Talk:Demographics of Mexico

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I want info about Sonora, Mexico and you give me Mexico! Get info on Sonora, Mexico now

                                Thank You

budd, be thankfull ur sorry ass got anything...u want info, go get it urself

I erased references to the word "mulato" from the text. It is a word that derives from the Latin word "mulo", which means mule, supposedly meaning that those of mixed European and African descent are a mutated mix of two different species. It is now generally deemed a politically incorrect term. As you can see, I have re worded the text.

Contents 1 Apostrophes, etc. 2 Headings, etc. 3 Native Americans 4 so I made the pertinent changes to the article == ==

[edit] Apostrophes, etc.

An anon eitor keeps inserting greengrocer's apostrophes into the text ("1800's", etc.), as well as changing "native Americans" to "Native Americans". The former is just a mistake; the latter offers room for discussion; I take "native to be an adjective, and the whole to be an ordinary descriptive noun phrase, while the anon takes the whole to be a proper name. Any views from other editors? --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 09:33, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

Seeing the two side-by-side, I'm happier with Native American. Seems that the capitalized form is less likely than "native American" to be (mis-)construed as meaning any old person born in the Americas or (heaven forfend) any old person born in the USA. As for the other, every time an anon types a greengrocer's apostrophe, somewhere out there a fairy dies. –Hajor 02:38, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

OK, it looks like it should be "Native Americans" or indians. (And thanks for explaining why I haven't seen a fairy at the bottom of my garden for years.) --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 21:56, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

I've changed all outstanding "native American" to "Native American". This also consistent with the style in the Widipedia entry Native American.

In addition, I've lowercased the word mestizo, since this is how it is presented in my Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.PaulV 17:27, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Headings, etc.

I've inserted headings in order to generate a table of contents. I found the article a bit confusing, so I've tried to identify what the paragraphs are about. Have cut wordiness throughout. I regard the copy-edit as essentially done, and have snapped off the copyedit tag from the top. PaulV 17:27, 23 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Native Americans

Official statistics say Native Mexicans make up 13% [1] of the population (not 10% as the article says). Also, official statistics (same source, just read a little more) say 6% speak an indigenous language. The article, though, says, about the percentage of Amerindians in Mexico, that many believe the figure to be closer to 30%. The reason for the discrepancy is the federal government's policy of using spoken language rather than race as the basis of classification. How can it be so? If the "federal government's policy" for classification is "spoken language rather than race", then they would only report 6% of Amerindians, and not 13%. There is no such "federal policy" to use language as the basis of classification. You are simply looking at the wrong source, INEGI does not report race at all, it only reports language speakers; so people have wrongly assumed that this is the racial classification. Please browse all through the Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, CDI ([2]) web page. (CDI was created in place of the Instituto Nacional Indigenista, INI). This webpage includes many of the recent changes in the Mexican Constitution (one which defines Mexico as a pluri-cultural nation, and another one on the rights of indigenous languages). It also reports that almost 13 million Mexican are Amerindian, but only half speak an Amerindian language.

Oh, by the way, the article also says that in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Yucatán, the majority of the population is Amerindian. Well, here are the official statistics (from the same source reported above): Yucatán (59%), Oaxaca (48%), Quintana Roo (39%), Chiapas (28%), Campeche (27%), Hidalgo (24%), Puebla (19%), Guerrero (17%) and San Luis Potosí y Veracruz (15%, both). In other words, only in Yucatan, the majority is Amerindian (maybe you can include Oaxaca, but not Chiapas, 28% is not majority). --J.Alonso 16:24, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Nobody responded,

== ==

[edit] so I made the pertinent changes to the article == ==

, according to information of the CDI, the 2nd article of the constitution and the Law of Linguistic Rights. More info can be found in another article I made: indigenous peoples of Mexico--J.Alonso 06:28, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

There is mention about high population growth in the indigenous population. I've read on the net that Mexico has slashed it's fertility rate by aggressively promoting birth control through government funded family planning clinics throughout out the country. From the urban areas to remote villages.

The stereotypical "white American" perception of Mexico is that of a demographic timebomb. And the information I mentioned above seesm to directly counter this.

If Mexico has in fact slashed it's population growth through family planning, it would be nice to include in the article because it would have a large impact on Mexico's future economy, population, and relation to the USA. It would also highlight a high degree of pragmatism in a highly catholic (anti - birth control) nation.

The following phrase: Today Afro-Mexicans of relatively unmixed black-African ancestry, as well as Zambos and mulattos, represent only about 0.5% of the population, due to higher birth-rates amongst the other groups as well as their continued absorption into the general population. I don't doubt its veracity, however, the government has NO official records that prove this specific percentage. Would you mind citing your sources? --Alonso 19:47, 7 August 2006 (UTC)