North America#Demographics

{{anchor|Etymology}}

{{Further|Naming of the Americas|New Spain|Turtle Island (Native American folklore)|Vinland}}

File:Historisch Nordamerika (cropped).jpg

File:The Harmsworth atlas and Gazetter 1908 (135850870).jpg

The Americas were named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/626894/Amerigo-Vespucci |title=Amerigo Vespucci |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=7 July 2011 |archive-date=10 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710004308/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/626894/Amerigo-Vespucci |url-status=live}} Vespucci explored South America between 1497 and 1502, and was the first European to suggest that the Americas represented a landmass then unknown to the Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller published a world map, and placed the word "America" on the continent of present-day South America.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cosmographiintr00waldgoog |title=The Cosmographiæ Introductio of Martin Waldseemüller in Facsimile |others=Translated by Edward Burke and Mario E. Cosenza, introduction by Joseph Fischer and Franz von Wieser |editor-last=Herbermann |editor-first=Charles George |place=New York |publisher=The United States Catholic Historical Society |year=1907 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cosmographiintr00waldgoog/page/n27 9] |quote={{langx|la|"Quarta pars per Americum Vesputium (ut in sequentibus audietur) inventa est, quam non video, cur quis jure vetet, ab Americo inventore sagacis ingenii viro Amerigen quasi Americi terram sive Americam dicendam, cum et Europa et Asia a mulieribus sua sortita sint nomina."}}}} The continent north of present-day Mexico was then referred to as Parias.{{Cite web |last=Arbuckle |first=Alex |date=24 December 2016 |title=This 509-year-old map contains the first known use of the word 'America' — but not where you may think |url=https://mashable.com/feature/universalis-cosmographia |access-date=26 May 2022 |website=Mashable |language=en |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526014743/https://mashable.com/feature/universalis-cosmographia |url-status=live}} On a 1553 world map published by Petrus Apianus,{{cite web |last=Apianus |first=Petrus |title=English: 1553 world map – Charta Cosmographica, Cum Ventorum Propria Natura et Operatione |date=1553 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1553_world_map_-_Charta_Cosmographica,_Cum_Ventorum_Propria_Natura_et_Operatione.jpg |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709045708/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1553_world_map_-_Charta_Cosmographica,_Cum_Ventorum_Propria_Natura_et_Operatione.jpg |url-status=live}} North America was called "Baccalearum", meaning "realm of the Cod fish", in reference to the abundance of cod on the East Coast.{{Cite web |publisher=Stanford University |location=Stanford, California |title=Charta Cosmographica, Cum Ventorum Propria Natura et Operatione |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ruderman/catalog/dp027ft1928 |access-date=10 August 2022 |website=Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection – Spotlight at Stanford |language=en |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033917/https://exhibits.stanford.edu/ruderman/catalog/dp027ft1928 |url-status=live}}

Waldseemüller used the Latinized version of Vespucci's name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form of "America", following the examples of "Europa", "Asia", and "Africa". Americus originated from Medieval Latin {{Lang|la-x-medieval|Emericus}} (see Saint Emeric of Hungary), coming from the Old High German name Emmerich. Map makers later extended the name America to North America.

In 1538, Gerardus Mercator used the term America on his world map of the entire Western Hemisphere.{{cite web |url=http://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html |title=The Naming of America: Fragments We've Shored Against Ourselves |first=Jonathan |last=Cohen |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=15 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815164226/https://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html |url-status=live}} On his subsequent 1569 map, Mercator called North America "America or New India" (America sive India Nova).{{Cite web |title=Mercator 1587 {{!}} Envisioning the World {{!}} The First Printed Maps |url=https://lib-dbserver.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/wendt-world-maps/Mercator_1587.html |access-date=12 September 2020 |website=lib-dbserver.princeton.edu |archive-date=12 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912213223/https://lib-dbserver.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/wendt-world-maps/Mercator_1587.html |url-status=dead}}

The Spanish Empire called its territories in North and South America "Las Indias", and the name given to the state body that oversaw the region was called the Council of the Indies.

File:North America satellite orthographic.jpg satellite image of North America]]

The United Nations and its statistics division recognize North America as including three subregions: Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean.{{cite web |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |title=UNSD — Methodology |last=Division |first=United Nations Statistics |website=unstats.un.org |language=en |access-date=1 November 2018 |archive-date=30 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170949/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/ |url-status=live |quote=The continent of North America (numerical code 003) comprises Northern America (numerical code 021), Caribbean (numerical code 029), and Central America (numerical code 013).}} "Northern America" is a term distinct from "North America", excluding the Caribbean and Central America, which also includes Mexico. In the limited context of regional trade agreements, the term is used to reference three countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the countries of Latin America use a six-continent model, with the Americas viewed as a single continent and North America designating a subregion comprising Canada, Mexico, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (politically a part of France), the United States, and often Bermuda, Clipperton Island, and Greenland.{{cite web |url=http://mx.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562468/Norteam%C3%A9rica.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130015145/http://mx.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562468/Norteam%C3%A9rica.html |archive-date=30 January 2009 |title=Norteamérica |trans-title=North America |language=es |quote=In Ibero-America, North America is considered a subcontinent containing Canada, the United States, Mexico, Greenland, Bermuda and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. |access-date=30 January 2007 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Six or Seven Continents on Earth |url=http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/qt/qzcontinents.htm |access-date=18 December 2016 |language=en |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126015411/http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/qt/qzcontinents.htm |url-status=dead |quote=In Europe and other parts of the world, many students are taught of six continents, where North and South America are combined to form a single continent of America. Thus, these six continents are Africa, America, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, and Europe.}}{{cite web |title=Continents |url=http://www.worldometers.info/geography/continents/ |access-date=18 December 2016 |language=en |archive-date=21 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221035719/http://www.worldometers.info/geography/continents/ |url-status=live |quote=six-continent model (used mostly in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, and Latin America) groups together North America+South America into the single continent America.}}{{cite web |title=AMÉRIQUE |date=24 February 2000 |url=http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/amerique-structure-et-milieu-geographie/ |access-date=18 December 2016 |language=fr |archive-date=5 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205122940/http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/amerique-structure-et-milieu-geographie/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=America |url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/america_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/ |access-date=18 December 2016 |language=it |archive-date=21 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221042321/http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/america_%28Dizionario-di-Storia%29/ |url-status=live}}

North America has historically been known by other names, including Spanish North America, New Spain, New France, British North America and América Septentrional, the first official name given to Mexico.{{cite web |title=Acta Solemne de la Declaración de Independencia de la América Septentrional |trans-title=Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America |url=http://www.agn.gob.mx/independencia/documentos.html |work=Archivos de la Independencia |publisher=Archivo General de la Nación |access-date=8 July 2011 |language=es |archive-date=11 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811023151/http://www.agn.gob.mx/independencia/documentos.html |url-status=dead}}

===Regions===

{{Further|List of regions of Canada|List of regions of the United States}}

North America includes several regions and subregions, each of which have their own respective cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions include several regions formalized in 20th- and 21st-century trade agreements, including NAFTA between Canada, Mexico, and the United States, and CAFTA between Central America, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.

North America is divided linguistically and culturally into two primary regions, Anglo-America and Latin America. Anglo-America includes most of North America, Belize, and Caribbean islands with English-speaking populations. There are also regions, including Louisiana and Quebec, with large Francophone populations; in Quebec and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, French is the official language.{{cite web |url=http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/english/charter/index.html |title=Status of the French language |author=Office Québécois de la langue francaise |publisher=Government of Quebec |access-date=10 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514153402/http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/english/charter/index.html |archive-date=14 May 2011}}.

The southern portion of North America includes Central America and non-English-speaking Caribbean nations.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Central America |url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861670266/Central_America.html |encyclopedia=Encarta Encyclopedia |access-date=30 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103174029/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861670266/Central_America.html |archive-date=3 November 2009 |url-status=dead}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=Caribbean |url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Caribbean |dictionary=The Free Dictionary |access-date=30 May 2011 |archive-date=6 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106140233/http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Caribbean |url-status=live}} The north of the continent maintains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of North America, which encompasses the whole North American continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used more narrowly to refer only to four nations, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the U.S.{{cite web |title=The World Factbook – North America |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_noa.html |access-date=20 June 2011 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623043844/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_noa.html |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Countries in North America – Country Reports |url=http://www.countryreports.org/maps/northamerica.aspx |publisher=Country Reports |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427050055/http://www.countryreports.org/maps/northamerica.aspx |archive-date=27 April 2015}}{{cite web |title=North America: World of Earth Science |url=http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/north-america |publisher=eNotes Inc. |access-date=20 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220133458/http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/north-america |archive-date=20 December 2010}}{{cite web |title=North American Region |url=http://www.trilateral.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=12 |publisher=The Trilateral Commission |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021204534/http://www.trilateral.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=12 |archive-date=21 October 2012}}{{cite book |last1=Parsons |first1=Alan |last2=Schaffer |first2=Jonathan |title=Geopolitics of oil and natural gas |publisher=U.S. Department of State |series=Economic Perspectives |date=May 2004}}{{full citation needed|date=February 2014}} The U.S. Census Bureau includes Saint Pierre and Miquelon, but excludes Mexico from its definition.{{cite web |title=Schedule C – Country Codes and Descriptions |url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/c/countrycode.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203204307/https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/c/countrycode.html |archive-date=3 December 2023 |access-date=3 December 2023 |publisher=US Census Bureau}}

The term Northern America refers to the northernmost countries and territories of North America: the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon.{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/migration/index.asp?panel=3 |title=Definition of major areas and regions |publisher=United Nations |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703142031/https://esa.un.org/migration/index.asp?panel=3 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |title=Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings |publisher=UN Statistics Division |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116150809/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |url-status=live}} ([http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regnf.htm French] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224062835/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regnf.htm |date=24 December 2010 }}). Although the term does not refer to a unified region,{{cite web |last1=Berglee |first1=Royal |date=17 June 2016 |title=Chapter 5, Middle America |url=http://open.lib.umn.edu/worldgeography/part/chapter-5-middle-america/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401174521/http://open.lib.umn.edu/worldgeography/part/chapter-5-middle-america/ |archive-date=1 April 2018 |access-date=3 April 2018 |publisher=University of Minnesota}} Middle America includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Middle America (region, Mesoamerica) |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381099/Middle-America |access-date=20 June 2011 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-date=19 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919063254/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381099/Middle-America |url-status=live}}

North America's largest countries by land area are Canada and the U.S., both of which have well-defined and recognized subregions. In Canada, these include (from east to west) Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, the Canadian Prairies, the British Columbia Coast, Western Canada, and Northern Canada. In the U.S., they include New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the South Atlantic, East North Central, West North Central, East South Central, West South Central, Mountain, and Pacific states. The Great Lakes region and the Pacific Northwest include areas in both the U.S. and Canada.

