GEOGRAPHY
Location:
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the
North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Geographic coordinates: 38 00 N, 97 00 W
Map references: North America
Area:
total area: 9,372,610 sq km
land area: 9,166,600 sq km
comparative area: about one-half the size of Russia; about
three-tenths the size of Africa; about one-half the size of South
America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly smaller than
China; about two and one-half times the size of Western Europe
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Land boundaries:
total: 12,248 km
border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with
Alaska), Cuba 29 km (US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay), Mexico
3,326 km
note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and thus
remains part of Cuba
Coastline: 19,924 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: maritime boundary disputes with
Canada (Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca,
Machias Seal Island); US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased
from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area
can terminate the lease; Haiti claims Navassa Island; US has made
no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right
to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other nation;
Republic of Marshall Islands claims Wake Island
Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida
and 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
lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates,
uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver,
tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use:
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 26%
forest and woodland: 29%
other: 25%
Irrigated land: 181,020 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in
both the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of
carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution
from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; very limited natural
fresh water resources in much of the western part of the country
require careful management; desertification
natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity
around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic coast; tornadoes
in the midwest; mud slides in California; forest fires in the
west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment
to development
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified
- Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental
Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Tropical
Timber 94
Geographic note: world's fourth-largest country (after
Russia, Canada, and China)
