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 US.
Geographic coordinates:
Map references: North America
Area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas
- total: 1,972,550 km²
- land: 1,923,040 km²
- water: 49,510 km²
Land boundaries:
- total: 4,538 km
- border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US 3,326 km
Coastline: 9,330 km
The two tiny island on the Pacific of Guadalupe and Revillagigedo .
Maritime claims:
- contiguous zone: 24 nm
- continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
- exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
- territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: varies from tropical to desert.
Terrain: high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus; desert.
Elevation extremes:
- lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
- highest point: Pico de Orizaba volcano 5,610 m
Natural resources: petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas and timber.
Land use:
- arable land: 12%
- permanent crops: 1%
- permanent pastures: 39%
- forests and woodland: 26%
- other: 22% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 61,000 km² (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: Tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts.
Environment - current issues: Natural fresh water 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; serious air pollution in the national capital and urban centers along US-Mexico border.
Environment - international agreements: Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling and Kyoto Protocol.
See also
