Geography of America: Climate

  • The climate across the United States varies depending on where you are. In places like Florida and Hawaii, it’s tropical, meaning it’s hot and rainy in summer but warm and dry in winter. Alaska, on the other hand, has a tundra climate, which means it’s cold all year round.
  • In many parts of the country, summers are warm and winters are cold. In the northern states, it often snows in winter. Some areas in the western United States, like parts of California, have a Mediterranean climate, which means mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
  • The southeastern United States can experience hurricanes, while parts of the south have a subtropical climate, meaning it’s hot in summer and cool in winter. Tornadoes are common in the Midwest.
  • The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius), while the lowest was -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius).

Geography of America

Geography of America: The mainland United States (also known as the Lower 48), along with Alaska, Hawaii, and five territories: Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa.

The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico, and maritime borders with countries like Russia, Cuba, and The Bahamas, mostly in the Caribbean, along with Canada and Mexico. The border between the United States and Canada is the longest shared land border between two countries in the world.

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Geography of America: Overview

Diverse: Ranges from warm-summer continental in the far north to tropical in the far south....

Geography of America: Area

From 1989 to 1996, the total area of the US was listed as 9,372,610 square kilometres (3,618,780 square miles), considering only land and inland water. Then, the total area changed to 9,629,091 square kilometres (3,717,813 square miles) in 1997 when the Great Lakes area and coastal waters were added. This number slightly increased to 9,631,418 square kilometres (3,718,711 square miles) in 2004, then remained almost the same in 2006 at 9,631,420 square kilometres (3,718,710 square miles). In 2007, the total area expanded to 9,826,630 square kilometres (3,794,080 square miles) when territorial waters were included. Currently, the CIA World Factbook reports the total area as 9,826,675 square kilometres (3,794,100 square miles), while the United Nations Statistics Division gives it as 9,629,091 square kilometres (3,717,813 square miles), and the Encyclopedia Britannica as 9,522,055 square kilometres (3,676,486 square miles), excluding coastal waters but including the Great Lakes area. These figures include only the 50 states and the Federal District, excluding overseas territories. The US has the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone, covering 11,351,000 square kilometres (4,383,000 square miles). Considering total area (both water and land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People’s Republic of China, making it the world’s third or fourth-largest country. Both countries are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area but larger than Brazil. When considering land area only (excluding water), the United States is the world’s third-largest country, after Russia and China, with Canada in fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country by total area depends on two factors: (1) the validity of China’s claim on Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract (both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted) and (2) how the US calculates its surface area. Since the initial publication of the World Factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of the United States several times....

Geography of America: Climate

The climate across the United States varies depending on where you are. In places like Florida and Hawaii, it’s tropical, meaning it’s hot and rainy in summer but warm and dry in winter. Alaska, on the other hand, has a tundra climate, which means it’s cold all year round. In many parts of the country, summers are warm and winters are cold. In the northern states, it often snows in winter. Some areas in the western United States, like parts of California, have a Mediterranean climate, which means mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The southeastern United States can experience hurricanes, while parts of the south have a subtropical climate, meaning it’s hot in summer and cool in winter. Tornadoes are common in the Midwest. The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius), while the lowest was -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius)....

Geography of America: Physical Geography

There’s a simple thumb rule that helps explain why the land in the East is mostly low-lying, while the West has lots of mountains. It is as follows:...

Geography of America: The Five Regions

North America can be divided into five physical regions: the mountainous west, the Great Plains, the Canadian Shield, the varied eastern region, and the Caribbean. Mexico and Central America’s western coast are connected to the mountainous west, while its lowlands and coastal plains extend into the eastern region....

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