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North America, the world's third-largest continent, encompasses an area of about 9,400,000 square miles (24,346,000 square kilometers). This landmass is occupied by the present-day countries of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Also included in the North American continent are Greenland, an island landmass northeast of Canada, and the islands of the Caribbean, many of which are independent republics.

North America is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the west by the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the South American continent, and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

The North American continent contains almost every type of land-form present on Earth: mountains, forests,...