Mexicans

The word mechikanos is a Spanish borrowing from the Nahuatl Native American language, where the meshik root [a] was the self-name of one of the main peoples of the Aztec empire , and the ending of the nose was of Spanish origin, indicating someone belongs to a particular ethnic group or group.

Mexicans, like almost the majority of the modern peoples of the Western hemisphere, were formed during the European colonization, which was carried out in the Central American region by Spain , which created the Spanish colonial empire after the discoveries of 1492 . The immigration of the Spaniards proper ( peninsularares ) to Mexico was limited due to remoteness and inaccessibility. Due to the lack of Spanish women who were not allowed to board ships for a long time due to developed prejudices, most Spaniards entered into sexual relations with local Native American women. This led to the rapid formation of a mixed Hispanic mestizo class. Later, women from Spain also began to be allowed into Mexico, but interracial relations did not end informally. Spaniards born in Mexico were called creoles , and, as a rule, held leading posts in politics and economics.

Like the population of the neighboring USA, the Mexican population - Mexicans - has a diverse and rather heterogeneous racial and ethnic origin, but the relationships between different groups are fundamentally different. In the USA, various racial and ethnic groups are clearly opposed to each other statistically and at the household level. According to some sociologists ^{[ who? ]} , there is a huge socially irresistible distance between them, known as a glass ceiling, historically there has been a clear system of various restrictions and stereotypes regarding the socially dominant white population of Anglo-Saxon origin (BASP) and various color groups (the rule of one drop of blood, segregation, etc. .). In Mexico, a similar model of social relations, known as the colonial mentality, is also generally familiar, but at the domestic level it is implemented differently - not with a clearly defined set of characteristics, but rather with a smooth transition from one racial-class group to another. The level of cultural community of Mexicans is generally higher. Still, Mexicans are conditionally divided into three conditional groups: white (20%), color (mainly mestizos , also mulattos and blacks ) (70%) and Indians (10%), but there are no clear boundaries between these groups. At the same time, unlike the USA, where even mestizos often refer to themselves as white, Mexicans of autochthonous origin do not feel strong pressure in the direction of language assimilation and retain Indian languages quite well.

The number of Mexicans until the end of the XIX century increased slightly due to high child mortality , short life expectancy, difficult working conditions, etc. In the colonial period, their number was stable (since the increase in the number of Mestizos and Spaniards occurred against the background of the mass death of Indians from diseases introduced Europeans) - at the level of about 6-10 million people. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 20 million of them. The advances made by medicine in developing countries have led to a reduction in these phenomena, and in the 1950s and 1960s, the number of Mexicans increased by 3–3.5% per year. By 1971, there were already 43 million people. Currently (2007), about 108 million Mexicans live in Mexico alone. In addition, about 4 million Mexicans live in the southwestern states of the United States. Mexican immigrants and their descendants make up more than a third of the California population and about 20% of Arizona residents.

The native language of the majority (93-95%) of modern Mexicans is Spanish , or rather, its special language variant (see Spanish in Mexico ). In rural areas in the south of the country, some Native American languages are also common (7%), the most common of which is Nahuatl . It is noteworthy that the number of native speakers in Mexico is constantly growing, although their share in the population has declined significantly over the past 300 years.

The most common religion is Catholicism . In the past, the Catholic clergy had a huge impact on all aspects of the daily life of Mexicans, but now most of them lead a secular lifestyle. The situation in the country is the exact opposite of the situation with religion in the USA , where strong conservatism and the preservation of the identity of each denomination remain (schisms in the church began to be introduced due to attempts to impose same-sex marriage, and ambiguity remains at the local level) ^[4] . In rural Mexico, Catholicism intertwined with local cults and acquired exotic forms (for example, in some places there is a ritual of treating the saints with Coca-Cola).

• Juana Ines de la Cruz (Sor Juana) - poet of the XVII century. (Jerome nun)
• Emiliano Zapata - Leader of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917)
• Rivera, Diego - the great muralist
• Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose David - painter, graphic artist, muralist
• Kahlo, Frida - primitive artist, wife of Rivera
• Dolores del Rio is an outstanding actress of world cinema of the 1930s-1950s.
• Lupe Velez is an outstanding world cinema actress of the 1930s – 1950s.
• Anthony Quinn is an outstanding actor in world cinema of the 1930s – 1990s.
• Ricardo Montalban - actor of Mexican and American cinema and television
• Ramon Novarro is an outstanding actor in world cinema of the 1920s-1960s.
• Cantinflas is the most popular comedian in the Hispanic world. Filmed in Hollywood, in the 1930s-1980s.
• Alfonso Garcia Robles - Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1982
• Octavio Paz - writer, poet, Nobel Laureate in Literature in 1990
• Guillermo Aro - astronomer, laureate of the gold medal named after M.V. Lomonosov of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1985 and other international prizes
• Mario Molina - Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1995
• Consuelo Velazquez is a pianist, composer, author of hundreds of songs, including Besame Mucho .
• Juventino Rosas - composer of world-famous waltzes ("Above the Waves") ^[5]
• Alejandro Iñarritu - film director.
• Elena Ponyatowska - writer
• Carlos Fuentes - writer
• Rolando Villason - opera singer
• Victoria Ruffo - actress
• Veronica Castro - actress
• Christian Castro - singer
• Salma Hayek - actress, Mexican mother
• Sophia Reyes is a singer, songwriter and actress.
• Edward Furlong - actor, Mexican by mother
• Gael Garcia Bernal - actor
• Diego Luna - actor
• Eduardo Yanyes - actor
• Felipe Munoz - Olympic champion in swimming
• Cesar Millan - Professional Dog Trainer
• Kane Velazquez is the UFC heavyweight champion.
• Cuautemoc Blanco - Mexican footballer, twice winner of the CONCACAF Cup in the Mexican national team and winner of the 1999 Confederations Cup
• Demi Lovato - actress of the world famous Disney channel
• Carlos Santana - famous musician
• Nick Diaz is a former champion of the Strike Force welterweight division.
• Nate Diaz is the winner of the Ultimate Fighter series in the Lightweight Division.
• Tito Ortiz is a former UFC light heavyweight champion, introduced to the UFC Hall of Fame.
• Felipe Colombo is an actor, lives in Argentina, but originally from Mexico.

• Mexican Americans
  • including chicano
• Tex-Mex - Mexican Mexican Culture
• Latinos in the USA
• Tehano - Native Mexican Southwest
• Indians of Mexico

• Mexicans - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .