Physiographic location of North America


The location of North America on the earth’s surface differs significantly from the physico-geographical position of the continents of tropical latitudes. This explains the dissimilarity of its nature with the nature of the continents studied by us.

The lines of the equator and the zero meridian do not apply to North America. It is entirely located in the Northern and Western hemispheres of our planet. Unlike South America, which is the mainland of tropical latitudes, North America is crossed as the Northern Tropic, the Hook and the Arctic Circle. This largely determines the diversity of its natural conditions: the continent lies in all the heat belts of the Northern Hemisphere. Most of the continent is occupied by temperate latitudes.

The shores of North America are washed by three oceans: in the west – Pacific, in the east – the Atlantic, in the north – the Arctic. The nature of the western shores of the continent is affected by the warm Alaskan and cold California currents. Near the eastern coasts of North America, the most powerful warm current of the world is formed – the Gulf Stream, which is called the “stove of Northern Europe”. The cold Labrador Current moves towards him, which is the reason for the frequent occurrence of fogs in the east of the continent.

In the south, through a narrow Panama Isthmus and the Panama Canal, North America borders on South America. In the northwest, the narrow Bering Strait separates the continent from Eurasia.

The extreme points of North America are the capes: in the north – Murchison, in the south – Maryato, in the west – Prince of Wales, in the east – St. Charles.


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Physiographic location of North America