From Bvio
'''North America''' is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the
Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North
Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the
Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North
Pacific Ocean. It covers an area of 9,355,000 square miles (24,230,000 square kilometres). In 2001 its population was estimated at 454,225,000.
North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the
New World, the
Western Hemisphere,
the Americas, or simply
America. North America's only land connection is to
South America at the narrow
Isthmus of Panama. According to some authorities, North America begins not at the Isthmus of Panama but at the narrows of
Tehuantepec, with the intervening region called
Central America. Most, however, prefer to see Central America as a subcontinent or region of North America.
On the main continent itself there are three large and relatively populous countries:
Canada (some large islands off the shore of North America and belonging to Canada include
Vancouver Island and the
Queen Charlotte Islands on the west,
Prince Edward Island,
Newfoundland and
Cape Breton Island on the east, and
Ellesmere Island,
Baffin Island, and
Victoria Island in the north);
Mexico (including the
Revillagigedo archipelago and numerous smaller islands closer to the coast); and most of the
United States (includes the
Aleutian Islands,
Alaska, but not the US state of
Hawaii which lies in the
Pacific Ocean).
At the extreme southern end of the continent, in a relatively small area called
Central America, are the countries of
Belize,
Costa Rica,
El Salvador,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Nicaragua and
Panama, site of the
Panama Canal.
The United States and Canada are sometimes grouped under the term
Anglo-America while the rest of North America (not including
Greenland, and some islands off the mainland coast) and
South America is grouped under the term
Latin America.
It should be noted that the term "North America", when employed in a context other than geography, may mean different things to different people. To many
Americans and
Canadians the term, in common usage, is often taken to mean "The United States of America and Canada, only", excluding Mexico and the countries of Central America, unless the context makes it clear that they are to be included (for instance, with specific reference to Mexico, when talking about
NAFTA). This is due to the fact that culturally and economically, the USA and Canada are more alike to each other than they are to the rest of North America. Mexicans, however, are acutely aware that Mexico is a part of North America and object to this usage. The Central Americans, however, are generally content to be called Central Americans.
At the extreme southeastern end of the continent lies a chain of islands territories called the
Antilles, the
Caribbean or the
West Indies, which include:
*
Anguilla (
British dependency)
*
Antigua and Barbuda
*
Aruba (part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands)
*
Bahamas
*
Barbados
*
British Virgin Islands (
British dependency)
*
Cayman Islands (
British dependency)
*
Cuba
*
Dominica (Commonwealth of)
*
Dominican Republic
*
Grenada
*
Guadeloupe (overseas department of
France)
*
Haiti
*
Jamaica
*
Martinique (overseas department of
France)
*
Montserrat (
British dependency)
*
Navassa Island (U.S. territory)
*
Netherlands Antilles (part of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands)
*
Puerto Rico (U.S. commonwealth)
*
Saint Kitts and Nevis
*
Saint Lucia
*
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
*
Trinidad and Tobago
*
Turks and Caicos Islands (
British dependency)
*
U.S. Virgin Islands (territory of the
USA)
Lying in the
Atlantic Ocean but considered part of the continent are
Bermuda, a
British dependency;
Greenland, a self-governing dependency of
Denmark, the largest island in the world, located in the far north of the continent, to the east of Canada's
Nunavut Territory; and
Saint Pierre and Miquelon, found off the coast of Canada, the last of
France's once vast North American possessions.
==Physical Features==
Arguably, four great regions can be discerned: the central lowlands, or
Great Plains stretching from the
Gulf of Mexico to the Candian Arctic; the geologically young, mountainous west, including the
Rocky Mountains, the
Great Basin,
California and Alaska; the raised but relatively flat plateau of the
Canadian Shield in the northeast; and the varied eastern region, which includes the
Appalachian Mountains, the coastal plain along the Atlantic seaboard, and the
Florida peninsula. Mexico, with its long
plateaus and
cordilleras, falls largely in the western region, although the eastern coastal plain does extend south along the Gulf.
The western mountains are split in the middle, into the main range of the Rockies and the coast ranges in California,
Oregon and
Washington state, with the Great Basin -- a lower area containing smaller ranges -- in between. The highest peak is
Denali in Alaska (which can be considered the tallest in the world if measured from the base to the summit, as distinct from sea level to summit).
== Political Divisions of North America ==
{| cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 border=1
|- bgcolor="#ECECEC"
! Name
! Area (km²)
! Population (2002-07-01 est.)
