2. North America
• is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the
Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western
hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic
Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the
southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the
North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast.
• North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square
kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 4.8% of the
planet's surface or about 16.5% of its land area. As of July
2008, its population was estimated at nearly 529 million
people. It is the third-largest continent in area, following
Asia and Africa, and the fourth in population after Asia,
Africa, and Europe.

3. History
• As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many important
cultural advances were made there. For example, the Maya civilization
developed a writing system, built huge pyramids and temples, had a complex
calendar, and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE, a few hundred
years after the Mesopotamians. The Mayan culture was still present when
the Spanish arrived in Central America, but political dominance in the area
had shifted to the Aztec Empire further north.
• Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the "New World", Native American
population declined substantially, primarily due to the introduction of
European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity. Native
peoples found their culture changed drastically. As such, their affiliation
with political and cultural groups changed as well, several linguistic groups
went extinct, and others changed quite quickly. The names and cultures
that Europeans recorded for the natives were not necessarily the same as
the ones they had used a few generations before, or the ones in use today.

4. Geography
• 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 is sometimes
considered a single continent and North America a subcontinent).
North America's only land connection to South America is at the
Isthmus of Panama. The continent is generally delimited on the
southeast by the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama
border, or at the Panama Canal; according to other sources, its
southern limit is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with
Central America tapering and extending southeastward to South
America. Before the Central American isthmus was raised, the
region had been underwater. The islands of the West Indies
delineate a submerged former land bridge, which had connected
North America and South America via what are now Florida and
Venezuela. Much of North America is on the North American
Plate.

5. Dialects/Language (s)
• The prevalent languages in North America are English,
Spanish, and French. 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 also sometimes Belize and parts of the
Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the
Americas (generally south of the United States) 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 (FR), and The Falkland Islands (UK).

6. • The French language has historically
played a significant role in North America
and 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.

7. Countries & Territories
• Sovereign states

8. • Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba

9. • Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nicaragua

10. • Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

11. Dependent territories
• Anguilla
• Aruba
• Bajo Nuevo Bank
• Bermuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Clipperton Island
• Falkland Islands
• French Guiana
• Greenland
• Guadeloupe
• Martinique
• Montserrat

12. • Navassa Island
• Netherlands Antilles
• Puerto Rico
• Saint Barthélemy
• Saint Martin
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Serranilla Bank
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• United States Virgin Islands