Geography of United States

United States is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 9,833,567 km² (approx. 3,796,744 mi²). Continental shelf of United States is approximately 2,193,526 km² (around 846,921 mi²). United States is located in North America. North America is found entirely in the Northern hemisphere and almost entirely in the Western hemisphere. North American countries include, but are not limited to, Canada, Mexico, and The United States. United States has 2 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Canada, Mexico. United States is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of United States is 760 m (2,494 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of United States is 12048 kilometers (~4,652 miles). United States has 3 unique land boundaries with neigbouring territories and it shares its land borders with 2 different countries. United States has 1 non-contiguous section of land borders. This happens, when a country has a border with a neighbour, and this border is split by a border with another neighbour. United States has 2 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Canada, and Mexico. The lengths of the land borders of United States with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Canada - 8893 km (5,527 mi),
• Mexico - 3141 km (1,952 mi).

Cities

The capital city of United States is Washington, D.C.. The largest cities in United States are Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Austin, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco,Columbus, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Detroit, El Paso, Memphis, Boston, Seattle, Denver.

Elevation

The average elevation range of United States is 760 m (2,494 ft). The highest point of United States is Denali, with its official height being 6190.5 m (20,309 ft). The lowest point of United States is Badwater Basin. It lies at -85 m (-279 ft), i.e. below the sea level. The elevation difference between the highest (Denali) and lowest (Badwater Basin) points of United States is 6275.5 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of United States is 9,833,567 km² (approx. 3,796,744 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 11,351,000 km² (~4,382,625 mi²). The continental shelf of United States is approximately 2,193,526 km² (around 846,921 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of United States is approximately 21,184,567 km² (~8,179,369 mi²). United States is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

3,100,950 km² of United States's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 32% of all the land in the country. There are 1,650,062 km² of arable land in United States, and it comprises 17% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in United States are coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber, arable land.