North America

continent

Map of populous North America showing physical, political and population characteristics as per 2018 North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and about entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It can besides be described as the northerly subcontinent of a single continent, America. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. Because it is on the north american Tectonic Plate, Greenland is included as share of North America geographically.

Reading: North America

North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 straight kilometers ( 9,540,000 square miles ), about 16.5 % of the Earth ‘s land area and about 4.8 % of its sum come on. North America is the third-largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at closely 579 million people in 23 mugwump states, or about 7.5 % of the populace ‘s population. North America was reached by its first human populations during the concluding arctic time period, via crossing the Bering nation bridge approximately 40,000 to 17,000 years ago. The alleged paleo-american time period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago ( the beginning of the Archaic or Meso-Indian period ). The classical stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The beginning recorded Europeans to visit North America ( early than Greenland ) were the Norse around 1000 AD. Christopher Columbus ‘s arrival in 1492 sparked a transatlantic substitute which included migrations of european settlers during the Age of Discovery and the early modern period. contemporary cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between european colonists, autochthonal peoples, african slaves, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and South Asia, and the descendants of these groups. Owing to Europe ‘s colonization of the Americas, most north Americans speak european languages such 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 autochthonal populations continuing their cultural traditions and speaking their own languages .

name

Map of North America, from 1621 The Americas are normally accepted as having been named after the italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the german cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. [ 5 ] Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first european to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a universe map, in which he placed the parole “ America ” on the continent of South America, in the center of what is today Brazil. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio : “ab Americo inventore … quasi Americi terram sive Americam ( from Americus the inventor … as if it were the land of Americus, frankincense America ) ”. [ 6 ] For Waldseemüller, no one should object to the mention of the country after its inventor. He used the Latinized version of Vespucci ‘s name ( Americus Vespucius ), but in its feminine form “ America ”, following the examples of “ Europa ”, “ Asia ” and “ Africa ”. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the northerly celibate. In 1538, Gerard Mercator used America on his map of the world for all the Western Hemisphere. [ 7 ] Some argue that because the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries ( except in the case of royalty ), the ancestry from “ Amerigo Vespucci ” could be put in question. [ 8 ] In 1874, Thomas Belt published the autochthonal name of the Amerrisque Mountains of Central America ; [ 9 ] the adjacent year, Jules Marcou suggested that the name of the continent stemmed from that of the mountain range. [ 10 ] Marcou corresponded with Augustus Le Plongeon, who wrote : “ The diagnose AMERICA or AMERRIQUE in the Mayan language means, a area of perpetually strong wind, or the Land of the Wind, and … the [ suffixes ] can mean … a emotional state that breathes, life itself. ” [ 7 ] mercator on his map called North America “ America or New India ” ( America sive India Nova ). [ 11 ] The spanish Empire called its territories in North and South America “ Las Indias ” ; the state body overseeing them was the Council of the Indies .

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. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] “ Northern America ”, as a terminus discrete from “ North America ”, excludes Central America, which itself may or may not include Mexico ( see 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. France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, and the countries of Latin America use a six-continent model, with the Americas viewed as a individual continent and North America designating a subcontinent comprising Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Saint Pierre et Miquelon ( politically partially of France ), and often Greenland, and Bermuda. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] [ 19 ] North America has been historically referred to by early names. spanish North America ( New Spain ) was often referred to as Northern America, [ citation needed ] and this was the first gear official identify given to Mexico. [ 20 ]

Regions

geographically, the north american continent has many regions and subregions. These include cultural, economic, and geographic regions. economic regions included those formed by trade bloc, such as the North american Trade Agreement bloc and central american Trade Agreement. Linguistically and culturally, the continent could be divided 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, have big Francophone populations ; in Quebec, French is the lone official terminology [ 21 ] ). The southerly separate of the north american english continent is composed of two regions. These are Central America and the Caribbean. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] The north of the celibate maintains recognized regions as good. In contrast to the common definition of “ North America ”, which encompasses the whole continent, the term “ North America ” is sometimes used to refer alone to Mexico, Canada, the United States, and Greenland. [ 24 ] [ 25 ] [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ] The condition Northern America refers to the northernmost countries and territories of North America : the United States, Bermuda, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Canada, and Greenland. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] Although the term does not refer to a unite area, [ 31 ] Middle America —not to be confused with the Midwestern United States —groups the regions of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. [ 32 ] North America ‘s largest countries by kingdom area, Canada and the United States, besides have well-defined and recognized regions. In the encase of Canada, these are ( from east to west ) Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, canadian Prairies, the british Columbia Coast, and Northern Canada. These regions besides contain many 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 shared between both nations include the Great Lakes Region. Megalopolises have formed between both nations in the character of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes Megaregion .

