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Continent in the Northern Hemisphere From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North America is a continent[lower-alpha 2] in the Northern and Western Hemispheres.[lower-alpha 3] North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Clipperton Island, Greenland, Mexico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States.
Area | 24.709 million km2 (9.54 million sq mi) (3rd) |
---|---|
Population | 592,296,233 (2021; 4th) |
Population density | 25.7/km2 (66.4/sq mi) (2021)[lower-alpha 1] |
GDP (PPP) | $30.61 trillion (2022 est.; 2nd)[1] |
GDP (nominal) | $29.01 trillion (2022 est.; 2nd)[2] |
GDP per capita | $57,410 (2022 est.; 2nd)[3] |
Religions | |
Demonym | North American |
Countries | 23 sovereign states |
Dependencies | 23 non-sovereign territories |
Languages | English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Danish, indigenous languages, and many others |
Time zones | UTC−10:00 to UTC+00:00 |
Largest cities | List of urban areas:[6] |
UN M49 code | 003 – North America019 – Americas001 – World |
North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), representing approximately 16.5% of the Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. As of 2021[update], North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population. In human geography, the terms "North America" and "North American" can refer to Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Greenland or, alternatively, Canada, Greenland and the US (Mexico being classified as part of Latin America) or simply Canada and the US (Greenland being classified as either Arctic or European (due to its political status as a part of Denmark) and Mexico classified as Latin American).[7][8][9][10][11]
It is unknown with certainty how and when first human populations first reached North America. People were known to live in the Americas at least 20,000 years ago,[12] but various evidence points to possibly earlier dates.[13][14] The Paleo-Indian period in North America followed the Last Glacial Period, and lasted until about 10,000 years ago when the Archaic period began. The classic stage followed the Archaic period, and lasted from approximately the 6th to 13th centuries. Beginning in 1000 AD, the Norse were the first Europeans to begin exploring and ultimately colonizing areas of North America.
In 1492, the exploratory voyages of Christopher Columbus led to a transatlantic exchange, including migrations of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the early modern period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and descendants of these respective groups.
Europe's colonization in North America led to most North Americans speaking European languages, such as English, Spanish, and French, and the cultures of the region commonly reflect Western traditions. However, relatively small parts of North America in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America have indigenous populations that continue adhering to their respective pre-European colonial cultural and linguistic traditions.
The Americas were named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann.[15] Vespucci explored South America between 1497 and 1502, and was the first European to suggest that the Americas represented a landmass not then known to the Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller published a world map, and placed the word "America" on the continent of present-day South America.[16] The continent north of present-day Mexico was then referred to as Parias.[17] On a 1553 world map published by Petrus Apianus,[18] North America was called "Baccalearum", meaning "realm of the Cod fish", in reference to the abundance of cod fish on the East Coast.[19]
Waldseemüller used the Latin version of Vespucci's name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form of "America", following the examples of "Europa", "Asia", and "Africa". Map makers later extended the name America to North America.
In 1538, Gerardus Mercator used the term America on his world map of the entire Western Hemisphere.[20] On his subsequent 1569 map, Mercator called North America "America or New India" (America sive India Nova).[21]
The Spanish Empire called its territories in North and South America "Las Indias", and the name given to the state body that oversaw the region was called the Council of the Indies.
The United Nations and its statistics division recognize North America as including three regions: Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean.[22] "Northern America" is a distinct term from "North America", excluding Central America, which itself may or may not include Mexico. In the limited context of regional trade agreements, the term is used to reference three nations: Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, and the countries of Latin America use a six-continent model, with the Americas viewed as a single continent and North America designating a subcontinent comprising Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (politically part of France), and often including Greenland and Bermuda.[23][24][25][26][27]
North America has historically been known by other names, including Spanish North America, New Spain, and América Septentrional, the first official name given to Mexico.[28]
North America includes several regions and subregions, each of which have their own respective cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions include several regions formalized in 20th- and 21st-century trade agreements, including NAFTA between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and CAFTA between Central America, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.
