The Huffington Post ran a piece a couple of days ago that captured a lot of important information into fewer than a dozen beautiful slides. Covering everything from food and diversity to economics and questions of violence, the slide show helps the viewer get beyond stereotypes to a glimpse of the real Mexico that many of us know and love.

Here is there list, or click here to view their slide show.

1. Mexico buys more US American products than any country other than Canada. Some 6 million U.S. jobs depend on trade with Mexico,according to the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute.
2. Despite the common conception in the United States that Mexico is a poor country, Mexico’s economy is growing faster than its northern neighbor’s — 3.9 percent compared to 1.7 percent in 2011, according to the UK Independent.
3. Mexico has more professional elections than the United States. According to Robert A. Pastor, a professor and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University who has observed Mexican elections since 1986, the Mexican system is more professional, non-partisan and independent than the US American one.
4. Mexico gave the world chocolate, along with corn, avocados, chili peppers, tequila and many other awesome foods.
5. Mexico has amazing cultural diversity. While Mexico may be the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, that’s not the only language spoken in the country. More than 60 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico.
6. Mexico is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, with a population of 112 million Spanish speakers.
7. Mexico City is massive. With around 20.5 million inhabitants, it sits among the world’s largest cities. And it’s massiveness has a long history — when the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century in Tenochtitlán, the heart of the Aztec empire where Mexico City currently stands, it may have been the largest urban area in the world.
8. Mexico has awesome beaches, ancient ruins, mountains, and incredible food.
9. Mexico is not as violent as you may think. Mexico had a murder rate of 23.7 per 100,000 residents in 2011, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. That’s about equal to Brazil’s and roughly half as high as Detroit. Mexico’s murder rate isn’t particularly high by Latin American standards. Plenty of places in the region have higher murder rates — including Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Jamaica.
10. Mexico has a thriving film industry. Many people are already familiar with crossover successes like Gael García Bernal, Salma Hayek and director Guillermo del Toro. But those stars account for just a small fraction of a booming industry.
11. Mexico is home to some of the oldest civilizations of the Americas. Mexico’s first major civilization, the Olmecs,established themselves by around 1200 BC.