Conventional Long Form Name of country - United Mexican States
Capital City(ies)- Mexico City
Type of Government - Federal Republic
Date of Independence - 16 September 1810 (declared); 27 September 1821 (recognized by Spain)
National Holiday(s)- Independence Day, 16 September (1810)
Chief of State (official public face of government) - President Enrique PENA NIETO
Head of Government (actual leader of government) - President Enrique PENA NIETO
Executive Branch/Powers - president elected by popular vote for a single six-year term;
Legislative Branch/Powers - bicameral National Congress or Congreso de la Union consists of the Senate or Camara de Senadores (128 seats; 96 members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, and 32 seats allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (500 seats; 300 members are elected by popular vote; remaining 200 members are allocated on the basis of each party's popular vote; members to serve three-year terms)
Judicial Branch/Powers - Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)
Suffrage (who is allowed to vote) - 18 years of age; universal and compulsory (but not enforced) Name of Ambassador to the U.S.-Ambassador Eduardo MEDINA MORA Icaz
Location of embassy in the U.S.- Washington, DC
Location(s) of consulate(s) in the U.S.- Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Laredo (Texas), Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Nogales (Arizona), Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Juan (Puerto Rico)
U.S. Ambassador-Ambassador Earl Anthony WAYNE
Location of U.S. Embassy there - Paseo de la Reforma 305, Colonia Cuauhtemoc, 06500 Mexico, Distrito Federal
Location of U.S. Consulate There -Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Monterrey, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana
Representative to U.N. - Luis Alfonso de Alba
National Symbols - golden eagle
Chief of State and Head of Government:
President Enrique PENA NIETO
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; Mexico's coat of arms (an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a cactus) is centered in the white band; green signifies hope, joy, and love; white represents peace and honesty; red stands for hardiness, bravery, strength, and valor; the coat of arms is derived from a legend that the wandering Aztec people were to settle at a location where they would see an eagle on a cactus eating a snake; the city they founded, Tenochtitlan, is now Mexico City
note: similar to the flag of Italy, which is shorter, uses lighter shades of red and green, and does not have anything in its white band