North America (Spanish Countries where Spanish has official status. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 25% or more of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 10-20% of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 5-9.9% of the population: América del Norte or Norteamérica; French French is a Romance language spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide. Around 190 million people speak French as a second language, and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language. French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories. Most native speakers of the language live in: Amérique du Nord) is the northern continent A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia of the Americas The Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total,^[4] situated in the Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the World, the Blue Planet,[note 6] or by its Latin name, Terra.[note 7]'s northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator. Earth's northern hemisphere contains most of its land area and most of its human population and in the western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere, also Western hemisphere or western hemisphere, is a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian , the other half being the eastern hemisphere. It is also used to specifically refer to the Americas (or the New World) and adjacent waters, while excluding other territories that lie. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions. The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres , it covers approximately twenty percent of the Earth's surface and about twenty-six percent of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the ", on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded to the southwest by the Central American countries of Panama, to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, to the north by The Greater Antilles , and to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east; South America South America is the southern continent of America, situated in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean; North America and the Caribbean Sea lie to the northwest lies to the southeast.

North America covers an area Area is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The surface area of a 3-dimensional solid is the total area of the exposed surface, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron. Area is an important invariant in the differential geometry of of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 4.8% of the planet's surface or about 16.5% of its land area. As of July 2008, its population A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define the population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals from other areas. Normally breeding is substantially more was estimated at nearly 529 million people. It is the third-largest A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia continent in area, following Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled and Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population, and the fourth in population after Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled, Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people (as of 2009, see table) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.72% of the world's human population, and Europe Europe is one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus region (Specification of borders) and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and.

Etymology

The Americas are generally accepted as having been named after the Italian Italy (pronounced /ˈɪtəli/ ; Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a country located partly on the European Continent and partly on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine explorer Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, navigator and cartographer. The continents of North America and South America are generally believed to have derived their name from the feminized Latin version of his first name by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller Martin Waldseemüller was a German cartographer. He and Matthias Ringmann are credited with the first recorded usage of the word America, on the 1507 map Universalis Cosmographia in honor of the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci and Matthias Ringmann Matthias Ringmann was a German cartographer and humanist poet. He is credited with naming America on the map of his friend Martin Waldseemüller. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies East Indies was a term used in from 1600 onwards for what is now known as Southeast Asia, and predominantly for the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia. The term is sometimes used to refer to all of Southeast Asia that came under Indian influence. It was contrasted with the West Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a world map, in which he placed the word "America" on the continent of South America, in the middle of what is today Brazil. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio,

ab Americo inventore ... quasi Americi terram sive Americam (from Americus the discoverer ... as if it were the land of Americus, thus America).^[5]

For Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespucci's name (Americus Vespucius), but in its feminine form "America", following the examples of "Europa" and "Asia".

Later, when other mapmakers added North America, they extended the original name to it as well: in 1538, Gerard Mercator Gerardus Mercator was a Flemish cartographer. He was born in Rupelmonde in the County of Flanders. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him. This proved very useful to many later explorers used the name America to all of the Western Hemisphere on his world map.^[6]

Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty and so a derivation from "Amerigo Vespucci" could be problematic.^[7] Ricardo Palma (1949) proposed a derivation from the "Amerrique" mountains of Central America—Vespucci was the first to discover South America and the Amerrique mountains of Central America, which connected his discoveries to those of Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator, colonizer, and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Isabella I of.

Alfred E. Hudd proposed a theory in 1908 that the continents are named after a Welsh merchant named Richard Amerike Richard Amerike (c. 1445–1503) was a wealthy English born merchant, royal customs officer and sheriff of Welsh descent. He was the principal owner of John Cabot's ship Matthew during his voyage of exploration to North America in 1497. It has been speculated that "America" is derived from his name, owing to his sponsorship of the from Bristol, who is believed to have financed John Cabot Giovanni Caboto was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of North America is commonly held to be the first European voyage to the continent since Norse exploration of the Americas in the early eleventh century. The official position of the Canadian and United Kingdom governments is that he landed on the island of Newfoundland'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 The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe; the Ostrogoths being the other. Together these tribes were among the barbarians who disturbed the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period. The romanized Visigoths first emerged as a distinct people during the fourth century, initially in the Balkans, where they name of 'Amairick'. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, Central, and South America, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, Aboriginals, First Nations , Amerigine[dubious – discuss], and by Christopher Columbus' geographical and language.^[6]

