The history of North America began long before the travels of Columbus, and even long before the Maya. Life has been on this continent for a very long time. In North America, scientists find the remains of a wide variety of dinosaur species that are not found anywhere else in the world. See North America abbreviations.
The indigenous population of North America (Indians and Eskimos) left a noticeable mark in the history of this continent. However, the real history of North America began, as many believe, only after the Europeans sailed there.
Now in North America, along with the United States and Canada, the developed capitalist states, there are also Mexico, El Salvador and Nicaragua. It is difficult to suspect these countries of a high market economy. But they have preserved thousands of historical monuments that tell the story of pre-Columbian America…
Geography
The continent of North America is located in the north of the Western Hemisphere of the Earth. From the west, North America is washed by the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, from the east by the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Caribbean and Labrador Seas, and in the north by the Arctic Ocean. In the south, the Isthmus of Panama separates North America from South America. In the West, the Bering Strait separates North America from Eurasia.
North America includes numerous islands and archipelagos (eg Greenland, Aleutian Islands, Vancouver Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago). The total area of North America is 24.2 million square meters. km, including the islands (this is 4.8% of the Earth’s territory).
All types of climate are represented in North America, ranging from subequatorial in the south to arctic in the north. However, most of this continent is in a temperate continental climate.
The longest river on the North American continent is the Mississippi (6,019 km), which flows through the United States. The largest North American rivers also include the Mackenzie (4,241 km), the St. Lawrence (3,058 km), the Rio Grande (3,034 km), and the Yukon (2,829 km).
On the territory of Canada and the United States is Lake Superior – the largest lake in North America (its area is 82 thousand square kilometers).
Almost 36% of the territory of North America is occupied by mountain systems. The largest of them are the Cordilleras and the Appalachians. The highest mountain of this continent is McKinley in Alaska, its height is 6,194 meters.
In the western part of North America there are several large deserts and semi-deserts – Sonora, Chihuahua and Mojave.
Population of North America
At the moment, the population of North America already reaches 530 million people. This is almost 13% of the total population of the Earth.
Representatives of the Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid races, as well as mixed racial groups (mestizos, mulattos, sambo, etc.) live in North America. North American natives (Indians and Eskimos) belong to the Mongoloid race.
Spanish is spoken in Mexico and Central America, English and Spanish in the United States, and English and French in Canada.
North American countries
Now there are 23 independent states in North America. The largest North American country is Canada (its territory covers 9,976,140 sq. km), and the smallest is St. Christopher and Nevis (261 sq. km). The territory of the USA is 9,363,00 sq. km. See countries in North America.
Regions of North America
North America as a whole can be divided into 3 main regions:
- Anglo-America (Canada and USA);
- Central America (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Belize, El Salvador and Mexico);
- Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, Antigua, Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Cayman Islands, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Dominica and Haiti).
Some cities in North America appeared before our era (they were formed by the Maya Indians). Now the most populous North American city is Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, which is home to more than 8.9 million people.
Other major cities in North America are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Havana, Santo Domingo, Houston and Ecatepec.
