• Literacy rate: 91%
• Numbers in tertiary education: 2.15m students

The education system

Public education, officially compulsory for the first six years, is underfunded and rural provision is poor. The system is a mixture of the French and US models. There is a well-developed public university system.

• Protected land as percentage of total land area: 10% (7% partially protected)
• CO2 emissions trend: 4.3 tonnes per capita

Environmental treaties

• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Washington DC, 1973: yes
• Convention on Biological Diversity Earth Summit in Rio, 1992: yes
• 1992 Amendment to protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (amendment to Montreal Protocol) Copenhagen, 1992: yes
• Kyoto Convention on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Earth Summit in Kyoto, 1997: yes
• Basel convention on the dumping of hazardous wastes (Basel) Basel, 1989: yes
• Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar) Ramsar, Iran 1971: yes

Mexico City, largely unplanned, struggles to accommodate around 20 million inhabitants as the absence of environmental controls contributes to perhaps the world's worst air quality and waste problems. PEMEX (the state petroleum company) stands accused of massive pollution. Maquiladoras – assembly plants on the Mexico–US border – have no effective environmental controls and are usually surrounded by slums. Environmentalists oppose the intense development of tourism along the coast and are concerned about high rates of deforestation.

• Doctors: 1 per 667 people
• Major causes of death: Cancers, diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases, accidents

The national health care system is basic and badly underfunded. A five-year reform program launched in 1995 focused more on management infrastructure and less on provision. Mexico has a good reputation for surgery and dentistry, but this is mostly in the private sector, which is itself fragmented. The rich also go to the US for treatment.