Geography

The Republic of Mexico's covers almost 780,000 2 million square km, making it the world's eight largest nation. The country curves from northwest to southeast, narrowing to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south and then continuing northeast to the Yucatan Peninsula. To the west and south it's bordered by the Pacific Ocean. The Sea of Cortes lies between the mainland and Baja California, the world's longest peninsula. Mexico's east coast is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico all the way from the US border to the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. The eastern Peninsula faces the Caribbean Sea.

The northernmost portion of Mexico is covered by two different deserts.  The largest is the Chihuahuan desert which covers approximately 453,000 sq km and is centered between the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra Madre Oriental mountain ranges.  The Sonoran desert covers about 221,000 sq km and ranges from the majority of the Baja peninsula and the northwestern portion of the mainland.

Northern and central Mexico also have coastal plains on the east and west and two north/south mountain ranges framing a group of broad central plateaus known as the Altiplano Central.  The Altiplano Central is divided into northern and central parts, themselves split by minor ranges and varies in altitude from about 1,000 m in the north to more than 2,000 m in the center of the country.

The central plateau is mostly rolling hills and broad valleys and includes some of the best farm and ranch land in the country. The altiplano is bound on the east by the Sierra Madre Oriental and includes peaks as high as 3,700 m. The Gulf Coast plain is an extension of a plain in the US and is wide in the north but narrows as it nears the port of Veracruz.

Northwestern Mexico and inland northern areas are drier than the rest of the country. It is hot in the summer and north winds can make inland northern Mexico chilly in winter, with temperatures sometimes approaching freezing. Inland at higher elevations, the climate is also dry and temperate, and the mountain peaks are often capped with snow. 

The Tropic of Cancer cuts across Mexico near Mazatlan and Ciudad Victoria and south of the tropic it's hot and humid all year long along the coastal plains on either side of the country. The hot, wet season runs from May to October with the hottest and wettest months falling between June and September for most of the country. Low-lying coastal areas are wetter and hotter than elevated inland ones. Though the hottest summer extremes are generally found on the coastal plains, temperatures in the Altiplano and the Plataforma Yucateca often reach higher than 38 degrees C.