Countries, territories, and dependencies

lifelike characteristics

Geography

North America occupies the northern helping of the landmass by and large referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or just America ( which, in many countries is considered as a single continent [ 42 ] [ 43 ] [ 44 ] with North America a subcontinent ). [ 45 ] [ 46 ] [ 47 ] North America is the third-largest celibate by area, following Asia and Africa. [ 48 ] [ 49 ] North America ‘s lone nation connection to South America is at the Isthmus of Darian/Isthmus of Panama. The celibate is delimited on the southeast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia -Panama border, placing about all of Panama within North America. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Alternatively, some geologists physiographically locate its southerly limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from this point. [ 53 ] The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North America. [ 46 ] The continental coastline is farseeing and guerrilla. 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 cardinal american english isthmus formed, the area had been subaqueous. The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerge erstwhile land bridge, which had connected North and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela. There are numerous islands off the continent ‘s coasts ; chiefly, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the aleut 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 autonomous Danish island, and the populace ‘s largest, is on the like tectonic plate ( the North American Plate ) and is contribution of North America geographically. In a geological sense, Bermuda is not character of the Americas, but an oceanic island that was formed on the fissure of the middle atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago. The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. however, Bermuda is often thought of as part of North America, specially given its historical, political and cultural ties to Virginia and other parts of the continent .
The huge 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 blame. The southernmost helping of the continent and much of the West Indies lie on the Caribbean Plate, whereas the Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates border the north american english 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, cragged west, including the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, California and Alaska ; the raised but relatively flat tableland of the Canadian Shield in the northeasterly ; and the varied easterly region, which includes the appalachian Mountains, the coastal obviously along the Atlantic seaside, and the Florida peninsula. Mexico, with its long tableland and cordilleras, falls largely in the western area, although the eastern coastal obviously does extend south along the Gulf .
The western mountains are split in the middle into the main stove 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 bill is Denali in Alaska. The United States Geographical Survey ( USGS ) states that the geographic concentrate of North America is “ 6 miles [ 10 km ] west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota “ at about, about 24 kilometres ( 15 mile ) from Rugby, North Dakota. The USGS further states that “ No marked or monumented item has been established by any government agency as the geographic concentrate of either the 50 States, the adjacent United States, or the north american continent. ” however, there is a 4.6-metre ( 15 foot ) plain stone dagger in Rugby claiming to mark the center. The north american english continental pole of inaccessibility is located 1,650 km ( 1,030 mile ) from the nearest coastline, between Allen and Kyle, South Dakota at. [ 54 ]

geology

Geologic history

Principal hydrological divides of Canada, the United States and Mexico Laurentia is an ancient craton which forms the geological core of North America ; it formed between 1.5 and 1.0 billion years ago during the Proterozoic eon. [ 55 ] 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 contemporary continents as function of the supercontinent Pangaea, with Eurasia to its east. One of the results of the geological formation of Pangaea was the appalachian Mountains, which formed some 480 million years ago, making it among the oldest batch ranges in the world. When Pangaea began to rift around 200 million years ago, North America became depart of Laurasia, before it separated from Eurasia as its own celibate during the mid- cretaceous period. [ 56 ] The Rockies and other western batch ranges began forming around this time from a period of batch construction called the Laramide orogeny, between 80 and 55 million years ago. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama that connected the celibate to South America arguably occurred approximately 12 to 15 million years ago, [ 57 ] and the Great Lakes ( arsenic well as many other northern fresh water lakes and rivers ) were carved by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago. North America is the source of much of what world knows about geological time periods. [ 58 ] The geographic area that would late become the United States has been the source of more varieties of dinosaurs than any other mod country. [ 58 ] According to paleontologist Peter Dodson, this is primarily due to stratigraphy, climate and geography, human resources, and history. [ 58 ] a lot of the Mesozoic Era is represented by unwrap outcrops in the many arid regions of the continent. [ 58 ] The most significant former Jurassic dinosaur-bearing dodo depository in North America is the Morrison Formation of the western United States. [ 59 ]

