The United States of America

The vast and varied expanse of the United States of America stretches from the heavily industrialized, metropolitan Atlantic seaboard, across the rich flat farms of the central plains, over the majestic Rocky Mountains to the fertile, densely populated west coast, then halfway across the Pacific to the semi-tropical island-state of Hawaii. Without Hawaii and Alaska the continental U.S. measures 4,505 kilometres from its Atlantic to Pacific coasts, 2,574 kilometres from Canada to Mexico; it covers 9,372,614 square kilometres. In area, it is the fourth largest nation in the world (behind Russia, Canada and China).