North America

 North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and

almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a northern
subcontinent of the Americas.
 It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to
the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America
and the Caribbean Sea.
 North America is the third largest continent after Asia and Africa. It covers an
area of nearly 24 million square kilometers.
 From south to north, it extends from 7°N to 85°N latitude and east to west from 20°W
to 179° W.
 In other words, its northern boundary is only about 500 kilometers away from the
North Pole and its western boundary only 10 kilometers away from the International
Date Line.
 There are five time zones in North America.
 The Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle passes through the continent and the
100°W longitude cuts through the center of the continent.
 This huge landmass includes three large countries – Canada, the United States of
America and Mexico, seven small states of Central America, and the islands of the
West Indies.
 The Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans surround North America in the east, west,
and north respectively.
 In the north-west, the Bering Strait separates it from Asia and in the south-east, the
Isthmus of Panama joins it to South America. North America has a smooth coastline
except for the existing in the north-west.
Regional Divisions Of North America
Region-wise North America can be classified into the following parts which are listed below:

 Western Region
 Great Plains
 Canadian Shield
 Eastern Region

Western Region
Young mountains rise in the west. The most familiar of these mountains are probably the
Rockies, North America’s largest chain. They stretch from the province of British Columbia,
Canada, to the U.S. state of New Mexico.

Great Plains
In the middle of the continent lies the Great Plain. Deep, rich soil blankets are large areas of
the plains in Canada and the United States. Grain is grown in this region called the
“Breadbasket of North America,” feeds a large part of the world. The Great Plains are also
home to rich deposits of oil and natural gas.

Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield is a raised but relatively flat plateau. It extends over eastern, central,
and northwestern Canada. The Canadian Shield is characterized by a rocky landscape
pocked by an astounding number of lakes.

Eastern Region
This varied region includes the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coastal plain. North
America’s older mountain ranges, including the Appalachians, rise near the east coast of
the United States and Canada. These areas have been mined for rich deposits of coal and
other minerals for hundreds of years.
Major Physical Divisions of North America

 The Western Cordilleras

  The Central Lowlands
 The Eastern Highlands

The Western Cordilleras

 The parallel ranges of young fold mountains run from Alaska and extend
into South America as the Andes.
 As they resemble twisted cords they are known as Cordilleras.
 Fold mountains are formed when tectonic plates push the Earth’s crust
and force it to form ridges and valleys.
 Volcanic rocks from the base of fold mountains.
 The Cordilleras are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Mount St. Helena is
in the USA.
 The snow-covered Cordilleras act as a barrier to moisture-laden winds
and cause relief rainfall.
 Some of the rivers flow westwards and some eastwards with the
Cordilleras acting as the water divide between them.
 Rocky Mountains, Alaska Range, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and the
Sierra Madre are the chief ranges of the Western Cordilleras
 The Grand Canyon is a network of deep narrow valley cuts into the dry
Colorado Plateau.
 The Old Faithful” is a natural geyser (a hot waterspout). Once in every
90 minutes, the water from the geyser comes out roaring up to 60
meters high. It is found in Yellowstone National Park.
The Central Lowlands

 These stretch from around the Arctic Shores and Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.
 They are hemmed in by the Cordilleras in the west and the highlands in the east.
 In the west, they are known as high plains because of the greater altitudes.
 In the north, they form the Canadian Shield.
 The Canadian Shield is a peneplain with a number of lakes. They are large enough
to be called seas. They are the five Great lakes – Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie,
and Ontario.
 Lake Winnipeg, Great Bear Lake, and Lake Athabaska are also on the Canadian
Shield.
 South of the Canadian Shield, the Central Lowlands are covered with layers of
sediment brought by glaciers and rivers. It is a very fertile region.
Great Lakes of USA –
Importance of great lakes region

 Glacial lakes
 The largest freshwater system
 Together – they hold 1/5 th of the earth surface’s freshwater
 Source of drinking water, irrigation, transport, sulfide and iron mining in the periphery
The Eastern Highlands

 They are old fold mountains that stretch from the valley of River St. Lawrence to
Southern USA.
 They are not high or as continuous as the Cordilleras.
 The highlands are also known as the Laurentian highlands in Canada and the
Appalachians in the USA and are less than 2,000 meters in height.
 Their eastern slopes facing the Atlantic Ocean are very steep causing waterfalls in
the streams that flow to the coast.
Canadian Shield –

The Canadian Shield is a raised but relatively flat plateau. It extends over eastern, central,
and northwestern Canada. The Canadian Shield is characterized by a rocky landscape
pocked by an astounding number of lakes.
Gulfs of North America
A gulf is a portion of the ocean that penetrates land which is very large in size, shape, and
depth. They are generally larger and more deeply indented than bays and often make
excellent harbors. Many important trading centers are located on gulfs.

