Mexico in brief
The Mexican Bioregional Library covers the United Mexican States: about 1,964,375 square kilometres.
The Mexican Bioregional Library covers the United Mexican States: about 1,964,375 square kilometres (196,437,500 hectares / 485,400,000 acres) between the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, with about 11,122 kilometres of mainland coastline. It is the thirteenth largest country on Earth and one of the most biodiverse (area and coastline from INEGI).
NEO Almanac · The Mexican Library
- Area1,964,375 km²The 13th largest country on Earth
- Population126 millionCensus 2020 (INEGI)
- Original peoples6823.2 million people identify with one (2020)
- Languages364Variants of 68 original languages (INALI)
- Biodiversity≈ 10%Of the world's known species
- Time260 · 365Tonalpohualli and Xiuhpohualli
Sources: INEGI (Censo 2020; Marco Geoestadístico), INALI, CONABIO, UNESCO, Britannica. All references
- Area
- 1,964,375 km² · 196.4 million ha · 485.4 million acres
- Coastline
- ≈ 11,122 km on the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean
- Territory
- 32 federal entities
- Population
- 126,014,024 (census 2020)
- Original peoples
- 68 Indigenous peoples; 23.2 million people self-identify as Indigenous and 7.36 million speak an Indigenous language (2020)
- Languages
- 68 Indigenous languages with 364 variants, and Spanish
- Afro-Mexicans
- About 2.58 million people (2020)
- Biodiversity
- One of the 17 megadiverse countries, with about 10% of the world's known species
- Time
- Tonalpohualli (260 days), Xiuhpohualli (365 days) and the 52-year Xiuhmolpilli
- Economy
- Manufacturing and exports, agriculture (maize, avocado, agave), tourism, mining
- Arts
- Murals, Talavera, Otomí embroidery, mariachi and the Day of the Dead (UNESCO)
- Symbols
- The eagle on a nopal devouring a serpent, maize, cempasúchil, the 20 day-signs
Mexican Nature Neo Library
Plants, animals, medicinal herbs, biodiversity, ecosystems, water, agriculture and traditional ecological knowledge.
Animals
- Monarch butterflyDanaus plexippusWinters in Michoacán
- AxolotlAmbystoma mexicanumCritically endangered (IUCN)
- VaquitaPhocoena sinusCritically endangered (IUCN)
- JaguarPanthera oncaNear threatened (IUCN)
- Mexican wolfCanis lupus baileyiEndangered in Mexico (NOM-059)
- Golden eagleAquila chrysaetosThe eagle of the national emblem
- Gray whaleEschrichtius robustusCalves in Baja California
- XoloitzcuintleCanis lupus familiarisThe ancient dog of Mictlan
Plants
- MaizeZea maysDomesticated in Mexico about 9,000 years ago
- Agave (maguey)Agave spp.Source of pulque, mezcal and fibre
- NopalOpuntia ficus-indicaThe cactus of the national emblem
- CacaoTheobroma cacaoChocolate, from Nahuatl xocolatl
- ChiliCapsicum annuumGrown for thousands of years
- VanillaVanilla planifoliaOrchid first used by the Totonac
- AhuehueteTaxodium mucronatumThe national tree
- CempasúchilTagetes erectaThe flower of the Day of the Dead
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Remedies
- Mexican arnicaHeterotheca inuloidesTraditionally used on bruises
- EpazoteDysphania ambrosioidesTraditionally used for digestion
- MuicleJusticia spicigeraTraditionally used as a tonic tea
- NopalOpuntia ficus-indicaValued as a food for the body's balance
- GordoloboGnaphalium spp.Traditionally used as a tea for coughs
- CempasúchilTagetes erectaTraditionally used as a tea for the stomach
Library of Nature
Traditional knowledge of living communities, shared for culture and study. It is not medical advice.
Mexican Library of Nature
Mexican Culture Neo Library
Original peoples, languages, history, traditions, literature, arts, music, architecture and cultural heritage.
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Sixty-eight original peoples
- 1Nahua
- 2Maya
- 3Mixtec (Ñuu Savi)
- 4Zapotec (Binnizá)
- 5Otomí (Hñähñu)
- 6Tseltal and Tsotsil
- 7Totonac
- 8Purépecha
- 9Rarámuri
- 10Wixárika
Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan
The sign of a day in the Tonalpohualli
Choose a date
Pick any date to see its day-sign and number.
Mexican Codices & Books
Written in beautiful pictographic imagery on deerskin, amate paper, and European paper, the codices hold the ancient calendars, gods, migrations, tributes, and genealogies of Mesoamerica.
Mexican Science Neo Library
Mathematics, astronomy, calendars, technology, inventions, research and social and economic indicators.
Mexican Calendar · Two wheels, one sun
The brilliant celestial logic shared across Mesoamerica: interlocking counts of destinies and seasons.
- 260 daysTonalpohualli
- The sacred round of 20 day-signs and 13 numbers: the count of your Tonalli.
- 365 daysXiuhpohualli
- The solar year of 18 months of 20 days, plus the 5 days of nemontemi.
- 52 yearsXiuhmolpilli
- The binding of the years, renewed with the magnificent New Fire ceremony.
- StoneThe Sun Stone
- The great Mexica monolith with the 20 day-signs carved eternally around the face of the Fifth Sun.
Mexican Signs · The twenty day-signs
From Cipactli to Xóchitl, read in four groups of five. Each group belongs to a direction of the world and is ruled by a patron force.
EastRed. Region of light and fertility.
NorthBlack. Region of the dead and ancestors.
WestWhite. Where the sun descends.
SouthYellow. Region of thorns and growth.
No day-sign matches that search.
Mexican Numbers · Counting in twenties
A dot is one, a bar is five and a shell is zero. With three signs Mesoamerica wrote every number, and used zero centuries before Europe. Here, from Ce to Cempoalli in Nahuatl.
Mexican Art Neo Library
Sculpture, murals, featherwork, ceramics, textiles, painting and music, from the Olmec to today.
Mexican Art
Masthead
The Mexican Library is a flagship library of NEO Library, the new library for the new civilization.
- Librarian
- Joséf Sánchez Coach
Librarian (UNAM), author of the library and of NEO MAP.
- The network
- NEO Library
Open knowledge for everyone, across the globe.
- The method
- The UNAM thesis
Library science from the thesis of Sánchez González, José Fernando.
- Technology
- SESY.AI
Built and hosted with SESY.AI, Semantic Systems & AI.
Keep the library free
Open maps and an open archive are sustained entirely by readers. Every contribution keeps this knowledge free for everyone.
Contributions go to Joséf Sánchez, individual (persona física) registered in Mexico; they are not tax-deductible.
Universal Neo Tools
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Glossary
The key terms of this library, defined in plain words.
- Tonalpohualli
- The count of days: 260 days made of 20 day-signs and 13 numbers.
- Xiuhpohualli
- The count of the year: 18 months of 20 days plus 5 days.
- Nemontemi
- The five closing days of the xiuhpohualli.
- Xiuhmolpilli
- The binding of the years: the 52-year cycle.
- Nahual
- The day-sign and animal companion of a person.
- Tonalli
- The heat and destiny given to a person by the day of birth.
- Tlacuilo
- The painter-scribe who wrote the codices.
- Amoxtli
- A codex: a book painted on bark paper or deerskin.
- Altepetl
- A city-state: the people and their land.
- Mictlan
- The land of the dead, reached through nine levels.
- Ometeotl
- The dual creator, lord and lady of duality.
- Calmecac
- The school of priests and nobles.
- Milpa
- The field of maize, beans and squash grown together.
- Temazcal
- A steam bath used for healing and ceremony.
- Pueblo originario
- An Indigenous people with its own language and territory.
References and sources
Official and academic sources behind the figures and facts of this library.
- INEGI · Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020 (opens in a new tab)
- INALI · Catálogo de las Lenguas Indígenas Nacionales (opens in a new tab)
- INPI · Instituto Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas (opens in a new tab)
- CONABIO · Biodiversidad Mexicana (opens in a new tab)
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) (opens in a new tab)
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Mexico (opens in a new tab)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica · Mexico (opens in a new tab)
- Sánchez González, José Fernando · UNAM thesis (method of NEO Library) (opens in a new tab)
Colophon
Mexican knowledge
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- © 2026 The Mexican Library, Tulum, Quintana Roo, México
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Authorship. Research, writing and cartography by Joséf Sánchez. Made with the help of the artificial intelligences of the world, Claude among them, as research and drafting tools; every text, figure and map was selected, verified and signed by the author. NEO Atlas maps are a Sesy Maps product (SESY.AI).
Set in Bodoni Moda and Jost (SIL Open Font License). Mesoamerican numerals and calendar wheels drawn for NEO Library. Map tiles © Esri and OpenStreetMap contributors, rendered with Leaflet. Editor and librarian: Joséf Sánchez Coach, Colegio de Bibliotecología, UNAM.
