North America

continent and northern subcontinent of the Americas

North America is a large continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres of Earth. It is to the east of the Pacific Ocean, the west of the Atlantic Ocean, the south of the Arctic Ocean, and it is the northern part of the Americas. The southernmost part is Central America. It is the third largest continent in the world after Asia and Africa. North America has a population of around 371 million and is the 4th most populous continent in the world.

North America
AreaAround 24.71 million km2
Population528,720,588 (2008)
Population density21.4/km2 (55/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)$20.3 trillion (201moo3)
GDP (PPP)$20.9 trillion (2013)
DemonymNorth American
Countries25 countries[a]
Dependencies22 dependencies
LanguagesList of languages
Time zonesUTC−10 to UTC
Internet TLDNorth American TLD
Largest citiesList of urban areas

North America has three subregions which are the Caribbean, Central America, and North America. Depending on how it is used, "North America" can be used to mean as the continent as a whole to include all 23 countries or as a subregion to mean Canada, Mexico, and the United States only.[1]

Hundreds of millions of years ago, North America was part of a larger ancient supercontinent named Laurasia. A few million years ago, a new land bridge arose and connected North America to South America. Beringia connected North America to Siberia a few times during ice ages in the past 20,000 years. North America has many warm tropical islands such as the Bahamas. North America is currently north of South America.

Countries

FlagOfficial name(s)Area (km2 or sq mi)PopulationDensity (pop. km2)CapitalOfficial language(s)
Alaska1,707,000 km2 (659,000 sq mi)733,4750.3JuneauEnglish
Antigua and Barbuda442 km2 (171 sq mi)101,489622St JohnEnglish
Bahamas
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
13,880 km2 (5,360 sq mi)358,50824NassauEnglish
Barbados
Republic of Barbados
430 km2 (170 sq mi)303,431755BridgetownEnglish
Belize22,966 km2 (8,867 sq mi)419,13716BelmopanEnglish
Canada[b]8,338,000 km2 (3,219,000 sq mi)38,486,7365OttawaEnglish
French
Costa Rica
Republic of Costa Rica
51,100 km2 (19,700 sq mi)5,256,612112San JoseSpanish
Cuba
Republic of Cuba
110,860 km2 (42,800 sq mi)10,985,97495HavanaSpanish
Dominica
Commonwhealth of Dominica
751 km2 (290 sq mi)74,65696RoseauEnglish
Dominican Republic48,670 km2 (18,790 sq mi)10,790,744188Santo DomingoSpanish
El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador
21,041 km2 (8,124 sq mi)6,670,304330San SalvadorSpanish
Greenland2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi)57,7770,02NuukGreenlandic
Grenada344 km2 (133 sq mi)114,700477St GeorgeEnglish
Guatemala
Republic of Guatemala
108,889 km2 (42,042 sq mi)17,980,803133Guatemala CitySpanish
Haiti
Republic of Haiti
27,750 km2 (10,710 sq mi)11,270,16177Port-au PrinceFrench
Honduras
Republic of Honduras
112,052 km2 (43,264 sq mi)9,571,35292TegucigalpaSpanish
Iceland
Republic of Iceland
45,500 km2 (17,600 sq mi)133,0003ReykjavikIcelandic
Jamaica
Republic of Jamaica
10,991 km2 (4,244 sq mi)2,830,932232KingstonEnglish
Mexico
United Mexican States
1,964,375 km2 (758,449 sq mi)129,875,72987Mexico CitySpanish
Nicaragua
Republic of Nicaragua
130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi)6,359,689221ManaguaSpanish
Nunavut1,646,670 km2 (635,780 sq mi)36,0000.04IqaluitEnglish
Inuktitut
French
Panama
Republic of Panama
75,420 km2 (29,120 sq mi)4,404,10866Panama CitySpanish
Russia
Russian Federation
1,622,000 km2 (626,000 sq mi)654,0000.4No official capital of North American partRussian
Saba13 km2 (5.0 sq mi)1,945122The BottomDutch
English
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis
261 km2 (101 sq mi)54,817313BasseterreEnglish
Saint Lucia606 km2 (234 sq mi)167,591586CastriesEnglish
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines388 km2 (150 sq mi)100,814722KingstownEnglish
Sint Eustatius21 km2 (8.1 sq mi)4,40444Oranjestad (Sint Eustatius)Dutch
English
Sint Maarten34 km2 (13 sq mi)45,6771221PhillipsburgDutch
English
United States[c]
United States of America
8,109,517 km2 (3,131,102 sq mi)338,946,00015Washington D.CEnglish
Spanish

Related pages

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