A Country of Geographic Extremes
The United States includes the contiguous 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, overseas territories, and smaller island possessions. It shares its longest international land border with Canada and also borders Mexico, while maritime boundaries reach Russia, Cuba, and the Bahamas.
Its landscape is divided into eight major physiographic regions, including the Appalachian Highlands, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Intermontane Plateaus, and Pacific Mountain System. The country contains broad coastal plains, enormous forests, productive farmland, deserts, caves, volcanoes, coral islands, and some of the world’s most dramatic canyons.
Climate varies from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to polar in Alaska. The country experiences tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, and heavy snow. Death Valley is among Earth’s hottest places, while Alaska contains the nation’s highest peak, Denali.
This geographic variety has shaped agriculture, settlement, hazards, and public lands across the United States.