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.
