by Jesus Canas and Emily Gutierrez

Mexico is a country of contrasts, its geography varying from deserts to jungles, mountains to beaches. Such differences extend to the economic characteristics of Mexico’s four regions: the manufacturing north, the agrarian north-central, the service-based central and the energy-producing south.

Such economic specialization has contributed to significantly different levels of development – evident in persistent and often worsening disparities in standards of living.

Mexico’s affluent north is characterized by a large manufacturing base, which sharply diverges from the poverty-stricken south, a hub of energy activity. The central region benefits from the sprawling reach of Mexico City, one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas and the heart of the Mexican economy, while the agriculturally driven northcentral zone makes a much smaller economic contribution.  Outlook Mexico