canadian geology

Geologic Map of North America published by USGS geologically, Canada is one of the oldest regions in the world, with more than half of the region consist of precambrian rocks that have been above ocean level since the begin of the Palaeozoic earned run average. [ 60 ] Canada ‘s mineral resources are diverse and across-the-board. [ 60 ] Across the Canadian Shield and in the north there are boastfully iron, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, and uranium reserves. bombastic diamond concentrations have been recently developed in the Arctic, [ 61 ] making Canada one of the worldly concern ‘s largest producers. Throughout the Shield, there are many mine towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and best known, is Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal procedure of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impingement crater. The nearby, but less known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. Its magnetic anomalies are identical exchangeable to the Sudbury Basin, and so it could be a second metal-rich affect volcanic crater. [ 62 ] The Shield is besides covered by huge boreal forests that support an crucial log industry .

United States geology

The lower 48 US states can be divided into roughly five physiographic provinces :

The American cordillera
The Canadian Shield[60] Northern portion of the upper midwestern United States.
The stable platform
The coastal plain
The Appalachian orogenic belt

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 .
North America bedrock and terrain north american cratons and basement rocks

central American geology

Central America rests in the Central America rests in the Caribbean Plate Central America is geologically active voice 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 death one killing about 5,000 people ; three earthquakes devastated El Salvador, one in 1986 and two in 2001 ; one earthquake devastated northerly and central Costa Rica in 2009, killing at least 34 people ; in Honduras a knock-down 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 lava have made it possible to sustain dense populations in agriculturally productive highland areas. Central America has many batch ranges ; the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the Cordillera Isabelia, and the Cordillera de Talamanca. Between the mountain ranges lie fecund valleys that are desirable for the people ; in fact, most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala live in valleys. Valleys are besides desirable for the production of coffee, beans, and other crops .

climate

North America map of Köppen climate classification North America is a identical big celibate that surpasses the Arctic Circle, and the Tropic of Cancer. Greenland, along with the Canadian Shield, is tundra with median temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 °C ( 50 to 68 °F ), but central Greenland is composed of a identical big methamphetamine sheet. This tundra radiates throughout Canada, but its surround ends near the Rocky Mountains ( but calm contains Alaska ) and at the conclusion of the Canadian Shield, near the Great Lakes. Climate west of the Cascade Range is described as being moderate weather with average precipitation 20 inches ( 510 millimeter ). [ 63 ] Climate in coastal California is described to be Mediterranean, with modal temperatures in cities like San Francisco ranging from 57 to 70 °F ( 14 to 21 °C ) over the naturally of the year. [ 64 ] Stretching from the East Coast to eastern North Dakota, and stretching down to Kansas, is the continental-humid climate featuring acute seasons, with a large measure of annual precipitation, with places like New York City averaging 50 inches ( 1,300 millimeter ). [ 65 ] Starting at the southern molding of the continental-humid climate and stretching to the Gulf of Mexico ( whilst encompassing the easterly half of Texas ) is the subtropical climate. This area has the wettest cities in the conterminous United States, with annual haste reaching 67 inches ( 1,700 millimeter ) in Mobile, Alabama. [ 66 ] Stretching from the borders of the continental humid and subtropical climates, and going west to the Sierra Nevada, south to the southerly lean of Durango, north to the frame with tundra climate, the steppe/desert climate is the driest climate in the United States. [ 67 ] 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 constriction. normally of the savanna type, with rains and high gear temperatures constants the solid year. Found in countries and states bathed by the Caribbean Sea or to the south of the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. [ 68 ]

ecology

noteworthy north american animal include the bison, blacken bear, jaguar, cougar, prairie frump, turkey, pronghorn, raccoon, coyote and monarch butterfly. noteworthy plants that were domesticated in North America include tobacco, maize, squash, tomato, sunflower, blueberry, avocado, cotton, chili pepper and vanilla .

history

pre-columbian

The autochthonal peoples of the Americas have many universe myths by which they assert that they have been present on the domain since its creation, [ 69 ] but there is no evidence that humans evolved there. [ 70 ] The specifics of the initial colony of the Americas by ancient Asians are subject to ongoing research and discussion. [ 71 ] The traditional theory has been that hunters entered the Beringia state bridge between eastern Siberia and contemporary Alaska from 27,000 to 14,000 years ago. [ 72 ] [ 73 ] [ heat content ] A growing point of view is that the first american inhabitants sailed from Beringia some 13,000 years ago, [ 75 ] with far-flung dwelling of the Americas during the end of the last frigid period, in what is known as the Late Glacial Maximum, around 12,500 years ago. [ 76 ] The oldest petroglyph in North America date from 15,000 to 10,000 years before confront. [ 77 ] [ iodine ] Genetic research and anthropology indicate extra waves of migration from Asia via the Bering Strait during the Early-Middle Holocene. [ 79 ] [ 80 ] [ 81 ] Before contact with Europeans, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several “ culture areas “, which roughly equate to geographic and biological zones and give a good indication of the chief means of liveliness of the people who lived there ( for example, the bison hunters of the Great Plains, or the farmers of Mesoamerica ). native groups can besides be classified by their linguistic process family ( for example, Athapascan or uto-aztecan ). Peoples with like languages did not constantly share the same material culture, nor were they always allies. Anthropologists think that the Inuit people of the high Arctic came to North America much later than other native groups, as evidenced by the disappearance of Dorset acculturation artifacts from the archaeological record, and their surrogate 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 polish ( c. 9550–9050 BCE ) in modern New Mexico. [ 78 ] Later groups include the mississippian culture and related Mound build 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 creditworthy for the domestication of many common crops now used around the worldly concern, such as tomatoes, squash, and maize. As a result of the development of agriculture in the confederacy, many early cultural advances were made there. The Mayans developed a write system, built huge pyramids and temples, had a complex calendar, and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE. [ 82 ] The first base recorded european references to North America are in Norse saga where it is referred to as Vinland. [ 83 ] The earliest confirmable exemplify of pre-columbian trans-oceanic reach by any european culture with the North America mainland has been dated to around 1000 CE. [ 84 ] The site, situated at the northernmost extent of the island named Newfoundland, has provided unmistakable attest of Norse settlement. [ 85 ] Norse internet explorer Leif Erikson ( c. 970–1020 CE ) is thought to have visited the sphere. [ joule ] Erikson was the beginning european to make landfall on the continent ( excluding Greenland ). [ 87 ] [ 88 ] The maya culture was still introduce in southerly 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 foster north in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs were conquered in 1521 by Hernán Cortés. [ 89 ]

Map of North America in 1702 testify forts, towns and ( in solid colors ) areas occupied by european settlements During the alleged Age of Discovery, Europeans explored overseas and staked claims to respective parts of North America, a lot of which was already settled by autochthonal peoples. Upon Europeans ‘ arrival in the “ New World “, autochthonal peoples had a kind of reactions, including curiosity, trade, cooperation, resignation, and immunity. The native american population declined substantially, because of crimson conflicts with the invaders and the introduction of european diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity. [ 90 ] autochthonal acculturation changed significantly and their affiliation with political and cultural groups besides changed. respective linguistic groups died out, and others changed quite cursorily.

Demographics

Non-native nations ‘ control and claims over North America c. 1750–2008 economically, Canada and the United States are the wealthiest and most explicate nations in the continent, followed by Mexico, a newly industrialized area. [ 92 ] The countries of Central America and the Caribbean are at respective levels of economic and human exploitation. For exemplar, minor Caribbean island-nations, such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua and Barbuda, have a higher GDP ( PPP ) per head 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. [ 93 ] Additionally, despite Greenland ‘s huge resources in anoint and minerals, much of them remain untapped, and the island is economically dependent on fish, tourism, and subsidies from Denmark. Nevertheless, the island is highly developed. [ 94 ] Demographically, North America is ethnically diverse. Its three main groups are Caucasians, Mestizos and Blacks. [ 95 ] There is a meaning minority of autochthonal Americans and Asians among other less numerous groups. [ 95 ]

Languages

The dominant languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Danish is prevailing in Greenland aboard 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 United States, but besides sometimes Belize and parts of the tropics, specially the Commonwealth Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas ( broadly south of the United States ) where the Romance languages, derived from Latin, of spanish and portuguese, ( but French-speaking countries are not normally included ) overriding : the other republics of Central America ( but not always Belize ), separate 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 french speech has historically played a significant character in North America and now retains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada is formally bilingual. french is the official lyric 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 speech is english, but there are an calculate 600,000 Franco-Ontarians ), the Province of Manitoba ( co-official as de jure with English ), the french West Indies and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as the US state of Louisiana, where french is besides an official terminology. 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. A significant count of autochthonal languages are spoken in North America, with 372,000 people in the United States speaking an autochthonal language at home, [ 96 ] about 225,000 in Canada [ 97 ] and roughly 6 million in Mexico. [ 98 ] In the United States and Canada, there are approximately 150 surviving autochthonal languages of the 300 address anterior to European contact. [ 99 ]

Religions

share of people who identify with a religion in North America, according to 2010–2012 data 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. [ 100 ] Christianity besides is the prevailing religion in the 23 dependent territories in North America. [ 101 ] The United States has the largest christian population in the world, with closely 247 million Christians ( 70 % ), although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations. [ 102 ] Mexico has the world ‘s moment largest count of Catholics, surpassed alone by Brazil. [ 103 ] A 2015 report estimates about 493,000 christian believers from a Muslim background in North America, most of them belonging to some human body of Protestantism. [ 104 ] According to the lapp cogitation scrupulously unaffiliated ( include agnostic and atheist ) make up about 17 % of the population of Canada and the United States. [ 105 ] No religion make up approximately 24 % of the United States population, and 24 % of Canada total population. [ 106 ] Canada, the United States and Mexico host communities of Jews ( 6 million or about 1.8 % ), [ 107 ] Buddhists ( 3.8 million or 1.1 % ) [ 108 ] and Muslims ( 3.4 million or 1.0 % ). [ 109 ] The largest number of Jews can be found in the United States ( 5.4 million ), [ 110 ] Canada ( 375,000 ) [ 111 ] and Mexico ( 67,476 ). [ 112 ] The United States hosts the largest muslim population in North America with 2.7 million or 0.9 %, [ 113 ] [ 114 ] While Canada host about one million Muslim or 3.2 % of the population. [ 115 ] While in Mexico there were 3,700 Muslims in the nation. [ 116 ] 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. [ 117 ] The overriding religion in Mexico and Central America is Christianity ( 96 % ). [ 118 ] Beginning with the spanish colonization of Mexico in the sixteenth century, Roman Catholicism was the merely religion permitted by spanish crown and Catholic church. A huge campaign of religious conversion, the alleged “ religious conquest ”, was launched to bring autochthonal into the Christian fold. The inquisition was established to assure orthodox impression and drill. The Catholic Church remained an significant institution, so that evening after political independence, Roman Catholicism remained the prevailing religion. Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in early christian groups, peculiarly Protestantism, adenine good as other religious organizations, and individuals identifying themselves as having no religion. besides Christianity is the prevailing religion in the Caribbean ( 85 % ). [ 118 ] other religious groups in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari ( in Jamaica ), and african-american religions such as Santería and Vodou .

populace

North America is the fourth most populous continent after Asia, Africa, and Europe. [ 119 ] Its most populous country is the United States with 329.7 million persons. The second largest country is Mexico with a population of 112.3 million. [ 120 ] Canada is the third base most populous area with 37.0 million. [ 121 ] The majority of Caribbean island-nations have national populations under a million, though Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico ( a territory of the United States ), Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago each have populations higher than a million. [ 122 ] [ 123 ] [ 124 ] [ 125 ] [ 126 ] Greenland has a belittled population of 55,984 for its massive size ( 2,166,000 km2 or 836,300 mi2 ), and therefore, it has the world ‘s lowest population concentration at 0.026 pop./km2 ( 0.067 pop./mi2 ). [ 127 ] While the United States, Canada, and Mexico maintain the largest populations, boastfully city populations are not restricted to those nations. There are besides large cities in the Caribbean. The largest cities in North America, by far, are Mexico City and New York. These cities are the alone cities on the continent to exceed eight million, and two of three in the Americas. Next in size are Los Angeles, Toronto, [ 128 ] Chicago, Havana, Santo Domingo, and Montreal. Cities in the sun belt regions of the United States, such as those in Southern California and Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, are experiencing rapid increase. These causes included warm temperatures, retirement of Baby Boomers, large diligence, and the inflow of immigrants. Cities near the United States bound, peculiarly in Mexico, are besides experiencing boastfully amounts of growth. Most luminary is Tijuana, a city surround San Diego that receives immigrants from all over Latin America and parts of Europe and Asia. Yet as cities grow in these warm regions of North America, they are increasingly forced to deal with the major consequence of water shortages. [ 129 ] Eight of the top ten metropolitan areas are located in the United States. 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. [ 130 ] Whilst the majority of the largest metropolitan areas are within the United States, Mexico is host to the largest metropolitan area by population in North America : Greater Mexico City. [ 131 ] Canada besides breaks into the top ten largest metropolitan areas with the Toronto metropolitan area having six million people. [ 132 ] The proximity of cities to each other on the Canada–United States border and Mexico–United States molding has led to the advance of international metropolitan areas. These urban agglomerations are observed at their largest and most productive in Detroit–Windsor and San Diego–Tijuana and experience big 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 learn in 2004 concluded US $ 13 billion was dependent on the Detroit–Windsor international bound crossing while in San Diego-Tijuana freight at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was valued at US $ 20 billion. [ 133 ] [ 134 ]
North America has besides been witness to the emergence of megapolitan areas. In the United States exists football team megaregions that transcend international borders and constitute Canadian and Mexican metropolitan regions. These are the Arizona Sun Corridor, Cascadia, Florida, Front Range, Great Lakes Megalopolis, Gulf Coast, Northeast, Northern California, Piedmont Atlantic, Southern California, and the Texas Triangle. [ 135 ] Canada and Mexico are besides the home of megaregions. These include the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, Golden Horseshoe – both of which are considered separate of the Great Lakes Megalopolis – and the Central Mexico megalopolis. traditionally the largest megaregion has been considered the Boston-Washington, DC Corridor, or the Northeast, as the region is one massive conterminous area. Yet megaregion criterion have allowed the Great Lakes Megalopolis to maintain condition as the most populated region, being home to 53,768,125 people in 2000. [ 136 ] The peak ten largest union american metropolitan areas by population as of 2013, based on national census numbers from the United States and census estimates from Canada and Mexico .
†2011 Census figures .

