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World map showing North America

[Image:North America satellite orthographic.jpg|thumb|250px|A satellite composite image of North America. http://www.earth-puzzle.com/NAmerica.html Clickable map]] redirect|North American|the aircraft manufacturer|North American Aviation 'North America' is a continent in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost fully in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast. It covers an area of about 24,480,000 km² (9,450,000 sq mi), or about 4.8 percent of the planet's surface. As of July 2002, its population was estimated at more than 514,000,000. It is the third-largest continent in area, after Asia and Africa, and is fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Etymology

North and South America are widely accepted as having been named after Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller. Vespucci was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a new world, previously undiscovered by Europeans.

The second and less generally accepted theory is that the continents are named after an English merchant named Richard Amerike from Bristol, who is believed to have financed John Cabot's voyage of discovery from England to Newfoundland in 1497. A minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of 'Amairick'. Another is that the name is rooted in an American Indian language. http://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html

Geography and extent

The continental coastline is long and irregular. With the exception of the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay is by far the largest body of water indenting the continent; others include the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez).

There are numerous islands off the continent?s coasts: principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Alexander Archipelago, and the Aleutian Islands. Greenland, a Danish self-governing island and the world's largest, is part of North America geographically and on the same tectonic plate (the North American Plate) but is not considered to be part of the continent politically. Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but is an oceanic island formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and it is often thought of as part of North America, especially given its historical political and cultural ties to Virginia and other parts of the continent.

Physical geography

The vast majority of North America is on the North American Plate. Parts of California and western Mexico form the partial edge of the Pacific Plate, with the two plates meeting along the San Andreas fault.

The continent can be divided into four great regions (each of which contains many sub-regions): the Great Plains stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian 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, Washington, and British Columbia with the Great Basin – a lower area containing smaller ranges and low-lying deserts – in between. The highest peak is Denali in Alaska.

The http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Geographic%20Centers United States Geographical Survey states that the geographic center of North America is ?6 miles west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota? at approximately 48? 10? North, 100? 10? West, approximately 15 miles (25 km) from Rugby, North Dakota. The USGS further states that ?No marked or monumented point has been established by any government agency as the geographic center of either the 50 States, the conterminous United States, or the North American continent.? Nonetheless, there is a 15 foot (4.5 m) field stone obelisk in Rugby claiming to mark the center.

Image:North america terrain 2003 map.jpg|North America bedrock and terrain. Image:North america basement rocks.png|North American cratons and basement rocks. Image:North America Tectonic Elements.jpg|Tectonic elements of North America Image:North america craton nps.gif|North American craton.

Human geography

The case of Mexico is somehow special. Although most of the Americans and Canadians know that Mexico is geographically in North America, socially they consider it part of Latin America. Mexicans, on the other hand, know that Mexico is part of North America and consider themselves as North Americans. The UN geoscheme includes Mexico in Central America (subregion) (defined as all mainland states of North America south of the United States), but the European Union excludes Mexico and Belize from its definition of the region. However according to the UN this subdivision was created purely for statistical convenience and is used only for carrying out statistical analysis. It is important to notice that socially neither Mexicans nor Central Americans have considered Mexico as part of Central America.

Usage of the term "North America" often depends on context and may mean different things to different people. The term is often taken to mean the United States and Canada only by many people of these two countries when socially and culturally speaking. Another example is the guides to wild flora and fauna published by the National Audubon Society for "North America", frequently including only species found in Canada and the United States. However with the economic interdependence between Canada, the United States, and Mexico boosted by the NAFTA the meaning of the term is more frequently linked to the three countries. The recent 2005 signature of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America is another example of this.

The term Middle America is sometimes used to refer to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean collectively. The island of Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory but has a large degree of autonomy.

From a linguistic and sociopolitical perspective, the United States, Canada, and the other English-speaking nations of North and South America (Belize, Guyana, and the anglophone Caribbean) are sometimes grouped under the term Anglo-America and included in the Anglosphere. The remaining nations of North and South America (i.e., including much of the West Indies) where Romance languages prevail, namely Spanish, Portuguese and French, are referred to as Latin America. This usage has entered into common parlance, although "Anglo-America" remains largely unknown to most people.

The French language has, historically played a significant role in North America and remains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada has two official languages; French is the official language of the province of Quebec, and, along with English, one of the two official languages of the province of New Brunswick. Other French-speaking locales include: Haiti, Dominica, Saint Lucia, the French West Indies and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

Similarly, Canadians and Americans may often speak of a collective North American culture to describe only the continent's Anglophone communities. The United States, has attracted millions of immigrants from Europe, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere. Canada is also a haven for immigration in the 20th century.

Both nations are increasingly multicultural and millions of their residents can speak one of the total of 319 languages other than English, but the English language is universally used and unites the national culture. But for Canada, the mostly French speaking province of Quebec is where social and political issues over the dominance of French instead of traditional bilingualism has affected the country.

In the Southwest United States, a developed Spanish-speaking minority is growing as a result of immigration and close cultural ties to Mexico. The region's large ethnic group, Mexican Americans, a large cross-section of Latinos seek to preserve their language, customs and traditions in Texas, California and New Mexico.

African Americans in the Southern U.S., although are English-speaking, had a unique dialect spoken by some members in their communities known as Ebonics. General usage of Ebonics declined in the 20th century, but it has an impact on American pop culture like in music genres of jazz, rhythm and blues, Motown, hip hop and rock and roll.

Territories and regions

Political highlights of North America

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Sources

See also

• Americas (terminology)
• Discoverer of the Americas
• Economy of North America
• European colonization of the Americas
• History of North America
• Birds of North America

External links

• http://www.america-norte.com/america-norte-mapa.htm
• http://www.earth-puzzle.com/NAmerica.html http://www.earth-puzzle.com clickable map with links to related Wikipedia articles

Category:Continents Category:North America

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