{{Main|History of North America}}

{{Main|Pre-Columbian era}}

File:America 1000 BCE.png, including North America, as of 1000 BCE

{{legend|#FEFE00|Hunter-gatherers}}

{{legend|#00FE00|Simple farming societies}}

{{legend|#FE7F3F|Complex agricultural societies, including tribal chiefdoms and civilizations}}

]]

The indigenous peoples of the Americas have many creation myths, based on which they assert that they have been present on the land since its creation,{{cite book |first=Jeremiah |last=Curtin |title=Creation Myths of Primitive America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRK1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2 |year=2014 |publisher=Jazzybee Verlag |isbn=978-3-8496-4454-3 |page=2 |access-date=22 November 2015 |archive-date=9 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209074925/https://books.google.com/books?id=PRK1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2 |url-status=live}} but there is no evidence that humans evolved there.{{cite book |last=Krensky |first=Stephen |others=Illustrated by Steve Sullivan |title=Who Really Discovered America? |year=1987 |publisher=Scholastic Inc. |isbn=978-0-590-40854-7 |page=13}} The specifics of the initial settlement of the Americas by ancient Asians are subject to ongoing research and discussion.{{cite book |first=Phillip M. |last=White |title=American Indian chronology: chronologies of the American mosaic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_VnZ8_2kSScC&pg=PA1 |access-date=29 November 2011 |year=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33820-5 |page=1 |archive-date=11 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111211639/http://books.google.com/books?id=_VnZ8_2kSScC&pg=PA1 |url-status=live}} The traditional theory has been that hunters entered the Bering Land Bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska from 27,000 to 14,000 years ago.{{cite book |first1=William |last1=Haviland |first2=Harald |last2=Prins |author2-link=Harald Prins |first3=Dana |last3=Walrath |first4=Bunny |last4=McBride |author4-link=Bunny McBride |title=Anthropology: The Human Challenge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bpuCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 |date=2013 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-67758-3 |pages=219, 220 |access-date=22 November 2015 |archive-date=7 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207213447/https://books.google.com/books?id=0bpuCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |first=Liz |last=Sonneborn |title=Chronology of American Indian History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKfBId96DTIC&pg=PA3 |date=January 2007 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-6770-1 |page=3 |access-date=29 November 2011 |archive-date=3 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103103603/http://books.google.com/books?id=OKfBId96DTIC&pg=PA3 |url-status=live}}{{efn|The receding of oceans during successive ice ages may have enabled migrants to cross the land bridge as far back as 40,000 years.{{cite book |last=Krensky |first=Stephen |others=Illustrated by Steve Sullivan |title=Who Really Discovered America? |year=1987 |publisher=Scholastic Inc. |isbn=978-0-590-40854-7 |pages=11, 13}}}} A growing viewpoint is that the first American inhabitants sailed from Beringia some 13,000 years ago,{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/most-archaeologists-think-first-americans-arrived-boat-now-they-re-beginning-prove-it |title=Most archaeologists think the first Americans arrived by boat. Now, they're beginning to prove it |last=Wade |first=Lizzie |journal=Science |date=10 August 2017 |doi=10.1126/science.aan7213 |access-date=26 December 2018 |archive-date=31 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131022108/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/most-archaeologists-think-first-americans-arrived-boat-now-they-re-beginning-prove-it |url-status=live}} with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the Last Glacial Period, in what is known as the Late Glacial Maximum, around 12,500 years ago.{{cite book |first=Timothy R. |last=Pauketat |author-link=Timothy R. Pauketat |title=The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology |date=23 February 2012 |publisher=OUP US |isbn=978-0-19-538011-8 |page=96}} The oldest petroglyphs in North America date from 15,000 to 10,000 years before present.{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/08/16/212569006/n-americas-oldest-known-petroglyphs-discovered-in-nevada |title=N. America's Oldest Known Petroglyphs Discovered In Nevada |last=Shogren |first=Elizabeth |date=16 August 2013 |website=NPR |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805060403/https://www.npr.org/2013/08/16/212569006/n-americas-oldest-known-petroglyphs-discovered-in-nevada |url-status=live}}{{efn|While not conclusive, some South American rock painting has been dated to 25,000 years ago.{{cite web |url=http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/south_america/serra_da_capivara/index.php |title=America's Oldest Art – The Rock Art of Serra da Capivara |last=Nash |first=George |year=2011 |website=Bradshaw Foundation |access-date=12 December 2018 |archive-date=24 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924163146/http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/south_america/serra_da_capivara/index.php |url-status=live}}}} Genetic research and anthropology indicate additional waves of migration from Asia via the Bering Strait during the Early-Middle Holocene.{{cite journal |last1=Skoglund |first1=P. |last2=Mallick |first2=S. |last3=Bortolini |first3=M. C. |last4=Chennagiri |first4=N. |last5=Hünemeier |first5=T. |last6=Petzl-Erler |first6=M. L. |author-link6=Maria Luiza Petzl-Erler |last7=Salzano |first7=F. M. |last8=Patterson |first8=N. |last9=Reich |first9=D. |date=21 July 2015 |title=Genetic evidence for two founding populations of the Americas |journal=Nature |volume=525 |issue=7567 |pages=104–8 |bibcode=2015Natur.525..104S |doi=10.1038/nature14895 |pmc=4982469 |pmid=26196601}}{{cite book |first1=Peter |last1=Bellwood |author1-link=Peter Bellwood |first2=Immanuel |last2=Ness |author2-link=Immanuel Ness |title=The Global Prehistory of Human Migration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2HMTBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 |date=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-97059-1 |page=194 |access-date=22 November 2015 |archive-date=7 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160207210859/https://books.google.com/books?id=2HMTBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 |url-status=live}}{{cite book |last=Krensky |first=Stephen |others=Illustrated by Steve Sullivan |title=Who Really Discovered America? |year=1987 |publisher=Scholastic Inc. |isbn=978-0-590-40854-7 |pages=17–27}}

Prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in North America, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, ranging from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several culture areas, which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones that defined the representative cultures and lifestyles of the indigenous people who lived there, including the bison hunters of the Great Plains and the farmers of Mesoamerica. Native groups also are classified by their language families, which included Athabaskan and Uto-Aztecan languages. Indigenous peoples with similar languages did not always share the same material culture, however, and were not necessarily always allies. Anthropologists speculate that the Inuit of the high Arctic arrived in North America much later than other native groups, 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 habitation on the continent, cultures changed and shifted. One of the oldest yet discovered is the Clovis culture (c. 9550–9050 BCE) in modern New Mexico. Later groups include the Mississippian culture and related Mound building cultures, found in the Mississippi River valley and the Pueblo culture of what is now the Four Corners. 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, squash, and maize. As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many other cultural advances were made there. The Mayans developed a writing system, built huge pyramids and temples, had a complex calendar, and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-the-origin-of-zer |title=What is the origin of zero? How did we indicate nothingness before zero? |first=Robert |last=Kaplan |magazine=Scientific American |date=16 January 2007 |access-date=19 February 2008 |archive-date=19 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319151336/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-the-origin-of-zer |url-status=live}}

The first recorded European references to North America are in Norse sagas where it is referred to as Vinland.{{cite web |last1=Groeneveld |first1=Emma |title=Vinland |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Vinland/ |website=World History Encyclopedia |access-date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420181420/https://www.worldhistory.org/Vinland/ |url-status=live}} The earliest verifiable instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by any European culture with the North America mainland has been dated to around 1000 CE.{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Linda S. |last1=Cordell |first2=Kent |last2=Lightfoot |first3=Francis |last3=McManamon |first4=George |last4=Milner |title=L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site |encyclopedia=Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arfWRW5OFVgC&pg=PA82 |date=2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-02189-3 |page=82 |access-date=19 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230134928/https://books.google.com/books?id=arfWRW5OFVgC&pg=PA82 |url-status=live}} The site, situated at the northernmost extent of the island named Newfoundland, has provided unmistakable evidence of Norse settlement.H. Ingstad and A. Stine Ingstad, The Viking Discovery of America (2000), p. 141. Norse explorer Leif Erikson (c. 970–1020 CE) is thought to have visited the area.{{efn|Descriptions of sites Erikson explored seem to correspond to Baffin Island, the Labrador coast near Cape Porcupine, as well as Belle Isle, and a site which led him to name the country Vinland ('Wineland').{{cite book |last1=Wernick |first1=Robert |title=The Vikings |date=1979 |publisher=Time-Life Books |location=Alexandria, VA |isbn=0-8094-2709-5 |pages=149–151}}}} Erikson was the first European to make landfall on the continent (excluding Greenland).{{cite web |last1=Little |first1=Becky |title=Why Do We Celebrate Columbus Day and Not Leif Erikson Day? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151011-columbus-day-leif-erikson-italian-americans-holiday-history/ |website=National Geographic |access-date=28 May 2020 |date=11 October 2015 |archive-date=28 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328203350/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151011-columbus-day-leif-erikson-italian-americans-holiday-history/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=History – Leif Erikson |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/erikson_leif.shtml |website=BBC |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-date=20 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120185237/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/erikson_leif.shtml |url-status=live}}

The Mayan culture was still present in southern Mexico and Guatemala when the Spanish conquistadors arrived, but political dominance in the area had shifted to the Aztec Empire, whose capital city Tenochtitlan was located further north in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs were conquered in 1521 by Hernán Cortés.Bernard Grunberg, "La folle aventure d'Hernan Cortés", in L'Histoire n°322, July–August 2007 {{incomplete short citation|date=February 2014}}

{{main|European colonization of the Americas}}

{{further|Timeline of the European colonization of North America|British America|French America|New Spain|Russian colonization of the Americas}}

File:Waldseemuller map 2.jpg Martin Waldseemüller (Germany, 1507), which first used the name America]]

File:QueenAnnesWarBefore.svg]]

During the so-called Age of Discovery, Europeans explored overseas and staked claims to various parts of North America, much of which was already settled by indigenous peoples. Upon Europeans' arrival in the "New World", indigenous peoples had a variety of reactions, including curiosity, trading, cooperation, resignation, and resistance. The indigenous population declined substantially following European arrival, primarily due to the introduction of Eurasian diseases, such as smallpox, to which the indigenous peoples lacked immunity, and because of violent conflicts with Europeans.{{cite book |title=A Concise History of World Population: An Introduction to Population Processes |last=Massimo Livi Bacci |first=Malden |place=Massachusetts |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2001 |edition=3rd |isbn=978-0-631-22335-1 |pages=42–46}} Indigenous culture changed significantly and their affiliation with political and cultural groups also changed. Several linguistic groups died out, and others changed quite quickly.

