Agriculture Facts:Total Area: 1,964,375 sq km
Land Area: 1,943,945 sq km Water Area: 20,430 sq km Climate description: varies from tropical to desert Terrain description: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert Arable Land Use: 12.66% Permanent Crop Land Use: 1.28% Irrigated Land: 63,000 sq km (2003) Total Renewable Water Resources: 457.2 cu km (2000) Total Freshwater Withdrawal: 78.22 cu km/yr Per Person Freshwater Withdrawal: 731 cu m/y Natural Hazards description: Tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coastsvolcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (elev. 3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (elev. 5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana Environmental Current Issues: scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion Total Labor Force: 50.01 million % of Labor Force in Agriculture: 13.7% Agricultural Products description: corn, wheat, soybeans, rice, beans, cotton, coffee, fruit, tomatoes; beef, poultry, dairy products; wood products |
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