Google announced Friday afternoon that Mexico now has its own version of Google Maps, available at maps.google.com.mx.

Besides being able to take advantage of the most basic use of Google Maps (as a navigational tool), Mexicans will also be able to enjoy an incredibly convenient feature that has been offered in the U.S. for some time now, called the Local Business Center. Now, once a large enough quantity of businesses have incorporated their geographical location and business information into the data center, Google Maps users should have zero problem locating services and stores for all their various needs.

Running a search on "restaurants" in a city you don't know turns out to be quite the handy tool.

Also exciting for Mexican residents and tourists is the launch of Street View, which, when it goes live on Monday, November 9, will mark the first time a Latin American country will be able to enjoy this feature. Street View will initially be available in seven cities--Monterrey, Guadalajara, Ciudad de México, Puerto Vallarta, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Cancún--though, knowing Google, we can expect that list to expand very soon.

Finally, as expected with the launch of any Google Maps platform, Google is offering a full Google Maps API to developers and webmasters who have interesting and creative ideas for incorporating the maps into their own services, Web pages, and applications.

All in all, getting around in Mexico may have just gotten a whole lot easier.

For those who would like to learn more, Google has created a YouTube channel containing all the information about Google Maps Mexico here.