The countries I’ve picked to do are Mexico and Georgia.

Mexico is located in North America. It is one of our neighboring countries and spans 1,972,552 km2 miles. The Mexican constitution and government have not declared an official language but the de facto language used is Spanish. Besides Spanish, there are over 50 indigenous languages spoken all around the republic. The country is divided into 31 states and the capitol Mexico City being it’s own federal district. Like the US, it’s government is divided into three branches executive, legislative, and judicial. It’s constitution was originally created in 1857 but was reformed in 1917 by then President Venustaino Carranza. It has since been amended. The population stands currently at 130.2 million people with a growth rate of 0.8%. Mexico’s literacy rate sits at 95.24%. Although education is compulsory and meant to be secular and free it has struggled to be established nation wide due to lack of funding. It’s currency is the Mexican Peso which has an exchange rate of $19.448. The current GDP is $1.4 trillion with an annual growth of 3.06%. The current president is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador from the Morena party. His successor is Claudia Sheinbaum of the same party.

Georgia is a country located in the Transcaucasia part of the world. It borders Russia, Azerbajian, Turkiye, and Armenia. As well as the Black Sea.The capital city is Tbilisi and is divided into two regions, Kolkhain in the west and Iberian in the east. It’s history is quite vast with the first Georgian state being established in the 4th century B.C. with King Parnavaz I. The Kingdom of Karti and the Parnavazian dynasty lasting until 65 B.C. and establishing what is now the Georgian alphabet. The official language since then being Georgian. After centuries of dynasties, it was taken by czarist Russia in 1891 but was recognized it’s independence in 1920. However Georgia would join the Soviet Union in 1921 after being taken over by the Soviet army. It would finally gain and retain independence in 1991, following the collapse of the USSR.It’s current Prime Minister is Salome Zurabishvili. It has a current population of 3.8 million. It has a GDP of 30.54 billion and an annual growth rate of 7.5%. It’s currency is the Georgian Lari and it has an exchange rate of $2.72 Lari to one US dollar. Education is compulsory from the ages of 6-14 and is free of charge. Although Georgian is their official language, Russian and English is taught as well. It has a literacy rate of 99.58% but struggles with literacy among older adults and literacy skills beyond basic comprehension.

The immediate comparison I saw with these two countries was their long struggle for independence and to maintain it. Both Mexico and Georgia have their own big main oppressor in a sense. Mexico’s being Spain and Georgia’s being Russia. Another similarity was their struggle with modernity and tradition. Both countries are struggling to spread out economic advances from the bigger cities to the rural parts. Religion also plays a huge role in both countries. However Mexico being Catholic and Georgia following their own Christian Orthodox church. The differences are a bit more direct. The languages are widely different and their relations with the neighboring countries are quite different. Unlike Mexico’s peaceful relations with the US, Georgia has had more violent encounters with Russia. The biggest escalation being full out war in 2009. Funnily enough both countries have a love for spicy food and pickled peppers.