Mexico (formally the United Mexican States) is a country in North America, lying between the United States of America to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast. Its extensive coastlines include the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Mexico has nice and warm people, unique food, art and archeology, pyramids, museums, Haciendas, 6,000 miles of shoreline, superb architecture and 21 century cities, weather from snow mountains in the Sierras, to rainy jungles in the Southeast and desert in the Northwest, lots of golf courses throughout the country, excellent fishing, world top destinations like Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, Los Cabos, and Patzcuaro. Mexico is ranked 7th major destination for foreigner visitors, according to WTO.

Understand

Mexico is one of the most popular tourist countries on earth (over 20 million foreign visitors last year). Much of the tourist industry is centered around the beach resorts as well as the altiplano in the central part of the country. Visiting the northern interior allows visitors to get off the beaten path a bit. American tourists tend to predominate on the Baja peninsula and the more modernized beach resorts (Cancun, Puerto Vallarta), while European tourists congegrate around the smaller resort areas in the south like Playa del Carmen and San Cristobal de las Casas.

Climate

Varies from desert-like regions on the northwest part of the country (cities like Hermosillo, Ciudad Juarez, or Los Cabos); and temperate in the northeastern part (cities like Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Acuña), but note that much of the northern Mexican territory gets rather cold during the winter with average day time highs from 8C (39F) to 12C (59F), overnight lows average around -4C (24F) and snow is sometimes frequent in certain northern places like (the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and northern Tamaulipas) but can also occur at higher altitudes in the temperate forests in the central part of Mexico. Also, northern Mexico gets very hot during the summer with sudden violent storms in the afternoon, with heavy rain and hail, also an isolated tornado can occur with these storms but rarely, and the temperatures during the day can quickly exceed 39C (100F). The Bajio region is semiarid (cities like Aguascalientes, Leon and Zacatecas); and temperate forests in the central part of the country {Mexico City, Toluca}, and tropical rain forests in the south and southeast regions like (Chiapas, Cancun). During hurricane season, hurricanes are common in the coastal cities specially those near the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

Landscape

High, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; temperate plains with grasslands and Mezquite trees in the northeast, desert and even more rugged mountains in the northwest, tropical rainforests in the south and southeast {Chiapas, Cancun} semiarid in places like {Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi} and temperate coniferous and deciduous forests in the central part of the country {Mexico City, Toluca}.

Holidays

• January 1st
• February 2nd: The Candelaria Virgin Day, celebrated in many places around the country (not an official holiday)
• February 5th: Constitution Day(1917)
• February 24th: Flag Day (not official)
• March 21st: Birth of Benito Juárez (1806). 2006 was the bicentennial year.
• May 1st: Labor Day.
• May 5th: The Battle of Puebla against the French army, 19th century. (Not an official holiday)
• September 1st: Dia del Informe. Although no longer official, it is still important as it is the day in which the Mexican President adresses to the Nation of the progress his administration on a yearly basis. Every President makes six Informes
• September 16th: Independence day (celebrates the start of the fight for the independence from Spain in 1810, achieved until September 27th, 1821).
• October 12: Discovery of America (Descubrimiento de America)(not an official holiday)
• November 2nd: Day of the dead (Not an official holiday)
• November 20th: Revolution day (1910)
• December 12th: Virgin Mary of Guadalupe Day. Unless is not official, is one of the most important Mexican Holidays
• December 24th: Christmas Eve (Not an official holiday, but usual full non working day or only half day)
• December 25th: Christmas
• December 31st: New Years Eve (Not an official holiday, but usual full non working day or only half day)

Easter is widely observed nationwide, according to the yearly Catholic calendar (the first Sunday after the first full moon in Spring). Actual non working days may shift to the Monday before the holiday, so check an up to date calendar.

Time

Mexico observes daylight savings time (DST) the same way as the USA did pre-2007, from first Sunday in April to last Sunday in October. This now includes the tropical regions of southern Mexico as well. Note there will be several weeks each year when the U.S. is on DST, but Mexico is not. The state of Sonora south of Arizona, does not observe DST since Arizona doesn't have it either.