Rent a Car Mexico - Geography Mexico

Mexico lies at the southern extreme of North America and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribean to the east. Its northern border is shared with USA, and to the south it borders Guatemala and Belize. Due to its varying altitudes Mexico’s landscape varies from tropical lowland jungle – namely the flat Yucatán Peninsula to high alphine vegetation and dry inland desert regions. Mexico is a mountainous country with most of the country lying at an altitude of over 1000 m.

The broad central plateau, the Altiplano, is sided by mountain ranges to the east and west which lie parallel to the coast. The northern region is dry and sparsely populated occupying nearly half of the total land mass of Mexico. The southern area is densely populated with volcanic mountains and lush valleys.

Mexico is blessed with an incredible variety of natural environments and vegetation zones. However with population increase many forested areas have been destroyed and only one-fifth remains green. Increased farming has invaded the natural habitats of many wild animals namely the coyote, puma and deer but smaller animals still abound and in the tropical forested south you can still find monkeys, jaguars, wild pig, anteaters and various tropical reptiles.