Hand-Book of Mexico; Information Regarding the Republic of Mexico at the Present Day

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1883. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... HAND-BOOK OF MEXICO. MEXICO. Mexico, as is well known, constitutes the southwestern extremity of North America, occupying the northern portion of that great isthmus which connects the two continents. It is bounded on the north by the United States, on the east by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by the Pacific Ocean and Central America, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The area of Mexico is about 750,000 square miles, divided into 27 states and two territories, namely: Aguas Calientes, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, the territory of Lower California, and the Federal District. Its population is variously estimated at from 9,340,000 to 10,000,000 souls. The greater portion of this vast territory is an elevated plateau formed by an expansion of the Cordilleras of Central America, from which terraced slopes appear to descend toward the two great oceans which bathe the coast. The ascent to these table-lands is not the same on both sides, for while on the Pacific slope, the ascent is rugged, and uneven in many parts, that on the Vera Cruz, or Gulf slope is reached by gigantic mountains descending gradually toward the torrid sandhills, surrounding the first port of the Republic, or toward the forests that extend into the region of the Huasteca Veracruzana and to the borders of the bar of Tuxpam. This distribution of lands, which extends from 18 to 32 north latitude, and from 90 to 115 west longitude, causes Mexico to be one of the richest, and most varied zones in the world, for while its geographical position secur...