Recent trends in Mexico-US Border Demographics

Abstract

The extent to which there is a unique border region in sociodemographic terms carries strong implications for effective long-term planning and potential binational growth management strategies. The debate on demographics of the U.S.-Mexican border area has shifted from highlighting similarities across the border to emphasizing how trends in the border region follow respective national patterns rather than determining distinctive cross-border trends for the whole region. This chapter analyses recent Mexican and U.S. census data for the municipalities and counties in the large border region that encompass all or most of nine ·Mexican and five U.S. states. With the exception of migration, there is little evidence of a unified border region in demographic terms; rather there are striking differences in population distribution, density, a·nd age profiles on both sides of the border, patterns which in turn impact use of resources and environmental health.