Synopsis It is inevitable that Latin America, created as a result of historical forces, should overlap a number of major structural regions and distinct physical environments.  Outstanding in this respect is the contrast between the north-south trending mountain system of the Andes and the east-west relief lines of the major islands of the West Indies and their continuations into Middle-America.  Farther north the predominant pattern of North America, continued south across the United States-Mexican boundary, dominates the physique of most of Mexico.

It is within this three-fold composition that the physical basis of the continent can be coutlines.