!''' Population density (per km²)
|-
|
Anguilla (UK)
| align="right" | 102
| align="right" | 12,446
| align="right" | 122'''
|-
|
Antigua and Barbuda
| align="right" | 443
| align="right" | 67,448
| align="right" | 152
|-
|
Aruba (Neth.)
| align="right" | 193
| align="right" | 70,441
| align="right" | 365
|-
|
Bahamas
| align="right" | 13,940
| align="right" | 300,529
| align="right" | 22
|-
|
Barbados
| align="right" | 431
| align="right" | 276,607
| align="right" | 642
|-
|
Belize
| align="right" | 22,966
| align="right" | 262,999
| align="right" | 11
|-
|
Bermuda (UK)
| align="right" | 53
| align="right" | 63,960
| align="right" | 1,200
|-
|
British Virgin Islands (UK)
| align="right" | 153
| align="right" | 21,272
| align="right" | 139
|-
|
Canada
| align="right" | 9,976,140
| align="right" | 31,902,268
| align="right" | 3.2]]
|-
|
Cayman Islands (UK)
| align="right" | 262
| align="right" | 36,273
| align="right" | 138
|-
|
Costa Rica
| align="right" | 51,100
| align="right" | 3,834,934
| align="right" | 75
|-
|
Cuba
| align="right" | 110,860
| align="right" | 11,224,321
| align="right" | 101
|-
|
Dominica
| align="right" | 754
| align="right" | 70,158
| align="right" | 93
|-
|
Dominican Republic
| align="right" | 48,730
| align="right" | 8,721,594
| align="right" | 179
|-
|
El Salvador
| align="right" | 21,040
| align="right" | 6,353,681
| align="right" | 302
|-
|
Greenland (Denm.)
| align="right" | 2,166,086
| align="right" | 56,376
| align="right" | 0.03
|-
|
Grenada
| align="right" | 344
| align="right" | 89,211
| align="right" | 259
|-
|
Guadeloupe (Fr.)
| align="right" | 1,780
| align="right" | 435,739
| align="right" | 245
|-
|
Guatemala
| align="right" | 108,890
| align="right" | 13,314,079
| align="right" | 122
|-
|
Haiti
| align="right" | 27,750
| align="right" | 7,063,722
| align="right" | 255
|-
|
Honduras
| align="right" | 112,090
| align="right" | 6,560,608
| align="right" | 59
|-
|
Jamaica
| align="right" | 10,991
| align="right" | 2,680,029
| align="right" | 244
|-
|
Martinique (Fr.)
| align="right" | 1,100
| align="right" | 422,277
| align="right" | 384
|-
|
Mexico
| align="right" | 1,972,550
| align="right" | 103,400,165
| align="right" | 52
|-
|
Montserrat (UK)
| align="right" | 102
| align="right" | 8,437
| align="right" | 83
|-
|
Navassa Island (US)
| align="right" | 5
| align="right" | 0
| align="right" | n/a
|-
|
Netherlands Antilles (Neth.)
| align="right" | 960
| align="right" | 214,258
| align="right" | 223
|-
|
Nicaragua
| align="right" | 129,494
| align="right" | 5,023,818
| align="right" | 39
|-
|
Panama
| align="right" | 78,200
| align="right" | 2,882,329
| align="right" | 37
|-
|
Puerto Rico (US)
| align="right" | 9,104
| align="right" | 3,957,988
| align="right" | 435
|-
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis
| align="right" | 261
| align="right" | 38,736
| align="right" | 148
|-
|
Saint Lucia
| align="right" | 616
| align="right" | 160,145
| align="right" | 260
|-
|
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Fr.)
| align="right" | 242
| align="right" | 6,954
| align="right" | 29
|-
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
| align="right" | 389
| align="right" | 116,394
| align="right" | 299
|-
|
Trinidad and Tobago
| align="right" | 5,128
| align="right" | 1,163,724
| align="right" | 227
|-
|
Turks and Caicos Islands (UK)
| align="right" | 430
| align="right" | 18,738
| align="right" | 44
|-
|
United States
| align="right" | 9,629,091
| align="right" | 280,562,489
| align="right" | 29
|-
|
U.S. Virgin Islands (US)
| align="right" | 352
| align="right" | 123,498
| align="right" | 351
|}
Since
1931,
Rugby, North Dakota has officially been recognised as being at the geographic center of
North America. The location is marked by a 4.5 metre (15 foot) field stone
obelisk.
==See also==
*
History of North America
*
European colonization of the Americas
*
Birds of North America
*
Discoverer of the Americas
{| align="center" id="toc" cellspacing="0"
|-bgcolor="#ccccff"
!
Continents of the World
|- align="center"
||
Asia |
Africa |
North America |
South America |
Antarctica |
Europe |
Australia
(The Pacific Islands in Oceania are not part of any continent)
|}
af:Noord-Amerika
bg:Северна Америка
cs:Severn Amerika
cy:Gogledd America
da:Nordamerika
de:Nordamerika
es:Amrica del Norte
eo:Nordameriko
fr:Amrique du Nord
id:Amerika Utara
it:America settentrionale
he:אמריקה הצפונית
lt:Šiaurės Amerika
nl:Noord-Amerika
ja:北アメリカ
no:Nord-Amerika
nds:Nordamerika
pl:Ameryka Północna
pt:Amrica do Norte
ru:Северная Америка
simple:North America
fi:Pohjois-Amerikka
sv:Nordamerika
vi:Bắc Mỹ
tokipona:ma Amelika lete
uk:Північна Америка
zh-tw:北美洲
zh-min-nan:Pak Bí-chiu
