Geografia de los estados unidos (inglés)

Geography of the United States
The United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of forty-eight contiguous states in North America, Alaska, a peninsula which forms thenorthwestern most part of North America, and Hawaii, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. There are several United States territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. The term "United States", when used in thegeographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. The country shares land borders with Canada and Mexico andmaritime (water) borders with Russia, Cuba, and The Bahamas.
By total area (water as well as land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People's Republic of China, making it theworld's third or fourth largest country. China and the United States are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area, but are larger than Brazil. By land area only (exclusive of waters), the UnitedStates is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China, with Canada fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country depends on two factors: (1) the validity of China's claimon Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. Both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted; and (2) How US calculates its own surface area. Since the initial publishing of the WorldFactbook, the CIA has updated the total area of United States a number of times. From 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as 9,372,610 km2 (3,618,780 sq. mi) (land + inland wateronly). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq. mi) in 1997 (Great Lakes area and coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km2 (3,718,711 sq. mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 (3,718,710sq. mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,080 sq. mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added). Currently, the CIA World Factbook gives 9,826,675 km2 (3,794,100 sq. mi), the United Nations Statistics...