example_cartopy.py

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import cartopy.crs as ccrs
import cartopy.feature as cfeature
from matplotlib.offsetbox import AnchoredText


fig = plt.figure(figsize=(10, 10))
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection=ccrs.PlateCarree())

# Set extent of the map
ax.set_extent([-130, -90, 10, 60], crs=ccrs.PlateCarree())

# Create a feature for States/Admin 1 regions at 1:50m from Natural Earth
states_provinces = cfeature.NaturalEarthFeature(
    category="cultural",
    name="admin_1_states_provinces_lines",
    scale="50m",
    facecolor="none",
)
ax.add_feature(states_provinces, edgecolor="red")

# Create and add a feature for Coastlines at 1:110m from Natural Earth
ax.add_feature(
    cfeature.NaturalEarthFeature(
        category="physical",
        name="coastline",
        scale="110m",
        facecolor="none",
        edgecolor="#333333",
    )
)

# Show gridlines with labels
ax.gridlines(draw_labels=True)

# Add a label
my_label = AnchoredText("(a) the map", loc=2, prop=dict(size=18, color='b'))
ax.add_artist(my_label)

# ADD DATA TO THE MAP
ax.scatter(lons, lats, facecolor='C0', edgecolor='C9', transform=ccrs.PlateCarree())

Thanks Denis! Much appreciated!