Gulf between rich and poor. (New Business).

In what may not qualify as a major surprise, Mexico has one of the most inequitable distributions of wealth in the world, according to information provided by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Using details published in the CIA's World Factbook 2002, Reforma daily broke down the economic divisions in the country and came up with some rather depressing results.

Some 40% of the popluation lives below the poverty line, which puts Mexico below such notorious nations in this field as Algeria, the Dominican Republic and India. Relative to First World countries, Mexico's percentage of its impoverished population is more than four times that of the similar segment in Ireland.

But not everyone is starving.

Mexico trails only a handful of nations in terms of being home to the exceptionally wealthy. With 12 billionaires, Mexico trails only the United States (242 billionaires), Germany (29), Japan (25), Switzerland (21), the United Kingdom (17), Canada (14) and Hong Kong (13) on the celebrated list in Forbes magazine of the world's richest individuals.

In Mexico, the wealthiest 10% of the population account for nearly 40% of the wealth, while the poorest 10% account for less than 2%.