 Gulf of Mexico
 Gulf of Alaska
 Gulf of California
 Gulf of St. Lawrence
Gulf of Mexico
It is an important economic site for three countries and surrounded by the United States,
Mexico, and the island nation of Cuba. As one of the biggest gulf, it has a coastline of 5000
kilometers.

Gulf of Alaska
It is situated in the northwestern part of North America where two types of water run into
each other, a light, almost electric blue merging with a darker slate-blue.

Gulf of California
It separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland. It has a coastline of
4000 km( 2600 miles). It is considered to be one of the most diversified seas on the planet
and is home to more than 5,000 species of microinvertebrates.

Gulf of St. Lawrence

It is a water outlet of the North American Great Lakes via Saint Lawrence river. It’s a semi-
enclosed sea that covers 236,000 square kilometers (91,000 sq mi) and containing about
35,000 cubic kilometers (8,400 cu mi) of water, which results in an average depth of 148
meters (486 ft).
Islands
The world famous islands of North America are:

Vancouver Island
It is situated on Canada’s Pacific Coast, is known for its mild climate and thriving arts
community. It is separated from British Columbia mainland by the Strait of
Georgia and Queen Charlotte Strait and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait
Greenland
It is a massive island situated between Atlantic and Arctic oceans and 80% of its land is
covered by ice.
Prince of Wales Island
It is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. This ranks
four among the island in size.

Hawaii Island
It is otherwise known as the Big Island provides a vast canvas of natural environment and it
is the largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago in the Central Pacific
Cuba Islands of Antilles
It is known as the sugar bowl of the World and its vast source of metallic resources include
cobalt, nickel, iron ore, chromium, and copper. Other resources include timber, petroleum,
silica, salt, and arable land
Bermuda Island
It is the territory of the British Islands in North Atlantic and famous for its pink sand beaches
such as Elbow and Horseshoe Bay.

Drainage Pattern
There are many rivers in North America. River of North America can be grouped according
to the seas they drain into, like

 Rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico

 Rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean
 Arctic Ocean drainage
 Pacific Ocean Drainage
1. The rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico

These are the Mississippi, Missouri and their tributaries drain the whole of the lower Central
Lowlands. They start from the Western Cordilleras. The Ohino and Tennesse. Rivers which
are also tributaries of the Mississippi but have their source in the Appalachians are
exceptions.

2. Rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean

River St. Lawrence is the large river of this group. In this group the smaller rivers of the Fall
Line can also be included.

3. Arctic Ocean drainage

River Mackenzie which has many shallow lakes on the Canadian Shield. River Nelson flow
into the Hudson Bay.

4. Pacific Ocean Drainage

River Yukon in Alaska, Columbia, Fraser, and Colorado along the west coast. The Colorado
River cuts across the Colorado plateau and forms the world’s most famous and attractive
deep gorges, known as grand canons having nearly one km depth. Among the other rivers,
the Yukon, the Fraser, the Snake, the Humboldt, the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, etc. are
well known.

Seas in North America

Caribbean Sea
It is a sub-oceanic basin bordered by coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the
west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula
of Mexico; to the north
by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and to the
east by the north-south chain of the Lesser Antilles, consisting of the island arc that extends
from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to Trinidad.

Beaufort Sea
It is situated in the north of Canada and Alaska is known to be the marginal sea of Arctic
Ocean covering an area of 184,000 sq. miles and the average depth of 3,239 ft (1,004 m).
Hudson Bay
It is known as the second largest bay in the world which encompasses an area of 1,230,000
square kilometer (470,000mi) and large body of Salt water.

