Geography of North America

Introduction to Geography of North America

North America, the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere, joined to South America at the tip of Panama. The Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans virtually surround the continent. The total area of 9,360,000 square miles (24,240,000 km2)is exceeded only by that of Asia and of Africa. This total includes Greenland, Central America, and most of the West Indian island.

North America is part of the New World, so called because it was unknown to Europeans until comparatively recent times. From all parts of the world have come its people, bringing a heritage of ideas and skills that Stimulated its rapid development. North America is rich in mineral, water, and forest resources, and is a world center of agriculture and industry.

Physical Geography

North America has a wide diversity of landforms, represented by six distinct regions and many subregions. There are three lowland regions (the Coastal Plain, the canadian Shield, and the Interior Plains) and three highland regions (the Appalachian Highlands, the North American Cordillera, and the Antillean System).

The Coastal Plain extends along the eastern coast from Mexico to Cape Cod. It continues offshore as the continental shelf, emerging southeast of Florida to form the Bahama Islands. The mainland portion of the Coastal Plain is narrow in the northeast but reaches a width of more than 400 miles (640 km) in the lower Mississippi River Valley. The low, generally flat plain rises slightly as it extends inland, where it is bordered by higher land for most of its length.

The Appalachian Highlands lie west of the Coastal Plain, reaching from Alabama northeastward to the island of Newfoundland. The region is a series of long, parallel mountain ridges lying between narrow plateaus on the east and west. These low, worn-down mountains reach their greatest height, 6,684 feet (2,037 m) above sea level, at Mount Mitchell, in North Carolina. Elevation decreases in the southern and northern mountains.

The Canadian Shield (or Laurentian Plateau) covers Greenland and much of central and northern Canada and extends into the United States in the Superior Uplands and the Adirondack Mountains. It is composed of hard crystalline rock scoured by glaciers that left hundreds of lakes. The plateau averages about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, decreasing slightly westward and southward.

The Interior Plains region is a vast, comparatively level expanse occupying a large part of the continent's interior. It lies between the Appalachian Highlands, the Canadian Shield, and the Rocky Mountains, and merges with the Coastal Plain to the south. There are two major subregions, distinguished chiefly by their elevation. To the east are the Central Lowlands, which average about 600 feet (180 m) above sea level. The second subregion is the Great Plains, in the west. This relatively flat grassland ascends gradually to a maximum of 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at its western edge, the Rocky Mountains.

Two small highland areas are often included within the Interior Plains—the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Central Uplands (Ozark and Ouachita plateaus).

The North American Cordillera covers much of the western third of the continent. It is a complex highland region stretching from Alaska to southern Mexico and containing high mountains and broad plateaus. Its most prominent features are two great mountain systems—the Rocky Mountains and the ranges near the Pacific coast. The Rockies reach their highest elevations—more than 14,400 feet (4,390 m)—in Colorado, and gradually descend to the north and south. The Pacific mountains, which in some places are more rugged than the Rockies, have the continent's highest peaks. Mount McKinley, in Alaska, stands 20,320 feet (6,194 m) above sea level—the highest point in North America.

Between these two extensive systems are plateaus, basins, and scattered mountain ranges. This pattern continues southward, where Mexico's Central Plateau is rimmed by the Sierra Madres on the east and west. A belt of volcanic mountains south of Mexico City contains Mexico's highest peaks.

The Antillean System adjoins the North American Cordillera on the south, trending east and southeast from southern Mexico through Central America and the islands of the Antilles. The western peaks of Central America are generally the highest in the region, and include active volcanoes. The maximum elevation is 12,533 feet (3,820 m) in Costa Rica's Chirripó. Narrow coastal plains, formed mainly by deposits of mountain streams, fringe the mountains in many areas.

The large size of the continent makes possible long rivers, and two of the longest in the world—the Mississippi and Mackenzie systems—flow across the continent. Two of the Mississippi's tributaries—the Ohio and the Missouri—are themselves major rivers. Shorter rivers, especially near the east and west coasts of the United States, are frequently used for navigation and for generating electric power. In Central America, rivers are little used because they are short and have swift currents.

