Population
 After decades of rapid population growth, the annual
population increase is now down to just over 1 percent.
According to
Countryaah, young people make up a large part of the population and more
than three-quarters of the residents live in cities.
Historical population development
Over the past 500 years, Mexico has undergone drastic
changes in population growth. When the Spaniards arrived
there in 1519, there were a variety of social forms: hunter
and gatherer peoples in the north, fishermen (often with
limited agriculture) in the west, and powerful high cultures
with advanced farming in the southern part of the central
highlands. The population, estimated at 20-25 million at the
first contact, was reduced in eight decades to, according to
conservative estimates, only 1 million. Despite this huge
demographic disaster, one can still see a cultural
continuity in almost the whole country today.
It was not until 1940 that the population was again up to
20 million. During the 1950-70 period, Mexico's population
nearly doubled, and in the 1960s the annual population
increase was 3.4 percent, one of the highest in the world.
On average, every Mexican gave birth to 6–7 children. The
forecasts then gave a frightening picture of an upcoming
serious overpopulation.
In the latter half of the 1970s, a comprehensive family
planning program was initiated aimed at women, informing
about the benefits of smaller families and providing
contraception. Immediate birth rates began to decline, and
the trend was reinforced as the standard of living gradually
increased, an increasing proportion of women received
education and urbanization increased.
Today's population situation
In 2000, the birth rate had more than halved and was
about 23 per thousand. Since then, the changes have been
minor and in 2019 the birth rate was 17 per cent and the
death rate was 6 per thousand, which gave a natural increase
of almost 1.3 per cent. However, annual population growth
was lower. For many years, there has been a large relocation
and in 2019 this meant that Mexico's population increased by
about 1.1 percent. For detailed statistics see country
facts.
The vast majority of emigrants have applied to the United
States. In 2011, 6.1 million Mexicans lived illegally in the
United States, while 5.8 million were legal immigrants.
Illegal immigration there has declined since 2009, due to
the fact that it has become more difficult to find work
there and also because of stricter border control and
threats and blackmail from drug cartels on the Mexican side.
The northern part of Mexico is sparsely populated with
the exception of some coastal sections and the northeastern
coastal areas towards the United States. The country's most
densely populated areas are along the Gulf of Mexico,
especially in the state of Veracruz and in a wide stretch
from there west through the metropolitan region of Mexico
City and the country's second largest city of Guadalajara to
the Pacific Coast.
The states with the strongest population growth are just
south of the US border and the population of Baja California
Sur in the northwest is rising most rapidly. Quintana Roo on
the Yucatán Peninsula at the far southeast also has a large
increase in population. Both of these states have extensive
tourism and also immigration of foreign families.
An extensive move from rural to urban has meant that more
than 70 percent of the population now lives in the cities.
The urban population increases by about 1.7 per cent per
year, but in the metropolitan area, the increase in
population is now slower. In 2019, 18 percent of the
population lived in settlements with less than 2,500
residents, and the population does not increase in general.
In 2019, the largest cities, with suburbs included, Mexico
City (20.9 million), Guadalajara (4.9 million), Monterrey
(4.7 million), Puebla (2.9 million) and Toluca (2.2
million). In total, 13 urban areas had more than 1 million
residents.
People Groups
Mexico is a multicultural society. The concept of
ethnicity, linked to race belonging, has been replaced by
ethnic belonging defined by language and socio-cultural
criteria. Because different criteria are used in different
measurements, data on the ethnic composition of the
population varies. Official statistics indicate that the
indigenous population, the Indians, constitute 10-14%.
In northern Mexico, there are still small hunter and
gatherer peoples, such as seri (800–900 who mainly
live by crafts), or swedes, such as tarahumara
(88,000) and yaqui (15,000) who feed as fishermen
along the river banks. Further south are the traditionally
bound huichol (31,000), also the burners. In
central Mexico, the changes are more noticeable, but since
the Indians here also constitute a large part of the
population, many elements of the dominant Mist culture are
also clearly Native American. Among the still living Native
American cultures, for example. agricultural people like the
Uto-Aztec Nahua (1.6 million). In the Oaxaca Valley
and in remote parts of the Sierra Madre del Sur we find
strong elements ofZapotecs (425,000) and
Mixtecs (80,000). In the southeast, different Mayan
people, e.g. tzotzil (405,000) in the state of
Chiapas and Yukatekan maya (900,000) in the Yucatán
Peninsula. See also Native Americans (Mexico and Central
America).
The most numerous Native American people are those who
speak Nahuatl (Aztecs), Maya and Zapotec. The Indians live
mainly in the southernmost states and are a large part of
the residents of Yucatán (59 percent, 2000) and Oaxaca (48
percent). Vita, ie residents of exclusively European origin,
9 percent and recent immigrants from Asia and Africa and
their descendants account for 3-4 percent. All others, about
three-quarters of the population, are not of wholly white or
entirely Native American origin and have derived
socio-cultural traits from both directions. In the past,
they were referred to as mastics, but that term is
increasingly used nowadays. Instead, they talk about
Mexicans. They are all Spanish-speaking and mainly Catholic,
but their Native American origins are evident in both
physiognomy and certain cultural features. One such is "the
day of the dead" during the Halloween.
Language
The official and majority languages are Spanish. Data
on the number of native speakers of native languages
(Native American languages) vary widely; 10% of the
population is a possible estimate. In addition, many are
bilingual. There is also no consensus on how many languages
are spoken; estimates range from 50 to 300. What a source
considers a language can be treated in other sources as a
group of up to about 50 related languages.
A number of language families are represented: uto-Aztec
languages (with Nahuatl or Aztec as the most prominent
language/language group), oto-mango languages (with
members or subgroups such as Chinatech, Mazatek, Mixtech,
Otomy and Zapotech), Yuma languages, Mixe languages, Mix
languages languages and Mayan languages (e.g., chol,
huasteki, huichol, tzeltal, tzotzil, and yukateki maya). In
addition, there are several isolation languages.
Religion
About pre-Columbian religions in Mexico, see Native
American religions.
The Spanish colonial church in the 16th century came with
terror, tribute fees (repartimiento), forced labor
and the expulsion of the Native American people. Dominican
monk Bartolomé de Las Casas in Chiapas, and Bishop Vasco de
Quiroga of Michoacán, however, condemned the oppression of
Native Americans and defended their human rights. In the
struggle for independence, the priests Hidalgo and Morelos
were the leaders. The Church lost all economic and political
power in 1821; In 1831, for example, no bishop left. In
1979, Puebla became the site of the third Latin American
Episcopal Conference, CELAM III, which shaped the Church's
future path as "commitment to the poor." In strong conflict
with conservative church groups, Bishop Samuel Ruiz has
defended the Indian people in Chiapa's fight for human
rights.
90% of the population is Catholic. There is widespread
popular Catholicism with elements of Native American
religion; Particularly famous is the cult of the Virgin Mary
of Guadalupe (in Mexico City), which attracts millions of
pilgrims. Furthermore, a total of 5% are Lutherans,
Methodists, Anglicans and Baptists. About 80,000 Russian
Orthodox belong to their own exarchate. In recent years, the
number of evangelical and charismatic movements has
increased. Ecumenical cooperation is concentrated on the
fight against poverty. The religious heritage of the Indian
people is alive in popular piety and basic congregations.
Interreligious dialogue is growing between Christian and
Native American religious traditions.
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