We explain what North America is and its physical and cultural characteristics. Also, what is its economy, its religion and the history of this region.
North America has an area of 24.7 million km².
What is North America?
North America or North America is a region of the American continent that extends across the northern and western hemisphere. It has an area of 24.7 million km2 and It is made up of the countries of Canada, the United States, Mexico and Greenlandthe largest island in the world.
North America is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Gulf of Mexico and Central America to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It has a population of approximately 500 million inhabitants.which is equivalent to 6.2% of the world’s population.
The division of North America, Central America and South America was established based on the structural differences that the continent has. America is divided into two large triangular continental masses joined by a narrow and elongated portion of land. The northern sector is called North America, the southern sector South America, and the isthmus that unites them is called Central America.
Why is it called that? The name “America” comes from the name of Americo Vespucio, a Florentine navigator who would have been the first to suggest that this entire land mass was a new continent and not an undiscovered portion of Asia, as the Spanish, Portuguese and English thought. They explored it. Vespucci wrote several reports about his travels, and those writings were widely disseminated and read by other explorers and cartographers of the time. In 1507, a German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller included a new continent on his map of the world and named it “America” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
Features of North America
- It is the northern part of America, the second largest continent on the planet, after Asia.
- It has large mountain ranges, both in the east with the Appalachian Mountains and the Sierra Madre Oriental, and in the west with the Alaska and Mackenzie Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, the Coastal Chain and the Nevada Mountains.
- The climate in most of North America is cold and humid, and in the regions closest to the equator a tropical climate predominates, except in the high altitude areas where a cold and dry climate predominates.
- It has large geological deposits of iron, oil and coal.
- The most spoken languages are English, followed by Spanish and French.
Area, population and countries of North America
North America has an area of 24,700,000 km2, which represents 16.6% of the absolute continental surface of the planet. It is made up of Canada, the United States, Mexico and the territory of Greenland, an island located in the north of the continent that depends politically on Denmark.
The total population of the continent is approximately 495 million, representing 6.2% of the world’s population. The population density is 20 inhabitants per square kilometer.This density increases in large American cities, such as New York or Los Angeles, and decreases significantly in the large, virtually uninhabited areas of northern Canada and Greenland.
The population of each North American country is divided as follows:
- USA. 331 million inhabitants.
- Mexico. 127 million inhabitants.
- Canada. 38 million inhabitants.
- Greenland. 56,600 inhabitants.
Physical-natural characteristics of North America
The American Cordillera is made up of a series of mountain ranges
North American Climate
The climate of North America is very variable due to the size of its territory. Among the different climates, the following stand out:
- Temperate continental. This is the climate that predominates in most of the region. The temperature is moderate, with cold, dry winters and mild summers. It covers a good part of the United States and Canada.
- Tropical wet. It is the climate of the Florida peninsula in the United States. It is hot, with an average annual temperature of 25 ºC.
- Tempered oroceanic. This is the climate of the Atlantic coast of the United States. The temperature range is mild and rainfall is abundant.
- Dry tropical. It is the climate of the deserts in the south of the continent, in the United States and a large part of Mexico. The temperature is high and rainfall is scarce for most of the year.
- Polar cold. This is the climate of the regions of Alaska and northern Canada. The temperature is very low, with warm and short summers and long, freezing winters. The rains are light and come in the form of snow.
Relief of North America
The reliefs of North America can be classified as follows:
- Mountain relief. It is located in the west of the region. It is characterized by its high altitude and the frequency with which natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. The main mountain ranges are the Coast Chain and Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada and the Eastern and Western Sierra Madre in Mexico.
- Relief of plateaus. They are found in central Canada and the United States, between the high mountains of the west and the plains of the east.
- Relief of plainsThey are located in the east of the region. They are characterized by their low elevation and their large number of rivers and lakes. This type of relief corresponds mainly to the Canadian Shield area, in eastern Canada, and the Mississippi River Plain in the United States.
Rivers and lakes of North America
In terms of hydrography, most of the region’s major rivers and lakes are located in the eastern United States and Canada. The Mississippi River is the most important, which with a hydrographic basin of almost 3 million square kilometers is the fourth largest in the world. It occupies a good part of the central and eastern United States.
The Great Lakes region is also very important in hydrological terms. It is located on the border between the United States and Canada. Includes lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario and St. Lawrence Bay. They constitute the largest group of freshwater lakes on the planet.
Flora and fauna of North America
Due to its vast land area and diverse climates, North America’s biomes are highly varied. Throughout North America there are rainforests, grasslands, tundras, deserts and forests.
In the colder northern regions, the fauna is scarce and is characterized by the presence of polar bears and reindeer. In the central regions of the continent the fauna is more variedwith deer, goats, foxes, wolves, bears, pumas, owls, beavers, deer, eagles and a wide variety of species of aquatic animals that live in rivers and lakes.
In the southern regions of North America, skunks, black bears, bison, elk, otters, squirrels and beavers stand out. In the regions closer to the southeast coasts, reptiles such as snakes and lizards are abundant.
North American Culture and Religion
The predominant language in North America is English.spoken by more than 350 million people in the United States and Canada. The second is Spanishspoken by more than 130 million people in Mexico and in some regions of the southern United States.
French is a minority language in North America, spoken by about 9 million people, in some regions of Canada alone. Finally, the few inhabitants of Greenland speak Danish and Greenlandic, its two official languages.
The predominant religion in North America is Protestant., especially in Canada and the United States. He is followed by Catholicism, which is also practiced in much of Canada and, especially, in Mexico. On a smaller scale, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism are practiced.
Economic activities of North America
The automotive industry is one of the economic activities.
The countries of North America have different types of natural resources in their territories. The great plains of the east allow the practice of agriculture and livestock farming and the extraction of hydrocarbons.the mountains of the west allow the exploitation of minerals, the coasts favor the practice of fishing and the forested area favors forestry activity.
The secondary sector is very important in the regionmainly in the United States. Industries such as the automotive, aeronautical, computer and electronic industries are some of the most important.
The financial sector is also very developed, especially in the United States and Canada. Transportation, communications, services and the financial sector are some of the most relevant tertiary economic activities in the region.
The US and Canadian economies are deeply outsourced, which means that a large part of its profits come from the tertiary sector. Service provision, trade, finance and tourism contribute more than 75% of the income of these two countries.
For its part, Mexico has a more primary economywith greater importance given to activities such as agriculture, livestock and mining. However, industrial manufacturing activities and tertiary activities such as tourism are very important for the country.
The United States and Canada are part of the group of the most developed countries in the world. Their human development indexes (HDI) place them among the 15 best on the planet. Mexico, for its part, has a much lower level of human development and is ranked 86th worldwide.
Political characteristics of North America
The wall located on the border between the United States and Mexico is almost 1,000 kilometers long.
North America is made up of the United States, Canada and Mexico, three independent countries, and Greenland, a Danish colony.
The United States, Canada and Mexico are full members of the United Nations Organizations, and they also make up a regional political bloc called USMCA. The Agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (USMCA) is made up of the three North American countries that formed a regional bloc in 1994 under the name of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement in English). ) and which is currently in force under the name of USMCA.
This treaty establishes the elimination of tariff barriers for trade between these three countries.so goods can be traded from one country to another without paying taxes.
Unlike the European Union or MERCOSUR, freedom of movement between countries does not include people, so North American citizens cannot move freely from one country to another. Even on a part of the border between Mexico and the United States there is a…