16 September 1810 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)
12 March 1968 (from UK)
Religions
Roman Catholic 76.5%, Protestant 6.3% (Pentecostal 1.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.1%, other 3.8%), other 0.3%, unspecified 13.8%, none 3.1% (2000 census)
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)
Languages
Spanish only 92.7%, Spanish and indigenous languages 5.7%, indigenous only 0.8%, unspecified 0.8%; note - indigenous languages include various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional languages (2005)
Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses, fish
External Debt
$125,700,000,000 $
$5,768,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Mexican pesos (MXN) per US dollar - 11.016 (2008 est.), 10.8 (2007), 10.899 (2006), 10.898 (2005), 11.286 (2004)
Mauritian rupees (MUR) per US dollar - 27.973 (2008 est.), 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.500%
0.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
3
1
Location
Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US
Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Area
1,964,375 km sq
2,040 km sq
Coastline
9,330 km
177 km
Climate
varies from tropical to desert
tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
