North America - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

North America
AreaAround 24.71 million km2
Population528,720,588 (2008)
Population density21.4/km2 (55/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)$20.3 trillion (201moo3)
GDP (PPP)$20.9 trillion (2013)
DemonymNorth American
Countries25 countries[a]
Dependencies22 dependencies
LanguagesList of languages
Time zonesUTC−10 to UTC
Internet TLDNorth American TLD
Largest citiesList of urban areas

North America is a large continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres of Earth. It is to the east of the Pacific Ocean, the west of the Atlantic Ocean, the south of the Arctic Ocean, and it is the northern part of the Americas. The southernmost part is Central America. It is the third largest continent in the world after Asia and Africa. North America has a population of around 371 million and is the 4th most populous continent in the world.

North America has three subregions which are the Caribbean, Central America, and North America. Depending on how it is used, "North America" can be used to mean as the continent as a whole to include all 23 countries or as a subregion to mean Canada, Mexico, and the United States only.[1]

Hundreds of millions of years ago, North America was part of a larger ancient supercontinent named Laurasia. A few million years ago, a new land bridge arose and connected North America to South America. Beringia connected North America to Siberia a few times during ice ages in the past 20,000 years. North America has many warm tropical islands such as the Bahamas. North America is currently north of South America.

Countries[change | change source]

Flag Official name(s) Area (km2 or sq mi) Population Density (pop. km2) Capital Official language(s)
Alaska Alaska 1,707,000 km2 (659,000 sq mi) 733,475 0.3 Juneau English
Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda 442 km2 (171 sq mi) 101,489 622 St John English
The Bahamas Bahamas
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
13,880 km2 (5,360 sq mi) 358,508 24 Nassau English
Barbados Barbados
Republic of Barbados
430 km2 (170 sq mi) 303,431 755 Bridgetown English
Belize Belize 22,966 km2 (8,867 sq mi) 419,137 16 Belmopan English
Canada Canada[b] 8,338,000 km2 (3,219,000 sq mi) 38,486,736 5 Ottawa English
French
Costa Rica Costa Rica
Republic of Costa Rica
51,100 km2 (19,700 sq mi) 5,256,612 112 San Jose Spanish
Cuba Cuba
Republic of Cuba
110,860 km2 (42,800 sq mi) 10,985,974 95 Havana Spanish
Dominica Dominica
Commonwhealth of Dominica
751 km2 (290 sq mi) 74,656 96 Roseau English
Dominican Republic Dominican Republic 48,670 km2 (18,790 sq mi) 10,790,744 188 Santo Domingo Spanish
El Salvador El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador
21,041 km2 (8,124 sq mi) 6,670,304 330 San Salvador Spanish
Greenland Greenland 2,166,086 km2 (836,330 sq mi) 57,777 0,02 Nuuk Greenlandic
Grenada Grenada 344 km2 (133 sq mi) 114,700 477 St George English
Guatemala Guatemala
Republic of Guatemala
108,889 km2 (42,042 sq mi) 17,980,803 133 Guatemala City Spanish
Haiti Haiti
Republic of Haiti
27,750 km2 (10,710 sq mi) 11,270,161 77 Port-au Prince French
Honduras Honduras
Republic of Honduras
112,052 km2 (43,264 sq mi) 9,571,352 92 Tegucigalpa Spanish
Iceland Iceland
Republic of Iceland
45,500 km2 (17,600 sq mi) 133,000 3 Reykjavik Icelandic
Jamaica Jamaica
Republic of Jamaica
10,991 km2 (4,244 sq mi) 2,830,932 232 Kingston English
Mexico Mexico
United Mexican States
1,964,375 km2 (758,449 sq mi) 129,875,729 87 Mexico City Spanish
Nicaragua Nicaragua
Republic of Nicaragua
130,370 km2 (50,340 sq mi) 6,359,689 221 Managua Spanish
Nunavut Nunavut 1,646,670 km2 (635,780 sq mi) 36,000 0.04 Iqaluit English
Inuktitut
French
Panama Panama
Republic of Panama
75,420 km2 (29,120 sq mi) 4,404,108 66 Panama City Spanish
Russia Russia
Russian Federation
1,622,000 km2 (626,000 sq mi) 654,000 0.4 No official capital of North American part Russian
Saba Saba 13 km2 (5.0 sq mi) 1,945 122 The Bottom Dutch
English
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis
Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis
261 km2 (101 sq mi) 54,817 313 Basseterre English
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia 606 km2 (234 sq mi) 167,591 586 Castries English
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 388 km2 (150 sq mi) 100,814 722 Kingstown English
Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) 4,404 44 Oranjestad (Sint Eustatius) Dutch
English
Sint Maarten Sint Maarten 34 km2 (13 sq mi) 45,677 1221 Phillipsburg Dutch
English
United States United States[c]
United States of America
8,109,517 km2 (3,131,102 sq mi) 338,946,000 15 Washington D.C English
Spanish

Related pages[change | change source]

Notes[change | change source]

  1. Including Iceland and Russia
  2. Excluding Nunavut
  3. Excluding Alaska

References[change | change source]

  1. "Central America | Map, Facts, Countries, & Capitals | Britannica". Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2022-06-04.