E/CN.4/1503
Annex II page 38
MEXICO
120. Mexico has been chosen as one of the four case studies, not because it has been a country from which a mass exodus of the classical type has occurred, but because it is one of the countries from
from which a relatively high level of migration northwards is occurring. The phenomenon qualifies for inclusion in this section, not only because of the magnitude of the problem, but also because it constitutes an increasingly familiar dimension to the over-all context of mass exodus. is particularly relevant to the present North-South context and the related pull/push factors.
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121. The land of the Aztec and Mayan civilizations, colonized by Spain from the sixteenth to the early
to the early nineteenth centuries and at war with the United States (to which it ceded half of its territory) in 1846, Mexico is the third largest country in Latin America (after Brazil and Argentina) and has one of the fastest-growing populations. The Federal Republic, consisting of 31 states and a densely-populated Federal District (Mexico City and suburbs), covers in all 1 973 000 square kilometres, of which area only about 15 per cent is cultivable. It had a population of just under 35 million in mid-1960 and at the last census in June 1980, the figure was almost 100 per cent higher at 67.5 million. Current population growth is put at about 3 per cent per annum, result of the creation of large families in what is predominantly a Roman Catholic population of Indian origin, and of the relatively young age of many couples.
122. Mexico's agriculture is reported to suffer from under- exploitation and lack of irrigation which has meant that while employing about 40 per cent of the labour force, it contributed only 8.4 per cent of gross domestic product. The principal food crops are maize, wheat, rice and kidney beans, and the major export crops sugar cane, cotton, coffee, fruit and vegetables. In the 1970s, Mexico became a grain importer for the first time.
Programmes to collectivize the state- owned smallholdings, or
or "ejidos", to increase farm production, began in recent years, and 13.3 per cent of
and 13.3 per cent of last year's budget was allocated to agriculture. The state food commission in March 1980 announced plans to make the country self-sufficient in basic grains by 1985, and stated its aim to
stated its aim to relieve malnu- trition which reportedly affected 40 per cent of the population. Within only a few weeks, however, the worst drought Mexico had experienced for 30 years set back these plans considerably. The fishing industry, which has a large unexploited potential, is receiving substantial investment.
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