20 Crazy Facts About Mexico | Amazing South American Country

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Mexico has the world's smallest volcano. It is 43 feet tall and has a staircase inside. Mexico is located in the "Ring of Fire", one of the most violent earthquake and volcanic zones on earth. Mexico is a beautiful country, full of rich history and fascinating culture. From bullfighting to chocolate and rabbits, Mexico is a varied country. Here's a crazy,  strange and true facts about America's southern neighbor.


1. Mexico has the world’s smallest volcano

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Hawaii has Mauna Loa, the world’s largest volcano. Well, Hawaii can keep it, because in Mexico, it's about the motion in the magma, not size of the stratovolcano. The Cuexcomate volcano outside the city of Puebla is just 43ft-tall. To put it into perspective: that's not even half as tall as the Statue of Liberty, or equal to about 6.45 LeBron James stacked on top of one another. But why would you have six LeBrons, let alone 0.45 of him? Let's move on…


2. The government of Mexico imposes fines for individuals who perform their national anthem incorrectly.

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The Mexican National Anthem (Himno Nacional Mexicano) is nothing to joke about. There are actually nine or 10 articles in a chapter of the law that go into detail about how to properly honor and perform the national anthem. If you play it incorrectly, you will be fined, and in some cases, will need to issue an apology to the country. Probably shouldn’t even make a joke about it here, in case someone in Mexico is reading.


3. Hot chocolate is literally the drink of the Gods

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When Hernán Cortés landed on the shores of Mexico, the Aztecs thought he was a white god, and welcomed him with what they thought was a heavenly beverage: hot chocolate. How did Cortes repay them? Rape, pillage, and burning their homes to the ground. It wasn't on account of the hot chocolate being bad. He just was not a pleasant guy.


4. Mayans fought with hornets

Swords and spears are all fine and good, but if you ask the Mayans, a tad simple. A more effective method of scaring the sh*t out of enemies: harnessing a nest of hornets and throwing them into an oncoming attack. It's like Wu Tang Clan's dream fights, all rolled into one. OK, they were killa bees, but you get the point.


5. World’s richest man lives there

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Okay, to be fair, Bill Gates is currently the richest man in the world. But he keeps duking it out for that no. 1 slot with Carlos Slim, the Mexican business magnate, who's currently valued at $72 billion. To put it into perspective, he's worth 7% of Mexico's entire GDP. For Bill Gates to be worth that much in the US, he'd need to have more than $900 billion, and own "Alcoa, Phillip Morris, Sears, Best Buy, TGIFriday’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Marriott, Citibank, and JetBlue."


6. Cinco de Mayo is actually NBD

Every May 5, Americans drink margaritas and wear sombreros, eat guacamole, and just assume that their neighbors to the south are doing the same. Reality check: they aren’t, and they think you look stupid. Not at all Mexico's Independence Day, Cinco de Mayo is a very, very minor celebration to highlight the Mexican army’s underdog victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla. It'd be like Canadians going crazy over Patriot's Day. Actually, Canadians don't get crazy. Bad analogy.


7. Meteorites are illegal

Essentially, anyway. In 2014, the government passed a law requiring federal protection against space threats, most specifically, meteorites. This all came after the Chelyabinsk meteor scared the living crap out of the Ural region of Russia in 2013. Hopefully, Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck learn to speak Spanish before the next Armageddon approaches.


8. Mexican hipsters are called Cholombians

Look. At. Those. Haircuts. Asymmetrical, emo-style coifs are all the rage in parts of Mexico, and the wacky youths who sport them are known as Cholombians. The muy sexy style involves short spiky hair on top, with long bangs and a rat tail. HOT.
 

9. Mexican kids don’t get presents on Christmas

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You know how when you’re a kid you wonder how Santa can hit all the houses on Christmas Eve? Well, it's a whole lot easier if he can skip an entire country. Mexican children do not receive presents on Christmas Day. In Mexico, Three Kings Day (El Dia de Reyes), on Jan. 6 is a far bigger deal. So Santa takes like two weeks off, then gets back on the reindeer.


