The Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain is famous for its active volcanoes. The active volcano Orizaba – the highest peak of the country (5,700 m), rises between the cities Veracruz and Puebla. Along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico spread flat lowlands with a lot of marshes, lagoons and sandy banks. The biggest lake is Chapala, located near the city of Guadalajara, and the longest river is the Rio Grande – 2,000 km. The intensive heat, combined with scarce precipitation, leads to the conversion of some regions into deserts and semi-deserts. The lands on the Yucatan Peninsula have humid tropical climate. Cancun is the largest resort, situated on the eastern coastline of Yucatan.

The hot and arid deserts in the northern part are home to different xerophytic plants like yucca and many types of cacti, some of which, e.g. Saguaro, reach the imposing 10-metre height. The wet evergreen tropical forests along the southern and eastern coastline provide shelter to a number of monkeys, jaguars, ant-eaters, lizards and iguanas.

The most important agricultural crops grown here are coffee and sugar cane. Mexico is the home of maize, which is the population’s basic food even today.

The country is a leading world producer of mercury and silver, one of the biggest producers of zinc and graphite, and by oil deposits it ranks 7th in the world.

The lands of Mexico were the centre of ancient civilisations. The magnificent Aztec capital Tenochtitlan rose in the place of the contemporary capital Mexico City. Having reached its heyday in the middle of 16th c., the Aztec Empire was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors in 16th c.

The ancient Maya inhabited a large part of the territory of contemporary Mexico. Proof for their thriving culture are a number of architectural monuments, one of which is an ancient pyramid, called “Pyramid of the Inscriptions”. It is located in Palenque, near the town of Villahermosa.