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Outline of geographical position, climate, states of the USA

The land area of the United States. The area of the United States is approximately 1,9 billion acres (770 million hectares). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 365 million acres (150 million hectares). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the Pacific, has 4 million acres (1,6 million hectares).

After Russia and Canada, the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area, ranking above or below China (ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted). It also depends on different factbooks and statistics:

· The CIA World Factbook gives – 3,794,101 squares miles (9,826,675 sq km.)[1];

· The United States Statistics Division gives 3,717,813 sq mi (9,629,091 sq km);

· The Encyclopedia Britannica gives 3,676 sq mi (9,522,055 sq km).

Including only land area (without Alaska and Hawaii), the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.

The Geography of the United States. The United States is bordered by Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Mexico to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The United States has great geographic variety.

The Mississippi–Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river systems, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast.

The mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado. Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the Mojave. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast.

At 20,320 feet (6,194 m), Alaska's Mount McKinley is the tallest peak in the country and in North America. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.

The climate.The United States is the only country that includes within its territory each of the world’s climates and ecosystems. At the extremes are frigid arctic conditions in northern Alaska, the steaming tropics of Hawaii, and the parched deserts of the Southwest.

Varied climatic conditions are important. Because of its many climates, the United States has a tremendous diversity of natural vegetation, animal life, soil conditions, and water features.

The states.The United States of America comprises fifty states and a federal district. Forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, are situated in central North America. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also has several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Thus, the USA is the only country in the world to have 11 of the world climates and ecosystems within its territory. It has great extremes of temperature. Nature has blessed and in some ways cursed the United States. No country on Earth can match America’s diverse physical conditions and the resulting natural landscapes.

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