History

Paleohistory

North America is the source of much of what humanity knows about geologic time The geologic time scale provides a system of chronologic measurement relating stratigraphy to time that is used by geologists, paleontologists and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of the Earth. The table of geologic time spans presented here agrees with the dates periods.^[8] The geographic area that would later become the United States has been the source of more varieties of dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous period (about 65 million years ago), when the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event caused the extinction of most dinosaur species, except for some birds. The fossil than any other modern country.^[8] According to paleontologist Paleontology [note 1] is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). As a "historical science" it tries to explain causes rather than conduct experiments to observe effects. Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5 Peter Dodson, this is primarily due to stratigraphy, climate and geography, human resources, and history.^[8] Much of the Mesozoic Era The Mesozoic Era is a period from about 250 million years ago to about 67 million years ago. It is called the Age of Dinosaurs because most dinosaurs developed, and went extinct, during that time. The Chicxulub impact and other events ended the era when a majority of species on earth went extinct is represented by exposed outcrops in the many arid regions of the continent.^[8] The most significant Late The Late Jurassic epoch of the Jurassic Period is the unit of geologic time from 161.2 ± 4.0 to 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago, which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata. In European lithostratigraphy, the name Malm indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past this name was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage Jurassic The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 199.6± 0.6 Ma to 145.5± 4 Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era, also known as the "Age of Reptiles". The start of the period is marked by the major Triassic– dinosaur-bearing fossil deposit in North America is the Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone and limestone and is light grey, greenish gray, or red. Most of the fossils occur in the green of the western United States.^[9]

Prehistory

Scientists have several theories as to the origins There have been several models of migration to the New World proposed by various academic communities. The question of how, when and why humans (Paleo-Indians) first entered the Americas is of intense interest to archaeologists and anthropologists, and has been a subject of heated debate for centuries. Current understanding of human migration into of the early human population of North America The Lithic peoples or Paleo-Indians, are the earliest known humans of the Americas. The period's name derives from the appearance of "lithic flaked" stone tools. The indigenous peoples of North America The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, Central, and South America, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, Aboriginals, First Nations , Amerigine[dubious – discuss], and by Christopher Columbus' geographical and themselves have many creation myths A creation myth or creation story is a symbolic narrative of a culture, tradition or people that describes their earliest beginnings, how the world they know began and how they first came into it. They are stories expressing, usually through metaphor and imagery, how the world came to be and what humanity’s place and role is in it. Creation, by which they assert that they have been present on the land since its creation.

Before contact with Europeans The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities A body politic refers to the people of a nation, state or country considered collectively as a body of organized citizens, from small bands A band society is the simplest form of human society. A band generally consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or clan; it has been defined as consisting of no more than 30 to 50 individuals of a few families to large empires The term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch (emperor, empress) or an oligarchy. Geopolitically, the term empire has denoted very different, territorially-extreme states — at the strong end, the extensive Spanish Empire (16th. They lived in several "culture areas Ethnographers commonly classify indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada into ten geographical regions with shared cultural traits . The following list groups peoples by their region of origin, followed by the current location. See the individual article on each tribe or First Nation for a history of their movements. See the List of", which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones North America is the third largest continent, or a portion of the second largest if North and South America are combined into the Americas and Africa, Europe and Asia are considered to be part of one supercontinent called Afro-Eurasia. With an estimated population of 460 million and an area of 24,346,000 km² , the northernmost of the two and give a good indication of the main lifeway or occupation of the people who lived there (e.g. the Bison hunters of the Great Plains, or the farmers of Mesoamerica). Native groups can also be classified by their language family (e.g. Athapascan or Uto-Aztecan). It is important to note that peoples with similar languages did not always share the same material culture, nor were they always allies.

Scientists believe that the Inuit people of the high Arctic came to North America much later than other native groups, as evidenced by the disappearance of Dorset culture artifacts from the archaeological record, and their replacement by the Thule people.

During the thousands of years of native inhabitation on the continent, cultures changed and shifted. Archaeologists often name different cultural groups they discover after the site where they are first found. One of the oldest cultures yet found is the Clovis culture of modern New Mexico. A more recent example is the group of related cultures called the Mound builders (e.g. the Fort Walton Culture), found in the Mississippi river valley. They flourished from 300 BC to the 150s AD.

The more southern cultural groups of North America were responsible for the domestication of many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes and squash. Perhaps most importantly they domesticated one of the world's major staples, maize (corn).