On North America's southeastern coast, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who had accompanied Columbus's second voyage, visited and named in 1513 La Florida.{{cite book |last=Bergreen |first=Lawrence |author-link=Laurence Bergreen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dyhtkk4VQcC |title=Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1493–1504 |publisher=Penguin Group US |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-101-54432-7 |page=127 |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=17 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217004027/https://books.google.com/books?id=3Dyhtkk4VQcC |url-status=live}} As the colonial period unfolded, Spain, England, and France appropriated and claimed extensive territories in North America eastern and southern coastlines. Spain established permanent settlements on the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Cuba in the 1490s, building cities, putting the resident indigenous populations to work, raising crops for Spanish settlers and panning gold to enrich the Spaniards. Much of the indigenous population died due to disease and overwork, spurring the Spaniards on to claim new lands and peoples. An expedition under the command of Spanish settler, Hernán Cortés, sailed westward in 1519 to what turned out to be the mainland in Mexico. With local indigenous allies, the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in central Mexico in 1521. Spain then established permanent cities in Mexico, Central America, and Spanish South America in the sixteenth century. Once Spaniards conquered the high civilization of the Aztecs and Incas, the Caribbean was a backwater of the Spanish empire.

Other European powers began to intrude on areas claimed by Spain, including the Caribbean islands. France took the western half of Hispaniola and developed Saint-Domingue as a cane sugar producing colony worked by black slave labor. Britain took Barbados and Jamaica, and the Dutch and Danes took islands previously claimed by Spain. Britain did not begin settling on the North American mainland until a hundred years after the first Spanish settlements, since it sought first to control nearby Ireland.

{{Main|British America}}

The first permanent English settlement was in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, followed by additional colonial establishments on the east coast from present-day Georgia in the south to Massachusetts in the north, forming the Thirteen Colonies of British America. The English did not establish settlements north or east of the St. Lawrence Valley in present-day Canada until after the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War. Britain's early settlements in present-day Canada included St. John's, Newfoundland in 1630 and Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1749. The first permanent French settlement was in Quebec City, Quebec, established in 1608.

{{Main|Seven Years' War}}

With the British victory in the Seven Years' War, France in 1763 ceded to Britain its claims of North American territories east of the Mississippi River. Spain, in turn, gained rights to the territories west of Mississippi, which then served as a border between Spain and Britain's territorial claims. French colonists settled Illinois Country after several generations of experience on North America, migrating over the Mississippi River to regions where Spain was not present and where they were able to leverage their earlier Louisiana French settlements around the Gulf of Mexico. These early French settlers partnered with midwest indigenous tribes, and their mixed ancestry descendants later followed a westward expansion all the way to the Pacific Ocean on the present-day U.S. West Coast.

{{Main|American Revolution|American Revolutionary War}}

In 1776, after various attempts to reconcile differences with the British, the Thirteen Colonies in British America sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, who unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, a member of the Committee of Five charged by the Second Continental Congress with authoring it. In the Declaration, the thirteen colonies declared their independence from the British monarchy, then governed by King George III, and detailed the factors that contributed to their decision. With the signing and issuance of the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies formalized and escalated the American Revolutionary War, which had begun the year before at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. Gathered in Philadelphia following the war's outbreak, delegates from the thirteen colonies established the Continental Army from various patriot militias then engaged in resisting the British, and appointed George Washington as the Continental Army's military commander.

As the American Revolutionary War progressed, France and Spain, both then enemies of Britain, began to ultimately see the promise of a potential American victory in the war and began supporting Washington and the American Revolutionary cause. The British Army, in turn, was supported by Hessian military units from present-day Germany.

In 1783, after an eight-year attempt to defeat the American rebellion, King George III acknowledged Britain's defeat in the war, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783, which solidified the sovereign establishment of the United States.

{{Main|Westward Expansion Trails}}

{{Further|Lewis and Clark Expedition|Louisiana Purchase|United States Exploring Expedition}}

File:Professor G. Droysens Allgemeiner historischer Handatlas 1886 (134038141).jpg by Gustav Droysen]]

By the late 18th century, Russia was established on the Pacific Northwest northern coastline, where it was engaged in maritime fur trade and was supported by various indigenous settlements in the region. As a result, the Spanish were showing more interest in controlling the trade on the Pacific coast and mapped most of its coastline. The first Spanish settlements were attempted in Alta California during that period. Numerous overland explorations associated with voyageurs, fur trade, and U.S. led expeditions, including the Lewis and Clark, Frémont and Wilkes expeditions, reached the Pacific.

In 1803, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, Napoleon Bonaparte sold France's remaining North American territorial claims, which included regions west of the Mississippi River, to the U.S., in the Louisiana Purchase. Spain and the U.S. settled their western boundary dispute in 1819 in the Adams–Onís Treaty. Mexico fought a lengthy war for independence from Spain, winning it for Mexico (which included Central America at the time) in 1821. The U.S. sought further westward expansion and fought the Mexican–American War, gaining a vast territory that first Spain and then Mexico claimed but which they did not effectively control. Much of the area was in fact dominated by indigenous peoples, which did not recognize the claims of Spain, France, or the U.S. Russia sold its North American claims, which included the present-day U.S. state of Alaska, to the U.S. in 1867.

{{Main|Canada|Panama Canal}}

In 1867, colonial settlers north of the United States, unified as the dominion of Canada. The U.S. sought to dig a canal across the Isthmus of Panama in present-day Panama in Central America, then a part of present-day Colombia. The U.S. aided Panamanians in a war that resulted in its separation from Colombia. The U.S. subsequently carved out the Panama Canal Zone, and claimed sovereignty over it. After decades of work, the Panama Canal was completed, which connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in 1913 and greatly facilitated global shipping navigation.

{{Main|Geography of North America}}

File:Physical Features of North America map by Tom Patterson v. 1.01, meters.jpg

File:Saguaro National Park - Flickr - Joe Parks.jpg in Arizona]]

File:Moraine Lake 17092005.jpg in Banff National Park in Alberta]]

File:Nuuk city below Sermitsiaq.JPG, the capital of Greenland]]

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, in many countries, is considered a single continent{{cite web |url=http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_672.pdf |title=The Olympic symbols |publisher=International Olympic Committee |year=2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307073846/http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_672.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2008 |location=Lausanne: Olympic Museum and Studies Centre}} The five rings of the Olympic flag represent the five inhabited, participating continents ([http://www.moscow2001.olympic.org/en/pdf/members_by_continent.pdf Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020223205800/http://www.moscow2001.olympic.org/en/pdf/members_by_continent.pdf |date=23 February 2002 }}).{{cite book |title=Océano Uno, Diccionario Enciclopédico y Atlas Mundial |chapter=Continente |pages=392, 1730 |isbn=978-84-494-0188-6 |last1=Equipo |year=1997 |publisher=Océano}}{{author missing|date=February 2014}}{{cite book |title=Los Cinco Continentes (The Five Continents) |publisher=Planeta-De Agostini Editions |year=1997 |isbn=978-84-395-6054-8}}{{page needed|date=February 2014}} with North America a subcontinent.{{cite web |title=Encarta, "Norteamérica" |url=http://mx.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562468/Norteam%C3%A9rica.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130015145/http://mx.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562468/Norteam%C3%A9rica.html |archive-date=30 January 2009 |url-status=dead |language=es |access-date=30 January 2007}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418612/North-America |title=North America |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=20 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520211322/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418612/North-America |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=Map And Details Of All 7 Continents |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm |access-date=2 September 2016 |publisher=worldatlas.com |quote=In some parts of the world, students are taught that there are only six continents, as they combine North America and South America into one continent called the Americas. |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032048/http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/contnent.htm |url-status=live}} North America is the third-largest continent by area after Asia and Africa.{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Matt |date=11 April 2020 |title=Ranking the 7 Continents by Size and Population |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/continents-ranked-by-size-and-population-4163436 |access-date=27 August 2020 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101002537/https://www.thoughtco.com/continents-ranked-by-size-and-population-4163436 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |title=North America Land Forms and Statistics |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/nalandst.htm |access-date=16 June 2013 |publisher=World Atlas.com |archive-date=23 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623010048/http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/nalandst.htm |url-status=live}}

North America's only land connection to South America is in present-day Panama at the Darien Gap on the Colombia–Panama border, placing almost all of Panama within North America.{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas |title=Americas |work=Standard Country and Area Codes Classifications (M49) |publisher=United Nations Statistics Division |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=11 December 2009 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20091211114207/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm#americas |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021010223/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/international/north_america/referencemap_image_view |archive-date=21 October 2006 |title=North America |work=Atlas of Canada |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=nameri&Rootmap=&Mode=d&SubMode=w |title=North America Atlas |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=12 May 2011 |archive-date=25 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200525180734/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/?xpop=1 |url-status=dead}} Alternatively, some geologists physiographically locate its southern limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from this point.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Central America |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/102196/Central-America |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=28 June 2011 |archive-date=8 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708183740/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/102196/Central-America |url-status=live}} The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North America. 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.

Before the Central American isthmus formed, the region had been underwater. The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerged former land bridge, which had connected North and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela.

There are several islands off the continent's coasts; principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, Turks and 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. In a geologic sense, Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but an oceanic island that was formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago (mya). The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. However, Bermuda 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.

The vast majority of North America is on the North American Plate. Parts of western Mexico, including Baja California, and of California, including the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and Santa Cruz, lie on the eastern 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 Plate and Cocos Plate 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 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 (also called Mount McKinley) in Alaska.

