1.
Webster Parish, Louisiana
–
Webster Parish is a parish located in the northwestern section of the U. S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,207, the seat of the parish is Minden. The parish is named for 19th-century American statesman Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and it was created on February 27,1871 from lands formerly belonging to Bienville, Bossier, and Claiborne parishes. Webster Parish is part of the Shreveport-Bossier City, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area, among the first settlers in Webster Parish was Newett Drew, a native of Virginia, who about 1818 established a grist mill at the former Overton community near Minden. At this time the area was Natchitoches Parish and later Overton became the Parish Seat of Claiborne Parish in 1836 until it moved in 1848. His son, Richard Maxwell Drew was born in Overton and served as a district judge state representative prior to his death in 1850 at the age of twenty-eight. R. M. Drews descendants held judicial or legislative positions in Webster Parish as well, Richard Cleveland Drew, Harmon Caldwell Drew, R. Harmon Drew, Sr. and Harmon Drew, Jr. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the parish has an area of 615 square miles. Future Interstate 69 Interstate 20 U. S. Highway 79 U. S. Highway 80 U. S. Kennon, planning on the courthouse began in 1950, when it was determined that the previous structure had become obsolete. A modern multi-level jail was added to that courthouse in 1906 at a cost of $16,000, the new jail enabled constituents coming to the sheriffs tax office to avoid passing through the jail. W. W. Carloss, who fought in the Siege of Port Hudson, was the Webster Parish state representative from 1874 to 1888, but he thereafter moved to Lafayette County in southwestern Arkansas. From 1896 to 1900, Thomas Wafer Fuller of Minden, a descendant of a prominent area family, served as the state senator freom Webster and he was also a newspaper publisher, twice the owner of the former Webster Signal. From 1908 until his death in 1920, he was the school superintendent in Webster Parish. Leland G. Mims father-in-law, W. Matt Lowe, served on the jury between 1940 and 1954 and was the mayor of Minden from 1916 to 1920. From 1992 to 2012, Webster Parish was represented in the Louisiana House of Representatives by a member of the Doerge family, Democrat Everett Doerge, a retired educator and native of Minden, unseated the short-term Republican incumbent Eugene Eason and held the seat until his death in 1998. His widow, Jean M. Doerge, also an educator, a Democrat. She was reelected three times, twice without opposition but was term-limited in 2011, the Webster Parish representative effective in 2012 is Democrat Harlie Eugene Reynolds, a retired educator from Dubberly. In 1996, the Webster Parish Police Jury approved a $1,849,000 bid to the firm Finney Co. of Shreveport for construction of a new library facility on Est and West Street in Minden
2.
United Methodist Church
–
The United Methodist Church is a mainline Protestant denomination, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor—the Methodist Church—was a leader in Evangelicalism and it was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, United States, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the movement of John. As such, the theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements and it has a connectional polity, a typical feature of a number of Methodist denominations. The United Methodist Church, with at least 12 million members as of 2014, is the largest denomination within the wider Methodist movement of approximately 80 million people across the world. In the United States, the UMC ranks as the largest mainline Protestant denomination, the largest Protestant church after the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third largest Christian denomination. In 2014, its membership was distributed as follows,7.2 million in the United States. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, the movement which would become The United Methodist Church began in the mid-18th century within the Church of England. A small group of students, including John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and they focused on Bible study, methodical study of scripture and living a holy life. Other students mocked them, saying they were the Holy Club, eventually, the so-called Methodists started individual societies or classes for members of the Church of England who wanted to live a more religious life. In 1735, John and Charles Wesley went to America, hoping to teach the gospel to the American Indians in the colony of Georgia, instead, John became vicar of the church in Savannah. His preaching was very legalistic and full of rules. After two years in America, he returned to England dejected and confused, Peter believed a person is saved solely through the grace of God and not by works, and John had many conversations with Peter about this topic. On May 25,1738, after listening to a reading of Martin Luthers preface to Romans, John finally understood that his works could not save him. For the first time in his life, he felt complete peace, in less than two years, the Holy Club disbanded. John Wesley met with a group of clergy, the ministers retained their membership in the Church of England. Though not always emphasized or appreciated in the Anglican churches of their day, their teaching emphasized salvation by Gods grace, three teachings they saw as the foundation of Christian faith were, People are all by nature dead in sin and consequently, children of wrath
3.
Louisiana
–
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
4.
