Mexico

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Country Name

Mexico or officially the United Mexican States.

Location

Mexico is a country located in the southern part of North America.

It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico.

Capital

Mexico City.

Reason for Naming the country

The Aztecs were principally governed by the inhabitants of Mēxihco Tenōchtitlan (the full name of Mexico City in Nahuatl). They called themselves Mēxihcah or Tenōchcah and claimed that before settling in the Valley of Mexico they had been known as the Mexihtin. This ethnonym was derived either from the name of the leader who guided them out of the mythical land of Aztlan, Mecihtli or from Mēxihtli, a title of the tribal god Huitzilopochtli. In this view, Mēxihco means “land of the Mexihtin” or “land of Mēxihtli.” There are several stories about the origin of the name Mexico. Part of the word, mexi, is thought to be the name of a war god of the Aztecs, Mexitli. This god got his name from the word metztli, which meant moon, and xictli, which meant navel. It is thought that by putting these two words together, the meaning changed to "child of the moon."

Flag

The first flag was officially used in July 1822. The current national flag was adopted on September 16, 1968. The flag of Mexico is a vertical tricolor of Green, White, and Red with the national coat of arms in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these three colors were adopted by Mexico after independence from Spain during the country's War of Independence, Today the meaning of these colors are: Green represents hope, white symbolizes purity and Red stands for the blood of the heroes who fought for independence. The emblem shield symbolizes the Aztec heritage. *Flag Facts:

- The flag of Mexico is similar to the flag of Italy, the only distinguishable bit between the two flags is the coat of arms featured on the Mexican flag. -Although both flags use similar colors, the Mexican flag has darker shades of red and green. While the Italian flag is more square-shaped, the Mexican flag has a longer shape.

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