160  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

namely,  a  Senate  and  a  Chamber  of  Deputies.
Mexico,  including  the  islands  along  its
coast  and  Southern  California,  extends  over  an
area  of  767,097  square  miles.  Its  northern
boundary  is  the  United  States,  a  coast  line  of
4574  miles  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  marks  its
western  and  southern  limit,  in  connection  with
a  portion  of  Guatemala  and  British  Honduras,
while  a  little  section  of  Guatemala,  1400  miles
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  327  miles  on  the
Caribbean  Sea  form  its  eastern  confines.
Two  mountain  systems  traverse  the  entire
country  between  which  are  a  series  of  plateaus
of  various  altitudes  and  many  fertile  valleys.
An  evidence  of  the  extent  of  these  elevated
table-lands  may  be  formulated  when  one  realizes ­
  that  Mexico  has  fifty-three  cities  located
above  an  altitude  of  4000  feet.  Mexico  City
in  the  valley  of  Anahuac  is  7850  feet  above  sea
level.  The  mountains  have  many  high  peaks
and  extinct  volcanoes,  always  covered  with
snow,  the  chief  ones  being  Popocatepetl,  17,-748
  feet,  Ixtaccihuatl,  16,176  feet,  and  Ajusco,
13,628  feet.