Labrador Sea
It is bordered by continental shelves and separates Canada from Green Land.

Bering Sea
It is situated on the extreme North of North America separating the continents of Asia and
north America.

Inland Drainage System

The Great Basin area in the Rocky Mountains (Middle) has rivers which do not reach the
coast, but terminate in the land. This is the Inland Drainage System.

The rivers are small, seasonal and end up in saline lakes.

Lakes in North America

 The Lakes of the Canadian Shield are freshwater bodies.

 The Great Salt Lake between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada has a high salt
content and is an area of ‘Inland drainage’.
 Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada, and Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania in the
USA.
 Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada, and Michigan in the USA.
 Lake Ontario in Ontario, and New York in the USA.
 Lake St Clair in Ontario, and Michigan in the USA.
 Lake Superior in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin in the USA.
Resources
North America produces most of the world’s corn, meat, cotton, soybeans, tobacco, and
wheat, along with a variety of other food and industrial raw material crops.

Mineral resources are also abundant; the large variety includes coal, iron ore, bauxite,
copper, natural gas, petroleum, mercury, nickel, potash, and silver.
Agriculture
From the freezing Arctic to the tropical jungles of Central America, North America enjoys
more climate variation than any other continent. Almost every type of ecosystem is
represented somewhere on the continent, from coral reefs in the Caribbean to the ice sheet
in Greenland. These differences contribute to North America’s variety of agricultural
industries, which are often divided by climate zone:

 tropical zone,
 subtropical zone,
 cool temperate zone,
 dry zone
Tropical Zone –

 Farmer’s harvest oranges, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, and bananas. These crops
grow on coastal plains and humid mountain slopes. Cotton and hemp are cultivated
in the warmer and drier intermediate climate zone. These crops are important
exports for Central American countries.
Sub – tropical Zone –

 Fruits, vegetables, cotton, and tobacco are predominant in the warm, subtropical
zones of northern Mexico and the United States.
 Important agricultural areas in this zone include the Rio Grande Valley (citrus fruits)
in the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico, California’s Central Valley (fruits and
vegetables), the Gulf Coastal Plain (vegetables), and the sandy valleys of the
Appalachians (cotton and tobacco).
 These areas benefit from ample rain and warm air currents.
Cool Temperate Zone –

 Important agricultural areas in this climate include the Finger Lakes region of New
York in the U.S.; the Niagara Peninsula in the Canadian province of Ontario; the
Columbia River basin in the U.S. state of Washington and the Canadian province of
British Columbia; and the valleys of the Appalachians.
 These areas benefit from excellent drainage and predictable, established frosts.
 The Dairy Belt, Corn Belt, and Wheat Belt are three agricultural areas in the
continent’s cool temperate zones.
 Dairy animals, including cows, goats, and sheep, feed on the hay and hardy small
grains that thrive in New England and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region along
the Atlantic coast. This is the Dairy Belt.
 The Corn Belt, located between the Ohio River and the lower Missouri River,
receives ample water and strong summer sun, ideal for corn and soybeans.
  West of the Corn Belt, the Wheat Belt stretches from the U.S. state of Kansas
through the Canadian Prairie Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
This vast area of the Great Plains allows wheat to be cultivated in both winter and
spring.
Dry Zone –

 Dry zones, common in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, are ideally suited
for livestock ranching.
 Ranches with thousands of cattle are common in this region. Traditionally, livestock
fed on locally grown fodder such as prairie grasses. However, irrigation for fruit and
cotton farming has drained water supplies in the region.
 Native grasses cannot nourish the huge herds of livestock kept by ranchers. Cattle,
sheep, hogs, and other livestock are less likely to graze than to eat corn-based feed.
 In fact, most of the corn grown in the Corn Belt is feeder corn used for livestock feed.

Forestry
Forestry is the management, cultivation, and harvesting of trees and other vegetation in
forests. In the Pacific Northwest, for instance, logging companies harvest cedar, fir, and
spruce trees.

Lumber from these trees is exported around the world for construction. Some of the
continent’s largest paper mills are found in these temperate rain forests. In addition to
paper, paper mills produce cardboard and fiberboard.

