Mexico is one of the world’s more biologically diverse countries, encompassing vast deserts, tropical rainforests, mangrove swamps, and alpine ecosystems and supporting a wide range of reptiles and mammals, as well as myriad other types of animals. The country sits astride the commonly accepted boundary dividing the Nearctic (North American) and Neotropical (Middle American and South American) biogeographic realms.

The Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of northern and north-central Mexico are characterized by sparse desert scrub vegetation, although at higher elevations distinctive ecosystems including short grasses, scattered shrubs, and a variety of cacti and other succulents have evolved. A similar process has also occurred in much of the states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas. One of the more unusual species is the boojum tree; found only in a small area of Sonora and Baja California, it resembles an enormous upside-down carrot standing up to 50 feet (15 metres) above the desert soil.

Forests of coniferous and deciduous trees originally covered most of the Sierra Madre Occidental, large parts of the Mesa Central, and the Southern Highlands. However, long periods of human occupation in these regions have decimated most of the natural vegetation. In the early 21st century the government declared that it had significantly slowed the rate of deforestation, but its statistics were disputed by many environmentalists. The vast majority of Mexican forests are under local control, and impoverished or overcrowded communities contribute to higher local rates of deforestation. Extensive coniferous forests are still found at higher elevations in the Sierra Madre Occidental. The semiarid Balsas Depression has tropical scrub vegetation composed of shrubs, low deciduous trees, and scattered cacti. The high-precipitation zones of the Gulf Coastal Plain, the adjacent east-facing mountain slopes, the Chiapas Highlands, and the southern part of the Yucatán Peninsula are dominated by tropical rainforests (selvas). The dense, layered stands of broadleaf evergreen trees are among the most luxuriant and diversified in the world. Tropical hardwoods, ferns, epiphytes, and a variety of palms are commonly found there. But Mexico’s rainforests, like those elsewhere in the tropics, continue to be degraded through farming, logging, ranching, and mining. Satellite images have indicated a particularly high loss of forest in Chiapas from the 1970s to the early 21st century. A large portion of the Pacific coastal area, from Mazatlán to the Guatemalan border, is covered by tropical deciduous or semi-deciduous forests, which lack the variety and density of tropical rainforests.

Mexico’s diverse array of fauna is especially notable in its southern selvas. The rainforests of the Gulf Coast and Chiapas Highlands and the semi-deciduous forests of the Pacific coast provide habitat for monkeys, parrots, jaguars, tapirs, anteaters, and other tropical species. In contrast, the natural wildlife of northern Mexico was severely affected by the introduction of European grazing animals more than 400 years ago. While rabbits, snakes, and armadillos abound in the deserts and steppes, larger animals such as deer, pumas, and coyotes are found mainly in isolated or mountainous areas. Numerous marine species live along Mexico’s coastlines. In parts of the Gulf of Mexico and off the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, clear waters teem with tropical fish.

Mexico is central to the migratory patterns of many species. Countless ducks and geese fly annually into the northern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. In addition, millions of endangered monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate annually between regions of the United States and Mexico’s western Mesa Central to overwinter on about a dozen forested peaks, particularly in eastern Michoacán state. That state’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. However, smog from the Mexico City metropolitan area and extensive logging activities threaten the butterflies and their roosting trees.

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Cultural regions

Specific cultural areas have evolved in Mexico because of differences in physical environment, ethnicity, and settlement histories, and few of the regions correspond exactly with the country’s physiographic regions. Mexico traditionally has been divided between the Spanish-mestizo north and the Indian-mestizo south, corresponding roughly to the pre-Columbian boundary that separated the highly developed indigenous civilizations of the Mesa Central and the south from the less agriculturally dependent groups to the north. The country can be further divided into 10 traditional cultural regions: the North, Northeast, Northwest, Baja California peninsula, Central, West, Balsas, Gulf Coast, Southern Highlands, and Yucatán Peninsula.

The sparsely populated North closely corresponds in area to the Mesa del Norte and covers the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí. Mining and ranching were introduced there by the Spanish in the 16th and the 18th century, respectively, and those activities continue to characterize the rural landscape, though modern irrigation projects and industrialization along the border with the United States have transformed the economy there.

The Northeast, which stretches from Tampico to the U.S. border and inland to the Sierra Madre Oriental, includes the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. The indigenous population of the area was eliminated by early European settlers, who established farms and ranches in their wake. Although it was long one of the country’s poorest regions, the emerging petroleum and steel industries and the development of irrigation projects along the Río Bravo del Norte (Rio Grande) have greatly improved the Northeast’s economic condition.