economy

North America ‘s GDP per head was evaluated in October 2016 by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) to be $ 41,830, making it the richest continent in the world, [ 139 ] followed by Oceania. [ 140 ] Canada, Mexico, and the United States have significant and many-sided economic systems. The United States has the largest economy of all three countries and in the world. [ 140 ] In 2016, the U.S. had an estimated per caput gross domestic product ( PPP ) of $ 57,466 according to the World Bank, and is the most technologically develop economy of the three. [ 141 ] The United States ‘ services sector comprises 77 % of the area ‘s GDP ( estimated in 2010 ), diligence comprises 22 % and farming comprises 1.2 %. [ 140 ] The U.S. economy is besides the fastest growing economy in North America and the Americas as a whole, [ 142 ] [ 139 ] with the highest GDP per caput in the Americas a good. [ 139 ]
Canada shows significant growth in the sectors of services, mine and manufacture. [ 143 ] Canada ‘s per head GDP ( PPP ) was estimated at $ 44,656 and it had the 11th largest GDP ( nominative ) in 2014. [ 143 ] Canada ‘s services sector comprises 78 % of the state ‘s GDP ( estimated in 2010 ), industry comprises 20 % and agriculture comprises 2 %. [ 143 ] Mexico has a per caput GDP ( PPP ) of $ 16,111 and as of 2014 is the fifteenth largest GDP ( nominal ) in the universe. [ 144 ] Being a newly industrialize nation, [ 92 ] Mexico maintains both mod and outdated industrial and agrarian facilities and operations. [ 145 ] Its main sources of income are oil, industrial exports, manufactured goods, electronics, heavy industry, automobiles, construction, food, bank and fiscal services. [ 146 ] The north american english economy is well defined and structured in three independent economic areas. [ 147 ] These areas are the north american Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ), Caribbean Community and Common Market ( CARICOM ), and the cardinal american Common Market ( CACM ). [ 147 ] Of these trade bloc, the United States takes depart in two. In addition to the larger craft bloc there is the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement among numerous other spare trade relations, often between the larger, more develop countries and central American and Caribbean countries. The North America Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ) forms one of the four largest trade bloc in the earth. [ 148 ] Its execution in 1994 was designed for economic homogenization with hopes of eliminating barriers of deal and foreign investment between Canada, the United States and Mexico. [ 149 ] While Canada and the United States already conducted the largest bilateral trade relationship – and to present day inactive do – in the world and Canada–United States trade relations already allowed trade without national taxes and tariffs, [ 150 ] NAFTA allowed Mexico to experience a exchangeable duty-free trade. The free trade agreement allowed for the elimination of tariffs that had previously been in space on United States-Mexico trade wind. Trade book has steadily increased per annum and in 2010, open barter between the three NAFTA nations reached an all-time historical increase of 24.3 % or US $ 791 billion. [ 151 ] The NAFTA trade bloc GDP ( PPP ) is the world ‘s largest with US $ 17.617 trillion. [ 152 ] This is in function attributed to the fact that the economy of the United States is the universe ‘s largest national economy ; the nation had a nominal GDP of approximately $ 14.7 trillion in 2010. [ 153 ] The countries of NAFTA are besides some of each early ‘s largest deal partners. The United States is the largest trade spouse of Canada and Mexico ; [ 154 ] while Canada and Mexico are each other ‘s third largest trade partners. [ 155 ] [ 156 ]
Worlds regions by full wealth ( in trillions USD ), 2018 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 besides allowed for the creation of a common pass for associate nations. In the by ten the trade bloc focused largely on Free Trade Agreements and under the CARICOM Office of Trade Negotiations ( OTN ) free barter agreements have been signed into effect. consolidation of cardinal american economies occurred under the sign of the central american english Common Market agreement in 1961 ; this was the first try to engage the nations of this area into stronger fiscal cooperation. The holocene implementation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement ( CAFTA ) has left the future of the CACM unclear. [ 157 ] The central American Free Trade Agreement was signed by five central american countries, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. The focal point of CAFTA is to create a dislodge trade wind area like to that of NAFTA. In summation to the United States, Canada besides has relations in cardinal american english barter bloc. Currently under marriage proposal, the Canada – Central American Free Trade Agreement ( CA4 ) would operate a lot the same as CAFTA with the United States does. These nations besides take separate in inter-continental trade bloc. Mexico takes a function in the G3 Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Venezuela and has a deal agreement with the EU. The United States has proposed and maintained barter agreements under the Transatlantic Free Trade Area between itself and the European Union ; the US-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 .

