Mexico

Geographic coordinates:

38 00 N, 97 00 W

Map references:

North America

Area:

total: 9,826,630 sq km
land: 9,161,923 sq km
water: 664,707 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Area - comparative:

about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of
Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger
than Brazil); slightly larger than China; more than twice the size
of the European Union

Land boundaries:

total: 12,034 km
border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska),
Mexico 3,141 km
note: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the US and
is part of Cuba; the base boundary is 28 km

Coastline:

19,924 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: not specified

Climate:

mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in
Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River,
and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter
temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in
January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes
of the Rocky Mountains

Terrain:

vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in
east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged,
volcanic topography in Hawaii

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
highest point: Mount McKinley 6,198 m

Natural resources:

coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold,
iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum,
natural gas, timber
note: the US has the world's largest coal reserves with 491 billion
short tons accounting for 27% of the world's total

Land use:

arable land: 18.01%
permanent crops: 0.21%
other: 81.78% (2005)

Irrigated land:

223,850 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

3,069 cu km (1985)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 477 cu km/yr (13%/46%/41%)
per capita: 1,600 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin;
hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes
in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires
in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major
impediment to development

Environmen