The Americas conventionally are divided into two continents, North and South America, with the place of demarcation at the border between Panama and Colombia. Yet a generation of students is growing up with the broad but imprecise term Latin America, referring to all of those countries south of the United States, while North America has come to mean only Canada and the United States. Mexico and Central America should be included when teachers instruct their students about North America. Mexico ranks eleventh in the world in population and has an area of about three quarters of a million square miles. It is almost as urbanized as the United States and Canada, with over 70 percent of its population classed as urban. Yet textbooks and teachers continue to devote major attention to a Mexico of peasants. Mexico is a newly industrialized country of considerable accomplishments and tremendous potential. Over 80 percent of the population is literate with a sizable and growing segment university trained and possessing a tradition of hard work. The conventional stereotype of the lazy Mexican is sadly inaccurate, and its correction should be a major objective for teachers. The business community is beginning to consider Mexico as an integral part of North America, and hopefully the U.S. public in general and geography teachers in particular will do so in the future. (JB)