History

As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many important cultural advances were made there. For example, the Maya civilization developed a writing system, built huge pyramids and temples, had a complex calendar, and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE, a few hundred years after the Mesopotamians.^[10] The Mayan culture was still present when the Spanish arrived in Central America, but political dominance in the area had shifted to the Aztec Empire further north.

Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the "New World", Native American population declined substantially, primarily due to the introduction of European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity.^[11] Native peoples found their culture changed drastically. As such, their affiliation with political and cultural groups changed as well, several linguistic groups went extinct, and others changed quite quickly. The names and cultures that Europeans recorded for the natives were not necessarily the same as the ones they had used a few generations before, or the ones in use today.

Geography and extent

North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America (which is sometimes considered a single continent^[12][13][14] and North America a subcontinent).^[15] North America's only land connection to South America is at the Isthmus of Panama. The continent is generally delimited on the southeast by the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, or at the Panama Canal; according to other sources, its southern limit is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America tapering and extending southeastward to South America. Before the Central American isthmus was raised, the region had been underwater. The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerged former land bridge, which had connected North America and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela. Much of North America is on the North American Plate.

The continental coastline is long and irregular. The Gulf of Mexico is the largest body of water indenting the continent, followed by Hudson Bay. Others include the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of California.

There are numerous islands off the continent’s coasts: principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Aleutian Islands (some of which are in the eastern hemisphere proper), the Alexander Archipelago, the many thousand islands of the British Columbia Coast, and Newfoundland. Greenland, a self-governing Danish island, and the world's largest, is on the same tectonic plate (the North American Plate) and is part of North America geographically. Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but is an oceanic island which was formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago. 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 southernmost portion of the continent and much of the West Indies lie on the Caribbean Plate, whereas the Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates border the North American Plate on its western frontier.

The continent can be divided into four great regions (each of which contains many subregions): 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 and 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 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′N 100°10′W / 48.167°N 100.167°W, 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.

Human geography

The prevalent languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. The term Anglo-America is used to refer to the anglophone countries of the Americas: namely Canada (where English and French are co-official) and the United States, but also sometimes Belize and parts of the Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas (generally south of the United States) where the Romance languages, derived from Latin, of Spanish and Portuguese (but French speaking countries are not usually included) predominate: the other republics of Central America (but not always Belize), part of the Caribbean (not the Dutch, English or French speaking areas), Mexico, and most of South America (except Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana (FR), and The Falkland Islands (UK).

The French language has historically played a significant role in North America and retains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada is officially bilingual. French is the official language of the Province of Quebec, where 95 % of the people speak it as either their first or second language, and it is co-official with English in the Province of New Brunswick. Other French-speaking locales include the Province of Ontario (the official language is English, but there is an estimated 600,000 Franco-Ontarians), the Province of Manitoba (co-official as de-jure with English), the French West Indies and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, as well as the U.S. state of Louisiana, where French is also an official language. Haiti is included with this group based on historical association but Haitians speak both Creole and French. Similarly, French and French Antillean Creole is spoken in Saint Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica alongside English.

Socially and culturally, North America presents a well-defined entity. Canada and the United States have a similar culture and similar traditions as a result of both countries being former British colonies. A common cultural and economic market has developed between the two nations because of the strong economic and historical ties. Spanish-speaking North America shares a common past as former Spanish colonies. In Mexico and the Central American countries where civilizations like the Maya developed, indigenous people preserve traditions across modern boundaries. Central American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations have historically had more in common due to geographical proximity and the fact that they won independence from Spain.

Northern Mexico, particularly cities such as Monterrey, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexicali, is strongly influenced by the culture and way of life of the U.S. Immigration to the United States and Canada remains a significant attribute of many nations close to the southern border of the U.S. The Anglophone Caribbean states have witnessed the decline of the British Empire and its influence on the region, and its replacement by the economic influence of northern North America. In the Anglophone Caribbean this influence is partly due to the relatively small populations (less than 200,000) of the majority of English-speaking Caribbean countries, and the fact that many of these countries now have expatriate diasporas living abroad that are larger than those remaining at home.

Economically, Canada and the United States are the wealthiest and most developed nations in the continent, followed by Mexico, a newly industrialized country; the countries of Central America and the Caribbean are at various levels of development. The most important trade blocs are the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the recently signed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) — the last of these being an example of the economic integration sought by the nations of this sub-region as a way to improve their financial status.

