Austria

Belgium

Cyprus

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Europe

A world map highlights (blue) the members of the European Monetary Union: Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, and Cyprus.

Current members of the European Monetary Union

Countries

European Union

European Monetary Union (“Euroland”)

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Guyana

Paraguay

Peru

Suriname

Uruguay

Venezuela

Latin America

A map shows the membership status of South American countries. Associate Members (green), including Guyana, Peru, and Suriname. Full Members (red), including Brazil, and Argentina. Suspended Members (blue), which includes Venezuela.

Member states of Mercosur, an organization founded in 1991 to promote free trade among its members

Council on Foreign Relations

Mercosur

Alaska

Arizona

Utah

Yukon

Northwest Territories

District of Columbia

Florida

Idaho

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

Washington

Wyoming

Nunavut

Montana

Maine

North Dakota

Kentucky

Nova Scotia

Virginia

Delaware

Prince Edward Island

Saskatchewan

Mississippi

West Virginia

Nebraska

Texas

Missouri

Louisiana

Hawaii

North Carolina

Oregon

New Brunswick

Alabama

New Mexico

Kansas

Wisconsin

British Columbia

Newfoundland and Labrador

New Jersey

South Carolina

Michigan

Alberta

Connecticut

Pennsylvania

Colorado

Nevada

Massachusetts

Georgia

New York

Maryland

Québec

Manitoba

Oklahoma

Tennessee

Ontario

California

Arkansas

South Dakota

Ohio

Indiana

Minnesota

Iowa

Illinois

None

A map highlights the major landforms across the world, using different colors to represent various geological features

The global distribution of Earth's landforms, including mountains, shields, plains, basins, ice caps, and isolated areas of volcanic activity

Major Landforms

In North America, the western regions from the Arctic to south Texas are characterized by the Alpine System, depicted in purple, while the mid-continent and most of the eastern regions consist of Sedimentary Covers, shown in orange. The northeast, including eastern Canada and Greenland, is dominated by Laurasia Shields in green, with a small area of Sedimentary Covers along the western side of Hudson Bay. The east coast primarily features Caledonian and Hercynian (or Appalachian) Remnants in red, which are also present in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the larger Caribbean islands. In South America, northern and western regions, mainly the Andes Mountains, are part of the Alpine System, with a band of Sedimentary Covers along the eastern side of the Andes and the central Amazon basin. There are two large areas of Gondwana Shields in brown: one in northern Brazil and southern Venezuela, and another covering most of eastern and southern Brazil. Europe’s geological structure is complex. Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants are found in Norway, the British Isles, northwestern France, the western Iberian Peninsula, and areas north of the Alps, including southeastern France, parts of Germany, and Czechia. Laurasia Shields make up Scandinavia east of Norway, while Iceland is marked as an Isolated Volcanic Area in blue. The rest of northern Europe and European Russia consist of Sedimentary Covers, whereas southern Europe is part of the Alpine System. The Ural Mountains in Russia, forming Europe’s eastern boundary, are composed of Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants. In North Africa, Morocco and northern Algeria are part of the Alpine System. The northern Sahara, stretching from Western Sahara through southern Algeria and Libya to Egypt and northern Sudan, is composed of Sedimentary Covers. Much of the rest of Africa features Gondwana Shields, except for East Africa, which is dominated by the Rifted Shield Area in yellow, extending from Eritrea to Malawi and Mozambique. There are also small areas of Sedimentary Covers around the perimeter of the shield and Isolated Volcanic Areas in southern Algeria, northern Chad, and along the Nigeria-Cameroon border. In Asia, the Alpine System extends from Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan to the Himalayas, much of China, Southeast Asia, and the Indonesian Archipelago. North of this mountainous region, central Russia consists of Sedimentary Covers, with parts of Central Asia containing Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants. Russia's Far East and Siberia feature a Rifted Shield Area and a large Alpine System zone. Australia is a mosaic of Gondwana Shields and Sedimentary Covers, except along its eastern coast, which includes Caledonian and Hercynian Remnants and a Rifted Shield Area near Adelaide on the south coast. This comprehensive map highlights the diverse geological features and landforms that shape each continent.

European Monetary Union (“Euroland”)	Mercosur	Major Landforms
Value	Value	Caledonian and Hercynian (or Appalachian) remnants	Isolated volcanic areas	Alpine system	Sedimentary covers	Laurasian shields


		19.2%	76.7%	61.8%	40.1%	53.1%