United States (USA)
Free and always accurate driving directions, Google Maps, traffic information for the United States (USA) (US). Explore satellite imagery of Washington DC, the United States (USA), on the Google Maps of North America below.
United States (USA) (GPS: 38 00 N, 97 00 W) is located in North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. The country’s area measurements are total: 9,833,517 sq km; land: 9,147,593 sq km, water: 685,924 sq km. This sovereign state is about half the size of Russia, about three-tenths the size of Africa, about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil), slightly larger than China, more than twice the size of the European Union. The total irrigated land is 264,000 sq km (2012).
Some of the essential features of the United States (USA): World’s third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India). Denali (Mt. McKinley) is the highest point in North America, and Death Valley, the lowest point globally. The western coast of the United States and southern coast of Alaska lies along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean. Up to 90% of the world’s earthquakes and some 75% of the world’s volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire.
The Aleutian Islands are a chain of volcanic islands that divide the Bering Sea (north) from the central Pacific Ocean (south). They extend about 1,800 km westward from the Alaskan Peninsula. The archipelago consists of 14 larger islands, 55 smaller islands, and hundreds of islets. There are 41 active volcanoes on the islands, which form a large northern section of the Ring of Fire.
Mammoth Cave, in west-central Kentucky, is the world’s most extended known cave system with more than 650 km (405 miles) of surveyed passageways, which is nearly twice as long as the second-longest cave system, the Sac Actun underwater cave in Mexico – the world’s most comprehensive underwater cave system.
Kazuma Cave on the island of Hawaii is the world’s longest and deepest lava tube cave. It surveyed at 66 km (41 mi) long and 1,102 m (3,614 ft) deep.
Bracken Cave, outside of San Antonio, Texas, is the world’s largest bat cave. It is the summer home to the largest colony of bats in the world. An estimated 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave from March to October, making it the world’s largest known mammals concentration.