Minden, Louisiana
–
Minden is a small city in and the parish seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States. It is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in Caddo Parish, the population has been relatively stable since 1960, when it was 12,786. Minden is 51.7 percent African American, Minden is the principal city of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the larger Shreveport-Bossier City-Minden Combined Statistical Area. It is a trade center for the neighboring parishes of Bienville and Claiborne. Minden has possessed a United States post office since 1839, the current postal building, a 10, 000-square-foot structure at 111 South Monroe Street, was completed under a $285,000 contract awarded in 1959 to McInnis Construction Company of Minden. The community has served by a newspaper since the 1850s. The current publication, the Minden Press-Herald, is located on Gleason Street south of Broadway, the building was formerly used by a grocery store. The Press-Herald became a newspaper on July 18,1966. For a time there was also the Webster Signal-Tribune and other publications, on October 15,2012, an ordnance bunker at nearby Camp Minden exploded resulting in minor property damage. Camp Minden is the site of the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, in December 2012, police began the removal of 2,700 tons of explosives from Camp Minden, leading to evacuations in the nearby town of Doyline. In 1959, Minden was named the Cleanest City in Louisiana, Minden itself was established in 1836 by Charles H. Veeder, a native of Schenectady, New York, who named it for the city of Minden in Germany. Veeder left Minden during the California Gold Rush and spent the rest of his practicing law in Bakersfield. A year before Veeder arrived, a group from Phillipsburg, Pennsylvania, led by the Countess Leon, for nearly four decades, this Germantown Colony operated on a communal basis. It was dispersed in 1871, when Webster Parish was severed from Claiborne Parish, the Countess moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she died in 1881. The settlement had been planned by the husband, Bernhard Müller. He died of fever on August 29,1834, at Grand Ecore, four miles from Natchitoches. Leon and his followers attempted to build a utopia, socialist in practice. For his religious views, Leon had been exiled from Germany and he intended to plant the settlement in Webster Parish to coincide with the latitude of Jerusalem,31 degrees,47 minutes
5.
African Americans
–
African Americans are an ethnic group of Americans with total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. The term may also be used to only those individuals who are descended from enslaved Africans. As a compound adjective the term is usually hyphenated as African-American, Black and African Americans constitute the third largest racial and ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are of West and Central African descent and are descendants of enslaved peoples within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of 73. 2–80. 9% West African, 18–24% European, according to US Census Bureau data, African immigrants generally do not self-identify as African American. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants identify instead with their own respective ethnicities, immigrants from some Caribbean, Central American and South American nations and their descendants may or may not also self-identify with the term. After the founding of the United States, black people continued to be enslaved, believed to be inferior to white people, they were treated as second-class citizens. The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited U. S. citizenship to whites only, in 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. The first African slaves arrived via Santo Domingo to the San Miguel de Gualdape colony, the ill-fated colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership, during which the slaves revolted and fled the colony to seek refuge among local Native Americans. De Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly afterwards of an epidemic, the settlers and the slaves who had not escaped returned to Haiti, whence they had come. The first recorded Africans in British North America were 20 and odd negroes who came to Jamestown, as English settlers died from harsh conditions, more and more Africans were brought to work as laborers. Typically, young men or women would sign a contract of indenture in exchange for transportation to the New World, the landowner received 50 acres of land from the state for each servant purchased from a ships captain. An indentured servant would work for years without wages. The status of indentured servants in early Virginia and Maryland was similar to slavery, servants could be bought, sold, or leased and they could be physically beaten for disobedience or running away. Africans could legally raise crops and cattle to purchase their freedom and they raised families, married other Africans and sometimes intermarried with Native Americans or English settlers. By the 1640s and 1650s, several African families owned farms around Jamestown and some became wealthy by colonial standards and purchased indentured servants of their own. In 1640, the Virginia General Court recorded the earliest documentation of slavery when they sentenced John Punch. One of Dutch African arrivals, Anthony Johnson, would own one of the first black slaves, John Casor
6.
Democratic Party (United States)
–
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
7.
International Paper
–
The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 65,000 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, the company was incorporated January 31,1898, upon the merger of 18 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. Its founders and first two presidents were William Augustus Russell, who died suddenly in January 1899, and Hugh J. Chisholm, the newly formed company supplied 60 percent of all newsprint in the country. The Hudson River Mill in Corinth, New York, where the Sacandaga River joins the Hudson River, was a pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry in the late 19th century. The first wood-based paper mill in New York, it was built by Albrecht Pagenstecher in 1869, after World War II, Hudson River Mill workers developed and perfected the production of coated papers for the company. Shifting economic forces resulted in the closure in November 2002. The historic mill was slated for demolition in 2011, given the nature of their products, paper plants are highly flammable. Therefore, International Paper Company frequently used asbestos insulation in its walls and floors, roof, as a result, many former employees of International Paper are being diagnosed with mesothelioma. In 1987, the paper mill workers went on strike at a number of its U. S. plants. In 1996, it purchased Federal Paper Board, in 1999, the company purchased Union Camp Corporation, and in 2000 Champion International Paper. Additionally, it shares in the Chilean company Copec. Paper Mills Rajahmundry, which is now an International Paper company, is one of the biggest integrated paper, the company produces writing, printing, and copier papers and paper boards for foreign and domestic markets. APPMs production facilities are two mills in Rajahmundry and Kadiam with a production capacity of 240,000 TPA. International Paper owns a majority interest in APPM, and the shares are publicly traded on the Bombay. In 2012, International Paper, through the merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Metal Acquisition Inc. with and into Temple-Inland, Temple-Inland then became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. At the time of sale, Temple-Inlands corrugated packaging operation consisted of 7 mills and 59 converting facilities as well as the products operation. The coated paper business were sold to Apollo Management and now operate as Verso Paper, the kraft paper business was sold to Kapstone Paper and Packaging and operates as Kapstone Kraft Paper. The beverage packaging business, now called Evergreen Packaging, was purchased by Carter Holt Harvey, the company sold its wood products division to West Fraser Timber, based in Vancouver, British Columbia
8.
Cullen, Louisiana
–
Cullen is a town just south of Springhill in northern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,296 at the 2000 census and it is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area. Bobby Ray Washington, the mayor of Cullen served as president. He resigned from office when questions arose about his residency in Shreveport, Washington was succeeded in March 2012 by Dexter Turner, a former police detective in Springhill. Turner was elected to a term as mayor in December 2012 and died on March 22,2013. Cullen has a restored Kansas City Southern Railroad museum located across from the International Paper Company container plant, in 2011, Ricky L. Thomas reactivated the Ludwig Ball Park, which had been constructed in 1968 for baseball and softball. After many years of neglect the park was restored and a reunion was held in July 2011, at the reunion Thomas presented Coach Billy Dubois a framed picture of his Louisiana-Arkansas All Star team. KTBS, the ABC affiliate in Shreveport, aired a story about Ludwig Ball Park on its station, charles Jacobs, judge of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court since 2015, is a former town attorney for Cullen. Cullen is located at 32°58′10″N 93°26′53″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.2 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,296 people,505 households, the population density was 1,109.6 people per square mile. There were 600 housing units at a density of 513.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 13. 35% White,84. 88% African American,0. 46% Native American,0. 08% Asian,0. 08% Pacific Islander,0. 23% from other races, and 0. 93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 69% of the population,32. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 14. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the family size was 3.28. In the town, the population was out with 30. 2% under the age of 18,8. 6% from 18 to 24,24. 5% from 25 to 44,20. 6% from 45 to 64. The median age was 36 years, for every 100 females there were 77.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 66.4 males, the median income for a household in the town was $15,319, and the median income for a family was $18,854. Males had an income of $20,368 versus $18,393 for females
9.
Bobby Jindal
–
Piyush Bobby Jindal is an American politician who was the 55th Governor of Louisiana between 2008 and 2016, and previously served as a U. S. Congressman and as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Jindal as principal adviser to the U. S. Secretary of Health and he first ran for governor of Louisiana in 2003, but lost in the run-off election to Democratic candidate, Kathleen Blanco. In 2004, he was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, becoming the second Indian American in Congress, Jindal was re-elected in 2011 in a landslide, winning more than 65% of the vote. Until the election of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in 2010, he was the first, on June 24,2015, Jindal announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. He suspended his campaign in November 2015, subsequently announcing his support for Marco Rubio, Piyush Jindal was born on June 10,1971, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is the first of two sons of Raj and Amar Jindal, from Punjab, India and they both applied for immigration years later. His father is an engineer and graduate of Guru Nanak Dev University. His mother is a graduate of Rajasthan University and worked in nuclear physics at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education, prior to emigrating to the United States, both his parents were lecturers at an Indian engineering college. At the time of their move to the US, Raj Jindal was to be a candidate in physics. They left Malerkotla, Punjab, India in January 1971, six months before their son was born, Jindals paternal grandfather was a Cawnpore merchant, and his maternal grandfather was a Ferozepur banker. The family settled near Louisiana State University, Jindal attended Baton Rouge Magnet High School, graduating in 1988 at the top of his class. While in high school, he competed in tournaments, started various enterprises such as a computer newsletter, retail candy business. He spent free time working in the stands at LSU football games, Jindal graduated from Brown University in 1992 at the age of 20, with honors in two majors, biology and public policy. He was one of 50 students nationwide admitted to the Program in Liberal Medical Education, Jindal is also credited with leading Browns College Republicans student group. Jindal was named to the 1992 USA Today All-USA Academic Team and he applied to and was accepted by both Harvard Medical School and Yale Law School, but studied at New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an M. Litt. degree in science with an emphasis in health policy from the University of Oxford in 1994. Jindals interest in Christianity was formed in high school through his friends and he began attending Roman Catholic Church, and in the fall of 1989 he was baptized in Providence
10.
