CONTINENTS REVIEW: NORTH AMERICA

North America is the World's third-largest continent - 24,474,000 km² covering approximately 16.5% of the Earth's land and 5% of the Earth's surface.


Geography

It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The eastern side of the continent is generally lower than the west which contains the Rocky mountains. The five Great Lakes lie on the United States Canadian border.

The highest mountain is Mt McKinley in Alaska (6,194 m) and the longest river is the Mississippi (3,765 km).

Climate and weather

North America can be broadly divided into the six regions shown on the map (right).
Greenland, Canada and most of the United States lie in the Northern hemisphere and have four distinct seasons

- Spring - March, April, May
- Summer - June, July, August
- Autumn - September, October, November
- Winter - December, January, February

Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and southern United States have more constant temperatures throughout the year but have a wet season - May to October and a dry season - November to April.


Demography

North America is the fourth most populated continent with a total population of around 520,000,000 (2005) about 5.5% of the World's population. Eastern United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are the most densely populated areas while Canada, Alaska and Greenland are the least populated areas. The countries with the highest populations (to the nearest million) are:

Unites States - 300 million
Mexico - 106 million
Canada - 33 million
Guatemala - 15 million
Cuba - 11 million

The United States and Canada are the most economically developed countries. The countries of central America and the Caribbean are less economically developed and poorer.

Country List

There are 38 countries and Islands in North America.


Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Navassa Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, US Virgin Islands.

Click on the maps for larger images.



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