Cinco de Mayo

Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day. The holiday commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla on May 5, 1862. A Mexican force of 4,500 men faced 6,000 well-trained French soldiers. The battle lasted four hours and ended in a victory for the Mexican army under Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza. Mexico’s Independence Day is September 16.

28.3 million
Number of U.S. residents of Mexican origin in 2006. These residents constituted 9 percent of the nation’s total population and 64 percent of the Hispanic population.

14 percent
Percentage of employed civilians 16 and older of Mexican heritage who worked in managerial, professional or related occupations. In addition, 23 percent worked in service occupations; 20 percent in sales and office occupations; 19 percent in construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations; and 20 percent in production, transportation and material moving occupations.

$100.4 million
Product shipment value of tamales and other Mexican food specialties (not frozen or canned) produced in the United States in 2002.

$347.3 billion
The value of goods traded between the United States and Mexico in 2007. Mexico was our nation’s third-leading trading partner, after Canada and China.

337
Number of U.S. tortilla manufacturing establishments in 2005. The establishments that produce this unleavened flat bread employed nearly 14,000 people. Tortillas, the principal food of the Aztecs, are known as the “bread of Mexico.” About one in three of these establishments was in Texas.