North America is a continent in the Earth`s northern hemisphere and almost fully in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast. It covers an area of about 24,490,000 km² (9,450,000 sq mi), or about 4.8% of the planet`s surface. As of July 2005, its population was estimated at over 514,000,000. It is the third-largest continent in area, after Asia and Africa, and is fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The
economy of North America comprises more than 440 million people in 23 states. It is marked by a sharp division between the northern English and French speaking countries of Canada and the United States, which are among the wealthiest and most developed nations in the world, and the countries of Central America and the Caribbean that are less well off. Mexico lies in between these two extremes and is a part of NAFTA and a member of the OECD. Nevertheless it remains poorer than the United States and Canada, its neighbors to the north
