The geography of North America

North America is the third largest continent in the world. It is located in the Northern Hemisphere.

The north of the continent is within the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer passes through the south of North America.

The largest country in North America by land area is Canada, although the United States of America (USA) has the largest population.

Climate

It is very cold in the north, near the Arctic Circle and it is very warm in the south, close to the Equator.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from around June to November. Hurricanes are very powerful storms. They need a lot of heat to form and a warm sea surface temperature, which is why they usually occur over tropical seas. The storms and high winds can damage homes and businesses and have a big economic impact.

Features

Arenal Volcano is an active volcano in Costa Rica, which is in the south part of North America. It is famous for an intense eruption period, which lasted from 1968 until 2010 - more than 40 years.

The Missouri River is the longest river in North America. It flows for nearly 4,000 km before joining the Mississippi River.

The taiga forest is a biome spread over several continents in the Northern Hemisphere. There are large areas of taiga forest in Canada in North America. These areas have short, cool summers and very cold winters.

The taiga forest is full of pine and spruce trees which have adapted to the cold climate. They have thick bark and keep their leaves in winter.

Animals have also adapted to live in the taiga forest. The Canadian lynx has wide paws to help it move through snow and black bears hibernate through autumn and winter while it is coldest.

Key cities in North America include Mexico City (in Mexico), New York (in the USA), Toronto (in Canada) and Havana (Cuba). New York is popular with tourists who visit landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Central Park.

The Panama Canal is a human-made waterway in the country of Panama. It is in Central America, a strip of land that connects North and South America. The canal allow ships to travel between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Panama Canal was officially opened in 1914 and it is 82km long. Before the canal’s construction, ships would have had to travel all the way around the tip of South America.