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Religion
Religious practises : Catholics 89.6%
Protestants 4.8%
No religion 3.1%
Jews 0.2%
Others 2.3%.

Mexico is a Federal republic state based on parliamentary democracy. Mexico (official name: United Mexican States) is a major oil producer and exporter in the world.
President is both the chief of state and head of the government. He is also the commander-in-chief of the military and enjoys the executive powers which include implementation of the law and running the day-to-day affairs of the country . President is elected by a popular vote for a single six-year term. The Cabinet is appointed by the President.
The legislature in Mexico is bicameral. The parliament called National Congress consists of two chambers: the Senate (upper house) having 128 seats out of which 96 members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms and remaining 32 are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote; and the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) having 500 seats out of which 300 members are directly elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms and remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote also for three-year terms. Traditionally, the executive has been the dominant branch, with immense powers vested in the President, who promulgates and executes the laws of the parliament. But parliament has now started playing an increasingly important role since 1997 when opposition parties first formed a majority in the legislature. President cannot dissolve the parliament without taking it into confidence but has the power to block or veto its enactment. The people of Mexico enjoy considerable political rights.
Though judiciary in Mexico is independent o f the executive and the legislature, but in reality it is cumbersome and undermined by widespread bribery. The main source of the law is the constitution of 1917. The legal system is a mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system, in addition to the judicial reviews of various legislative acts. Mexico accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but with reservations. Spanish is the judicial language in Mexico, but English is widely used .
Mexico is not ruled by law. Widespread violent crime exists in the country. Mexico has one of the highest rates of kidnappings in the world. Foreign nationals cannot expect an impartial trial from the country's judicial system. There is high degree of corruption in the country. Illegal drug money worth billions of dollars is laundered each year in Mexico and country's financial, political, military, and judicial institutions facilitate it.

Mexico has a multi-party system. There are three major political parties in the country: PAN (National Action Party) – a conservative liberal party, PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) - when it was founded it was somewhat socialist, currently it is a liberal party ; and PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution)- a left wing but somewhat socialist party.

President (outgoing): Vicente FOX Quesada (since December 2000) – PAN
President-elect: Felipe Calderon (will take office on 1 December 2006) -PAN

Presidential: July 2012
Senate: July 2012
Chamber of Deputies: July 2009

For more information about tourism in Mexico , check out the following web site(s) :
Mexican Tourism Board

Food

Traditional dishes
Guacamole: mushed avocados with tomatoes, onions, and chile.
Mole poblano: chicken and rice with a sauce made of lots of hot peppers and spices, and with chocolate
Tamales: Corn roll stuffed either with chicken, corn flour or vegetables.

Last modified on December 2006