Demographically, North America is a racially and ethnically diverse continent. Its three main racial groups are Whites, Mestizos and Blacks (chiefly African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans).^{[citation needed]} There is a significant minority of Native Americans and Asians among other less numerous groups.

Countries and territories

North America is often divided into subregions but no universally accepted divisions exist. Central America comprises the southern region of the continent, but its northern terminus varies between sources. Geophysically, the region starts at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico (namely the Mexican states of Campeche, Chiapas, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, and Yucatán^[16]). The United Nations geoscheme includes Mexico in Central America; conversely, the European Union excludes both Mexico and Belize from the area. Geopolitically however, Mexico is usually considered a part of the North American region.^[17][18]

Northern America is used to refer to the northern countries and territories of North America: Canada, the United States, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. They are often considered distinct from the southern portion of the Americas, which largely comprise Latin America. The term Middle America is sometimes used to collectively refer to Mexico, the nations of Central America, and the Caribbean.

The term North America may mean different things to different people in the world according to the context. Usage other than that of the entire continent includes:

• In English, North America may be used to refer to the United States and Canada together.^[26] Alternatively, usage often includes Mexico^[27] (as with North American Free Trade Agreement) and other entities.^{[28][29][30][31][32][33]}
• In Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and some other parts of Europe, North America usually designates a subcontinent (subcontinente in Spanish) of the Americas containing Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and often Greenland, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, and Bermuda.^[34]

Historical toponymy

North America, in whole or in part, has been historically referred to by other names:

• Spanish North America (New Spain) was often referred to as Northern America, and this was the first official name given to Mexico.
• The Spanish called North America Florida^[35], which eventually became more focused on its present location.
• The English called their portion of North America Virginia. The name Virginia was first applied by Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584.^[36] John Dee pushed to call it Atlantis (inspired by Plato).
• The northern part of North America was often referred to as Norumbega.
• The northeastern part of what would become the United States was named New England in 1616 in John Smith's book of that year.
• Western North America was named Nova Albion by Francis Drake as he repaired his boat (Golden Hind) a short distance north of present day San Francisco.
• Areas of past British control were called British North America.
• Regions under control of the Hudson's Bay Company was called Rupert's Land, which eventually made up a large portion of the Dominion of Canada, the modern country of Canada.

Communications

Many of the nations of North America cooperate together on a shared telephone system known as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) which is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 Caribbean nations.