Most of the continent's lakes are in the glaciated areas in the north. Though most of the lakes are small, eight of the world's largest are in this area. These eight are the Great Lakes and three Canadian lakes—Great Bear, Great Slave, and Winnipeg. There are few lakes in the dry southwest, and those that exist there (such as Great Salt Lake) are slowly decreasing in size because of evaporation. The only large lakes in Central America are Lakes Nicaragua and Managua.

Climate

North America's climates range from polar to tropical, from dry to extremely rainy. There are many reasons for this wide range, but the more important ones are latitude, elevation, effects of large bodies of water and ocean currents, and prevailing winds. Latitude is largely responsible for the consistently cold climate of Greenland and the Arctic islands, and for the warm climates of much of the West Indies and Central America.

In North America's interior, far from the moderating influence of the sea, the land heats rapidly in summer and cools just as rapidly in winter, causing great seasonal extremes of temperature. In some interior areas winters are more extreme than in polar lands, and summers hotter than in the tropics. In general, precipitation increases south and east, with the maximum amounts along the Gulf Coast.

In coastal areas, especially the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States, seasonal variations are less pronounced because of the moderating effect of the sea. Winds moving over the relatively warm ocean waters bring mild temperatures and moderate to heavy rain. Inland in the south-western United States and northern Mexico, rain decreases and temperatures increase, creating desert and near-desert conditions.

Elevation and exposure to moisture-laden winds are important factors in determining the climates in tropical Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. Temperatures are high all year, and rainfall is generally greatest on the east coast, reaching maximums in Panama and Belize.

Wildlife of North America

Animals and plants are abundantly represented in the waters of North America. Fish, amphibians, insects, and other aquatic animals appear in water ranging from near-freezing, rapid streams to warm, sluggish swamps. Some fish, such as eels and salmon, live in fresh water and salt water at different times in their lives. Other water inhabitants are animals that also live on land. These include turtles, water snakes, ducks, loons, and otters.

The frost-free tropical forests of Central America contain the continent's widest variety of plant and animal life. Vegetation includes palms, bamboos, orchids, and tree ferns. Reptiles, amphibians, and insects abound. Birds and mammals not found elsewhere in North America include jacanas, parrots, monkeys, sloths, and agoutis.

Adaptation to periods of freezing weather and scarcity of food is necessary for the survival of plants and animals living in the forests of eastern North America. In the Coastal Plain south of Virginia these forests contain primarily pines; from Virginia northward, most of the trees lose their leaves in winter. Here are found oaks, elms, maples, and hickories.

The ability to hibernate allows frogs, toads, snakes, and turtles to survive the winter. Most kinds of birds, including warblers, thrushes, and hawks, migrate southward for the winter. Jays, woodpeckers, and chickadees are among those that do not migrate. Mammals keep warm in various ways—by hibernating, becoming dormant, or growing heavy coats, for example. Mammals include bats, opossums, foxes, deer, and many kinds of rodents.

The area of grassland extends roughly from the southern areas of the Prairie Provinces of Canada almost to the Rio Grande in the west-central portion of the continent. The area is characterized by a small amount of rainfall, which results in a lack of trees and the predominance of grass for vegetation: long grass in the prairie area, and short grass in the drier steppe area.

Insects, amphibians, and reptiles, having adapted to living in the grass, are often green or light brown in color. Most of the grassland birds, such as prairie chickens, larks, and burrowing owls, nest on the ground or in burrows. Grassland mammals include prairie dogs, pronghorns, and coyotes.

Plants and animals of the desert areas of the Great Basin and northern Mexico must endure water scarcity, temperature extremes, and drying winds. Some plants, such as mesquite, have deep roots that extend far underground for moisture; some, such as succulents, store water for future use. The seeds of annuals may lie dormant for many years and then germinate quickly after a rain. Many kinds of insects are present. Scorpions, lizards, snakes, fly-catchers, roadrunners, kangaroo mice, kit foxes, and peccaries are found here. Most desert animals eat insects and are adapted to conserve the water available to them.

The forest trees growing in the severe northern climates of central Canada and at high altitudes in the Appalachian and Rocky mountains are primarily spruce and fir. Along the northern Pacific coast are coniferous rain forests containing chiefly Sitka spruce, coast redwood, western hemlock, and Douglas fir. Flies and mosquitoes are particularly abundant insects. Because of the cold winters, few reptiles and amphibians live here. Although most birds migrate, some—such as ravens, jays, and grouse—remain for the winter. Fur-bearing and thick-coated mammals of these forests include moose, wolves, weasels, lynx, and bears.

