WORLD ATLAS – NORTH AMERICA

North America includes Canada, the United States of America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean islands, as well as the largest island in the world, Greenland. In the sparsely populated north, the thick Arctic ice gives way to the barren tundra of northern Canada. The Rocky Mountains run down from Alaska to Mexico, while the forested Appalachians dominate the eastern USA. In the fertile lowlands of the Mississippi basin and the eastern seaboard, farms produce huge amounts of crops such as maize and wheat. Further south are the hot, dry deserts of southwestern USA and Mexico.

            Most people in North America are descendants of settlers from other parts of the world, the first of whom, the Europeans, arrived in the 16th century. Many Native American peoples lost their lands and their lives to the new arrivals. Today, the small groups of Native Americans that remain have their own territories. Many, especially the Inuit of northern Canada, still follow a traditional way of life.

Picture Credit : Google