Quick Info North America
Status: It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. It covers 24.71 million km squared (approx 4.8% of the earths surface.)
Population: 579 million (in 2016) – 7.72% of the worlds population
Countries within: 23 Countries with dozens of possessions and territories. Languages Spoken: English, Spanish and French are the main languages, however there are 1000’s of indigenous languages through the continent.
Religion: The main religions are Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism. A large number of people in North America classify themselves as “other,” which can refer to other forms of Christianity that merge multiple faiths into one, or indicate they do not identify with any religion.
Famous For:
- The core of the continent, and part of the tectonic plate that North America sits on is between 1-1.5 billion years old.
- North America has been populated for over 15,000 years (for comparison purposes, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492!) Scientists believe cientists that the first indigenous peoples were Paleo-Indians who migrated from Eurasia – although no-one is quite sure physically HOW they migrated.
- There are 965 species of mammals in North America
- Mexico City is the largest city in North America
- Mount McKinley (Alaska) is the highest point in North America
- North America has hosted the Olympics 12 times
- Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world
- The 7 Countries of Central America use 6 different currencies.
- Grey whales migrate the length of the continent and back every year
- Death Valley (the lowest point in North America) receives less than a coffee cup of rainfall each year
- North America has gained global recognition for being the biggest producers of corn, tobacco and soya bean (amongst other things!)
