US and thus remains
part of Cuba

Coastline: 19,924 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 12 nm
continental shelf: not specified
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida,
arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the
Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low
winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in
January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes
of the Rocky Mountains

Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low
mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in
Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m

Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates,
uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver,
tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber

Land use:
arable land: 19%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 30%
other: 26% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 207,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity
around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in
California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in
northern Alaska, a major impediment to development

Environment--current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain
in both the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of
carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution
from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; very limited natural
fresh water resources in much of the western part of the country
require careful management; desertification

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertificatio