Countries in North America

The continent of North America is located in the Western Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere and spans more than 24,709,000 km² (9,540,000 mi²). There are 23 countries in North America, as well as more than two dozen non-sovereign territories, including Bermuda, Aruba, the Cayman Islands, Greenland, and Puerto Rico. The primary language in North America is English, followed by Spanish and French. North America is divided into three general areas: Northern America, the Caribbean, and (somewhat confusingly) Central America. Linguistically and culturally, North America can be divided into Anglo-America to the north and Latin America to the south.

North America is home to the oldest mountain range in the world, the Appalachian Mountains, which run parallel to the continent’s east coast from the U.S. state of Alabama up to Canada. North America is also a major source of information about geologic periods. More dinosaur fossils have been unearthed in the United States alone than in any other modern country.

The United States is the largest country in North America by population and the second-largest by total area. The United States stretches over 9,831,510 km² (3,795,967 mi²) and has a population of over 347 million people. The largest country in North America by total area is Canada, which is also the third-largest by population. Canada has a total area of more than 9,879,750 km² (3,814,592 mi²) and has a population of over 40 million people, most of whom live in the southern part of the country near the northern US border. Canada is also the second-largest country in the world by area. The smallest country in North America is St. Kitts and Nevis, which is 261 km² (100.7 mi²) and has a population of 46,922.

Where does North America end and South America begin?

Many people incorrectly assume that the dividing line between North and South America is the Panama Canal. Located in the Central American country of Panama, the canal is an 82 km (51 mi) man-made waterway which enables seagoing vessels to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (and vice versa) without traveling all the way down to and around South America’s southern tip. However, the canal is not quite the dividing line between the two continents. The true dividing line is a few hundred kilometers south, where Panama’s southern border meets the northern edge of the South American country Colombia, in a mountainous region known as the Darién Gap.

The maritime border between North and South America is often equally misunderstood. The Caribbean countries are island nations that begin just off the coast of the US state of Florida in North America and trail all the way down to South America, with the southernmost islands (Aruba, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, and the territory Bonaire) perched less than 100 miles off the coast of Venezuela. However, every Caribbean nation other than those four southernmost islands rests on the North American continental shelf, and even those four are located in the Northern Hemisphere. As such, the entire Caribbean is generally considered to be part of North America.