Mexico is located at about 23° N and 102° W in the
southern portion of North America. It is also located in a region
known as Middle America. Almost all of Mexico lies in the North
American Plate, with small parts of the Baja California peninsula on
the Pacific and Cocos Plates. Geophysically, some geographers
include the territory east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (around 12%
of the total) within Central America. Geopolitically, however,
Mexico is considered part of North America along with Canada and the
United States.
Mexico's total area is 1,972,550 km², making it the world's 14th
largest country by total area, and includes approximately 6,000 km²
of islands in the Pacific Ocean (including the remote Guadalupe
Island and the Revillagigedo Islands), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea,
and Gulf of California. On its north, Mexico shares a 3,141 km
border with the United States. The meandering Río Bravo del Norte (known
as the Rio Grande in the United States) defines the border from
Ciudad Juárez east to the Gulf of Mexico. A series of natural and
artificial markers delineate the United States-Mexican border west
from Ciudad Juárez to the Pacific Ocean. On its south, Mexico shares
an 871 km border with Guatemala and a 251 km border with Belize.
The Tropic of Cancer effectively divides the
country into temperate and tropical zones. Land north of the
twenty-fourth parallel experiences cooler temperatures during the
winter months. South of the twenty-fourth parallel, temperatures are
fairly constant year round and vary solely as a function of
elevation. This gives Mexico one of the world's most diverse weather
systems in the world.
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