Personal FinanceChapter 9: StocksInternational FinanceStretching 1,850 miles between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, Mexico forms part of a land bridge connecting North and South America. At its northernmost (and widest) extent, Mexico shares a common boundary with the United States. Belize and Guatemala flank its southern border. The country's landscape varies from coastal lowlands and a massive central plateau to spectacular mountains and active volcanoes. Resting on the Pacific's “Ring of Fire”—an area of frequent volcanic and seismic activity—Mexico experiences terrifying earthquakes. Early Native Americans known as the Aztecs called Mexico the “land of the shaking earth.” Once ruled by the Spanish and later by a few rich and powerful people, Mexico today, like the U.S., is a federal republic. To learn more about Mexico, visit www.Britannica.com. |  |
