North America is the northern continent of the Americas and is situated in both the northern hemisphere and western hemisphere (virtually completely). The continent is bordered by the Arctic Ocean on the north, by the North Atlantic Ocean on the east and by the Caribbean Sea on the southeast. Moreover the North Pacific Ocean borers it on the south and west while the South America is situated to its southeast.
The continent spreads over an area of almost 24,709,000 square kilometers or 9,540,000 square miles which suggests that it occupies almost 4.8% of the planet's surface or about 16.5% of its land area. The total number of population of the North America, according to the estimation in the month of July 2008, was all but 529 million. North America is the third-largest continent in respect of area after Asia and Africa. On the other hand it is the fourth most populous continent in the world following Asia, Africa and Europe successively.
The continent is located in the northern portion of the landmass that is known as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America. According to a number o schools of thought America is a single continent while North America is a mere subcontinent of it. The only land connection through which North America can contact to South America is the Isthmus of Panama. On the southeast the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, or at the Panama Canal delimits the continent.
According to several other opinions, the southern limit of North America is Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico along with the Central America that extends southeastward to South America. However, the coastline of the continent is long and irregular. The largest body of water is the Gulf of Mexico that also indents the continent and the next one is the Hudson Bay. Well, there are others also and the most of import of them are Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Gulf of California.
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