NORTH AMERICA DESCRIPTION, LOCATION, CANADIAN SHEILD, THE WESTERN CORDILLERA

3. LOCATION:
 North America covers an area of about 24,709,000
square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about
16.5% of the Earth's land area and about 4.8% of its
total surface. North America is the third-largest
continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and
the fourth by population after Asia, Africa,
and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at
nearly 579 million people in 23 independent states, or
about 7.5% of the world's population.

4. BOUNDARIES:
 It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east
and the Pacific Ocean to the west. North America
is dominated by its three largest
countries: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Central America and the Caribbean are usually
considered part of North America, but they have
their own section here.

5. POLITICAL DIVISIONS:
 North America can be divided into five physical
regions: the mountainous west, the Great Plains,
the Canadian Shield, the varied eastern region,
and the Caribbean. Mexico and Central America's
western coast are connected to the mountainous
west, while its lowlands and coastal plains extend
into the eastern region.

6. THE WESTERN CORDILLERAS:
 The North American Cordillera, sometimes also
called the Western Cordillera of North America,
the Western Cordillera or the Pacific Cordillera, is
the North American portion of the American
Cordillera, the mountain chain system
(cordillera) along the western coast (Pacific coast)
of the Americas.

7. PHYSICAL MAP

8. THE CANADIAN SHEILD:
 The Canadian Shield also called the Laurentian
Plateau, is a large area of exposed Precambrian
igneous and high-grade metamorphic
rocks (geologic shield) that forms the ancient
geologic core of the North American continent
(the North American Craton or
Laurentia). Glaciation has left the area with only a
thin layer of soil, through which the composition
of igneous rock resulting from long volcanic
history is frequently visible.

9. THE APALACHIAN MOUNTAINS
 The Appalachian Mountains, often called the
Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern to
northeastern North America. The Appalachians first
formed roughly 480 million years ago during
the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations
similar to those of the Alps and the rocks
Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The
Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it
forms a series of alternating ridgelines and
valleys oriented in opposition to
most highways and railroads running east–west.