5. It's Home to the World's Smallest Volcano
5．世界最小的火山
So, apparently Mexico has an aptitude for leading the world in the 'unlikely smallest things' stakes. After the record beating barely-a-presidency of Lascurain, the country has since thrown up yet another tiny marvel. Welcome to Cuexcomate, the smallest volcano in recorded history.
这样看来，墨西哥经常引领“世界不可思议之小”。继Lascurain打破总统任期之后，该国已经抛出了另一个小奇迹。欢迎来到Cuexcomate，有史以来最小的火山。
Now, pay attention, kids, because just looking at images of Cuexcomate is about as exciting as watching your toenails grow. It's the facts behind it that make it fascinating. Cuexcomate formed way, way back in 1664, an offshoot of the bigger Popocatepetl volcano. Somehow, it began to grow… and then just stopped. Like a kid who doesn't get any bigger after their first birthday, Cuexcomate topped out at a mere 43 feet. That's tiny. You could stack 7 averagely-tall dudes on one another's shoulders, and the top guy would be able to peer into the crater.
孩子们，现在请注意，因为看Cuexcomate的图片不比观察脚趾甲生长更有趣。Cuexcomate背后的事实才是它吸引人的原因。早在1664年，Cuexcomate就形成了，是更大的波卡特佩特火山火山的延伸。不知怎的，它开始长大，然后就停止了。像个一岁生日后就不再长大的孩子，Cuexcomate只有43英尺高，很小。只要让7个正常高度的小伙子站在彼此的肩上，顶部的那个人就能看到火山口里面。
So small is the long-dormant volcano that no-one thought twice about building around it. If you want to visit Cuexcomate, you have to drive out into a suburb of Puebla, work your way around the Volkswagen factory, and locate it among people's yards.
这座长期休眠的火山太小了，人们在周围建房子时都毫无顾虑。如果想拜访Cuexcomate，你要开车到Puebla郊区，绕过大众汽车的工厂，然后在人们的院子之间寻找它。
4. Net Mexican Migration to the US is Actually Negative
4．墨西哥向美国的净移民其实是负的
Mexican immigration has become a political flashpoint in the US. While we don't want to get into the politics of it here, it's worth noting that things may not be quite so explosive as they seem. While plenty of Mexican still travel to the US looking for a better life, plenty more come to the US, look around, then decide to go back to Mexico. We know this because, according to PEW Research, net Mexican immigration to the US over the last decade has fallen to negative levels.
墨西哥移民已成为美国政治的热点话题。我们不打算讨论那里的政治，不过值得注意的是，事情可能并不像看上去那么严重。很多墨西哥人前往美国寻找更好的生活，但也有很多抵达美国后四处一看，就决定回到墨西哥。我们知道这些是因为跟据皮尤研究，墨西哥到美国的净移民在过去十年已降至负数。
This means there are actually more Mexicans permanently leaving the US than there are arriving. Prior to the recession, it was the other way. The period 1995-2000 saw a net migration of 2.27 million Mexicans to the US. The period 2009-2014, on the other hand, saw a net migration of minus 140,000.
这意味着，比起到达美国的墨西哥人，永远离开的更多。与经济衰退之前的情况正相反。1995 – 2000年墨西哥向美国的净移民有227万。2009 – 2014年的净移民则减少了1.4万。
The factors for this are manifold. Better border policing, the Great Recession, and increasing job opportunities in Mexico have all played a part, as has the desire to reunite with family members still in Mexico.
原因是多方面的，比如更好的边境治安、大萧条、墨西哥的就业机会增加，还有与家人团聚仍然在墨西哥团聚的愿望。
3. Mexico Once Went to War With France Over Pastries
3．曾与法国为了糕点开战
In the annals of warfare, there can't be many dumber reasons for attacking another state than the fate of a pastry shop. Yet that's exactly what transpired between France and Mexico in 1838. After a rioting mob ransacked a Mexico City bakery owned by a Frenchman named Remontel, he sued the nation of Mexico for compensation. When Mexico laughed him out, he returned to France and demanded an audience with King Louis-Philippe. Amazingly, he got it. Even more amazingly, Louis-Philippe agreed to help him.
战争年代，不可能有比糕点店的命运更愚蠢的宣战理由了。然而这就是法国和墨西哥之间1838年发生的事。骚乱的暴徒洗劫了一家墨西哥城的面包店，店主Remontel是法国人，起诉了墨西哥要求国家赔偿。被墨西哥取笑后，他回到法国，要求会见法王路易·菲利普。令人惊讶的是，他成功了。更令人惊讶的是，法王同意帮他。
Paris wrote to Mexico and demanded payment of 600,000 pesos, some 600 times the value of Remontel's shop (to be fair, some of it was for unpaid Mexican debts incurred a decade earlier). When Mexico balked, the French navy invaded. They bombarded San Juan de Ulua, captured Veracruz, and blockaded the entire country. It was only thanks to a British-brokered agreement that the war ended in early 1839. Remontel got his money. All in all, the Pastry War dragged on for four months, killed over 100 people, and injured nearly 200 more.
