tampico, Tamaulipas. In addition to the Embassy, there are nine United States consulates and ten separate consular agencies located throughout Mexico. In the list below you will find the consular district covered by each consulate. CONSULATES (with consular districts defined by Mexican state): Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua): Paseo de la Victoria 3650, telephone (011) (52) (656) 227-3000. Facebook & Twitter Guadalajara (Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes, and Colima): Progreso 175, Col. Americana; telephone (011) (52) (333) 268-2100. Facebook & Twitter Hermosillo (Sinaloa and the southern part of Sonora): Calle Monterrey 141 Poniente, Col. Esqueda; telephone (011) (52) (662) 289-3500. Facebook Matamoros (most of the state of Tamaulipas with the exception of a northwest section and the city of Tampico): Avenida Primera 2002 y Azaleas; telephone (011) (52) (868) 812-4402. Facebook & Twitter Mérida (Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo): Calle 60 No. 338 K x 29 y 31, Col. Alcalá Martín; telephone (011) (52) (999) 942-5700. Facebook & Twitter Monterrey (Nuevo León, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, and the southern part of Coahuila): Avenida Constitución 411 Poniente; telephone (011) (52) (818) 047-3100. Facebook & Twitter Nogales (the northern part of Sonora): Calle San José, Fraccionamiento "Los Álamos"; telephone (011) (52) (631) 311-8150. Facebook & Twitter Nuevo Laredo (the northern part of Coahuila and the northwestern part of Tamaulipas): Calle Allende 3330, Col. Jardín; telephone (011) (52) (867) 714-0512. Facebook & Twitter Tijuana (Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur): Paseo de Las Culturas s/n Mesa de Otay, telephone (011) (52) (664) 977-2000. Facebook CONSULAR AGENCIES (mainly serving the location city only): Acapulco: Hotel Emporio, Costera Miguel Alemán 121 – Suite 14; telephone (011)(52)(744) 481-0100 or (011)(52)(744) 484-0300. Los Cabos: Tiendas de Palmilla, Carretera Transpeninsular Km 27.5 Local B221, San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, C.P. 23406: Telephone: (624) 143-3566 Fax: (624) 143-6750 Cancún: Blvd. Kukulcán Km 13, Torre La Europea, Despacho 301 ZH; telephone (011)(52)(998) 883-0272. Cozumel: Plaza Villa Mar en El Centro, Plaza Principal (Parque Juárez between Melgar and 5th Ave.), 2nd floor, Locales #8 and 9; telephone (011)(52)(987) 872-4574. Mazatlán: Hotel Playa Mazatlán, Playa Gaviotas 202, Zona Dorada; telephone (011)(52)(669) 916-5889. Oaxaca: Macedonio Alcalá No. 407, Interior 20; telephone (011)(52)(951)514-3054 or (011)(52)(951) 516-2853. Piedras Negras: Abasolo 211, Local 3, Col. Centro; telephone (011)(52)(878) 782-5586 or (011)(52)(878) 782-8664. Playa del Carmen: The Palapa, Calle 1 Sur, between Avenida 15 and Avenida 20; telephone (011)(52)(984) 873-0303. Puerto Vallarta : Paseo de Los Cocoteros 85 Sur, Paradise Plaza – Local L-7, Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit C.P. 63732; telephone (011)(52)(322) 222-0069 or 322-223-3301. San Miguel de Allende: Centro Comercial La Luciernaga, Libramiento Manuel Zavala (Pepe KBZON), telephone (011)(52)(415) 152-2357.

Military Branches

Secretariat of National Defense (Secretaria de Defensa Nacional, Sedena): Army (Ejercito), Mexican Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Mexicana, FAM); Secretariat of the Navy (Secretaria de Marina, Semar): Mexican Navy (Armada de Mexico (ARM); includes Naval Air Force (FAN), Mexican Naval Infantry Corps (Cuerpo de Infanteria de Marina, Mexmar or CIM))

Service Age and Obligation

18 years of age for compulsory military service, conscript service obligation is 12 months; 16 years of age with consent for voluntary enlistment; conscripts serve only in the Army; Navy and Air Force service is all voluntary; women are eligible for voluntary military service; cadets enrolled in military schools from the age of 15 are considered members of the armed forces.