Facts About North America

FACTS ABOUT NORTH AMERICA

- The third largest continent in terms of area (24,238,000 square kilometers) and the fourth most populous continent, with a population of about 493 million people.

- There are 23 countries in North America.

- The largest country in North America is Canada, its area is about 9,976,140 square kilometers.

- The smallest country in North America is Grenada, about 340 km.

- The most populous country in North America is USA, a population of about 321 million people.

- North America's largest lake is Lake Superior, which is located between Canada and USA, it is also the largest freshwater lake in the world. While the longest river in the North America continent is the Mississippi River. The highest peak is the Summit of McKinley in Alaska, a height of about 6,194 meters above sea level.

- The largest island in the world is located in the North of North America: Greenland.

- Greenland was given that name by the Vikings when they discovered it. Most of the island is covered with snow and ice, but they gave it the name "Greenland" to lure its settlers.

- The longest borders between two countries are in North America between Canada and the United States. The length of the borders is about 5,525 miles including the borders between the state of Alaska and Canada.

- The longest highway in the world is located in Canada and is called Trans-Canada. It is about 7,820 kilometers from east coast to the west.

- The Canadian coastal border is the longest border in the world with a distance of 151,600 miles.

- The shortest River in the world is located in USA in th state of Montana. The "Roe" river is only about 61 meters long.

- Canada is the only country that is surrounded by three oceans: Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic.

- Canada provides approximately 50% of Bitomen to the world.

- The Cherokee Indians in North America were first to grow corn.

- Mexico is the first country to start making chocolate, chili and corn.

- Mexico's geographical location makes it among the "Ring of Fire", where there are volcanoes and earthquakes occur in that area of the Pacific Ocean.

- "Chihuahua" is the smallest dog in the dog family. It is given that name after the Mexican state of Chihuahua.

- The longest speech in the history of America was delivered by the shortest American president in office, William Henry Harrison. He was giving a long speech after his success in the presidency, but died about a month later due to the bad weather at the time he was giving the speech.

- Franklin Roosavelt is the only president to serve for USA for 4 consecutive terms (each term is 4 years), from 1933 to 1945. But he died few months after being elected president for the fourth time in 1945.

- Mount "Mauna Kia" in Hawaii is considered the highest peak in the world only if measured from the bottom of the ocean to the peak. It is about 9,750 meters high. The mountain above sea level does not look as high as other high mountains. Therefore, Mount Everest in Asia is the highest at around 8,850 meters above sea level.

- In Central America, if you're in the capital of Panama (Panama City), you'll see that the Atlantic Ocean has become in the West and the Pacific Ocean in the East. This is because of the geographical location of Panama that looks similar like a wavy line, which makes the capital located in the north side of the country.

- The largest place for bats gathering is in the USA in the state of Texas, which is called "Bracken Bat Cave". The total amount of bats could reach 20 million bats.

Sources:
www.factmonster.com
www.britannica.com
Lehnardt, Karin. “43 Interesting Facts about Canada.” FactRetriever.com, accessed December 5, 2016. https://www.factretriever.com/canada-facts.
Lehnardt, Karin. “48 Amazing Mexico Facts.” FactRetriever.com, accessed August 19, 2016. https://www.factretriever.com/mexico-facts.
Lehnardt, Karin. “47 Interesting Facts about U.S. Presidential Elections.” FactRetriever.com, accessed September 20, 2016. https://www.factretriever.com/us-presidential-elections-facts

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