The U.S. Geographical Survey (USGS) states that the geographic center of North America is "6 miles [10 km] west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota" at about {{Coord|48|10|N|100|10|W}}, about {{convert|15|mi|km|order=flip|sp=us}} 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."{{cite web |url=http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722022527/http://egsc.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html |archive-date=22 July 2012 |title=Elevations and Distances |access-date=9 December 2013 |url-status=dead}} Nonetheless, there is a {{Convert|15|ft|abbr=out|adj=on|order=flip|sp=us}} field stone obelisk in Rugby claiming to mark the center. The North American continental pole of inaccessibility is located {{cvt|1650|km}} from the nearest coastline, between Allen and Kyle, South Dakota at {{Coord|43.36|N|101.97|W|name=Pole of Inaccessibility North America}}.{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/14702540801897809 |volume=123 |issue=3 |pages=227–233 |last1=Garcia-Castellanos |first1=D. |last2=Lombardo |first2=U. |title=Poles of Inaccessibility: A Calculation Algorithm for the Remotest Places on Earth |journal=Scottish Geographical Journal |date=2007 |bibcode=2007ScGJ..123..227G |s2cid=55876083 |url=http://cuba.ija.csic.es/~danielgc/papers/Garcia-Castellanos,%20Lombardo,%202007,%20SGJ.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629230429/http://cuba.ija.csic.es/~danielgc/papers/Garcia-Castellanos,%20Lombardo,%202007,%20SGJ.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2014 |access-date=3 June 2011 |issn=1470-2541}}

{{Main|Geography of Canada}}

Canada can be divided into roughly seven physiographic divisions:{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Natural Resources Canada |date=12 September 2016 |title=Natural Resources Canada. The Atlas of Canada. Physiographic Regions of Canada |url=https://atlas.gc.ca/phys/en/index.html |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=atlas.gc.ca}}

1. The Canadian Shield
2. The Interior Plains
3. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands
4. The Appalachian region
5. The Western Cordillera
6. Hudson Bay Lowlands
7. Arctic Archipelago

{{Main|Geography of the United States|Physiographic regions of the United States}}

The lower 48 U.S. states can be divided into roughly eight physiographic divisions:{{Cite web |date=15 May 2006 |title=Physiographic Regions |url=http://tapestry.usgs.gov/physiogr/physio.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515044037/http://tapestry.usgs.gov/physiogr/physio.html |archive-date=15 May 2006 |access-date=15 September 2024 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}

1. The Intermontane Plateaus
2. The Laurentian Upland, part of the Canadian Shield Northern portion of the upper midwestern U.S.
3. The Interior Plains
4. The Atlantic Plain
5. The Appalachian highlands
6. The Interior highlands
7. The Rocky Mountain system
8. The Pacific Mountain system

{{Main|Geography of Mexico}}

Mexico can be divided into roughly fifteen physiographic divisions:{{Cite book |last=Bautista |first=Francisco |title=El Kast de México |publisher=Asociación Mexicana de Estudios sobre el Karst |year=2023 |publication-place=Ciudad de México |page=47 |language=es |trans-title=The Karst of Mexico}}

1. The Baja California Peninsula
2. The Sonoran Basin and Range
3. The Western Sierra Madre
4. The Northern Mountains and Plains
5. The Eastern Sierra Madre
6. The Great Plain
7. The Pacific Coastal Plain
8. The Northern Gulf Coast Plain
9. The Central Plateau
10. The Volcanic Axis
11. The Southern Sierra Madre
12. The Southern Gulf Coast Plain
13. The Chiapas Sierra Madre
14. The Chiapas Highlands
15. The Yucatán Peninsula

File:Koppen-Geiger Map North America present.svg

North America is a very large continent that extends from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the Tropic of Cancer. Greenland, along with the Canadian Shield, is tundra with average temperatures ranging from {{cvt|10|to|20|C}}, but central Greenland is composed of a very large ice sheet. This tundra radiates throughout Canada, but its border ends near the Rocky Mountains (but still contains Alaska) and at the end of the Canadian Shield, near the Great Lakes.

Climate west of the Cascade Range is described as being temperate weather with average precipitation {{convert|20|in|abbr=off|sp=us}}.{{cite web |url=http://cses.washington.edu/cig/pnwc/pnwc.shtml |title=Cascades weather |author=University of Washington |work=University of Washington |access-date=7 June 2015 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310162902/http://cses.washington.edu/cig/pnwc/pnwc.shtml |url-status=live}}

Climate in coastal California is described to be Mediterranean, with average temperatures in cities like San Francisco ranging from {{cvt|57|to|70|F}} over the course of the year.{{cite web |url=http://www.sftodo.com/sanfranciscoweather.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719235932/http://www.sftodo.com/sanfranciscoweather.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2013 |title=Temperature of San Francisco |author=SF to do |work=tourism}}

Stretching from the East Coast to eastern North Dakota, and stretching down to Kansas, is the humid continental climate featuring intense seasons, with a large amount of annual precipitation, with places like New York City averaging {{cvt|50|in}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-York/average-yearly-precipitation.php |title=Rainfall of NYC |work=Current Results |access-date=7 June 2015 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705180619/http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-York/average-yearly-precipitation.php |url-status=live}}

Starting at the southern border of the humid continental climate and stretching to the Gulf of Mexico (while encompassing the eastern half of Texas) is the humid subtropical climate. This area has the wettest cities in the contiguous U.S., with annual precipitation reaching {{cvt|67|in}} in Mobile, Alabama.{{cite web |url=http://www.livescience.com/1558-study-reveals-top-10-wettest-cities.html |title=Top 10 wettest cities |first=Andrea |last=Thompson |work=livescience |date=18 May 2007 |access-date=7 June 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215104426/http://www.livescience.com/1558-study-reveals-top-10-wettest-cities.html |url-status=live}}

Stretching from the borders of the humid continental and subtropical climates, and going west to the Sierra Nevada, south to the southern tip of Durango, north to the border with tundra climate, the steppe/desert climates are the driest in the U.S.{{cite web |url=http://home.comcast.net/~rhaberlin/crpptnts.htm |date=2015 |title=Climates Regions of North America |first=Rita D. |last=Haberlin |work=Peralta Colleges, Physical Geography |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002103016/http://home.comcast.net/~rhaberlin/crpptnts.htm |archive-date=2 October 2015}} Highland climates cut from north to south of the continent, where subtropical or temperate climates occur just below the tropics, as in central Mexico and Guatemala. Tropical climates appear in the island regions and in the subcontinent's bottleneck, found in countries and states bathed by the Caribbean Sea or to the south of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.{{Cite news |url=http://www.naturalhistoryonthenet.com/Continents/north_america.htm |title=Facts and Information about the Continent of North America |date=7 July 2016 |work=Natural History on the Net |access-date=15 September 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=15 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915125641/http://www.naturalhistoryonthenet.com/Continents/north_america.htm |url-status=live}} Precipitation patterns vary across the region, and as such rainforest, monsoon, and savanna types can be found, with rains and high temperatures throughout the year.

File:NorthAmerica-WaterDivides.png, the United States, and Mexico]]

{{See also|Wildlife of Mexico|Fauna of the United States|Flora of the United States|Wildlife of Canada}}

Notable North American fauna include the bison, black bear, jaguar, cougar, prairie dog, turkey, pronghorn, raccoon, coyote, and monarch butterfly. Notable plants that were domesticated in North America include tobacco, maize, squash, tomato, sunflower, blueberry, avocado, cotton, chile pepper, and vanilla.

{{Main|Geology of North America}}

Laurentia is an ancient craton which forms the geologic core of North America; it formed between 1.5 and 1.0 billion years ago during the Proterozoic eon.{{Cite journal |last=Dalziel |first=I. W. D. |year=1992 |title=On the organization of American Plates in the Neoproterozoic and the breakout of Laurentia |journal=GSA Today |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=237–241}} The Canadian Shield is the largest exposure of this craton. From the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic eras, North America was joined with the other modern-day continents as part of the supercontinent Pangaea, with Eurasia to its east. One of the results of the formation of Pangaea was the Appalachian Mountains, which formed some 480 mya, making it among the oldest mountain ranges in the world. When Pangaea began to rift around 200 mya, North America became part of Laurasia, before it separated from Eurasia as its own continent during the mid-Cretaceous period.{{cite book |last1=Merali |first1=Zeeya |title=Visualizing Earth Science |last2=Skinner |first2=Brian J. |date=9 January 2009 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-470-41847-5}}{{page needed|date=February 2014}} The Rockies and other western mountain ranges began forming around this time from a period of mountain building called the Laramide orogeny, between 80 and 55 mya. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama that connected the continent to South America arguably occurred approximately 12 to 15 mya,{{cite web |date=10 April 2015 |title=Land Bridge Linking Americas Rose Earlier Than Thought |url=http://www.livescience.com/50450-when-panama-land-bridge-appeared.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004171848/http://www.livescience.com/50450-when-panama-land-bridge-appeared.html |archive-date=4 October 2015 |access-date=3 October 2015 |work=LiveScience.com}} and the Great Lakes (as well as many other northern freshwater lakes and rivers) were carved by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago.

North America is the source of much of what humanity knows about geologic time periods.{{cite book |last=Dodson |first=Peter |title=Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs |publisher=Academic Press |year=1997 |editor1-last=Currie |editor1-first=Phillip J. |pages=10–13 |chapter=American Dinosaurs |editor2-last=Padian |editor2-first=Kevin}} The geographic area that would later become the United States has been the source of more varieties of dinosaurs than any other modern country. According to paleontologist Peter Dodson, this is primarily due to stratigraphy, climate and geography, human resources, and history. Much of the Mesozoic Era is represented by exposed outcrops in the many arid regions of the continent. The most significant Late Jurassic dinosaur-bearing fossil deposit in North America is the Morrison Formation of the western U.S.{{cite book |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |title=Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, North America) |publisher=University of California Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-520-24209-8 |editor-last1=Weishampel |editor-first1=David B. |series=The Dinosauria |location=Berkeley |pages=543–545 |editor2-last=Dodson |editor2-first=Peter |editor3-last=Halszka |editor3-first=Osmólska}}

{{Main|Geology of Canada}}

File:USGS Geologic Map of North America.jpg]]

Canada is geologically one of the oldest regions in the world, with more than half of the region consisting of Precambrian rocks that have been above sea level since the beginning of the Palaeozoic era.{{cite book |last=Wallace |first=Stewart W. |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/GeologyofCanada.htm |title=Geology Of Canada |publisher=University Associates of Canada |year=1948 |series=The Encyclopedia of Canada |volume=III |place=Toronto |pages=23–26 |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704145706/http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/GeologyofCanada.htm |archive-date=4 July 2010 |url-status=dead |via=Marianopolis College}} Canada's mineral resources are diverse and extensive. Across the Canadian Shield and in the north there are large iron, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, and uranium reserves. Large diamond concentrations have been recently developed in the Arctic,{{cite magazine |title=Digging for Diamonds 24/7 Under Frozen Snap Lake |url=https://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-12/ff_diamonds_sb |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903095743/http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-12/ff_diamonds_sb |archive-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=1 June 2011 |magazine=Wired}} making Canada one of the world's largest producers. Throughout the Shield, there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and best known, is Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater. The nearby, but less-known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. Its magnetic anomalies are very similar to the Sudbury Basin, and so it could be a second metal-rich impact crater.{{cite news |title=3-D Magnetic Imaging using Conjugate Gradients: Temagami anomaly |url=http://gdcinfo.agg.nrcan.gc.ca/app/3Dimaging/temagami_e.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090711184237/http://gdcinfo.agg.nrcan.gc.ca/app/3Dimaging/temagami_e.html |archive-date=11 July 2009 |access-date=13 March 2008}} The Shield is also covered by vast boreal forests that support an important logging industry.