The frozen ground and extreme cold of the arctic tundra, located in the northernmost reaches of North America, prevent the survival of most plants other than certain mosses, herbs, grasses, and shrubs. Lichens are common. The same kinds of organisms are found high in the Rockies and northern Appalachians.

Insects and waterfowl breed in the tundra during the summer. Living here through the winter are the cold-adapted snowy owls, willow ptarmigans, lemmings, hares, caribou, musk oxen, and polar bears. Some of the animals have differently colored summer and winter coats, providing them with protective coloration.

Economic Activities

The nations of North America are at varying levels of economic development. The United States and Canada are the most industrially and technologically advanced nations, with the highest percentages of workers in nonagricultural pursuits—well over 90 per cent. Mexico has a fairly diversified economy and a growing industrial sector. The development of manufacturing, however, has not been widespread and unemployment is a major problem in Mexico.

The nations of Central America and the Caribbean, in general, are the least developed areas. In these areas usually more than a quarter of the work force relies on agriculture for a livelihood.

For most of the countries of North America the service industries are the source of the greatest share of jobs. Wholesale and retail trade and the tourist industry also provide a significant number of jobs.

About 13 per cent of the land in North America is used for growing crops, with a slightly higher percentage used as permanent pasture. About 70 per cent of the farmland is in the United States; about 15 per cent is in Canada; 10 per cent in Mexico; and nearly all of the remainder in Central America.

The United States and Canada are by far the chief producers of agricultural products. In general, farms in the United States and Canada are privately owned, highly mechanized, and large in area. Farms of more than 1,000 acres (405 hectares) are common. In general, farms in the United States and Canada use large quantities of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals.

Large, modern farms and plantations in parts of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean produce a number of commercial crops, mainly for export. However, subsistence farming on small plots predominates. In many cases the land is worked by either tenant farmers or sharecroppers.

The largest share of the cropland in North America is devoted to the growing of cereals, particularly wheat and corn, which account for about a third of the cropland. Nearly a fifth of the world's wheat and almost half of the corn are grown in North America.

The continent's richest farmland is found on the eastern Great Plains, stretching southward from south-central Canada into the United States, and in the so-called Corn Belt of the midwestern United States. Wheat is the main crop of the Great Plains. The Corn Belt produces large amounts of hay, soybeans, and various cereals, in addition to corn. Central Mexico is also a major corn-growing area.

Virtually every kind of fruit and vegetable is grown somewhere in North America. In the United States and Canada, much of the fresh produce supplied to large cities comes from nearby farms that specialize in growing fruits and vegetables. The subtropical and tropical areas of North America are noted for the commercial production of citrus fruits, winter vegetables, cotton, sugarcane, coffee, and bananas. Chief foods grown in these areas for local use are corn, beans, sweet potatoes, various other vegetables, and fruits.

About one-tenth of the cropland is under irrigation. Nearly 70 per cent the irrigated land is in the United States, mainly in California, Texas, and the mountain states from Montana to Arizona and New Mexico; much of the rest is in Mexico. Sugar beets, cotton, and fruits and vegetables are among the crops grown on irrigated land.

A large share of the cereals grown in North America goes to feed livestock. The Corn Belt, for example, is also the chief hog-raising area—much of the corn grown here is used for feed. The raising of beef cattle is a major activity in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Most of the cattle are raised on grazing land, and before marketing are fattened on a rich grain diet. North America is known for the high-quality beef produced in this way. Poultry raising, for both meat and eggs, and dairying are widespread activities. Large-scale, highly mechanized facilities produce the major share of the milk, eggs, and poultry in the United States and Canada. In much of the rest of North America, animals are raised on a small scale by traditional methods.

North America is more highly industrialized than any other continent except Europe and has some of the largest and most diversified manufacturing industries in the world. It is a leader in the production of nearly all kinds of manufactured goods, including motor vehicles, aircraft, aluminum, paper, processed foods, iron and steel, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles, and fabricated metal goods.

The United States and Canada account for most of North America's industrial production. Mexico has also become a significant industrial nation since World War II, though its output is small compared to that of the leaders. Elsewhere on the continent manufacturing remains poorly developed and consists largely of the simple processing of agricultural, mineral, and forest products and the making of basic consumer goods and handicrafts.

Manufacturing facilities are most heavily concentrated in the northeastern United States, including the Great Lakes region, and the adjoining sections of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. This is one of the greatest industrial areas in the world. There are also major concentrations of industry along the Gulf and Pacific coasts of the United States, especially in California, and in and around most of the continent's large cities.

North America is extremely rich in minerals. The continent yields large quantities of most of the minerals important to modern industry, the major exceptions being tin, manganese, chromium, and diamonds.

Fuels are the most valuable mineral resources. The continent accounts for nearly a third of the world's total output of natural gas and about a fifth of the world's total output of coal and petroleum. Much of the natural gas comes from the south-central United States, especially Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Major oil fields are located along the Gulf of Mexico in both Mexico and the United States, and in the south-central United States, California, Alaska, and the Prairie Provinces of Canada, notably Alberta. Enormous amounts of coal are produced, chiefly in the eastern half of the United States. Reserves of coal are large enough to last for centuries.

A wide variety of metals are mined in North America, including two-thirds of the world's molybdenum, almost half of the world's uranium, and more than a quarter of the world's silver, copper, nickel, zinc, and lead. North America's production of iron ore, gold, and bauxite is also significant. Except for bauxite, most of the output comes from the United States and Canada. However, Mexico is also a significant producer of most of these metals and is a leading silver-producing nation. Jamaica is a leading source of bauxite.

Among the wide variety of nonmetallic minerals produced on the continent are asbestos, sulfur, salt, potash, phosphate, stone, clay, and sand and gravel. Canada leads the world in asbestos production, the United States in salt production. Both the United States and Mexico are principal sources of sulfur.

Great forests cover about a third of North America and constitute a leading world source of lumber and wood products. Most of the forestland is concentrated in the United States and Canada.

A vast coniferous forest of spruce, pine, fir, and hemlock stretches from Newfoundland to Alaska. Similar forests in the western mountains yield much commercial timber. Also important are mixed forests of conifers and deciduous trees in southeastern Canada and pine forests in the southeastern United States. Most of the wood cut is used for lumber or processed into pulp for the paper industry.

Tropical forests in Mexico and Central America are little used commercially. Logging operations are hampered by inadequate transportation facilities and the scattered occurrence of valuable trees, which include mahogany, rosewood, and balsa.

North America's coastal waters produce a great variety and abundance of fish. Of outstanding significance are the Grand Banks, off eastern Canada; the lobster fishery off Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New England; the shrimp fishery in the Gulf of Mexico; and the salmon and tuna fisheries of the Pacific. In addition large quantities of menhaden are caught off the middle Atlantic coast of the United States. Chesapeake Bay is noted for its shellfish.

The North American fishing fleet consists of both coastal and oceangoing vessels. Large, mechanized vessels account for a large percentage of the catch, especially in the United States.

The quality and extent of transportation facilities vary according to the level of economic development of each country. The United States and Canada have modern and extensive highway, railway, and air transportation systems. Automobiles play a primary role in transporting people in these countries. Highly efficient freight and bulk cargo transportation is provided by a variety of means, including trucks, railways, ships, barges, and pipelines. Good surface transportation is lacking in northern Canada and Alaska; however, most population centers in these areas have airports.

In Mexico the road and highway system is fairly well developed, especially between large cities. Primary highways link the major cities throughout most of Central America. The secondary road system is not well developed, and transportation in rural areas is poor. Commercial airlines serve most major cities in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

The countries of North America usually account for about 20 per cent of the world's imports and a slightly smaller percentage of the world's exports by value. The United States and Canada are the principal trading nations. As industrial nations they import both manufactured items and raw materials and export mainly manufactured goods. Canada, with its wealth of natural resources and relatively small domestic needs, also exports large amounts of raw materials or semi-processed commodities. Mexico's foreign trade grew substantially during the 1970's; exports include manufactured goods and petroleum. Elsewhere on the continent trade consists largely of the export of a few basic raw materials and agricultural products in exchange for finished goods.

Most trade takes place among the North American nations themselves. Western Europe and Japan are the chief trading areas outside the continent.

The People

In 2000 about 462,000,000 people lived in North America. This number was about 8 per cent of the total world population. The average density was 46 persons per square mile (18 per km 2 ). There is uneven distribution of population throughout most of North America. Certain areas, such as the northeastern United States and most of the West Indies, are densely populated. Other regions, particularly Alaska and northern Canada, are as thinly inhabited as any part of the earth.

North America is inhabited by three major racial groups. The largest by far consists of descendants of European colonists and immigrants. They form a majority of the population in the United States, Canada, and some Central American and West Indian areas. Descendants of African slaves are found in greatest numbers in the United States, but form a dominant population group only in Belize and some West Indian areas, particularly Haiti.

The descendants of North America's original inhabitants, the Indians and Eskimos, are very small minorities in Canada and the United States. Indians are numerically important in parts of Mexico and Central America. Little trace remains of the aboriginal inhabitants of the West Indies. In Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies there are large population groups of mixed ancestry, principally European-Indian and European-African.

Spanish is spoken in Mexico, Central America, much of the Caribbean area, and parts of the United States. English is spoken in the United States and most of Canada and on some Caribbean islands. French is the language used in part of Canada and in several Caribbean islands. Danish is spoken to some extent in Green-land and in the Virgin Islands of the United States. The language of the Netherlands Antilles is Dutch.

Most European and many Asiatic languages are spoken by North America's immigrants, who frequently live among others of the same national origin and continue to use their native tongue. Indian dialects survive wherever tribes have lived in relative isolation—such as the mountainous areas of Mexico and Central America, the Indian reservations of the United States, and Canada's Northwest Territories. Eskimo, the language of the Eskimos, is widely spoken in Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland.

The large majority of North Americans are Christians. Generally the Spanish- and French-speaking are members of the Roman Catholic Church. The majority of the English-speaking Christians are Protestant, but certain national groups such as those of Irish, Polish, and Italian descent are predominantly Roman Catholic, and those from the Balkan countries are largely Eastern Orthodox. The Jewish population of North America is slightly more than 2 per cent of the total population, and is concentrated in the large cities.

Some Americans of Asian ancestry adhere to traditional religions. Buddhists are the most numerous, and Confucians next. There are also many Muslims and Hindus. Almost every religion found in Europe and Asia is represented in North America.

Although many North American Indians are Christians, many others retain their traditional tribal religions, generally forms of nature worship. Shamanism is prevalent among the Inuit (Eskimos). Voodoo is practiced in Haiti and by some Gulf Coast blacks. Santeria, a mixture of African religious beliefs and Roman Catholicism, is practiced in parts of Cuba and by some Cubans living in the United States.

Education is free and compulsory throughout most of North America. The literacy rate, however, varies widely, depending upon the quality of the individual countries' educational systems. The literacy rate ranges from approximately 50 per cent in Haiti, for example, to about 90 per cent in Mexico and 99 per cent in the United States.

In the United States and Canada, there are extensive systems of publicly operated institutions of higher learning that are open to all qualified students. The percentage of adults who have received secondary and higher education is greater in the United States than in any other nation of the world; Canada's is also one of the highest.

In the early days of European settlement in North America the culture of the home country was transported to each of its colonies. After independence had been gained in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, North American nations slowly developed literatures, music, and art of their own. In Mexico and Central America the native culture is a blend of European (either Spanish or French) and Indian. In the West Indies, art and music developed from African patterns.

In the United States, diversity of background and the common pioneer experience produced a literature with a unique flavor, and an equally distinctive folk art. Later the flood of immigration from Europe enriched the literature and drama with elements of many cultures and the experience of becoming Americanized. In the 19th and 20th centuries, an African influence introduced by black musicians created new musical forms—ragtime, jazz, and blues.

Canadian culture, although influenced by American and European traditions, began to develop its own distinctive style after World War II. An appreciation of primitive cultures brought a revival of Indian and Inuit arts and crafts. The federal government encourages and helps support the arts through such organizations as the Canada Council. Support also comes from provincial and municipal governments.