The Northwest is an extensive region lying west of the crest of the Sierra Madre Occidental and stretching southward from Sonora state on the U.S. border through Sinaloa and northern Nayarit. This physiographically complex region had a substantial Native American population before the Spanish conquest, and the Tarahumara and Seri are among the indigenous peoples still occupying isolated settlements there. As in the North, mineral resources originally attracted the Spanish, but ranching and irrigated agriculture later came to dominate the rural areas. Industrial plants, encouraged by neoliberal economic policies (emphasizing the free market and the reduction of government intervention) and NAFTA, have been opened in many cities of the Northwest. In addition, the region is a hub for trafficking in illegal drugs bound for the United States.

Baja California is a peninsula that includes the states of Baja California in the north and Baja California Sur in the south. Although there are now large urban areas at both ends of the peninsula, it was historically one of the more-isolated parts of Mexico. The original, scattered indigenous population was decimated by diseases introduced by Christian missionaries in the late 18th century. Europeans and mestizos established themselves in farming communities at oases, originally at sites such as San Ignacio and Mulegé (Mulejé). After the paved Transpeninsular Highway opened up the length of the peninsula in the 1970s, tourism began to thrive, especially at Cabo San Lucas and other sites in the far south.

The Central region is Mexico’s cultural core. It extends over the central and eastern portions of the Mesa Central and its surrounding highlands, including the states of Hidalgo, México, Morelos, Puebla, Querétaro, and Tlaxcala and the Federal District (Mexico City). It was the centre of the Aztec empire as well as numerous other indigenous civilizations before becoming the core of New Spain and the capital of modern Mexico. The Central region is now the primary centre of urbanization and industrialization, as well as being one of the country’s most important agricultural areas. Numerous basins, such as those of México, Toluca, Puebla, and Morelos, are densely settled. Most of the population is mestizo, but indigenous groups are still found in the more-isolated portions of Michoacán, Hidalgo (notably in the Mezquital valley), and Puebla. Even now there are sharp contrasts between modern urban Mexico and traditional rural indigenous lifestyles in the region.

The West is centred on the city of Guadalajara and encompasses the state of Jalisco along with portions of Colima, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato states. The Bajío has long been called the breadbasket of Mexico because of its relatively large rural population, fertile basins, and access to the Pacific. Despite its agricultural prominence, a large number of small urban centres, such as Querétaro, Salamanca, Irapuato, and León, are developing industrially, while Manzanillo and Lázaro Cárdenas have become the most important ports on the Pacific. Many of the things often thought of as distinctively Mexican—such as tequila, mariachi music, and the ornate embroidered sombrero and costume of the charro (gentleman rancher)—originated in the West.

The Balsas cultural region, which closely corresponds to the physiographic area of the same name, extends through northern Guerrero state. It is arid, hot, and sparsely settled. Cattle ranching has been the mainstay of the economy, although subsistence-level slash-and-burn agriculture is widely practiced by impoverished peasant farmers.

The Gulf Coast region includes the coastal zones of Veracruz and Tabasco states as well as the adjacent east-facing slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental. The population of the coastal area is overwhelmingly mestizo, but indigenous groups are found in the mountains north of Veracruz. The city of Veracruz is the cultural centre of the region and has long been the country’s major nonpetroleum port. Coatzacoalcos is another of the country’s leading ports. Mexican oil production centres on a series of huge inland and offshore fields in the region, near Villahermosa and other parts of the southern Bay of Campeche. Cattle ranching and commercial agriculture are also important components of the economy. The southern parts of the region were swampy and nearly devoid of settlement until the Papaloapan and Grijalva-Usumacinta river projects allowed commercial exploitation of the rich alluvial soils.

The Southern Highlands encompass much of the states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. This poverty-stricken region has the highest concentration of indigenous peoples in the country, although mestizos dominate the southern half of Chiapas. Such groups as the Zapotec and Mixtec farm minifundia (small plots of land) in the highlands using traditional methods. When viewed from the air, the landscape resembles a patchwork quilt, but its picturesque image belies widespread poverty. In marked contrast are the vibrant and modern coastal tourist centres, such as Acapulco and the more recently developed Puerto Escondido, as well as inland cities such as Oaxaca. Most of Chiapas is relatively isolated from the rest of Mexico, but increasing numbers of Guatemalan refugees have entered the state. Since the 1990s the region has become the centre of indigenous autonomy movements—such as the Zapatista National Liberation Army—which have gained worldwide notoriety.

The Yucatán Peninsula, also called the Southeast region, was a centre of the ancient Maya civilization. It includes the states of Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. The region still has a predominantly Mayan indigenous rural population and is known for its archaeological sites, such as Chichén Itzá and Uxmal (both of which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage sites) as well as Tulum. Mérida, the only major city in the region, was an early centre for the production of henequen (a type of agave), which led to a regional economic boom in the late 1800s. In the tropical rainforests to the south, the sparse population depends on subsistence agriculture or hunting and gathering.