{{Main|Geology of the United States}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| header =

| header_align = left/right/center

| header_background =

| footer =

| footer_background =

| width =

| image1 = North america terrain 2003 map.jpg

| width1 = 180

| caption1 = A 2003 image of North America's bedrock and terrain

| image2 = North america basement rocks.png

| width2 = 180

| caption2 = A 2015 map of North America's cratons and basement rocks

}}

The United States can be divided into twelve main geological provinces:{{Cite web |date=25 June 2013 |title=Geologic Provinces of the United States: Records of an Active Earth |url=http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625144411/http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/index.html |archive-date=25 June 2013 |access-date=15 September 2024}}

1. Pacific
2. Columbia Plateau
3. Basin and Range
4. Colorado Plateau
5. Rocky Mountains
6. Laurentian Upland
7. Interior Plains
8. Interior Highlands
9. Appalachian Highlands
10. Atlantic Plain
11. Alaskan
12. Hawaiian

Each province has its own geologic history and unique features. The geology of Alaska is typical of that of the cordillera, while the major islands of Hawaii consist of Neogene volcanics erupted over a hot spot.

{{Main|Geology of Central America}}

File:Tectonic plates Caribbean.png rests on the Caribbean Plate.]]

Central America is geologically active with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. In 1976 Guatemala was hit by a major earthquake, killing 23,000 people; Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972, the last one killing about 5,000 people; three earthquakes devastated El Salvador, one in 1986 and two in 2001; one earthquake devastated northern and central Costa Rica in 2009, killing at least 34 people; in Honduras a powerful earthquake killed seven people in 2009.

Volcanic eruptions are common in the region. In 1968, the Arenal Volcano, in Costa Rica, erupted and killed 87 people. Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lavas have made it possible to sustain dense populations in agriculturally productive highland areas.

Central America has many mountain ranges; the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the Cordillera Isabelia, and the Cordillera de Talamanca. Between the mountain ranges lie fertile valleys that are suitable for the people; in fact, most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala live in valleys. Valleys are also suitable for the production of coffee, beans, and other crops.

{{Main|List of sovereign states and dependent territories in North America}}

{{main|Economy of North America}}

{{see also|List of North American countries by GDP (nominal)|List of North American countries by GDP (PPP)}}

File:President Donald J. Trump at the G20 Summit (44300765490).jpg Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sign the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement during the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires summit]]

File:Worlds regions by total wealth(in trillions USD), 2018.jpg

North America's GDP per capita was evaluated in October 2016 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be $41,830, making it the richest continent in the world, followed by Oceania.

Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. have significant and multifaceted economic systems. The U.S. has the largest economy in the world.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ |title=United States, Economy |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321202516/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/united-states/ |url-status=live}} In 2016, the U.S. had an estimated per capita gross domestic product (PPP) of $57,466 according to the World Bank, and is the most technologically developed economy of the three.{{cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?year_high_desc=true |title=GDP per capita (current US$) – Data |publisher=World Bank |access-date=24 September 2017 |archive-date=13 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913231748/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?year_high_desc=true |url-status=live}} The U.S.'s services sector comprises 77% of the country's GDP (estimated in 2010), industry comprises 22% and agriculture comprises 1.2%. The U.S. economy is also the fastest-growing economy in North America and the Americas as a whole,{{cite web |url=http://statisticstimes.com/economy/south-american-countries-by-gdp-per-capita.php |last=International Monetary Fund |publisher=International Monetary Fund |title=List of South American countries by GDP per capita |work=World Economic Outlook |date=October 2016 |access-date=25 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010112722/http://statisticstimes.com/economy/south-american-countries-by-gdp-per-capita.php |url-status=live}} with the highest GDP per capita in the Americas as well.{{cite web |url=http://statisticstimes.com/economy/north-american-countries-by-gdp-per-capita.php |author=International Monetary Fund |publisher=International Monetary Fund |title=List of North American countries by GDP per capita |work=World Economic Outlook |date=October 2016 |access-date=22 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924205236/http://statisticstimes.com/economy/north-american-countries-by-gdp-per-capita.php |archive-date=24 September 2017}}

Canada shows significant growth in the sectors of services, mining and manufacturing.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/canada/ |title=Canada, Economy |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-date=22 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922212931/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/canada/ |url-status=live}} Canada's per capita GDP (PPP) was estimated at $44,656 and it had the 11th-largest GDP (nominal) in 2014. Canada's services sector comprises 78% of the country's GDP (estimated in 2010), industry comprises 20% and agriculture comprises 2%. Mexico has a per capita GDP (PPP) of $16,111 and as of 2014 is the 15th-largest GDP (nominal) in the world.{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=42&pr.y=9&sy=2009&ey=2011&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=273&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CGGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a= |title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2010 |publisher=International Monetary Fund |access-date=5 March 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429202110/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=42&pr.y=9&sy=2009&ey=2011&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=273&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CGGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a= |url-status=live}} Being a newly industrialized country,{{Cite book |title=Geography, An Integrated Approach |first=David |last=Waugh |chapter=Manufacturing industries (chapter 19), World development (chapter 22) |pages=563, 576–579, 633, and 640 |publisher=Nelson Thornes Ltd. |edition=3rd |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-17-444706-1}} Mexico maintains both modern and outdated industrial and agricultural facilities and operations.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mexico/ |title=Mexico, Economy |publisher=U.S. Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=1 June 2011 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126164719/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mexico |url-status=live}} Its main sources of income are oil, industrial exports, manufactured goods, electronics, heavy industry, automobiles, construction, food, banking and financial services.{{cite web |url=http://www.stratfor.com/global_market_brief_mexico_sees_decline_remittances |title=Stratfor Global Market – Mexico |publisher=Stratfor |date=30 August 2007 |access-date=30 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307204352/http://www.stratfor.com/global_market_brief_mexico_sees_decline_remittances |archive-date=7 March 2012}}

The North American economy is well defined and structured in three main economic areas.{{cite book |last1=De la Torre |first1=Miguel |last2=Benavides |first2=Benigno |last3=Saldaña |first3=José |last4=Fernández |first4=Jesús |title=Sociología y Profesión |trans-title=Sociology and Profession |year=2008 |publisher=Nuevo León Autonomous University (UANL) |location=Monterrey |isbn=978-970-24-0051-6 |page=116 |chapter=Las profesiones en México: condiciones económicas, culturales y sociales |language=es |quote=La economía de América del Norte se encuentra bien definida y estructurada en tres principales áreas económicas: el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN), el CARICOM y el Mercado Común Centroamericano}} These areas are those under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), and the Central American Common Market (CACM). Of these trade blocs, the U.S. takes part in two. In addition to the larger trade blocs there is the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement among numerous other free-trade relations, often between the larger, more developed countries and Central American and Caribbean countries.

NAFTA formed one of the four largest trade blocs in the world.{{cite web |title=Regional Trade Blocs |url=http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/trade/subtheme_trade_blocs.php |publisher=University of California, Santa Cruz |access-date=10 June 2011 |archive-date=1 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110701135703/http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/trade/subtheme_trade_blocs.php |url-status=dead}} Its implementation in 1994 was designed for economic homogenization with hopes of eliminating barriers of trade and foreign investment between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.{{cite encyclopedia |title=North American Free Trade Agreement |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418784/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement-NAFTA |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=10 June 2011 |archive-date=4 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904104559/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418784/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement-NAFTA |url-status=live}} While Canada and the U.S. already conducted the largest bilateral trade relationship—and to present day still do—in the world and Canada–U.S. trade relations already allowed trade without national taxes and tariffs,{{cite web |title=CRS Report for Congress: United States-Canada Trade and Economic Relationship – Prospects and Challenges |url=http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL33087.pdf |publisher=Congress Research Service |last=Fergusson |first=Ian |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060806171755/http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL33087.pdf |archive-date=6 August 2006}} NAFTA allowed Mexico to experience a similar duty-free trade. The free-trade agreement allowed for the elimination of tariffs that had previously been in place on U.S.–Mexico trade. Trade volume has steadily increased annually and in 2010, surface trade between the three NAFTA nations reached an all-time historical increase of 24.3% or US$791 billion.{{cite web |url=http://www.integrationpoint.com/globaltradenews/index.php/nafta-trade-volume-increases/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808161643/http://www.integrationpoint.com/globaltradenews/index.php/nafta-trade-volume-increases/ |archive-date=8 August 2011 |title=NAFTA Trade Volume Increases |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead}} The NAFTA trade bloc GDP (PPP) is the world's largest with US$17.617 trillion.{{cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2010&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614%2C668%2C311%2C672%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193%2C962%2C122%2C674%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2C556%2C513%2C678%2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C684%2C339%2C273%2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C943%2C963%2C686%2C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C728%2C918%2C558%2C748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278%2C622%2C692%2C156%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C248%2C942%2C469%2C718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643%2C936%2C939%2C961%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172%2C184%2C132%2C524%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2C364%2C134%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C144%2C258%2C146%2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C923%2C263%2C738%2C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C742%2C176%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C178%2C869%2C436%2C746%2C136%2C926%2C343%2C466%2C158%2C112%2C439%2C111%2C916%2C298%2C664%2C927%2C826%2C846%2C542%2C299%2C967%2C582%2C443%2C474%2C917%2C754%2C544%2C698&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=41&pr.y=16 |title=2010 Report Countries by GDP (PPP) |publisher=International Monetary Fund |date=14 September 2006 |access-date=31 October 2011 |archive-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008054821/http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2010&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C941%2C914%2C446%2C612%2C666%2C614%2C668%2C311%2C672%2C213%2C946%2C911%2C137%2C193%2C962%2C122%2C674%2C912%2C676%2C313%2C548%2C419%2C556%2C513%2C678%2C316%2C181%2C913%2C682%2C124%2C684%2C339%2C273%2C638%2C921%2C514%2C948%2C218%2C943%2C963%2C686%2C616%2C688%2C223%2C518%2C516%2C728%2C918%2C558%2C748%2C138%2C618%2C196%2C522%2C278%2C622%2C692%2C156%2C694%2C624%2C142%2C626%2C449%2C628%2C564%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2C716%2C321%2C456%2C243%2C722%2C248%2C942%2C469%2C718%2C253%2C724%2C642%2C576%2C643%2C936%2C939%2C961%2C644%2C813%2C819%2C199%2C172%2C184%2C132%2C524%2C646%2C361%2C648%2C362%2C915%2C364%2C134%2C732%2C652%2C366%2C174%2C734%2C328%2C144%2C258%2C146%2C656%2C463%2C654%2C528%2C336%2C923%2C263%2C738%2C268%2C578%2C532%2C537%2C944%2C742%2C176%2C866%2C534%2C369%2C536%2C744%2C429%2C186%2C433%2C925%2C178%2C869%2C436%2C746%2C136%2C926%2C343%2C466%2C158%2C112%2C439%2C111%2C916%2C298%2C664%2C927%2C826%2C846%2C542%2C299%2C967%2C582%2C443%2C474%2C917%2C754%2C544%2C698&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=41&pr.y=16 |url-status=live}} This is in part attributed to the fact that the economy of the U.S. is the world's largest national economy; the country had a nominal GDP of approximately $14.7 trillion in 2010.{{Cite press release |url=https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2011/pdf/gdp4q10_adv.pdf |title=BEA News Release: Gross Domestic Product |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=9 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709041929/http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/2011/pdf/gdp4q10_adv.pdf |url-status=live}} The countries of NAFTA are also some of each other's largest trade partners. The U.S. is the largest trade partner of Canada and Mexico,{{cite web |title=United States Foreign Trade Highlights |url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1012yr.html |publisher=United States of America Bureau of the Census |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=14 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114003737/https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top1012yr.html |url-status=live}} while Canada and Mexico are each other's third-largest trade partners.{{cite web |title=Canadian Manufacturing Association |url=http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/general/increase-bilateral-trade-between-nafta-countries-cme-32091 |access-date=9 June 2011 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604035537/http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/general/increase-bilateral-trade-between-nafta-countries-cme-32091 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Mexico Free Trade Agreements |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40784.pdf |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |access-date=9 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623092721/http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40784.pdf |archive-date=23 June 2011}} In 2018, the NAFTA was replaced by the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA).

