Mexico is located between 15° and 33° north latitude and 86° and 116° west longitude. It is washed by the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The length of the coastline is 9.2 thousand km, of which 6.6 thousand km are on the coast of the Pacific Ocean (including 1.1 thousand km on the coastline of the islands) and 2.6 thousand km on the coast of the Mexican Gulf and Caribbean Sea. Weakly dissected shores with lagoons predominate, especially on the Atlantic coast, where there is not a single convenient natural bay. On the Pacific coast are the first-class natural bays of Acapulco, Mazatlán, and others. In the extreme northwest, there is the Gulf of California, deeply protruding into the land, which separates the California peninsula from continental Mexico. Between the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico is the Yucatan Peninsula, washed in the southwest by the Gulf of Campeche. In the north it borders on the USA (3141 km),
Mexico is a mountainous country. More than 1/2 of its territory is located at the height of St. 1000 m. Approx. 2/3 of the area is occupied by the Mexican Highlands, in which the Northern and Central Meses are distinguished, located at an altitude of 500 to 2400 m. The Western Sierra Madre, consisting of mountain ranges up to 3150 m high, separates the Mexican Highlands from the Pacific coast The Gulf of Mexico – Eastern Sierra Madre up to 4054 m high. In the south rises the Transverse Volcanic Sierra, stretching in the sublatitudinal direction for 800 km and separating the Mexican Highlands from the mountain ranges and basins of Southern Mexico. Here are the highest points of the country – the active volcanoes Orizaba (5700 m), Popocatepetl (5452 m), Colima (3846 m), etc. Along the southern part of the Pacific coast, the Southern Sierra Madre stretches up to 3703 m high for 1100 km. Further to the southeast are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas (Tacana volcano on the border with Guatemala, 4117 m) and the Chiapas massif, gently descending to the Gulf of Mexico. A mountain range up to 3078 m high stretches along the California Peninsula. The country’s most significant plain in terms of area is the Mexican Lowland. Its maximum width in the northern part is approx. 500 km. It adjoins the vast karst plain of the Yucatan Peninsula. The plain of the Pacific coast only in the north expands to 200 km, in many places the mountains come close to the coast. The largest plain in the country is the Mexican Lowland. Its maximum width in the northern part is approx. 500 km. It adjoins the vast karst plain of the Yucatan Peninsula. The plain of the Pacific coast only in the north expands to 200 km, in many places the mountains come close to the coast. The largest plain in the country is the Mexican Lowland. Its maximum width in the northern part is approx. 500 km. It adjoins the vast karst plain of the Yucatan Peninsula. The plain of the Pacific coast only in the north expands to 200 km, in many places the mountains come close to the coast.
Mexico occupies one of the first places in the world among industrialized countries in terms of reserves of a number of valuable minerals. In particular, the country has large reserves of oil (2.3 billion tons), natural gas (0.42 trillion m3), coal (1.2 billion tons), iron ore (690 million tons), manganese (4 million tons), copper (27 million tons), zinc (8 million tons), lead (1.5 million tons), sulfur (75 million tons), silver (37 thousand tons), bismuth (10 thousand tons), gold (450 tons ), as well as fluorite (fluorspar), barite, uranium, asbestos, kaolin, phosphate raw materials, salt, mica, etc.
According to BRIDGAT, almost everywhere the average annual temperature is above +15°С. However, the predominance of mountainous relief predetermines a wide variety of climatic conditions. The average temperatures of January and June respectively in the Northern Mesa are +9.6°С and +26.7°С, in the Central Mesa +11.8°С and +15.8°С, in the south of Mexico +21.6°С and +25.9°С. At the same time, extreme seasonal fluctuations in Northern Mesa can range from +48°С in summer to -22°С in winter. In the Central Mesa, these fluctuations are less sharp, and in the south of the country they are practically absent.
There are more than 40 rivers in Mexico, but there are few large and full-flowing rivers due to the arid climate and the predominance of mountainous terrain. Most rivers are fed by rain. The largest (Rio Bravo del Norte, Colorado, Grijalva and Usumacinta bordering the United States) flow along the outskirts of the country. The interior regions of the Mexican Highlands account for only 2% of Mexico’s surface runoff (the main river systems are the Lerma – Rio Grande – de Santiago, Panuco). The length of navigable river routes is approx. 3 thousand km. The hydroelectric potential of the rivers is estimated at 51.4 million kW. Mexican lakes are mainly of volcanic and tectonic origin and are located mainly in the southern and southwestern parts of Central Mesa (Lake Chapala – about 2 thousand km2, Lake Patzcuaro, Cuitzeo, etc.).
1/4 of the territory of Mexico, mainly in the interior of the Mexican Highlands, is occupied by gray soils and primitive soils of subtropical deserts. The California Peninsula has desert tropical soils. In mountainous regions, gray-brown, brown, mountain-forest brown, etc. In the tropics on moist plains, red-yellow and red ferrallitic soils (5% of the territory), in savannahs – brown-red and red-brown. In the southeast, swampy soils occupy 4% of the country’s area. Arable land makes up 13.2%. OK. 1/2 of the territory and 90% of cultivated land, especially in the mountains, are subject to erosion.
Forests cover approx. 14% of the territory of Mexico. Plants grow both in mid-latitudes and in the tropics. The Mexican highlands are characterized by desert and semi-desert flora – agave, cactus, yucca, etc. In the mountains, deciduous and mixed forests of the subtropical and temperate zones (oak, fir, hornbeam, pine) predominate. On the coast of the Caribbean Sea there are humid evergreen tropical forests with many species (ceiba, palm trees, mahogany, logwood, etc.). On the Pacific coast there are variable humid deciduous tropical forests. The fauna belongs to two faunal regions: Neoarctic (in the northwest and on the Mexican Highlands) and Neotropical (south of the Transverse Volcanic Sierra and on the coasts south of the tropic). In semi-deserts and deserts, the most characteristic are rodents (deer hamsters, Allen’s rabbit, etc.), the toad-like lizard, and the coyote; in the mountain forests of the Mexican Highlands – a black bear, a raccoon, a red lynx, a puma; in the savannas – deer, tamandua, or four-toed anteater, tree porcupines. In the south in tropical forests – 2 species of monkeys, tapir, jaguar; from birds – parrots, toucans, etc. Territorial waters have rich fish resources, as well as shrimps, lobsters, mollusks, etc.