巴黎写信给墨西哥索要60万比索的赔偿，比Remontel的店贵了600倍（其实这里面有一些是墨西哥十年前欠的债）。墨西哥犹豫不决时，法国海军入侵了。他们轰炸San Juan de Ulua，俘虏Veracruz，封锁了整个国家。幸亏有英国人调解，战争才在1839年初结束。Remontel得到了他的钱。总之，糕点战争持续了四个月，超过100人死亡，近200人受伤。
2. They Briefly Had the Most-Deluded Emperor in History
2．史上最“瞎”皇帝
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph has the distinct honor of being just Mexico's second and final Emperor. A member of Europe's royal Habsburg line (the guys who ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Maximilian was just drifting along when, in 1863, he received a letter telling him the people of Mexico had voted to make him their king. Rather than treat it as we would an email from a Nigerian prince, Maximilian hightailed it to Mexico and declared himself Emperor. Bad move.
费迪南德·马克西米利安·约瑟夫拥有一项独特的荣誉，即墨西哥的第二个也是最后一个皇帝。作为欧洲哈普斯堡皇室成员（奥匈帝国统治者），马克西米利安正无所事事时，1863年，他收到了一封信，说墨西哥人投票让他当国王。不像我们忽略什么尼日利亚王子发来的电子邮件，马克西米利安立马奔赴墨西哥即位。糟糕的举动。
The letter had been issued by Napoleon III of France, who was conspiring with conservative Mexicans to place a loyal French puppet on the throne. Unknown to Maximilian, they'd chosen him as their useful idiot. When Maximilian crowned himself emperor, it triggered a civil war in Mexico that lasted three years. Apparently, Maximilian didn't realize this, and thought he was a beloved, paternal figure who'd finally found his true calling. When the US intervened to push France's pro-Maximilian troops out, the Emperor even refused to leave, saying the Mexican peasants needed him.
这封信来自法国拿破仑三世，他密谋让保守的墨西哥人拥立一个法国傀儡皇帝。马克西米利安不知道他们想让他当个有用的白痴。马克西米利安的即位引发了墨西哥持续三年的内战。显然马克西米利安并没有意识到这一点，反倒认为自己是受人爱戴的国父，真是当皇帝的料。当美国介入驱逐法国的马克西米利安军队时，他甚至拒绝离开，说墨西哥农民需要他。
Those same peasants executed him on a hillside outside Queretaro in 1867. The deluded reign of Mexico's last Emperor was over.
也正是这些农民，1867年将他在克雷塔罗州外的山坡上处决。自欺欺人的墨西哥末代皇帝的统治就此结束。
1.Their Capital City is Sinking
1．首都在下沉
At 2,240 meters above sea level, Mexico City is one of the highest capital cities on Earth. Only seven other capitals (out of nearly 200) sit at a higher altitude. Pretty neat, huh? Well, wait till you get a load of this next part. If things keep going the way they are, Mexico City may not hold its coveted 8th position much longer. This is for the simple reason that the capital is sinking at an incredible rate.
墨西哥城海拔2240米，是地球上海拔最高的首都之一。200个首都中，只有7个更高。很不错对吧？别急，接着看。如果事情继续如此发展，墨西哥城第8的宝座可能很快就坐不稳了。原因很简单，就是首都正以惊人的速度下沉。
Yeah, sinking. Every year, this vast megacity, home to over 21 million people, loses roughly one meter (3 feet) in altitude. In the last 60 years, the entire city has dropped 10 meters closer to sea level. That might not sound like much, so let's put it this way. The 7th highest capital city in the world is Sana'a in Yemen. It stands at 2,250 meters above sea level, ten meters higher than Mexico City. Over the course of six decades, the entire Mexican capital sank so low that it passed Sana'a, dropping from 7th to 8th place in the ranking of capitals by altitude.
没错，下沉。这巨型城市是超过2100万人的家园，却每年失去约1米海拔高度。在过去的60年里，整座城市离海平面近了10米。听起来可能不算太多，那就这么说吧：世界第7高的首都是也门的萨那，海拔2250米，比墨西哥城高10米。在过去的60年里，整个墨西哥首都经过萨那，从第7下沉到了第8。
The reason for this is simple: water. Mexico City's residents draw their water from beneath the capital, draining the water table and causing it to subside. As the city's population keeps growing, it will sink faster and faster, until eventually dropping out of the top 10 highest capitals altogether. While that's still a way off yet, (Nairobi, the current #10, is nearly 450 meters lower than Mexico City), the simple fact it could happen is mind-blowing.
原因很简单：水。墨西哥城的居民从首都地下取水，导致水位消退。随着城市人口的持续增长，它会下沉得越来越快，直到完全退出十大最高的首都之列。尽管目前这还比较遥远，（内罗毕是现在的第10，比墨西哥城低近450米），但这一简单事实可能发生还是令人兴奋。
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