Mexico officially, the United Mexican States is a federal republic in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico.^[14] Covering almost two million square kilometres (over 760,000 sq mi), the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world.