Of its more than 96 million inhabitants, between 75 and 83 percent are mestizos, or people of mixed Indian and Spanish blood. Ten percent of the people are criollos, or creoles, of old Spanish descent, and 10 to 15 percent are Indian.

While the great majority of Mexicans speak Spanish, 25 percent of the Indians speak only their native languages — Nahuatl, the tongue of the Aztecs, and Mayan are the two most prevalent. Before the Spanish conquest, there were at least 120 different Indian languages, and fifty-six still survive.