Mexico
Christmas Around the World
Reagan Library Christmas Tree Exhibit
REAGAN LIBRARY
CHRISTMASFBIWWII

Mexico

Christmas Traditions

BARBADOS BELGIUM BRAZIL CANADA CHINA COLUMBIA COSTA RICA FINLAND FRANCE GERMANY GRENADA HONDURAS ICELAND INDONESIA IRELAND ITALY JAMAICA JAPAN MEXICO RUSSIA SOUTH KOREA SPAIN SWITZERLAND UNITED KINGDOM THE VATICAN
eatlife.net eatlife.net@gmail.com

La Posadas is the remarkable buildup to Christmas Eve in Mexico where Christmas is celebrated from December 12th to January 6th.

Updated October 2024
Posted December 2023

MEXICAN CHRISTMAS

Mexico Flag

Mazatlan, Mexico on Google Maps
Mazatlan, Mexico
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mazatlan,+Sinaloa,+Mexico

Mexican Christmas Tree
Mexican Christmas Tree

HOW TO SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS:
In SpanishFeliz Navidad
 

Sombrero Christmas Ornament

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Maracas Christmas Ornament

Sleeping Mexican Christmas Ornament

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Guitar Christmas Ornament

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Sugar Skull Christmas Ornament

Christmas in Mexico

WIKIPEDIAChristmas in Mexico
Christmas in Mexico is observed from December 12 to January 6, with one additional celebration on February 2. Traditional decorations displayed on this holiday include nativity scenes, poinsettias, and Christmas trees. The season begins with celebrations related to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Patroness of Mexico, followed by traditions such as Las Posadas and Pastorelas.

On Christmas Eve, there is a mass and feast. On January 6, the arrival of the Three Wise Men is celebrated with Candlemas and the presentation of images of Jesus as a child at churches. These traditions were formed from influences in both the pre-Hispanic period and Mexico's colonial period, thus incorporating indigenous and Spanish practices. There are also a few influences from both Germany and the United States.

Other Wikipedia Citings

Mexican Burro Christmas Ornament

Juan Valdez Christmas Ornament

Mexican Christmas Ornaments

Cross Christmas Ornament

Ronald Reagan Mexico
February 13, 1988
President Reagan reviewing troops during an arrival ceremony for meeting with President de la Madrid of Mexico in Mazatlan with J.J. Quinn.

Mexico

WIKIPEDIAThe United Mexican States
A country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Mexico covers 761,610 sq miles, making it the world's 13th-largest country by area; with a population of almost 130 million, it is the 10th-most-populous country and has the most Spanish speakers. Mexico is organized as a federal republic comprising 31 states and Mexico City, its capital.

Human presence in Pre-Columbian Mexico goes back to 8,000 BCE. It became one of the world's six cradles of civilization. The Mesoamerican region was home to many intertwined civilizations, including the Olmec, Maya, Zapotec, Teotihuacan, and Purepecha. The Aztecs dominated the region in the century before European contact. In 1521, the Spanish Empire and its indigenous allies conquered the Aztec Empire from its capital Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), establishing the colony of New Spain. Over the next three centuries, Spain and the Catholic Church expanded the territory, enforced Christianity and spread the Spanish language. With the discovery of rich deposits of silver in Zacatecas and Guanajuato, New Spain became one of the most important mining centers worldwide. The colonial order came to an end in the early nineteenth century with the Mexican War of Independence.

Mexico's early history as an independent nation state was marked by political and socioeconomic upheaval, both domestically and in foreign affairs. The United States invaded as a consequence of the Texas Revolt by American settlers, which led to the Mexican–American War and huge territorial losses in 1848. After the introduction of liberal reforms in the Constitution of 1857, conservatives reacted with the War of Reform and prompted France to invade the country and install an Empire, against the Republican resistance led by liberal President Benito Juarez, which emerged victorious. The last decades of the 19th century were dominated by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, who sought to modernize Mexico and restore order. However, the Porfiriato era led to great social unrest and ended with the outbreak in 1910 of the decade-long Mexican Revolution (civil war). This conflict led to profound changes, including the proclamation of the 1917 Constitution, which remains in effect to this day. The remaining war generals ruled as a succession of presidents until the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) emerged in 1929.

The PRI governed Mexico for the next 70 years, first under a set of paternalistic developmental policies of considerable economic success. During World War II Mexico also played an important role for the Allied war effort. Nonetheless, the PRI regime resorted to repression and electoral fraud to maintain power, and moved the country to a more US-aligned neoliberal economic policy during the late 20th century. This culminated with the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, which caused a major indigenous rebellion in the state of Chiapas. PRI lost the presidency for the first time in 2000, against the conservative party (PAN).

Mexico has 31 states and the Capital Mexico City

  • Mexico has 31 states and the Capital Mexico City. Mexico City is a special political division that belongs to the federation as a whole and not to a particular state. The states are divided into municipalities, the smallest administrative political entity in the country, governed by a mayor or municipal president (presidente municipal), elected by its residents by plurality.
  • Mexico has the world's 15th-largest economy by nominal GDP and the 11th-largest by PPP, with the United States being its largest economic partner.
  • As a newly industrialized and developing country ranking 86th, high in the Human Development Index, its large economy and population, cultural influence, and steady democratization make Mexico a regional and middle power which is also identified as an emerging power by several analysts.
  • Mexico ranks first in the Americas and seventh in the world for the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
  • It is also one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries, ranking fifth in natural biodiversity.
  • Mexico's rich cultural and biological heritage, as well as varied climate and geography, makes it a major tourist destination: as of 2018, it was the sixth most-visited country in the world, with 39 million international arrivals.
  • The country continues to struggle with social inequality, poverty and extensive crime. It ranks poorly on the Global Peace Index, due in large part to ongoing conflict between drug trafficking syndicates. This "drug war" has led to over 120,000 deaths since 2006.
  • Mexico is a member of United Nations, the G20, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the Organization of American States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
  • The earliest human artifacts in Mexico are chips of stone tools found near campfire remains in the Valley of Mexico and radiocarbon-dated to circa 10,000 years ago. Mexico is the site of the domestication of maize, tomato, and beans, which produced an agricultural surplus. This enabled the transition from paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers to sedentary agricultural villages beginning around 5000 BCE.
  • Mexico's total area is 761,606 sq miles, making it the world's 13th largest country by total area. The climate of Mexico is quite varied due to the country's size and topography.
  • With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity. Mexico ranks first in biodiversity in reptiles with 707 known species, second in mammals with 438 species, fourth in amphibians with 290 species, and fourth in flora, with 26,000 different species. Mexico is also considered the second country in the world in ecosystems and fourth in overall species. About 2,500 species are protected by Mexican legislation.
  • Mexico has the 15th largest nominal GDP (US $1.15 trillion) and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity (US $2.45 trillion) (2018). Agriculture has comprised 4% of the economy over the last two decades, while industry contributes 33% (mostly automotive, oil, and electronics) and services (notably financial services and tourism) contribute 63%. Mexico is now firmly established as an upper middle-income country.
  • The electronics industry of Mexico has grown enormously within the last decade. Mexico has the sixth largest electronics industry in the world after China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
  • Mexico produces the most automobiles of any North American nation. The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities. The "Big Three" (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s, while Volkswagen and Nissan built their plants in the 1960s.
  • As of 2017, Mexico was the 6th most visited country in the world and had the 15th highest income from tourism in the world which is also the highest in Latin America. The coastlines of Mexico are rich in sunny beach stretches. On the Yucatan peninsula, one of the most popular beach destinations is the resort town of Cancun, especially among university students during spring break. To the south of Cancun is the coastal strip called Riviera Maya which includes the beach town of Playa del Carmen and the ecological parks of Xcaret and Xel-Ha. To the south of Cancun is the town of Tulum, notable for its ruins of Maya civilization. Other notable tourist destination include Acapulco with crowded beaches and multi-story hotels on the shores. At the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is the resort town of Cabo San Lucas, noted for its marlin fishing. Closer to the United States border is the weekend draw of San Felipe, Baja California.
  • In Mexican cities along the Mexico–United States border the most lucrative hospitality industry is now medical tourism, with remnants of the traditional motivations that drove tourists to Mexico's northern borderlands for nearly a century. Dominant medical tourism for the purpose of tourism planning are the purchase of medication, dentistry, elective surgery, optometry, and chiropractic.
  • Spanish is the de facto national language spoken by the vast majority of the population, making Mexico the world's most populous Hispanophone country. Mexican Spanish refers to the varieties of the language spoken in the country, which differ from one region to another in sound, structure, and vocabulary.
  • Roman Catholicism remains the country's dominant religious affiliation.
  • The origin of the current Mexican cuisine was established during the Spanish colonial era, a mixture of the foods of Spain with native indigenous ingredients. Foods indigenous to Mexico include corn, pepper vegetables, calabazas, avocados, sweet potato, turkey, many beans, and other fruits and spices. Similarly, some cooking techniques used today are inherited from pre-Columbian peoples, such as the nixtamalization of corn, the cooking of food in ovens at ground level, grinding in molcajete and metate. With the Spaniards came the pork, beef and chicken meats; peppercorn, sugar, milk and all its derivatives, wheat and rice, citrus fruits and another constellation of ingredients that are part of the daily diet of Mexicans.
  • Traditional Mexican music includes mariachi, banda, norteno, ranchera, and corridos.
  • Organized sport in Mexico largely dates from the late nineteenth century, with only bullfighting having a long history dating to the early colonial era. Mexico's most popular sport is association football. Other sporting activities include Baseball, Olympics, Bullfighting, boxing, and Lucha Libre (freestyle professional wrestling). Bullfighting (Spanish: corrida de toros) came to Mexico 500 years ago with the arrival of the Spanish. Despite efforts by animal rights activists to outlaw it, bullfighting remains a popular sport in the country, and almost all large cities have bullrings. Plaza Mexico in Mexico City, which seats 45,000 people, is the largest bullring in the world. Mexico is an international power in professional boxing. Thirteen Olympic boxing medals have been won by Mexico.

EtymologyMēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely the Valley of Mexico and surrounding territories, with its people being known as the Mexica. It is generally believed that the toponym for the valley was the origin of the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance, but it may have been the other way around.

Other Wikipedia Citings