Transport

The Pan-American Highway route in the Americas is the helping of a network of roads about 48,000 kilometer ( 30,000 nautical mile ) in length which travels through the mainland nations. No authoritative duration of the Pan-American Highway exists because the US and canadian governments have never formally defined any particular routes as being share of the Pan-American Highway, and Mexico formally has many branches connecting to the US boundary line. however, the total length of the fortune from Mexico to the northern extremity of the highway is roughly 26,000 km ( 16,000 nautical mile ) .
The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860s, linking the railroad track network of the eastern US with California on the Pacific slide. Finished on 10 May 1869 at the celebrated aureate spike event at Promontory Summit, Utah, it created a countrywide mechanized department of transportation net that revolutionized the population and economy of the american english West, catalyzing the transition from the wagon trains of previous decades to a modern transportation organization. [ 158 ] Although an accomplishment, it achieved the condition of beginning transcontinental dragoon by connecting myriad easterly US railroads to the Pacific and was not the largest single railroad organization in the world. The canadian Grand Trunk Railway ( GTR ) had, by 1867, already accumulated more than 2,055 kilometer ( 1,277 mi ) of track by connecting Ontario with the Canadian Atlantic provinces west ampere army for the liberation of rwanda as Port Huron, Michigan, through Sarnia, Ontario .

Communications

A shared telephone system known as the union american Numbering Plan ( NANP ) is an incorporate telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories : the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 17 caribbean nations .

culture

Baseball is traditionally known as America’s national pastime, but is also played in Canada, and many Latin American countries as well. The cultures of North America are divers. The United States and English-Canada have many cultural similarities, while french Canada has a clear-cut culture from Anglophone Canada, which is protected by law. Since United States was formed from portions previously separate 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 frame. In the southwest of the U.S. there are many spanish american cultural traditions and considerable bilingualism. Mexico and Central America are region of Latin America and are culturally clear-cut from anglophone and francophone North America. however, they share with the United States the establishment of post-independence governments that are federated congressman republics with written constitutions dating from their establish as nations. Canada is a federate parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. Canada ‘s united states constitution dates to 1867, with alliance, in the british North America Act, but not until 1982 did Canada have the power to amend its own constitution. Canada ‘s Francophone inheritance has been enshrined in law since the british fantan 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 disparateness of french speech and culture has been codified in canadian law. so that both English and French are designated official languages. The U.S. has no official lyric, but its national terminology is english. The canadian government took carry through to protect canadian culture by limiting non- canadian contented in air, creating the canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission ( CRTC ) to monitor canadian content. In Quebec, the provincial government established the Quebec Office of the french Language, much called the “ linguistic process patrol ” by Anglophones, which mandates the habit of french terminology and signage in French. [ 159 ] Since 1968 the unicameral legislature has been called the Quebec National Assembly. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, June 24, is the national vacation of Quebec and celebrated by francophone Canadians throughout Canada. In Quebec, the school system was divided into Catholic and Protestant, alleged confessional schools. Anglophone education in Quebec has been increasingly undermined. [ 160 ] latino polish is potent in the southwest of the U.S., angstrom well as Florida, which draws Latin Americans from many countries in the hemisphere. Northern Mexico, particularly in the cities of Monterrey, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexicali, is strongly influenced by the polish and way of biography of the United States. Monterrey, a mod city with a significant industrial group, has been regarded as the most Americanized city in Mexico. [ 161 ] Northern Mexico, the Western United States 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 substitute by the economic determine of Northern America in the Anglophone Caribbean. This is partially due to the relatively small populations of the english-speaking Caribbean countries, and besides because many of them immediately have more people living afield than those remaining at dwelling. [ citation needed ] Greenland has experienced many immigration waves from Northern Canada, e .g. the thule People. Therefore, Greenland shares some cultural ties with the autochthonal peoples of Canada. Greenland is besides considered Nordic and has strong Danish ties due to centuries of colonization by Denmark. [ 162 ]

democratic polish – sports

The U.S. and Canada have major sports teams that compete against each other, including baseball, basketball, field hockey, and soccer/football. Canada, Mexico and the US submitted a joint bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The following table shows the most big sports leagues in North America, in order of average gross. [ 163 ] [ 164 ] Canada has a branch canadian Football League from the U.S. teams. The native american game of lacross is considered a national sport in Canada. Curling is an significant winter frolic in Canada, and the Winter Olympics includes it in the roll. The english sport of cricket is democratic 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 besides a major sport in some countries, such as Mexico, Panama and Puerto Rico, and it ‘s considered one of the main individual sports in the United States .

^ MLS plans to expand to 26 teams in 2020, and to 28 teams by 2022 .

See besides

References

Footnotes
Citations