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Geography of North America – The Ultimate Free Guide 2021

• North America is the third largest continent, and is also a portion of the second largest super continent if North and South America are combined into the Americas and Africa, Europe, and Asia are considered to be part of one super continent called Afro-Eurasia.
• The continent is delimited on the southeast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America
• Seventy percent of North America is underlain by the Laurentia craton,which is exposed as the Canadian Shield in much of central and eastern Canada around the Hudson Bay, and as far south as the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Geography of North America

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Region:

It is divided into major physio graphic regions:

1. Canadian Shield: This is a geologically stable area of rock dating between 2.5 and 4 Gya that occupies most of the northeastern quadrant, including Greenland.
2. Appalachian Mountains: The Appalachians are an old and eroded system that formed about 300 Ma and extends from the Gaspé Peninsula to Alabama.
3. Atlantic Coastal Plain: The plain is a belt of lowlands widening to the south that extends from south New England to Mexico.
4. Interior Lowlands :The lowlands extend down the middle of the continent from the Mackenzie Valley to the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and include the Great Plains on the west and the agriculturally productive Interior Plains on the east.
5. North American Cordillera : The cordillera is a complex belt of mountains and associated plateaus and basins some of which were formed as recently as 100–65 Ma, during the Cretaceous.
   1. The cordillera extend from Alaska into Mexico and includes two organic belts -the Pacific Margin on the west and the Rocky Mountains on the east – separated by a system of intermontane plateaus and basins.

Area:

24,709,000 km²

Population Density:

22.9/km²

Population:

579,024,000:

List of Countries in Europe:

Demonym:

North American

Geographical Coordinates:

54.5260° N, 105.2551° W

Dependencies:

23 Non-Sovereign Territories

Languages:

English, Spanish, French, and many others

Geographical Low Point:

 Death Valley in California

Geographical High Point:

Denali

Climate:

• North America contains every climate zone.

• The following list contains the different types of climate zones:
  1. Tropics: which can be found in Central America;
  2. Tundras: which can be found in Canada and Alaska;
  3. Deserts : which exist near the interior regions of the Rocky Mountains; as well as several forests. While all of these places exist, most of North America is primarily temperate and is habitable and capable of agriculture.

Major cities:

• Mexico City
• New York City
• Los Angeles
• Toronto
• Chicago
• Houston
• Havana
• Ecatepec de Morelos
• Montreal
• Philadelphia

Major Land forms:

North America can be divided into five physical regions:

• The mountainous west,
• The Great Plains,
• The Canadian Shield,
• The varied eastern region, and
• The Caribbean.

Mexico and Central America’s western coast are connected to the mountainous west, while its lowlands and coastal plains extend into the eastern region

Major Rivers and Lakes:

Major Rivers:

• Mississippi River,
• Missouri River,
• Rio Grande River,
• Colorado River,
• Columbia River,
• Saint Lawrence River,
• Ohio River,
• Yukon River,
• Hudson River,
• Mackenzie River

Major Lakes:

• Lake Superior
• Lake Huron
• Lake Michigan
• Great Bear Lake
• Great Slave Lake
• Lake Erie
• Lake Winnipeg
• Lake Ontario
• Lake Nicaragua
• Lake Athbasca

Famous Places:

• Niagara Falls.
• Walt Disney World Parks.
• Times Square.
• National Mall.
• Chichen Itza.
• The Getty Center.
• The CN Tower.
• Pearl Harbo.
• Yellowstone National Park
• The Freedom Trail

Natural Resources:

North America produces most of the world’s

• Corn,
• Meat,
• Cotton,
• Soybeans,
• Tobacco,
• Wheat,
• Coal,
• Iron ore,
• Bauxite,
• Copper,
• Natural gas,
• Petroleum,
• Mercury,
• Nickel,
• Potash, and
• Silver.

Major Geographical Features:

Biomes & Ecosystems:

• Arctic & Alpine Tundra
• Coniferous Forest (Taiga)
• Grassland (Prairie)
• Deciduous Forest
• Desert Biome
• Tropical Rain Forest
• Urban Sprawl
• Adaptations Links
• Ecological Principles #1
• Photos Of Adaptations

Topography:

North America can be divided into five physical regions:

• The mountainous west,
• The Great Plains,
• The Canadian Shield,
• The varied eastern region, and
• The Caribbean.
• Mexico and Central America’s western coast are connected to the mountainous west, while its lowlands and coastal plains extend into the eastern region.

Oceans:

North: Arctic Ocean,
East: Atlantic Ocean,
South: Caribbean Sea,
West: North Pacific Ocean.

Islands:

• Vancouver Island
• Long Island
• Hispaniola
• Martha’s Vineyard
• Baffin Island
• O‘ahu
• Kodiak Island
• Ellesmere Island

Mountain Ranges:

• Alaska Range
• Appalachian Mountains
• Canadian Rockies
• Cascade Range
• Great Smoky Mountains
• Olympic Mountains
• Rocky Mountains
• Sierra Madre 
• Sierra Nevada
• White Mountains

Facts about North America:

1. It is surrounded by Arctic Ocean in the north, Atlantic Ocean in the east and Pacific Ocean in the west.
2. There are several groups of Islands in the southern part of the continent, known as ‘Western Island groups’ or ‘West Indies’.
3. It is connected with South America through the Isthmus of Panama.
4. It is separated from Asia by the Bering Strait.
5. The 490 N latitude forms the boundary between the two big countries- USA and Canada.
6. Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River also act boundary between the USA and Canada.

Political Map of North Central America

Physical Map of North America:

See Also:

World Map,

References:

• Wikipedia
• ontheworldmap.com
• mometrix.com
• palmor.edu
• Jaganrosh.com