The Caribbean trade bloc (CARICOM) came into agreement in 1973 when it was signed by 15 Caribbean nations. As of 2000, CARICOM trade volume was US$96 billion. CARICOM also allowed for the creation of a common passport for associated nations. In the past decade the trade bloc focused largely on free-trade agreements and under the CARICOM Office of Trade Negotiations free-trade agreements have been signed into effect.

Integration of Central American economies occurred under the signing of the Central American Common Market agreement in 1961; this was the first attempt to engage the nations of this area into stronger financial cooperation. The 2006 implementation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) left the future of the CACM unclear.{{cite web |title=Central American Community and Market |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0811094.html |publisher=Pearson Education |access-date=3 February 2014 |archive-date=15 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015060116/http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0811094.html |url-status=live}} The Central American Free Trade Agreement was signed by five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic, and the U.S. The focal point of CAFTA is to create a free trade area similar to that of NAFTA. In addition to the U.S., Canada also has relations in Central American trade blocs.

These nations also take part in inter-continental trade blocs. Mexico takes a part in the G3 Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Venezuela and has a trade agreement with the EU. The U.S. has proposed and maintained trade agreements under the Transatlantic Free Trade Area between itself and the European Union; the U.S.–Middle East Free Trade Area between numerous Middle Eastern nations and itself; and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership between Southeast Asian nations, Australia, and New Zealand.

{{main|Transportation in North America}}

File:Class1rr.png network]]

The Pan-American Highway route in the Americas is the portion of a network of roads nearly {{Cvt|48000|km}} in length which travels through the mainland nations. No definitive length of the Pan-American Highway exists because the U.S. and Canadian governments have never officially defined any specific routes as being part of the Pan-American Highway, and Mexico officially has many branches connecting to the U.S. border. However, the total length of the portion from Mexico to the northern extremity of the highway is roughly {{cvt|16000|mi|km|order=flip}}.

The first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. was built in the 1860s, linking the railroad network of the eastern U.S. with California on the Pacific coast. Finished on 10 May 1869 at the famous golden spike event at Promontory Summit, Utah, it created a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West, catalyzing the transition from the wagon trains of previous decades to a modern transportation system.{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11371/ |title=Ceremony at "Wedding of the Rails", May 10, 1869, at Promontory Point, Utah |website=World Digital Library |date=10 May 1869 |access-date=20 July 2013 |archive-date=18 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018052635/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11371/ |url-status=live}} Although an accomplishment, it achieved the status of first transcontinental railroad by connecting myriad eastern U.S. railroads to the Pacific and was not the largest single railroad system in the world. The Canadian Grand Trunk Railway had, by 1867, already accumulated more than {{cvt|2055|km}} of track by connecting Ontario with the Canadian Atlantic provinces west as far as Port Huron, Michigan, through Sarnia, Ontario.

A shared telephone system known as the North American Numbering Plan is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the U.S. and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 17 Caribbean nations. In recent months{{when|date=November 2024}} the internet service by Starlink has expanded to cover a number of North American markets.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Demographics==

{{See also|List of North American countries by population|List of North American countries by life expectancy}}

File:Non-Native American Nations Control over N America 1750-2008.gif

Canada and the United States are the wealthiest and most developed nations on the continent followed by Mexico, a newly industrialized country. The countries of Central America and the Caribbean are at various levels of economic and human development. For example, small Caribbean island-nations, such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua and Barbuda, have a higher GDP (PPP) per capita than Mexico due to their smaller populations. Panama and Costa Rica have a significantly higher Human Development Index and GDP than the rest of the Central American nations.{{cite web |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108160356/http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Complete.pdf |archive-date=8 November 2010 |title=2010 Human development Report |date=January 2010 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme |pages=148–151 |access-date=6 May 2011}} Additionally, despite Greenland's vast resources in oil and minerals, much of them remain untapped, and the island is economically dependent on fishing, tourism, and subsidies from Denmark. Nevertheless, the island is highly developed.{{Cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21640224-falling-crude-prices-are-forcing-greenland-put-plans-split-denmark-independence-ice |title=Independence on ice |date=21 January 2015 |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701163114/http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21640224-falling-crude-prices-are-forcing-greenland-put-plans-split-denmark-independence-ice |url-status=live}}

Demographically, North America is ethnically diverse. Its three largest groups are Whites, Mestizos, and Blacks.{{cite book |url=https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/faculty/documents/Pop.Comp.IESBS.2001.pdf |chapter=Population Composition by Race and Ethnicity: North America |department=New York University |publisher=Elsevier Science |pages=11745–11749 |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |isbn=0-08-043076-7 |edition=1 |editor1=N.J. Smelser |editor-link1=Neil Smelser |editor2=P.B. Baltes |editor-link2=Paul Baltes |year=2001 |access-date=24 June 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624204640/https://as.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu-as/faculty/documents/Pop.Comp.IESBS.2001.pdf |url-status=live}} There is a significant minority of Indigenous Americans and Asians among other less numerous groups.

File:Chinatown 1.jpg in Queens, New York City has become the present-day global epicenter receiving Chinese immigration as well as the international control center directing such migration, as numerous languages have become entrenched into North American society.{{cite news |title=Linguistics – Say what? |url=http://www.economist.com/node/21528592 |access-date=30 August 2024 |publisher=The Economist}}{{cite news |author=Sullivan |first=Eileen |date=24 November 2023 |title=Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/us/politics/china-migrants-us-border.html |access-date=24 November 2023 |newspaper=The New York Times |quote=Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city’s resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan...“New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community,” said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.}}]]

{{main|Languages of North America}}

The dominant languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Danish is prevalent in Greenland alongside Greenlandic, and Dutch is spoken side by side local languages in the Dutch Caribbean. 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 U.S., but also sometimes Belize and parts of the tropics, especially the Commonwealth Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas (generally south of the U.S.) 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 [France], and the Falkland Islands [UK]).

The U.S. has an ethnically diverse population, and 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members.{{cite web |title=Ancestry 2000 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf |date=June 2004 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |url-status=live |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041204015245/https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf |archive-date=4 December 2004 |access-date=2 December 2016}} The French language has historically played a significant role in North America and now 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 are 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.

File:Langs N.Amer.png of the United States, Canada, Greenland, and Northern Mexico]]

A significant number of indigenous languages are spoken in North America, with roughly 6 million in Mexico speaking an indigenous language at home,{{Cite web |last=Cocking |first=Lauren |title=A Guide To Mexico's Indigenous Languages |url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/a-guide-to-mexicos-indigenous-languages/ |access-date=16 August 2020 |website=Culture Trip |date=23 December 2016 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924142928/https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/a-guide-to-mexicos-indigenous-languages/ |url-status=live}} 372,000 people in the U.S.,{{Cite web |title=Census Shows Native Languages Count |url=https://www.languagemagazine.com/census-shows-native-languages-count/ |access-date=16 August 2020 |website=Language Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810115520/https://www.languagemagazine.com/census-shows-native-languages-count/ |url-status=live}} and about 225,000 in Canada.{{cite web |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/abpopprof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&B1=Language&C1=All&SEX_ID=1&AGE_ID=1&RESGEO_ID=1 |title=Aboriginal Population Profile, 2016 |date=21 June 2018 |publisher=Statistics Canada |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=19 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119101441/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/abpopprof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&B1=Language&C1=All&SEX_ID=1&AGE_ID=1&RESGEO_ID=1 |url-status=live}} In the U.S. and Canada, there are approximately 150 surviving indigenous languages of the 300 spoken prior to European contact.{{Cite web |title=North American Indian languages |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/North-American-Indian-languages |access-date=16 August 2020 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111195401/https://www.britannica.com/topic/North-American-Indian-languages |url-status=live}}

{{main|Religion in North America}}

{{see also|Religions of the world}}

File:North America Religious Belief.svg

Christianity is the largest religion in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, 77% of the population considered themselves Christians.[http://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf The Global Religious Landscape A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Major Religious Groups as of 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113632/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2014/01/global-religion-full.pdf |date=24 September 2015}} Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, p. 18 Christianity also is the predominant religion in the 23 dependent territories in North America.[http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf Global Christianity A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Christian Population], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805020311/http://www.pewforum.org/files/2011/12/Christianity-fullreport-web.pdf|date=5 August 2013}} Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, p. 15. The U.S. has the largest Christian population in the world, with nearly 247 million Christians (70%), although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations.{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201011958/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |url-status=live}} Mexico has the world's second-largest number of Catholics, surpassed only by Brazil.{{cite web |url=http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818085719/http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html |archive-date=18 August 2000 |title=The Largest Catholic Communities |access-date=10 November 2007 |work=Adherents.com |url-status=usurped}}

According to the same study, the religiously unaffiliated (including agnostics and atheists) make up about 17% of the population of Canada and the U.S.{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |title=Religiously Unaffiliated |date=18 December 2012 |work=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |access-date=22 February 2015 |archive-date=30 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730043126/http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |url-status=dead}} Those with no religious affiliation make up about 24% of Canada's total population.{{cite web |url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130508/dq130508b-eng.htm?HPA |title=Religions in Canada—Census 2011 |publisher=Statistics Canada/Statistique Canada |date=8 May 2013 |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=19 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219142107/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130508/dq130508b-eng.htm?HPA |url-status=live}}

