North America

North American:  Geographical and Natural Environment

 North America is the third largest continent in the world and has an area of about a 21million sq. km. It was originally inhabited by the Native Americans and Inuit who migrated from central Europe via the Bering Strait. Through the continent was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492AD, it was named much later after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci who explored North and south America between 1497 and 1502AD.

After the discovery of American, the Europeans started to migrate and settled down on the east coast of the continent and gradually migrated westward. Later, people from America is a diversified continent with people of various races, colours and cultures.

Location

North America is located in the western hemisphere. It is separated from Europe by the Atlantic ocean. The vast Pacific Ocean lies between Asia and North America. The continent lies entirely north of the equator. It extends from 7°N to 84°N latitudes. finally, North America has three large countries 🇨🇦. the USA and Mexico 🇲🇽 

Physical features

North America is characterized by clear and well-defined divisions into three hydrographic regions. Each region is marked by a certain degree of uniformity in relief, climate, vegetation, soil and other environmental conditions. They are

a. The western mountain system

b. The central lowlands 

c. The eastern highlands

A. The western mountain system

The Western Mountain system or the western cordilleras are young fold mountains like the Himalayas in our country. These ranges extend from Alaska in the north to Panama in the west, a distance of about 6500 km. The width of the mountain region is a maximum of 1500km in the middle and decreases towards the north and the south.

The western mountain system has many peaks exceeding 4000meters above sea level. The highest peak Mt. Mckinley (6194m) is in Alaska. The region is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes in Mexico and Alaska. 

b. The central lowland

The central plains, also known as the great plains, extends from Hudson Bay in the north to the Gulf of Mexico 🇲🇽 in the southeast. These are undulating lowlands formed by the denudation of lands by glaciers and rivers. The northern part around Hudson bay as known as the Canadian shield, which covers a great part of Canada

The central plain is drained by the river Mississippi and its tributaries. It is the most fertile plain in the world. The extensive temperate grassland is known as the prairies lies in the central plain of North America. 

c. The eastern highlands

The eastern highlands are old fold mountains that have been denuded over millions of years. The ranges do not exceed 2100 m in altitude. The eastern highlands are lower than the western mountains. It is formed by three important highlands, the plateau of Greenland, the Canadian shield covering a great part to the north of the St. Lawrence river and the Appalachian highland.

Rivers and lakes

The Mississippi is the most important river in North America. Missouri River and Arkansas river are its tributaries that join the river Mississippi and drains into the Gulf of 🇲🇽 Mexico. Riverlike the nelson, the Mackenzie drain into the arctic ocean, the Yukon, the Fraser, the Columbia and the Colorado drain into the pacific ocean, while the River St. Lawrence drain into the Atlantic ocean. It is the business river in terms of trade. There are five important lakes in North America. They are lake superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario, and Michigan is known as the great lake lying at the border of Canada and the United 🇺🇸. The famous Niagara Falls between Lake Erie and Ontario.

Climate

The continent of North America experienced a variety of climates due to its vast latitudinal extent, varied relief features, the impact of ocean currents and prevailing winds. North American lies in a wide belt of temperate regions. It also includes the tropical and tundra climates in the south and north respectively. The northernmost part of it is extremely cold throughout the year. The western coast of Canada 🇨🇦 and the northwestern part of the USA has a mild climate. The central part is extremely hot 🔥  and extremely cold ❄️ 

Natural vegetation

The natural vegetation largely depends on the climate, soil and relief features. Due to great diversity in climate and relief, north America has a wide variety of vegetation. These vegetation belts broadly follow the climatic zones. It has tundra type vegetation and coniferous forests on the northernmost part of Canada 🇨🇦. This region is severely cold with short ☀️ Summer and that is why some quick flowering plants, bushes and coniferous trees are found here. The central part of the country has extensive desperate grassland called prairies. This region receives a low amount of rainfall and no more growth of vegetation. The read around the St.lawerence river and south-east of the USA have mixed temperate forest comprising of coniferous and delicious trees. Some important trees of this forest are oak, beech and maple.