Explore North America

Here are a facts about North America that may surprise you!

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✓ North America is the third largest continent in the world, behind Africa and Asia. It covers over 9.5 million square miles, 16.5% of the world's total land mass.

✓ North America is commonly thought to refer to just Canada and the United States, but it actually also includes Mexico and Greenland.

✓ Half of all of the world's corn supply comes from North America.

✓ North America's population as a whole is estimated to be around 461 million. To put that in perspective, the total population of Europe is over 740 million.

✓ English, Spanish and French are the main languages spoken in North America. Danish is also spoken, although this is mainly confined to Greenland.

✓ At 3.85 million square miles, Canada is the largest country in North America. The United States is the second largest country, followed by Greenland and then Mexico.

✓ The first ever letter to be sent from North America was in 1527, by John Rut. It was sent from Newfoundland, and reached Henry VIII in England over a month later.

✓ The name “America” used to only refer to South America. However, when the land mass of North America was discovered and added to maps, most mapmakers opted to retain the original name. Gerard Mercator, a geographer, was the first documented mapmaker who chose to name both the north and south parts of the American landmass as “America” in 1539.

✓ North America spans two hemispheres and borders no less than three of the world's oceans, the Atlantic, Arctic and the Pacific. The world's largest coastline can be found in Canada, at a staggering 80,000 square miles. That is over double its nearest rival Norway. 

✓ Death Valley is the lowest, and also the driest, point in North America and received just one cup of rainfall every year.

✓ The world's largest freshwater lake, Lake Superior, borders both Canada and the United States. It has a surface area of nearly 32,000 square miles!

✓ North America is home to 23 sovereign countries. The largest city is Mexico City at 21 million people, closely followed by New York at 20 million.

✓ North America has the most Olympic Gold Medalists of any continent. It has hosted the Olympics twelve times, the first of which was in 1904.