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Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico,
between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean,
between Guatemala and the US
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23 00 N, 102 00 W
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total: 1,972,550 sq km
land: 1,923,040 sq km
water: 49,510 sq km
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slightly less than three times the size of Texas
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total: 4,353 km
border countries: Belize 250 km, Guatemala 962 km, US
3,141 km
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9,330 km
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin
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varies from tropical to desert
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high, rugged mountains; low coastal plains; high plateaus;
desert
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lowest point: Laguna Salada -10 m
highest point: Volcan Pico de Orizaba 5,700 m
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petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber
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arable land: 12.99%
permanent crops: 1.31%
other: 85.7% (2001)
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65,000 sq km (1998 est.)
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tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive
earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the
Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts
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Environment - current issues:
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scarcity of hazardous waste disposal facilities; rural to urban
migration; 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; deteriorating agricultural lands; serious air
and water pollution in the national capital and urban centers
along US-Mexico border; land subsidence in Valley of Mexico
caused by groundwater depletion
note: the government considers the lack of clean water
and deforestation national security issues
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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strategic location on southern border of US; corn (maize), one
of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated
in Mexico
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