Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Area: Total: 9,826,630 sq km
Land: 9,161,923 sq km
Water: 664,707 sq km

Note: Includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Land boundaries: Total: 12,034 km
Border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km
Note: U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the U.S. and is part of Cuba; the base boundary is 29 km

Coastline: 19,924 km

Climate: Mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, 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

Elevation extremes: Lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
Highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m

Natural hazards: Tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development

Geography - note: World's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent

Source: The World Factbook

Weather in North American CitiesSee the current weather forecast for the local area