North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere of earth, located to the east of the Pacific Ocean, the west of the Atlantic Ocean, the south of the Arctic Ocean, and the north of South America. On the continent itself can be found three large and relatively populous countries:
At the extreme southern end of the continent, in a relatively small area (smaller than an average Canadian province) called Central America are:
In the Caribbean are a number of island territories, including:
- Anguilla (British dependency)
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda (British dependency)
- British Virgin Islands (British dependency)
- Cayman Islands (British dependency)
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe (overseas department of France)
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Martinique (overseas department of France)
- Montserrat (British dependency)
- Netherlands Antilles (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Puerto Rico (U.S. free associated state)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands (British dependency)
- U.S. Virgin Islands (territory of the USA)
Greenland, the largest island in the world, is considered to be in North America and is located in the far north, to the east of Canada's Nunavut Territory. It is a self-governing dependency of Denmark. Some other large islands off the shore of North America include Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands[?], Prince Edward Island, the Aleutian Islands, Baffin Island, Newfoundland, and Cape Breton Island. Off the coast of Canada is found Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last of France's once vast North American possessions.
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| Satellite image - Large version (http://www.wikipedia.org/upload/9/9f/NorthAmericaSatelliteImage.jpg) |
See also: History of North America