North America is the third largest continent in the world after Asia and Africa in terms of area. Its area is 24,24,700 sq km. Is, North America was discovered by Columbus in 1492 AD. Therefore, it is called the 'country of the new world'. North America was named after 'Amerigo Vesucci'.
It is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west. Which is 16.22% of the Earth's land area. In terms of population, it is the fourth largest continent after Asia, Africa and Europe. There are many islands in the southern part of this continent, which are known as 'Western Archipelago' or 'West Indies'.
It is connected to South America by 'Panama' landmark. The Panama Canal is cut out of this landmass, which acts as a beautiful link between the Caribbean Sea (a part of the Atlantic Ocean) and the Pacific Ocean. Cologne on the coast of the Caribbean Sea and Panama Port on the Pacific coast.
Nicaragua also plans to build the canal as a competitor to the Panama Canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific. The continent is separated from Asia by the Bering Strait in the northwest. Canada and the United States of America, the two major countries of the continent, form the 495N latitude line.
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River then serve as the boundary. Although the coast of this continent is not truncated, it has access to sea creeks, such as the Hudson's Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of California, etc.
The largest island on this continent is Greenland (Kallalit Nunnat), which is under the authority of Denmark.
North America's oldest landmark is the Canadian Shore, where many lakes formed by the accumulation of snow, which range from north to south - Great Bear, Great Slave, Athavska, Reindeer and Winnipeg Lakes. To the south of the Canadian Shield are five freshwater lakes.
Their order from west to east is Superior, Michigan, Huron, Iri and Ontario. These five lakes are collectively called the 'Great Lakes'. Superior Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
World famous 'Niagara Falls' are found between Eri and Ontario. In the west of the continent, there is a long mountain range from Alaska to Panama, which is called the 'Western Cardillera'.
The most prominent mountain range of the West Cardillera is 'Rocky', which has a total length of 6,000 km. is . Other categories include Alaska, Cascade Coastal Range, Sierra Nevada and Sierra Madre. A number of intercontinental plateaus surrounded by these mountain ranges are also found, such as the plateaus of Alaska, Columbia, Great Basin, Colorado and Mexico.
The largest plateau is the Great Basin, whose rivers do not reach the sea, so it has become an inflow basin area. Important rivers of North America - St. Lawrence, McKenzie, Nelson, Hudson, UConn, Fraser, Colorado, Columbia, Mississippi, and Missouri. This river forms the deepest Canyon in the world, the Gand Canyon is world famous.
An important United States dam on the Columbia River is Grand Coulee. In this, boulder and debar dams have been constructed on the Colorado River, the rivers of North America have proved helpful in power generation. Niagara Falls, the Tennessee Valley (Western Applesian Mountains) and the Fall Line (East Applesian Mountains) occupy a major position in hydropower production.
North America's highest peak, McKinley, is an active volcano, located in Alaska. Popocatepetal (Mexico) is an example of a dead volcano. The eastern highland of the continent is called the Appalachian Mountains. The northern part of the intermediate plain is called 'Canadian Prairie', which is world famous for the cultivation of wheat, maize and cotton.
The hottest climate in North America is found in the 'Death Valley' located in the southwestern region, where the summer temperature reaches 55-560C. The direction of the mountain ranges is generally north-south, which is capable of stopping the humid winds coming from the sea to rain in the coastal parts.
However, due to this condition of mountains, the intermediate plains fall in the rainforest area. In the north, the west coast is affected by westerly winds while the south-eastern coast is affected by the trade winds. California receives only winter rainfall due to the sun's southern winter.
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