North America physical map

North America physical map.

North America is generally defined as all lands and islands lying north of the Colombian-Panama border; more rarely by territories north of the Panama Canal. Anglo-Saxon America describes the territory composed mainly of Canada and the United States, while the northern part of Latin America includes Mexico, the countries of Central America and the Caribbean. It is surrounded to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to the north by the Arctic Ocean. The closest point to Asia is the Bering Strait, in the northwest. To the northeast is the island of Greenland and, 470 kilometers away, Iceland. With respect to Africa, the smallest distance between both continents is 1,600 kilometers, while 9600 kilometers separate North America, on the east side, from Australia.
Source: Cram's

The North American landform layout is longitudinal: the region is broken down into distinct sets that alternate from east to west: the eastern portion is dominated by narrow coastal plains to the north (Canada and New England) and wider to the south (Florida). Behind these flat areas are low mountain ranges, from old formation and eroded: the Appalachians hardly exceed 2,000 meters above sea level. The Laurentian Highlands constitutes the bulk of the Labrador peninsula. Going west, there are relatively flat, low-lying areas dotted with lakes (Bear Lake, Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg and the Great Lakes). Further south, the Mississippi Valley is the backbone of central North America. Then, the Great Plains and then the foothills of the Rockies succeed each other at higher and higher altitudes. Western North America is a succession of more or less parallel chains that constitute an obstacle to circulation. This mountainous ensemble, larger in the United States than in Canada, is interspersed with high plateaus and graben. The last areas before the Pacific Ocean are characterized by high volcanic and seismic activity: this is a significant portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire.