AREA AND POPULATION.
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The actual government of the republic does not recognise any portion of the above liabilities, except the Six per cent. Internal Mexican debt, the interest of which has not been paid for a great number of years.
Area and Population.
The area of Mexico and number of inhabitants are only known through estimates. The most reliable of these, based on partial enumerations made by the Government at the two periods of 1837 and 1857, state the population of the nineteen States, together with the Federal city of Mexico, the seat of the legislature, as follows : —
-
States
Extent in
Population
Population
square miles
in 1837
in 1857
Chiapas ....
18,750
92,000
167,472
Chihuahua ....
107,500
190,000
164,073
Cohahuila ....
193,600
90,000
62,109
Durango ....
54.500
150,000
144,331
Guanaxuato
8,000
500,000
729,103
Mexico ....
35,450
1,500,000
1,029,629
Miehoacan ....
22,466
460,000
554,585
New Leon ....
21,000
100,000
213,369
Oaxaca ....
32,650
660,000
525,938
Puebla ....
18,440
900,000
558,609
Queretaro ....
7,500
100,000
165,155
San Luis Potosi .
19,000
300,000
397,189
Sonora and Sinaloa
254,700
300,000
329,374
Tabasco ....
14,676
75,000
70,628
Tamaulihas, or New Santander
35,100
150,000
109,673
Vera Cruz ....
27.660
150,000
349,125
Xalisco ....
70,000
870,000
90,158
Yucatan ....
79,500
570,000
668.623
Zacatecas ....
19,950
200,000
296,789
Federal city
Total
—
200,000
269,534
1,030,442
7,557,000
7,995,426
The Mexican population comprises five different classes : — 1. The whites, constituting the aristocracy of the country, and generally called Creoles. They are the direct descendants of the Spaniards, and their number is estimated at 300,000. 2. Those who consider themselves whites. They are the descendants of Spanish and Indian parents, and chiefly follow the military profession or hold situations under Government. This class numbers about 800,000. 3. The Indians, reduced to a state of abject misery and servitude. They live in villages, and constitute the agricultural class. Their number,
