North and Central America Overview

North America

North America is the northern part of the American continent between the Arctic Ocean and the Tehuantepec isthmus and between the Pacific and the Atlantic. There are different opinions regarding the southern border of North America. North America is often considered a separate continent.

Geography

On the west side of the continent are the mountain ranges of the Cordilleras. It is geologically relatively young fold mountains. The most powerful of these mountains are the Rocky Mountains. The mountain ranges of the Cordilleras extend to Alaska. The Appalachian Mountains rise in western North America. Wide, extensive plains (for example the prairies of the West) stretch between the mountains. In North America there are still active volcanoes (Mount Saint Helens). The continent’s west coast is sometimes shaken by earthquakes because the boundary between two tectonic plates of the earth’s crust runs here. The movements of the plates cause the earthquakes (plate tectonics).

Climate and vegetation

There are many different climates in North America. Polar conditions prevail in the far north. Tropical conditions can be found in southern Mexico and Florida. The continent’s climate is largely continental (harsh winters, hot summers). North America is often hit by hurricanes, both inland and on the coast, which can wreak havoc.

The vegetation and the animal world correspond to the respective climate zones. Polar bears and reindeer can be found in the far north, and the large forest areas of Canada are inhabited by wolves, bears, fur animals and others. There used to be huge herds of buffalo on the prairies of the West, which were almost completely eradicated in the 19th century. The buffalo population is only slowly recovering in special nature reserves. There were also large herds of Mustang on the prairies, formed from the descendants of horses brought in by the Spaniards and then overgrown. There are large nature reserves in North America (Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park). There is a diverse flora and fauna in Mexico’s primeval forest areas. The Everglades swamp in Florida is an impressive natural landscape.

Country Average temperature / day
Antigua and Barbuda 27 ° C
Bahamas Nassau 27 ° C (July), 22 ° C (Jan)
Barbados 26 ° C
Belize 27 ° C (May-Sept), 24 ° C (Nov-Jan)
Costa Rica 27 ° C (lowland), 22 ° C (high plateau)
Dominica Roseau 27 ° C (July), 24 ° C (Jan)
Dominican Republic Santo Domingo 27 ° C (Aug), 24 ° C (Feb)
El Salvador San Salvador 26 ° C (Apr), 24 ° C (Dec)
Grenada St George’s 29 ° C (Jan), 30 ° C (July)
Guatemala Guatemala City 17 ° C (Jan), 21 ° C (July)
Haiti Port-au-Prince 27 ° C (Jan), 30 ° C (July)
Honduras inland 24 ° C (May), 15 ° C (Jan)
Jamaica Kingston 24 ° C (Jan), 27 ° C (July)
Canada Ottawa 21 ° C (July), -6 ° C (Jan)
Cuba 22 ° C (Jan), 28 ° C (July)
Mexico Mexico City 13 ° C (January), 18 ° C (May)
Nicaragua Managua 29 ° C (May), 26 ° C (Jan)
Panama coastal areas 23–27 ° C
Saint Kitts & Nevis 26 ° C all year round
Saint Lucia 26 ° C (Aug), 24 ° C (Jan)
St. Vincent & the Grenadines Kingstown 31 ° C (Aug), 22 ° C (March)
Trinidad & Tobago 29 ° C
USA New York 0 ° C (Jan), 25 ° C (July) 2

Population

Northern America Population

According to Countryaah, there are 24 countries in North America. There are approximately 296 million people living in the United States, 106 million in Mexico, and only 33 million in Canada, which extends far beyond Mexico and slightly exceeds the United States. The Danish Greenland, with a population of only 56,000, is also counted as North America.

The Native Americans were the Indians. The continent was sparsely populated. A very high population density was only achieved in the cities of the Mexican civilizations. Today, the descendants of immigrant whites make up the largest proportion of the population, at 80%. In Mexico, around 80% of the population are mestizo, which means that they have both European and Indian ancestry. There are many black Africans in the USA (approx. 13%). Inuit live in the far north of the continent.

Based on AbbreviationFinder.org, the states of North America have been popular immigration destinations. The Bureau of Concilar Affairs (USA) or the information page for immigrants from the Canadian government provides information on the conditions.

Central American Climate

The climate is the combination of two characteristics of a given place, they are the average temperature and the average precipitation, in addition to their variations during the year. These characteristics are formed by several factors such as latitude, relief, maritimity/continentality, sea currents and atmospheric pressure. Latitude is the location in relation to the equator, which divides the world into north and south, and determines the amount of solar energythat reaches the ground. The relief influences the temperature – as every thousand meters the temperature drops by an average of 6.4 °C – and as a barrier to humidity, preventing moisture from being dispersed from a certain area or even reaching a region. Maritimity and continentality are related to the proximity or not of some large body of water and determines the thermal amplitude, as the water loses and gains heat more slowly than the land, in addition to providing moisture for the formation of precipitation. Hot sea currents form more humid and hot climates due to the greater amount of evaporation, cold sea currents form drier and colder climates, as they reduce the rate of evaporation. High pressure zones prevent damp winds from entering your area of influence, thus making the climate drier.

The Central America is divided into two parts, one continental (isthmus) and another island, and is located entirely between the Tropic of Cancer to the north and the equator to the south, ie in a tropical area. Due to the location and small area, there is little variation in climatic formations in Central America. The little variation that exists is due to the high mountains that cut the continental part in the south-north direction. Above 2,800m are located the “ helid tierras”(Icy lands), with average annual temperature below 12 ° C and high relative humidity for high altitudes, between 500mm and 2,000mm per year. Temperatures between 12 °C and 18 °C and a high rainfall index, between 1,000mm and 4,000mm, are found between 1,800m and 2,800m. This band is known as “tierras frías” (cold lands). The “templated tierras” (temperate lands) comprise a range between 800m and 1,800m in altitude, with temperatures varying between 18 °C and 24 °C and precipitation ranging from 1,000mm to 4,000mm annually, reaching 8,000mm in some areas.

The tropical climates are found in the lands under altitude of 800m, which are known as ” tierras calientes ” (hot lands) and include both the mainland as the island. On the western coast of the continental portion, northern Haiti and the Lesser Antilles (set of small islands in the eastern portion of the Caribbean Sea), we find the climate of tropical rain forest, with high temperatures throughout the year, averages above 24 °C, and high rainfall index divided between the 12 months of the year, from 1,000mm to 4,000mm, which may exceed this number in some places. The tropical savanna climate is found in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba, and west of the Central American mainland, with high temperatures throughout the year. What differs from this climate is the concentration of precipitation in six months or less, creating two hot seasons, one dry and the other humid. The reason the western isthmic region presents this climate formation is the cold sea current in California, which makes the air cooler and prevents moisture from reaching the continent.