See also

References

1. ^ This North American density figure is based on a total land area of 23,090,542 km² only, considerably less than the total combined land and water area of 24,709,000 km².
2. ^ American, Merriam-Webster OnLine.
3. ^ List based on 2005 figures in Table A.12, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, United Nations. Accessed on line January 1, 2008.
4. ^ "North America". Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418612/North-America.
5. ^ p. 9, The Cosmographiæ Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller in Facsimile, translated by Edward Burke and Mario E. Cosenza, introduction by Joseph Fischer and Franz von Wieser, edited by Charles George Herbermann, New York: The United States Catholic Historical Society, 1907.
6. ^ ^{a b} The Naming of America: Fragments We've Shored Against Ourselves. By Jonathan Cohen
7. ^ Lloyd, John; John Mitchinson (2006). The Book of General Ignorance. Harmony Books. pp. 95. ISBN 978-0-307-39491-0. "New countries or continents were never named after a person’s first name, but always after the second..."
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Dodson, Peter (1997). "American Dinosaurs." Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Edited by Phillip J. Currie and Kevin Padian. Academic Press. p. 10-13.
9. ^ Weishampel, David B; et al (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 543–545. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
10. ^ Robert Kaplan (January 16, 2007). "What is the origin of zero? How did we indicate nothingness before zero?". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/math/article/id/what-is-the-origin-of-zer. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
11. ^ pp. 42–46, A Concise History of World Population: An Introduction to Population Processes, Massimo Livi Bacci, Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2001, 3rd ed., ISBN 0-631-22335-5.
12. ^ "The Olympic symbols". Lausanne: Olympic Museum and Studies Centre: International Olympic Committee. 2002. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080307073846/http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_672.pdf. The five rings of the Olympic flag represent the five inhabited, participating continents (Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania).
13. ^ Océano Uno, Diccionario Enciclopédico y Atlas Mundial, "Continente", page 392, 1730. ISBN 84-494-0188-7
14. ^ Los Cinco Continentes (The Five Continents), Planeta-De Agostini Editions, 1997. ISBN 84-395-6054-0
15. ^ "Encarta, "Norteamérica".". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1257013693874868.
16. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Central America"
17. ^ "Geopolitics Oil and Natural Gas", by Alan Larson, US Undersecretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs
18. ^ ""Transportation and Security in North America", NACTS North American Center for Transborder Studies, Arizona State University" (PDF). http://nacts.asu.edu/files/u1/NQRno6.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
19. ^ ^{a b} Land areas and population estimates are taken from The 2008 World Factbook which currently uses July 2008 data, unless otherwise noted.
20. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Water area makes up a considerable portion of this entity's total area. Therefore, for a more accurate figure on which to calculate population density, this figure includes land area only.
21. ^ Includes the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is distant from the North American landmass in the Pacific Ocean and is, thus, commonly included with the other territories of Oceania.
22. ^ ^{a b c d} Estimates as of July 2006. Since Guadeloupe and Martinique have been upgraded from overseas departments to regions of France, they are no longer listed separately in The World Factbook. Therefore, these figures are from the last edition in which they appear – 2006.
23. ^ Due to ongoing activity of the Soufriere Hills volcano beginning in July 1995, much of Plymouth's de jure capital was destroyed and government offices were relocated to Brades.
24. ^ ^{a b c} Depending on definitions, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago have territory in one or both of North and South America.
25. ^ Panama is generally considered a North American country, though some authorities divide it at the Panama Canal; land area and population figures are for the entire country.
26. ^ Burchfield, R. W., ed. 2004. "America." Fowler's Modern English Usage (ISBN 0-19-861021-1) New York: Oxford University Press, p. 48 – quotation reads: "the term 'North America' is mostly used to mean the United States and Canada together. Countries to the south of the United States are described as being in Central America (Mexico, Nicaragua, etc.) or South America (Brazil, Argentina, etc.)"; see also: McArthur, Tom. 1992. "North American." The Oxford Companion to the English Language (ISBN 0-19-214183-X) New York: Oxford University Press, p. 707.
27. ^ the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: refers to "Three nations, on the same continent"
28. ^ Martin W. Lewis and Kären E. Wigen. (1997). "The Myth of Continents." (ISBN 0-520-20743-2) University of California Press, p. 40 – quotation reads: "In regard to North America one can detect a similar shift between official designation and popular conception. Strictly speaking, the North American continent includes Panama and all points north, but in common parlance Central America is usually excluded, while in some circumstances Mexico is deleted as well"; see also the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: refers to "Three nations, on the same continent"
29. ^ Countries of North America: includes Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States
30. ^ What's the difference between North, Latin, Central, Middle, South, Spanish and Anglo America?, about.com
31. ^ North America, Microsoft Encarta. Archived 2009-10-31.
32. ^ North America, msuglobalaccess.net : describes "North America includes Canada, the United States, Mexico, and their related territories, lying north of Central and South America"
33. ^ Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America
34. ^ In Ibero-America, North America is considered a subcontinent containing Canada, the United States, Mexico, Greenland, Bermuda and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon."Norteamérica (Mexican version)"/(Spaniard version). Encarta Online Encyclopedia.. Archived 2009-10-31.
35. ^ Clayton, Lawrence (1993). The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539–1543. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. .
36. ^ In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to lead an exploration of what is now the North Carolina coast, and they returned with word of a regional "king" named "Wingina." This was modified later that year by Raleigh and the Queen to "Virginia", perhaps in part noting her status as the "Virgin Queen;" Stewart, George (1945). Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States. New York: Random House. p. 22.

External links

• commons:Category:North America
  • commons:Category:Atlas of North America
• "North America"/"Central America". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2001-6. New York, Columbia University Press.
• "North America"/"Central America". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
• UN Statistics Division: Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings
• GeoHive: The population of continents, regions and countries
• "North America" (Archived 2009-10-31)/ "Central America" (Archived 2009-10-31). MSN Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006.
• American Heritage Dictionaries, North America and Central America
• Houghton Mifflin Company, "North America"
• Council on Hemispheric Affairs
• Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration
• WordNet Princeton University: Central America
• Crystal Reference Encyclopedia, "North America"

Categories: Regions of the Americas | Continents | North America | North America-related lists | Economy of North America

See Also:

• North American Energy Independence: Encyclopedia
• North American Free Trade Agreement: Encyclopedia
• Regional: North America: United States: Society and Culture: Politics: Parties: Republican: Directory
• Society: History: By Region: North America: United States: Political Parties: Republican Party: Directory
• Regional: North America: United States: Society and Culture: Politics: Parties: Republican: Opposing Views: Directory

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