North America is divided linguistically and culturally into two primary regions, Anglo-America and Latin America. Anglo-America includes most of North America, Belize, and Caribbean islands with English-speaking populations. There are also regions, including Louisiana and Quebec, with large Francophone populations; in Quebec, French is the official language.[29].
The southern portion of North America includes Central America and non-English speaking Caribbean nations.[30][31] The north of the continent maintains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of North America, which encompasses the whole North American continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used more narrowly to refer only to four nations, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the U.S.[32][33][34][35][36] The U.S. Census Bureau includes Saint Pierre and Miquelon, but excludes Mexico from its definition.[37]
The term Northern America refers to the northernmost countries and territories of North America: the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon.[38][39] Although the term does not refer to a unified region,[40] Middle America includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.[41]
North America's largest countries by land area are Canada and the U.S., both of which have well-defined and recognized subregions. In Canada, these include (from east to west) Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Canadian Prairies, the British Columbia Coast, and Northern Canada. In the U.S., they include New England, the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic states, East North Central states, West North Central states, East South Central states, West South Central states, Mountain states, and Pacific states. The Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest include areas in both Canada and the U.S.
Arms | Flag | Country / Territory[42][43] | Area[44] | Population (2021)[45][46] |
Population density |
Capital | Name(s) in official language(s) | ISO 3166-1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anguilla (United Kingdom) |
91 km2 (35 sq mi) |
15,753 | 164.8/km2 (427/sq mi) |
The Valley | Anguilla | AIA | ||
Antigua and Barbuda | 442 km2 (171 sq mi) |
93,219 | 199.1/km2 (516/sq mi) |
St. John's | Antigua and Barbuda | ATG | ||
Aruba (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[lower-alpha 4] |
180 km2 (69 sq mi) |
106,537 | 594.4/km2 (1,539/sq mi) |
Oranjestad | Aruba | ABW | ||
The Bahamas[lower-alpha 5] | 13,943 km2 (5,383 sq mi) |
407,906 | 24.5/km2 (63/sq mi) |
Nassau | Bahamas | BHS | ||
Barbados | 430 km2 (170 sq mi) |
281,200 | 595.3/km2 (1,542/sq mi) |
Bridgetown | Barbados | BRB | ||
Belize | 22,966 km2 (8,867 sq mi) |
400,031 | 13.4/km2 (35/sq mi) |
Belmopan | Belize | BLZ | ||
Bermuda (United Kingdom) |
54 km2 (21 sq mi) |
64,185 | 1,203.7/km2 (3,118/sq mi) |
Hamilton | Bermuda | BMU | ||
Bonaire (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[lower-alpha 4][47] |
294 km2 (114 sq mi) |
12,093 | 41.1/km2 (106/sq mi) |
Kralendijk | Boneiru | BES | ||
British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom) |
151 km2 (58 sq mi) |
31,122 | 152.3/km2 (394/sq mi) |
Road Town | British Virgin Islands | VGB | ||
Canada | 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,100 sq mi) |
