Geography |
The United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), located in the southern part of North America, is bordered by the United States on the north, the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on the east, and Guatemala and Belize on the south. It covers an area of 1 958 200 km2.
The central plateau (Meseta Central), running from the border with the United States to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south, occupies much of the centre of the country. The average elevation ranges from about 900 m in the north to about 2 400 m in the south. The plateau is flanked by two major mountain ranges the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental in the east that join together in the south. Most of Mexico's major peaks and active and inactive volcanoes are located on the plateau or in these mountain ranges. These include Popocatépetl (5452 m) and Ixtaccíhuatl (5286 m), both of which are located near Mexico City, and the highest peak in Mexico, Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltepetl), 5 700 m, located north-west of Veracruz. The plateau drops sharply to the coastal plains, particularly to the west.
The western coastal plain, lying between the plateau and the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California, ranges in width from about 50 km in the north to just a few kilometres wide south along much of the southern coast. It is a productive agricultural region. The coastal plain along the Gulf Coast is about 280 km wide at the border with Texas, narrowing to a width of a few kilometres near Veracruz in and then widening again at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The northern part is generally dry, while rainfall is more plentiful in the south.
The Yucatán Peninsula extends north-east from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a flat, low-lying limestone plateau with no rivers. The north-west is dry brushland but further south rainfall is plentiful and there the peninsula is covered by tropical rain forests.
The Southern Highlands, located south of the central plateau, are made up of a number of steep mountain ranges, deep valleys, and dry plateaus. The Sierra Madre del Sur is the principal mountain range, running from near the mouth of the Balsas River in the west to the Gulf of Tehuantepec in the east. Only narrow coastal strips front the Pacific Ocean.
South and east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, to the Guatemala border, are the Chiapas Highlands, with peaks to 2 700 m. This is a well-watered region; tropical forests cover much of it.
In the far north-west is the Baja California Peninsula. Stretching south-east from the U.S. border for 1 300 km, the peninsula is extremely dry and rugged, with a very narrow coastal plain.
Although it varies considerably throughout the country, the climate of much of northern and central Mexico is characterised by high temperatures and moderate to low rainfall. The highlands of the central plateau generally have a moderate climate with few extremes of hot or cold. Mexico City, for example, has an average July temperature of 17° C and an average January temperature of 12° C. The northern and central areas of the plateau are arid to semiarid, with the drier regions receiving about 300 mm of rainfall annually. Rainfall increases to about 600 mm in the southern part of the plateau. The northern coastal areas, including Baja California, are quite arid, with rainfall of less than 130 mm along the Pacific Coast and 250 to 600 mm along the northern Gulf Coast.
Much of southern Mexico has a tropical climate with distinct rainy and dry seasons. Temperatures in the coastal regions range between 21° C and 27° C throughout the year. Annual rainfall, which generally ranges between 1500 and 2000 mm, comes mainly during the rainy season of May to October. The Gulf Coast is subject to hurricanes.
The northern Yucatán Peni
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