North and South America are called the New World because they were discovered in the late fifteenth century. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered North America while trying to find a new sea route to India. The landmass was named America in 1507 after the Italian explorer Vespucci.
1. North America – Location and Political Division
- Lies between 7°N and 84°N (wholly in the Northern Hemisphere) and 53°W and 180°W (wholly in the Western Hemisphere). Its great longitudinal extent gives seven time zones.
- The Tropic of Cancer passes through Mexico; the Arctic Circle runs through northern Canada.
- Area about 24,709,000 sq. km – 16.50 percent of the land area.
- Bounded by the Pacific (west), Atlantic (east), Arctic Ocean (north) and South America (south). Joined to South America by the Isthmus of Panama; the Bering Strait separates it from Asia.
- Third largest continent, next to Asia and Africa. Largest country: Canada, then the USA and Mexico. The seven small countries south of Mexico form Central America (Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Belize).