38,155,012 | 3.7/km2 (9.6/sq mi) |
Ottawa | Canada | CAN | ||
Cayman Islands (United Kingdom) |
264 km2 (102 sq mi) |
68,136 | 212.1/km2 (549/sq mi) |
George Town | Cayman Islands | CYM | ||
Clipperton Island (France) | 6 km2 (2.3 sq mi) |
0 | 0/km2 (0/sq mi) |
— | Île de Clipperton | CPT | ||
Costa Rica | 51,100 km2 (19,700 sq mi) |
5,153,957 | 89.6/km2 (232/sq mi) |
San José | Costa Rica | CRI | ||
Cuba | 109,886 km2 (42,427 sq mi) |
11,256,372 | 102.0/km2 (264/sq mi) |
Havana | Cuba | CUB | ||
Curaçao (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[lower-alpha 4] |
444 km2 (171 sq mi) |
190,338 | 317.1/km2 (821/sq mi) |
Willemstad | Kòrsou | CUW | ||
Dominica | 751 km2 (290 sq mi) |
72,412 | 89.2/km2 (231/sq mi) |
Roseau | Dominica | DMA | ||
Dominican Republic | 48,671 km2 (18,792 sq mi) |
11,117,873 | 207.3/km2 (537/sq mi) |
Santo Domingo | República Dominicana | DOM | ||
El Salvador | 21,041 km2 (8,124 sq mi) |
6,314,167 | 293.0/km2 (759/sq mi) |
San Salvador | El Salvador | SLV | ||
Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (Venezuela) |
342 km2 (132 sq mi) |
2,155 | 6.3/km2 (16/sq mi) |
Gran Roque | Dependencias Federales de Venezuela | VEN-W | ||
Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark) |
2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) |
56,243 | 0.026/km2 (0.067/sq mi) |
Nuuk | Kalaallit Nunaat/Grønland | GRL | ||
Grenada | 344 km2 (133 sq mi) |
124,610 | 302.3/km2 (783/sq mi) |
St. George's | Gwinàd | GRD | ||
Guadeloupe (France) |
1,628 km2 (629 sq mi) |
396,051 | 246.7/km2 (639/sq mi) |
Basse-Terre | Gwadloup | GLP | ||
Guatemala | 108,889 km2 (42,042 sq mi) |
17,608,483 | 128.8/km2 (334/sq mi) |
Guatemala City | Guatemala | GTM | ||
Haiti | 27,750 km2 (10,710 sq mi) |
11,447,569 | 361.5/km2 (936/sq mi) |
Port-au-Prince | Ayiti/Haïti | HTI | ||
Honduras | 112,492 km2 (43,433 sq mi) |
10,278,345 | 66.4/km2 (172/sq mi) |
Tegucigalpa | Honduras | HND | ||
Jamaica | 10,991 km2 (4,244 sq mi) |
2,827,695 | 247.4/km2 (641/sq mi) |
Kingston | Jumieka | JAM | ||
Martinique (France) |
1,128 km2 (436 sq mi) |
368,796 | 352.6/km2 (913/sq mi) |
Fort-de-France | Martinique/Matinik | MTQ | ||
Mexico | 1,964,375 km2 (758,449 sq mi) |
126,705,138 | 57.1/km2 (148/sq mi) |
Mexico City | México | MEX | ||
Montserrat (United Kingdom) |
102 km2 (39 sq mi) |
4,417 | 58.8/km2 (152/sq mi) |
Plymouth, Brades[lower-alpha 6] |
Montserrat | MSR | ||
Nicaragua | 130,373 km2 (50,337 sq mi) |
6,850,540 | 44.1/km2 (114/sq mi) |
Managua | Nicaragua | NIC | ||
Nueva Esparta (Venezuela) |
1,151 km2 (444 sq mi) |
491,610 | 427.1/km2 (1,106/sq mi) |
La Asunción | Nueva Esparta | VEN-O | ||
Panama[lower-alpha 4][lower-alpha 7] | 75,417 km2 (29,119 sq mi) |
4,351,267 | 45.8/km2 (119/sq mi) |
Panama City | Panamá | PAN | ||
Puerto Rico (United States) |
8,870 km2 (3,420 sq mi) |
3,256,028 | 448.9/km2 (1,163/sq mi) |
San Juan | Puerto Rico | PRI | ||
Saba (Kingdom of the Netherlands)[47] |
13 km2 (5 sq mi) |
1,537 | 118.2/km2 (306/sq mi) |
The Bottom | Saba | BES | ||
San Andrés and Providencia (Colombia) |
53 km2 (20 sq mi) |
77,701 | 1,468.59/km2 (3,803.6/sq mi) |
San Andrés | San Andrés | COL-SAP | ||
Saint Barthélemy (France)[48] |
21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)[49] |
7,448 | 354.7/km2 (919/sq mi) |
Gustavia | Saint-Barthélemy | BLM | ||
Saint |