Geography in North America
North America is actually a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, and quite a lot of the Western Hemisphere as well. However, it can also easily be defined as the most northern subdivision of a single continental continent, America. Regardless of what you call it – land, ice or ocean – the United States of America is still the biggest continent in the world, second only to Asia. And as far as continents are concerned, the Americas are really a loner one. There are very few others like it in all of the solar system.
Of course, when most people think about North America, they usually picture the Statue of Liberty and the seven states that comprise the union of the North American continent. These are the states that, collectively, make up the US of America. Beyond this, however, there are many other interesting facts about the north geography of North America.
Let’s start with the most important North American fact: that the United States of America is an extremely large continent. In fact, it is much larger than Africa, and India as well, although it is comparable to Australia when we come to its size. In addition, North America has ten times more precipitation than Africa, twice as much as Australia, and nearly three times as much as the Himalayas.
Another interesting North American fact is that the vast majority of the continent is composed of long, wide-open land. The majority of the eastern coast consists of large coastal plain that is surrounded by rocky mountains. On the western coast, there are vast open waters, while the western part features rocky mountains, forests, deserts, and plateaus. One interesting fact about North America that many people don’t realize is that the vast majority of the continent is made up of mountain ranges – and these geographic features help to define the character and overall layout of the country.
The final major North American fact is that the western hemisphere consists of two different continents – that portion of the Americas is known as the New World, while the other is called the Old World. When comparing the Americas to other parts of the world, it is easy to see why Americans tend to think of the west coast as the “New World” and the eastern half as the “Old World.” However, when looking at the geographic features of the Americas, it is obvious that the New World is the larger of the two continents. This is largely due to the fact that it is the only one that is fully surrounded by oceans – and it is the only one that has mountains in every section.
When compared to the other two major continents, North America is unique among all of the modern world. Not only does North America have unique geography, but it also offers a view into the ancient geological formation of our planet, as well as a glimpse into how people in other areas of the world view the world today. North America has more to offer the traveler than any other place in the world, and this is why it is such an exciting place to visit.