Emsable

Introduction

North America is the third largest continent, and is also a portion of the second largest supercontinent if North and South America are combined into the Americas and Africa, Europe, and Asia are considered to be part of one supercontinent called Afro-Eurasia. With an estimated population of 460 million and an area of 24,346,000 km², the northernmost of the two continents ofthe Western Hemisphere is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Atlantic Ocean on the east; the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and South America on the south; and the Arctic Ocean on the north.
The northern half of North America is sparsely populated and covered mostly by Canada, except for the northwestern portion which is occupied by Alaska, the largest state of the U.S. Thecentral and southern portions of the continent are represented by the United States, Mexico, and numerous smaller states primarily in Central America and in the Caribbean. The continent is delimited on the southeast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America. Alternatively, a less common view would end North America at theman-made Panama Canal. Islands generally associated with North America include Greenland, the world's largest island, and archipelagos and islands in the Caribbean. The terminology of the Americas is complex, but "Anglo-America" can describe Canada and the U.S., while "Latin America" comprises Mexico and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the entire continent of SouthAmerica.
Natural features of North America include the northern portion of the American Cordillera, represented by the geologically new Rocky Mountains in the west; and the considerably older Appalachian Mountains to the east. The north hosts an abundance of glacial lakesformed during the last glacial period, including the Great Lakes. North America's major continental divide is the Great Divide,which runs north and south down through Rocky Mountains. The major watersheds all drain to the east: The Mississippi/Missouri and Rio Grande into the Gulf of Mexico, and St. Lawrence into the Atlantic.
Climate is determined to a large extent by the latitude, ranging from Arctic cold in the north to tropical heat in the south. The western half of North America tends to have milder and wetterclimate than other areas with equivalent latitude, although there are steppes (known as "prairies") in the central and western portions, and deserts in the Southwestern United States of Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas; along with the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua,Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

Geographyof North America
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, less commonly, is considered by some as a single continent with North America a subcontinent). North America's only land connection to South America is at the Isthmus of Panama. The continent is delimited on thesoutheast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America. Alternatively, less common views would end North America at the man-made Panama Canal, and some geologists physiographically locate its southern limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from thispoint. The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North 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. The continental coastline is long and irregular. The Gulf of Mexico is the...