10. Mexico City is bigger than New York City

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If you're ever on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," and a question comes up about the largest city in North America, New York City is wrong. Don't blurt out "NEW YORK. FINAL ANSWER." In fact, the Distrito Federal has about 450,000 more people, or if you added another Staten Island full of people on to the Big Apple. Just imagine that. An entire second Staten Island filled with people. **Shudder**


11. Mexico City sinks several inches annually

Venice isn’t the only city with a weight limit. The city itself drops between 0.2 and 1.3 feet per year! Because Mexico City has one of the world's largest metropolitan areas, there is an extremely high demand for water. 70% of this water comes from the groundwater beneath the city. But it is being extracted much faster than it can be naturally replaced. This drastic water deficit has severely weakened the ground upon which the city rests, causing the entire Mexican capital to sink.


12. Some Mexicans actually speak Italian

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Speaking of Venice… there's a pocket of Mexico where people speak the Italian dialect. In the 1800s, a group of Venetians settled in the state of Puebla and founded the city of Chipilo, bringing with them their dairy farming business and language. This Venetian variety is also spoken in parts of Veracruz and Queretaro, so it's not a one-off. In total, Mexicans speak about 60 other languages, too, including a ton of indigenous ones. So don't just assume everyone speaks Spanish. It's just not true.


13. The official name of Mexico is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States)

The country, Mexico, was initially named after its capital city (Mexico City). During the 14 – 16th centuries, when the Aztec people dominated large parts of the country, the capital city was called Mexico-Tenochtitlan. After the Spanish conquered the city in the 16th century, they ruined it and build Mexico City on top of the Aztec capital. Mexico city was built to resemble a Spanish city.


14. Mexico introduced chocolate, chillies and corn to the world

hocolate was discovered in Mexico and was made by the Meso-American people into a sweet beverage using natural sweeteners. The word ‘chocolate’ derives from the language of the Aztecs, Náhuatl (xocolatl : xoco, bitter + atl, water). Ixcacao is the Mayan Goddess of chocolate. Corn (Zea maiz) was first cultivated in central Mexico. Most chillies come from Mexico, the word derived from the Náhuatl word chilli.


15. The National University of Mexico is the oldest university in North America

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The university, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), was founded in 1551 by Charles V, a holy Roman Emperor. The university stands out as as the educational institute that produces the highest number of professionals in Mexico.


16. Mexico is located in the “Ring of Fire”

This area is one of the world’s most violent earthquake and volcano zones. The Ring of Fire, contains more than 450 volcanoes and has approximately 75% of the world's active volcanoes. Popocatépetl is considered to be the most dangerous volcano in Mexico, located only 70 km southeast of Mexico City, from where it can be seen with the right weather conditions.


17. The Mexican flag is made up of three vertical stripes

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Every stripe of the flag has different meaning. The left green stripe stands for hope, the middle white stripe represents purity and unity, and the right red stripe represents the blood of the nation’s heroes. The picture of an eagle eating a snake in the middle of the flag, called the Coat of Arms, is based on an Aztec legend.


18. The chihuahua, the smallest breed of dog in the world, is named after a Mexican state

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There are several theories regarding the origin of the breed, both archaeological and folkloric. However, all theories confirm the origination of the dog breed from Chihuahua, Mexico. The most common theory is that chihuahuas are descended from the techichi, a companion dog that was favored by the Toltec civilization.


19. Spanish conquerors introduced bullfighting to Mexico

Nowadays, bullfighting in Mexico is a popular national sport. Plaza Mexico, which is situated in Mexico City, is the largest bullring in the world with over 41,000 seats. Bullfighting takes place every year, from November to April.


20. Mexico and Luxembourg are the only two countries in the world that are spelled with the letter X.

 

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