Mexico: Geography#
| Location | North America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the United States and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the United States |
|---|---|
| Geographic Coordinates | 23 00 N, 102 00 W 23.0,-102.0 |
| Area | total: 1,964,375 sq km land: 1,943,945 sq km water: 20,430 sq km We are unable to verify those figures from Factbook, since the 6 main sources we used for checking give different figures as follows: Factbook: 1964375 DBpedia: 1972550 Geoname: 1972550 Infoplease: 1972550 Britannica: 1964375 Wolfram: 1964000 Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org |
| Land boundaries | total: 4,353 km border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,141 km |
| Coastline | 9,330 km |
| Elevation Extremes | lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m |
| Highest Mountains | Due to difference in mountain rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists : According to Wolfram: Pico de Orizaba 5610 m; Popocatepetl 5452 m; Iztaccihuatl 5286 m; Tèyotl 4660 m; Nevado de Toluca 4632 m According to Geonames: Volcán Pico de Orizaba 5636 m; Volcán Popocatépetl 5426 m; Volcán de Colima 4330 m; Mount Tlaloc 4151 m; Cerro El Mirador 4120 m Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org Important Mountains |
| Terrain | high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert |
| Natural Hazards | tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts volcanism: volcanic activity in the central-southern part of the country; the volcanoes in Baja California are mostly dormant; Colima (elev. 3,850 m), which erupted in 2010, is Mexico's most active volcano and is responsible for causing periodic evacuations of nearby villagers; it has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Popocatepetl (elev. 5,426 m) poses a threat to Mexico City; other historically active volcanoes include Barcena, Ceboruco, El Chichon, Michoacan-Guanajuato, Pico de Orizaba, San Martin, Socorro, and Tacana |
| Natural Resource | petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber |
| Land Use | arable land: 12.98% permanent crops: 1.36% other: 85.66% (2011) |
| Climate | varies from tropical to desert |
| Irrigated Land | 64,600 sq km (2009) |
| Renewable Water Resources | 457.2 cu km (2011) |
| Environment_CurrentIssues | scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban migration; natural freshwater resources scarce and polluted in north, inaccessible and poor quality in center and extreme southeast; raw sewage and industrial effluents polluting rivers in urban areas; deforestation; widespread erosion; desertification; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico caused by groundwater depletion<br /><i><b>note:</b> </i>the government considers the lack of clean water and deforestation national security issues |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Large Cities | Due to difference in city rankings taken from two data sources we are listing here both lists : According to Wolfram: Mexico City; Ecatepec; Tijuana; Puebla; Guadalajara According to Geonames: Mexico City; Iztapalapa; Ecatepec; Guadalajara; Puebla Attempted Explanation: Please help us to try to explain the discrepancies by sending us helpful information to office nospam@TUGraz.at @global-geography.org Important Cities |
| Geography-note | strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico |