Rain Check

Some of you may have noticed that the blogs have slowed down...errr, were non-existent for the last five of six days.  Tough to blame it on the weather although it has been raining, rarely do I it write these blogs outside anyways.  So, what gives?

I suppose I have taken a rain check the last week.

So, to kick things off again, I offer you these interesting tidbits about Mexico.

1) There are a total of 31 states in Mexico and one federal district

2) Mexico is the 5th largest country in the Americas by total area and the 14th largest independent nation in the world

3) Mexico is the 11th most populous country in the world

4) Mexico is one of 18 "megadiverse" countries in the world. This means that it holds the majority of the earth's species and is therefore considered extremely biodiverse

Other countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, India,    Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Phillippines, South Africa, United States, Venezuela

5) Mexico has over 200,000 different species, 10-12% of the world's biodiversity, ranks 1st in biodiversity of reptiles, 2nd in mammals, 4th in amphibians, 4th in flora, and is considered the 4th country in the world in ecosystems, and the 4th overall in species

6) Mexico is the largest automobile producing nations, recently surpassing Canada and the U.S.

7) Mexico is the 23rd highest tourism spender in the world, and the highest in Latin America

8) The countries gross solar potential is estimated at 50 times the national electricity generation.  As of 2010, Mexico generates 23% of its power from renewable resources

9) Mexican Carlos "Slim" Helu is the richest man in the world for the second year in a row with corporate holding of $74 billion USD.  He is the chairman and chief executive of Telmex and América Móvil

10) Mexican hot chocolate is called the sacred drink of the Aztecs.  The etymology of the word "chocolate" come from the Aztec language.