Willie Nelson
–
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. He was one of the figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has involved in activism for the use of biofuels. Born during the Great Depression, and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven, during high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from school in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music, during this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in Honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote Family Bible, in 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey, during that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including Funny How Time Slips Away, Hello Walls, Pretty Paper, and Crazy. In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Prices band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album. And Then I Wrote, due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, the ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters. In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the acclaimed album. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted, the Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. In 1990, Nelsons assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, the difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes, Wholl Buy My Memories, the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelsons assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television
11.
Sarepta, Louisiana
–
Sarepta is a town in Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 925 at the 2000 census and it is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sarepta was named for the towns first churchs benefactor, Sarepta Carter, local history tells that Mrs. Carter donated a Bible to the community church on the premise that it be named for her. Years later the church split, and the name became Old Sarepta. The new congregation became New Sarepta, Sarepta is located at 32°53′51″N 93°26′58″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 1.6 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 925 people,369 households, the population density was 576.1 people per square mile. There were 411 housing units at a density of 256.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 96. 65% White,2. 05% African American,0. 11% Native American,0. 86% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 62% of the population. 24. 7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.98. In the town, the population was out with 25. 3% under the age of 18,7. 9% from 18 to 24,28. 1% from 25 to 44,20. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 37 years, for every 100 females there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males, the median income for a household in the town was $32,917, and the median income for a family was $39,083. Males had an income of $31,776 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,945, about 5. 7% of families and 9. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8. 4% of those under age 18 and 13. 4% of those age 65 or over. Sarepta has a 6th-8th grade school, North Webster Jr, High School, located at 6041 Hwy 2. The schools mascot is the Charger, the colors are purple, silver, and black. Formerly Sarepta High School, North Webster Jr, High School was formed during consolidation in 2011
12.
Mexico
–
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a federal republic in the southern half 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. Covering almost two million square kilometers, Mexico is the sixth largest country in the Americas by total area, Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and a federal district that is also its capital and most populous city. Other metropolises include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana, pre-Columbian Mexico was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec before first contact with Europeans. In 1521, the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Three centuries later, this territory became Mexico following recognition in 1821 after the colonys Mexican War of Independence. The tumultuous post-independence period was characterized by instability and many political changes. The Mexican–American War led to the cession of the extensive northern borderlands, one-third of its territory. The Pastry War, the Franco-Mexican War, a civil war, the dictatorship was overthrown in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, which culminated with the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution and the emergence of the countrys current political system. Mexico has the fifteenth largest nominal GDP and the eleventh largest by purchasing power parity, the Mexican economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement partners, especially the United States. Mexico was the first Latin American member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and it is classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country by several analysts. By 2050, Mexico could become the fifth or seventh largest economy. The country is considered both a power and middle power, and is often identified as an emerging global power. Due to its culture and history, Mexico ranks first in the Americas. Mexico is a country, ranking fourth in the world by biodiversity. In 2015 it was the 9th most visited country in the world, Mexico is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G8+5, the G20, the Uniting for Consensus and the Pacific Alliance. Mēxihco is the Nahuatl term for the heartland of the Aztec Empire, namely, the Valley of Mexico, and its people, the Mexica and this became the future State of Mexico as a division of New Spain prior to independence. It is generally considered to be a toponym for the valley became the primary ethnonym for the Aztec Triple Alliance as a result. After New Spain won independence from Spain, representatives decided to name the new country after its capital and this was founded in 1524 on top of the ancient Mexica capital of Mexico-Tenochtitlan
.svg)
