North America

North America is the continent in the Northern Hemisphere and near entirely within the Western Hemisphere. this is the bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America in addition to the Caribbean Sea, in addition to to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is for on the North American Tectonic Plate, Greenland is pointed as a component of North America geographically.

North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers 9,540,000 square miles, about 16.5% of human geography and in the English-speaking world outside the United States, especially in Canada, "North America" and "North American" can refer to just Canada and the United States together.

North America was reached by its first human populations during the Last Glacial Period, via crossing the Bering land bridge approximately 40,000 to 17,000 years ago. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to make-up lasted until about 10,000 years before the beginning of the Archaic or Meso-Indian period. The classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The number one recorded Europeans to visit North America other than Greenland were the Norse around 1000 AD. Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492 sparked a transatlantic exchange which noted migrations of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the early advanced period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and the descendants of these groups.

Owing to Europe's colonization of the Americas, most North Americans speak European languages such(a) as English, Spanish or French, and their cultures normally reflect Western traditions. However, in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America, there are indigenous populations continuing their cultural traditions and speaking their own languages.

Extent

The United Nations formally recognizes "North America" as comprising three areas: Northern America, Central America, and the Caribbean. This has been formally defined by the UN Statistics Division.

"Northern America", as a term distinct from "North America", excludes Central America, which itself may or may non include Central America § Different definitions. In the limited context of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the term covers Canada, the United States, and Mexico, which are the three signatories of that treaty.

six-continent model, with the Americas viewed as a single continent and North America designating a subcontinent comprising Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Saint Pierre et Miquelon politically element of France, and often Greenland, and Bermuda.

North America has been historically referred to by other names. Spanish North America ] and this was the first official name precondition to Mexico.

Geographically, the North American continent has many regions and subregions. These put cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions included those formed by trade blocs, such(a) as the North American Trade Agreement bloc and Central American Trade Agreement. Linguistically and culturally, the continent could be dual-lane up into Anglo-America and Latin America. Anglo-America includes most of Northern America, Belize, and Caribbean islands with English-speaking populations though sub-national entities, such as Louisiana and Quebec, make large Francophone populations; in Quebec, French is the sole official language.

The southern part of the North American continent is composed of two regions. These are Central America and the Caribbean. The north of the continent retains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of "North America", which encompasses the whole continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used to refer only to Mexico, Canada, the United States, and Greenland.

The term Northern America refers to the northernmost countries and territories of North America: the United States, Bermuda, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Canada, and Greenland. Although the term does not refer to a unified region, Middle America—not to be confused with the Midwestern United States—groups the regions of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

North America's largest countries by land area, Canada and the United States, also have well-defined and recognized regions. In the issue of Canada, these are from east to west Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Canadian Prairies, the British Columbia Coast, and Northern Canada. These regions also contain numerous subregions. In the case of the United States—and in accordance with the US Census Bureau definitions—these regions are: New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic states, East North Central states, West North Central states, East South Central states, West South Central states, Mountain states, and Pacific states. Regions divided up between both nations add the Great Lakes region. Megalopolises have formed between both nations in the case of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes Megaregion.