Mexico is found on the North American Plate, with the Pacific on its West and the Atlantic on the East and bordered by the US in the North and Belize and Guatemala in the South. It is the 13^th largest country in the world and has 31 federal states.

The country features a series of mountain ranges, with the majority being in the north where the highest altitudes can be found, including the Sierra Madre Oriental and Occidental; both an extension of the Rocky Mountains in the US, which cross the country from north to south. Additionally, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of Sierra Nevada, which is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire (along with other countries in Central America), is found in the centre and the Sierra Madre del Sur in the south. Being a land of extremes, deep canyons are also found in the centre.

Being effectively divided by the Tropic of Cancer, cooler temperatures are found in the north and warmer ones in the south. As such, Mexico is a refuge for animals seeking shelter from the extreme cold in the north Arctic and from the intense heat of the south equator.

It sits at the fourth place when it comes to biodiversity, which is possible due to the variety of ecosystems found here – boasting of mountains, volcanoes, lakes, forests and jungles alike, with temperate and tropical climates making all of this possible. 

Cool fact? In the Yucatan region of Mexico is found the Chicxulub crater, an impact crater formed when a massive asteroid struck Earth some 66 million years ago. Yes, the very same asteroid that resulted in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event; a mass extinction of around three-fourths of the planet’s species including dinosaurs.