Canada, the U.S., and Mexico host communities of Jews (6 million or about 1.8%),{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-jew/ |title=The Global Religious Landscape: Jews |access-date=18 December 2012 |work=pewforum |date=18 December 2012 |archive-date=18 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518052016/https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-jew/ |url-status=live}} Buddhists (3.8 million or 1.1%){{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-buddhist/ |title=The Global Religious Landscape: Buddhists |access-date=18 December 2012 |work=pewforum |date=18 December 2012 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418052913/http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-buddhist/ |url-status=live}} and Muslims (3.4 million or 1.0%).{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-muslim/ |title=The Global Religious Landscape: Muslims |access-date=18 December 2012 |publisher=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |date=18 December 2012 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321144033/https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-muslim/ |url-status=live}} The largest number of Jews can be found in the U.S. (5.4 million),{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=2941 |title=World Jewish Population, 2012 |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031023/http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=2941 |url-status=live}} Canada (375,000){{cite web |url=http://www.jewishdatabank.org/studies/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=3113 |title=World Jewish Population, 2013 |first=Sergio |last=DellaPergola |author-link=Sergio DellaPergola |editor1-first=Arnold |editor1-last=Dashefsky |editor1-link=Arnold Dashefsky |editor2-first=Ira |editor2-last=Sheskin |date=2013 |work=Current Jewish Population Reports |publisher=North American Jewish Data Bank |location=Storrs, Connecticut |format=PDF |access-date=18 July 2015 |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005011011/http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=3113 |url-status=live}} and Mexico (67,476).{{cite web |title=Panorama de las religiones en México 2010 |url=http://www.inegi.org.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/2010/panora_religion/religiones_2010.pdf |publisher=INEGI |access-date=2 March 2015 |page=3 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021230003/http://www.inegi.org.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/2010/panora_religion/religiones_2010.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2015}} The U.S. hosts the largest Muslim population in North America with 2.7 million or 0.9%,{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |access-date=12 May 2015 |date=12 May 2015 |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201011958/https://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.euro-islam.info/country-profiles/united-states |title=Demographics |date=22 October 2008 |access-date=2 May 2013 |archive-date=26 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426035056/http://www.euro-islam.info/country-profiles/united-states/ |url-status=live}} while Canada hosts about one million Muslims or 3.2% of the population.{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&A1=Religion&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 |title=National Household Survey (NHS) Profile, 2011 |date=September 11, 2013 |publisher=Statistics Canada |access-date=29 January 2022 |archive-date=13 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813191748/https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Data=Count&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&A1=Religion&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 |url-status=live}} In Mexico there were 3,700 Muslims in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/TabuladosBasicos/Default.aspx?c=27302&s=est |title=Censo de Población y Vivienda 2010 – Cuestionario básico |year=2010 |publisher=INEGI |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-date=24 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211325/http://www3.inegi.org.mx/sistemas/TabuladosBasicos/Default.aspx?c=27302&s=est%20 |url-status=dead }} In 2012, U-T San Diego estimated U.S. practitioners of Buddhism at 1.2 million people, of whom 40% are living in Southern California.{{cite journal |last=Rowe |first=Peter |date=16 April 2012 |title=Dalai Lama facts and figures |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/apr/16/all-about-dalai-lama |journal=U-T San Diego |access-date=15 January 2015 |archive-date=8 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608082954/http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/apr/16/all-about-dalai-lama/ |url-status=live}}

The predominant religion in Mexico and Central America is Christianity (96%).{{cite web |url=http://wwwgordonconwell.com/netcommunity/CSGCResources/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130815184022/http://wwwgordonconwell.com/netcommunity/CSGCResources/ChristianityinitsGlobalContext.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 August 2013 |title=Christianity in its Global Context |access-date=30 December 2016}} Beginning with the Spanish colonization of Mexico in the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was the only religion permitted by Spanish crown and Catholic church. A vast campaign of religious conversion, the so-called "spiritual conquest", was launched to bring the indigenous peoples into the Christian fold. The Inquisition was established to assure orthodox belief and practice. The Catholic Church remained an important institution, so that even after political independence, Roman Catholicism remained the dominant religion. Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in other Christian groups, particularly Protestantism, as well as other religious organizations, and individuals identifying themselves as having no religion. Christianity is also the predominant religion in the Caribbean (85%). Other religious groups in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari (in Jamaica), and Afro-American religions such as Santería and Vodou.

{{See also|List of North American countries by population|List of North American cities by population|List of North American metropolitan areas by population}}

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = vertical

| caption_align = center

| header = North American cities

| header_align = left/right/center

| header_background =

| footer =

| footer_background =

| width =

| image1 = Mexico City Reforma skyline (cropped).jpg

| width1 = 200

| caption1 = Mexico City

| image2 = Luchtfoto van Lower Manhattan.jpg

| width2 = 200

| caption2 = New York City

| image3 = Los Angeles with Mount Baldy.jpg

| width3 = 200

| caption3 = Los Angeles

| image4 = Downtown Toronto in September 2018 (Early Sunday Morning, view from a kayak).jpg

| width4 = 200

| caption4 = Toronto

| image5 = Chicago-00.jpg

| width5 = 200

| caption5 = Chicago

| image6 = Zapopan Guadalajara Mexico 2 (cropped).jpg

| width6 = 200

| caption6 = Guadalajara

| total_width =

}}

File:Life expectancy map -North America -2021 -with names.png in North America in 2021]]

North America is the fourth most populous continent after Asia, Africa, and Europe.{{cite web |title=North America Fast Facts |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/nafacts.htm |access-date=16 June 2013 |publisher=World Atlas.com |archive-date=23 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623005828/http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/nafacts.htm |url-status=live}} Its most populous country is the U.S. with 329.7 million persons. The second-largest country is Mexico with a population of 112.3 million.{{cite web |url=http://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/comunicados/rpcpyv10.asp |title=INEGI 2010 Census Statistics |publisher=inegi.org.mx |access-date=25 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108101543/http://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/contenidos/espanol/prensa/comunicados/rpcpyv10.asp |archive-date=8 January 2011}} Canada is the third-most-populous country with 37.0 million.{{cite web |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710000901 |title=Population estimates, quarterly |website=Statistics Canada |date=27 June 2018 |access-date=10 December 2018 |archive-date=9 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109220020/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710000901 |url-status=live}} The majority of Caribbean island-nations have national populations under a million, though Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico (a territory of the U.S.), Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago each have populations higher than a million.{{cite web |title=Anuario Estadístico de Cuba 2009 |url=http://www.one.cu/aec2009/esp/20080618_tabla_cuadro.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716124826/http://www.one.cu/aec2009/esp/20080618_tabla_cuadro.htm |archive-date=16 July 2010 |access-date=6 November 2010 |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, República de Cuba |language=es |edition=2010}} Note: An exchange rate of 1 CUC to US$1.08 was used to convert GDP. [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202182827/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/cuba/|date=2 December 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://www.presidencia.gob.do/app/pre_nuestro_pais.aspx?id=372 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122172644/http://www.presidencia.gob.do/app/pre_nuestro_pais.aspx?id=372 |archive-date=22 November 2007 |title=Presidencia de la República; Generalidades |access-date=14 December 2009 |language=es |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=The World Factbook: Haiti |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/ |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=11 June 2011 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209014627/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/haiti/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/index.php |title=2010 U.S. Census Data |publisher=2010.census.gov |access-date=6 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215083619/http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/index.php |archive-date=15 February 2012}}{{cite web |title=The World Factbook: Jamaica |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica/ |access-date=11 June 2011 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-date=11 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111023238/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/jamaica |url-status=live}} Greenland has a small population of 55,984 for its massive size (2.166 million km² or 836,300 mi²), and therefore, it has the world's lowest population density at 0.026 pop./km² (0.067 pop./mi²).{{Cite web |url=https://stat.gl/dialog/main.asp?lang=en&theme=Population&link=BE |title=Grønlands Statistik |website=stat.gl |access-date=29 November 2020 |archive-date=19 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119100924/https://stat.gl/dialog/main.asp?lang=en&theme=Population&link=BE |url-status=live}}

While the U.S., Canada, and Mexico maintain the largest populations, large city populations are not restricted to those nations. There are also large cities in the Caribbean. The largest cities in North America, by far, are Mexico City and New York City. These cities are the only cities on the continent to exceed eight million, and two of three in the Americas. Next in size are Los Angeles, Toronto,{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/03/05/torontos_population_overtakes_chicago.html |title=Toronto's population overtakes Chicago |work=Toronto Star |date=5 March 2013 |access-date=6 September 2017 |archive-date=8 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308132904/http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/03/05/torontos_population_overtakes_chicago.html |url-status=live}} Chicago, Havana, Santo Domingo, and Montreal. Cities in the Sun Belt regions of the U.S., such as those in Southern California and Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, are experiencing rapid growth. These causes included warm temperatures, retirement of Baby Boomers, large industry, and the influx of immigrants. Cities near the U.S. border, particularly in Mexico, are also experiencing large amounts of growth. Most notable is Tijuana, a city bordering San Diego that receives immigrants from all over Latin America and parts of Europe and Asia. Yet as cities grow in these warmer regions of North America, they are increasingly forced to deal with the major issue of water shortages.{{cite book |last1=Cetron |first1=Marvin J. |last2=O'Toole |first2=Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/encounterswithfu00cetr |url-access=registration |title=Encounters with the future: a forecast of life into the 21st century |publisher=Mcgraw-Hill |date=April 1982 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encounterswithfu00cetr/page/34 34] |isbn=978-0-07-010347-4}}