Forestry is a major economic activity for much of North America. In the United States, the
timber industry is strong in the Pacific Northwest, the Gulf states, and South Atlantic coastal
plains. In Canada, forestry is a major industry in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and
British Columbia.

Mining
North America is a leading producer of coal, used in energy production; bauxite used to
create aluminum; iron and copper, both used in construction; and nickel, used to create
steel, which North American companies export around the world. Gold and silver mines
operate in the western part of the continent. Visitors to Crater of Diamonds State Park, a
mine in the U.S. state of Arkansas, can search for their own diamonds.

Coal–

 Coal remains a primary industry for the U.S. and is often linked with states near the
Appalachians.
 Coal can be mined underground or in large, open pits. Around 20% of the World’s
Coal is mined in Pennsylvania, USA.
Metallic minerals–
  Large deposits of iron ore are found in the areas around Lake Superior and the
Eastern part of the Canadian shield. Iron is also found in the southern Appalachians.
 The USA is one of the largest producers of copper in the world. It is mined
extensively around the great lakes and the Rocky Mountains.
 Mexico is the world’s largest producer of silver. Large deposits of silver are found in
the USA and Canada too. It is a byproduct of the Zinc industry as well. Chihuahua is
the largest silver mine in the World. It is in Mexico.
 Canada and the US produce a substantial amount of Gold which is mined in the
Rocky Mountains. California and Alaska saw the Gold rush in the early 1900s.
 Canada produces about 90% of the world’s Nickle.
 Canada is also the largest producer of Asbestos, Zinc, and platinum and the second-
largest producer of cobalt, Uranium, and radium. Note that China is also one of the
World’s largest producer of Asbestos.
 The USA is one of the world’s largest producer of Uranium and Sulphur.

Drilling
North America is home to vast deposits of oil and natural gas, which are drilled for energy
and fuel. Oil and gas extraction are key elements of North America’s economy. The United
States, Canada, and Mexico are among the world’s top oil producers.

The Athabasca tar sands, in the Canadian province of Alberta, are the world’s largest
reservoir of heavy crude oil. More than 20 national and international extraction projects are
established in the Athabasca tar sands.

Large reserves of Petroleum are found in North America in a great arc from Alaska to Texas
in the USA. The United States is the top oil-producing country in the world, with an average
of 17.87 million b/d, which accounts for 18% of the world’s production.

The U.S. overtook Russia in 2012 for the No. 2 spots and surpassed former leader Saudi
Arabia in 2013 to become the world’s top oil producer. Much of the increased U.S.
production is attributable to fracking in the shale formations in Texas and North Dakota. The
U.S. has been a net exporter of oil (i.e., exports exceed imports) since early 2011.

Mexico leads other North American countries as one of the top oil exporters in the world,
largely because of its reserves in and around the Gulf. (Although both the United States and
Canada produce more oil than Mexico, they also consume far more. Both countries are
mostly importers, not exporters, of oil and natural gas.)

Important Industrial Centers of North America

United States of America:
West Coast Important Cities –
  Seattle – world’s largest aircraft assembly center. Lumbering, fish canning,
aluminum smelting electrical engineering are important industries.
 San Francisco – known as ‘The City of Golden Gate’. Famous for oil refining and
ship building.
 Los Angeles – known for its film industry – Hollywood.
Great Lake Region-

 Famous for heavy industries and iron and steel.

 Important cities – Chicago, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, etc.
 Detroit – greatest automobile region of USA
 Akron – world’s largest synthetic rubber and tyre making center.
 Pittsburg – highest production of Iron and steel
Texas –

 Houston – Oil refinery, shipbuilding, chemical, and machinery are important

industries located here.

Canada

 Hamilton – located at the head of Lake Ontario. It is known as the Birmingham of

Canada. Center for iron and steelworks and engineering.
 Sudbury – Located on the shore of Lake Huron. It is one of the most productive
mining areas of Canada which yields nickel, Platinum, copper, etc.
 Arvida – Situated on Saguenay River. It has the largest aluminum smelter in the
world.
 Sarnia – Located on the shore of Lake Huron. It has the largest oil refinery in the
world.
 Ottawa – Paper and pulp and sawmilling