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Mexico separates the US from the rest of Latin America. Coastal plains along its Pacific and Caribbean seaboards rise into an arid central plateau, which includes the world's second-biggest conurbation, Mexico City, built on the site of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Colonized by the Spanish for its silver mines, Mexico achieved independence in 1836. In the "Epic Revolution" of 1910–1920, in which 250,000 died, much of modern Mexico's structure was established. In 1994, Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).