Eight of the top ten metropolitan areas are located in the U.S. These metropolitan areas all have a population of above 5.5 million and include the New York City metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Chicago metropolitan area, and the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.{{cite web |url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_NSRD_GCTPL2.US24PR&prodType=table |title=Population and Housing Occupancy Status: 2010 – United States – Metropolitan Statistical Area; and for Puerto Rico more information 2010 Census National Summary File of Redistricting Data |work=2010 United States Census |publisher=United States Census Bureau, Population Division |date=14 April 2011 |access-date=14 April 2011}}{{dead link|bot=medic|date=April 2020}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} While the majority of the largest metropolitan areas are within the U.S., Mexico is host to the largest metropolitan area by population in North America: Greater Mexico City.{{cite web |title=The World Factbook: Mexico |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mexico/ |access-date=20 June 2011 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agence |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126164719/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mexico |url-status=live}} Canada also breaks into the top ten largest metropolitan areas with the Toronto metropolitan area having six million people.{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMA&Code1=535__&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=Toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom= |title=Toronto, Ontario (Census metropolitan area) |author=Statistics Canada |author-link=Statistics Canada |work=Census 2006 |year=2006 |access-date=29 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114131145/http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CMA&Code1=535__&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=Toronto&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom= |archive-date=14 January 2015}} The proximity of cities to each other on the Canada–United States border and the Mexico–U.S. border has led to the rise of international metropolitan areas. These urban agglomerations are observed at their largest and most productive in Detroit–Windsor and San Diego–Tijuana and experience large commercial, economic, and cultural activity. The metropolitan areas are responsible for millions of dollars of trade dependent on international freight. In Detroit-Windsor the Border Transportation Partnership study in 2004 concluded US$13 billion was dependent on the Detroit–Windsor international border crossing while in San Diego–Tijuana freight at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was valued at US$20 billion.{{cite web |publisher=Detroit Regional Chamber |year=2006 |url=http://www.detroitchamber.com/detroiter/articles.asp?cid=7&detcid=531 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321130504/http://www.detroitchamber.com/detroiter/articles.asp?cid=7&detcid=531 |archive-date=21 March 2006 |title=Detroit/Windsor Border Update: Part I – Detroit River International Crossing Study |access-date=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Chapter IV Planning for the Future: Urban & Regional Planning in the San Diego-Tijuana Region |publisher=International Community Foundation |url=http://www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/documents/urbanch4.pdf |access-date=20 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723181848/http://www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/documents/urbanch4.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011}}

{{Further|Megaregions of the United States}}

North America has also been witness to the growth of megapolitan areas. The United States includes eleven megaregions.

^†2011 Census figures

{{Clear}}

{{Main|Culture of North America}}

File:Yankee Stadium upper deck 2010.jpg is known as the national pastime of the United States, and is also played in Canada and many Latin American countries.]]

Image:Ninenations.PNG]]

The cultures of North America are diverse. The United States and English Canada have many cultural similarities, while French Canada has a distinct culture from Anglophone Canada, which is protected by law. Since the United States was formed from portions previously part of the Spanish Empire and then independent Mexico, and there has been considerable and continuing immigration of Spanish speakers from south of the U.S.–Mexico border. In the southwest of the U.S. there are many Hispanic cultural traditions and considerable bilingualism. Mexico and Central America are part of Latin America and are culturally distinct from anglophone and francophone North America. However, they share with the United States the establishment of post-independence governments that are federated representative republics with written constitutions dating from their founding as nations. Canada is a federated parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

Canada's constitution dates to 1867, with confederation, in the British North America Act, but not until 1982 did Canada have the power to amend its own constitution. Canada's Francophone heritage has been enshrined in law since the British parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774. In contrast to largely Protestant Anglo settlers in North America, French-speaking Canadians were Catholic and with the Quebec Act were guaranteed freedom to practice their religion, restored the right of the Catholic Church to impose tithes for its support, and established French civil law in most circumstances.

The distinctiveness of French language and culture has been codified in Canadian law, so that both English and French are designated official languages. The U.S. has no official language, but its national language is English.

The Canadian government took action to protect Canadian culture by limiting non-Canadian content in broadcasting, creating the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission to monitor Canadian content. In Quebec, the provincial government established the Quebec Office of the French Language, often called the "language police" by Anglophones, which mandates the use of French terminology and signage in French.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/yes-the-quebec-language-police-does-serve-a-purpose/article36329861/ "Yes, the Quebec language police does serve a purpose"]. Accessed 5 July 2021 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814033935/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/yes-the-quebec-language-police-does-serve-a-purpose/article36329861/ |date=14 August 2021 }} Since 1968 the unicameral legislature has been called the Quebec National Assembly. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 24 June, is the national holiday of Quebec and celebrated by francophone Canadians throughout Canada. In Quebec, the school system was divided into Catholic and Protestant, so-called confessional schools. Anglophone education in Quebec has been increasingly undermined.[https://theconversation.com/quebecs-bill-40-further-undermines-the-provinces-english-language-school-system-131595 Quebec's Bill 40 further undermines the province's English language school system"]. Accessed 5 July 2021 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184520/https://theconversation.com/quebecs-bill-40-further-undermines-the-provinces-english-language-school-system-131595 |date=9 July 2021 }}

File:NYC Pride 2019 05.jpg is the world's largest LGBT event. Regional variation exists with respect to tolerance in North America.]]

LGBT culture is prominently displayed in more tolerant regions of North America. This is most significantly exemplified at pride parades in cities across the continent, the two largest being held in New York City and Toronto, respectively.

Latino culture is strong in the southwestern United States, as well as in the New York metropolitan area and Florida, which draw Latin Americans from many countries in the Western hemisphere. Northern Mexico, particularly in the cities of Monterrey, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexicali, is strongly influenced by the culture and way of life of the U.S. Monterrey, a modern city with a significant industrial group, has been regarded as the most Americanized city in Mexico.{{cite news |title=Special report: If Monterrey falls Mexico falls – Reuters |agency=Reuters |date=1 June 2011 |last=Emmot |first=Robert}} Northern Mexico, the Western U.S. and Alberta, Canada share a cowboy culture.

The Anglophone Caribbean states have witnessed and participated in the decline of the British Empire and its influence on the region, and its replacement by the economic influence of Northern America in the Anglophone Caribbean. This is partly due to the relatively small populations of the English-speaking Caribbean countries, and also because many of them now have more people living abroad than those remaining at home.{{Cite book |last=Kirton |first=Claremont |title=Beyond Small Change: Making Migrant Remittances Count |publisher=Inter-American Development Bank |year=2005 |editor-last=Terry |editor-first=Donald |location=Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America |pages=261–296 |language=en-US |chapter=Remittances: The Experience of the English-speaking Caribbean |editor-last2=Wilson |editor-first2=Steven}}

Greenland has experienced many immigration waves from Northern Canada, e.g. by the Thule people. Therefore, Greenland shares some cultural ties with the indigenous peoples of Canada. Greenland is also considered Nordic and has strong Danish ties due to centuries of colonization by Denmark.{{Cite web |url=https://arcticfriend.dk/bag-om-groenland/ |title=BAG OM GRØNLAND |website=Arctic Friend |language=da-DK |access-date=18 April 2020 |archive-date=4 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804211108/https://arcticfriend.dk/bag-om-groenland/ |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Sport in North America}}

The United States and Canada have major sports teams that compete against each other, including baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer/football. Canada, Mexico, and the United States will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Native American game of lacrosse is considered a national sport in Canada. Curling is an important winter sport in Canada, and the Winter Olympics includes it in the roster. The English sport of cricket is popular in parts of anglophone Canada and very popular in parts of the former British empire, but in Canada is considered a minor sport. Boxing is also a major sport in some countries, such as Mexico, Panama and Puerto Rico, and it is considered one of the main individual sports in the United States. Canada has a separate Canadian Football League from the U.S. teams.

The following table shows the most prominent sports leagues in North America, in order of average revenue.[https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/theres-a-big-five-in-north-american-pro-sports/ "The 'Big Five' in North American Pro Sports"], FiveThirtyEight, Nate Silver, 4 April 2014.[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/12/mls-soccer-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl-epl-business "MLS vs the major leagues: can soccer compete when it comes to big business?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119005010/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/12/mls-soccer-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl-epl-business|date=19 November 2016}}, Guardian.com, 12 March 2014.

{{reflist|group=sn}}

{{Portal|North America}}

• Flags of North America
• List of cities in North America
• Table manners in North America
• North American Union

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of America and the World: Volume 1, 1500–1820 |last1=Gould |first1=E. |last2=Mapp |first2=P. |last3=Pestana |first3=C. G. |isbn=978-1-108-31781-8 |year=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
• {{cite book |title=North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent |last1=McIlwraith |first1=T. F. |last2=Muller |first2=E. K. |last3=Conzen |first3=M. P. |last4=DeVorsey |first4=L. |last5=Earle |first5=C. |last6=Grim |first6=R. E. |last7=Groves |first7=P. A. |last8=Guelke |first8=J. K. |last9=Harris |first9=C. |last10=Harris |first10=R. |isbn=978-1-4616-3960-2 |lccn=2020740684 |year=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}
• {{cite book |title=National Geographic Visual History of the World |author=Berndl |first=K. |author2=National Geographic Society (U.S.) |isbn=978-0-7922-3695-5 |lccn=2005541553 |year=2005 |publisher=National Geographic Society}}
• {{cite book |title=After Columbus: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America |author=Axtell |first=J. |isbn=978-0-19-802206-0 |lccn=87034886 |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• {{cite book |title=North America before the European Invasions |author=Kehoe |first=A. B. |isbn=978-1-317-49544-4 |lccn=2016054024 |year=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}
• {{cite book |title=A Population History of North America |last1=Haines |first1=M. R. |last2=Steckel |first2=R. H. |isbn=978-0-521-49666-7 |lccn=99023284 |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
• {{cite book |title=Time of Anarchy: Indigenous Power and the Crisis of Colonialism in Early America |author=Kruer |first=M. |isbn=978-0-674-26956-9 |year=2022 |publisher=Harvard University Press}}
• {{cite book |title=The European and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America |author=Axtell |first=J. |isbn=978-0-19-502904-8 |lccn=lc80025084 |year=1981 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}

{{Refend}}

• {{GovPubs|North%20America}}
• {{Britannica|418612}}
• [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/north-america-human-geography/ North America: Human Geography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929160456/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/north-america-human-geography/ |date=29 September 2023 }} at the National Geographic Society
• [https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/european-colonization-north-america/ European Colonization of North America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928052219/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/european-colonization-north-america/ |date=28 September 2023 }} at the National Geographic Society
• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= North America | volume= 19 | pages = 760–765 |short= 1}}
• [http://www.columbiagazetteer.org/ The Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901152611/http://www.columbiagazetteer.org/ |date=1 September 2006 }} Columbia University Press
• {{cite web |url=https://colonialnorthamerica.library.harvard.edu/spotlight/cna |publisher=Harvard Library |year=2015 |title=Colonial North America at Harvard Library |language=en |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |lccn=2019234716 |access-date=25 March 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325121642/https://colonialnorthamerica.library.harvard.edu/spotlight/cna |url-status=dead}}
• Interactive SVG version of Non-Native American Nations Control over N America 1750–2008 animation

{{North America topics}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Articles related to North America

|list =

{{Continents of the world}}

{{Countries of North America}}

{{Demographics by continent}}

{{Regions of the world}}

}}

{{Subject bar|North America|Geography|auto=1}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Continents