Important Facts About North America

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North America has five time zones and is the only continent with every type of climate.
North America was named after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci and is also known as the “New World”.
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.
The largest freshwater lake in the world — Lake Superior – is located in this continent.

The world’s third longest river – the Mississippi (3778 km) – is located in North America.
The world’s largest sugar exporter among the seven continents – Cuba – also called the ‘sugar bowl of the world’ is located in North America.
The world’s smallest owl – the Elf – is found on this continent.
The moose and the elk, found in North America, are the first and second tallest animals on the continent.
The other major animals of North America are –brown bears, hummingbirds, bald eagles, brown bears, bullfrogs.
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 water spout). Once in every 90 minutes, the water from the geyser comes out roaring upto 60 metres high. It is found in Yellowstone National Park.
Death valley lies west of the Rockies Mountains in California. It is also the deepest point of north America. Highest diurnal range of temperature in the world is recorded here.
Bay of fundy : It is known for extremely high tides.
Hudson Bay is Known as the second largest bay in the world.
Labrador sea separates Canada from Greenland.
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the upper mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. They are lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–United States border.
Lake Michigan : only great lake that is entirely within the United States.

Mountains: Facts About North America

Young mountains rises in the west. The most famous are the Rockies, North America’s largest chain.
North America’s older mountain ranges, including the Appalachians, rise near the east coast of the United States and Canada.
Mount Mckinley is the highest peak of north America is in the Alaska Range.

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.
Gulf of Mexico : important economic site for US, Mexico, and Cuba.
Gulf of Alaska : two types of water run into each other, a light, almost electric blue merging with a darker slate-blue.

Rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico: Mississippi
Rivers draining into the Atlantic Ocean: River St. Lawrence
Rivers draining into the Arctic Ocean: River Mackenzie
Rivers draining into the Pacific Ocean: River Yukon, Fraser, Colorado, Snake, Humboldt, etc.

Number of countries in North America	23
Highest Point of North America	Mt. Mckinley
Lowest Point	Death Valley
Largest Island	Greenland
Longest River	Mississippi-Missouri
Largest Lake	Lake Superior

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