INEGI 2010 Census Statistics". inegi.org.mx. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011 . Retrieved 25 November 2010. Division, United Nations Statistics. "UNSD — Methodology". unstats.un.org. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017 . Retrieved 1 November 2018. The continent of North America (numerical code 003) comprises Northern America (numerical code 021), Caribbean (numerical code 029), and Central America (numerical code 013). Stretching from the East Coast to eastern North Dakota, and stretching down to Kansas, is the humid continental climate featuring intense seasons, with a large amount of annual precipitation, with places like New York City averaging 50in (1,300mm). [64] The predominant religion in Mexico and Central America is Christianity (96%). [116] Beginning with the Spanish colonization of Mexico in the 16th century, Roman Catholicism was the only religion permitted by Spanish crown and Catholic church. A vast campaign of religious conversion, the so-called "spiritual conquest", was launched to bring the indigenous peoples into the Christian fold. The Inquisition was established to assure orthodox belief and practice. The Catholic Church remained an important institution, so that even after political independence, Roman Catholicism remained the dominant religion. Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in other Christian groups, particularly Protestantism, as well as other religious organizations, and individuals identifying themselves as having no religion. Christianity is also the predominant religion in the Caribbean (85%). [116] Other religious groups in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari (in Jamaica), and Afro-American religions such as Santería and Vodou. Kevin Enochs is an award-winning content creator who has been explaining the intricacies of the natural world to television and online audiences for over 20 years.

Born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenage mother, Winfrey got her start in television news before taking over a morning talk show in Chicago in 1984. Two years later, she launched her own nationally syndicated talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which would go on to become the highest rated in TV history. Celebrated for her ability to talk candidly about a wide range of issues, Winfrey spun her talk show success into a one-woman empire—including acting, film and television production and publishing. And what did America look like just before Columbus arrived? While founding myths suggest that the land was sparsely populated by nomadic tribes living lightly on the land, research over the past few decades has shown that many early Americans lived in complex, highly organized societies. So for now, the Clovis and the Pre-Clovis peoples, long disappeared but still existent in the genetic code of nearly all native Americans, deserve the credit for discovering America. The Canadian government took action to protect Canadian culture by limiting non- Canadian content in broadcasting, creating the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission to monitor Canadian content. In Quebec, the provincial government established the Quebec Office of the French Language, often called the "language police" by Anglophones, which mandates the use of French terminology and signage in French. [157] Since 1968 the unicameral legislature has been called the Quebec National Assembly. Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 24 June, is the national holiday of Quebec and celebrated by francophone Canadians throughout Canada. In Quebec, the school system was divided into Catholic and Protestant, so-called confessional schools. Anglophone education in Quebec has been increasingly undermined. [158] The Global Religious Landscape: Muslims". Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 18 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021 . Retrieved 18 December 2012.Up until the 1970s, these first Americans had a name: the Clovis peoples. They get their name from an ancient settlement discovered near Clovis, New Mexico, dated to over 11,000 years ago. And DNA suggests they are the direct ancestors of nearly 80 percent of all indigenous people in the Americas. While modern-day criticism of Columbus Day is largely rooted in the man’s horrendous treatment of the Indigenous populations he encountered, it has also served as a conversation starter for people unaware of America’s history. Central America is geologically active with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. In 1976 Guatemala was hit by a major earthquake, killing 23,000 people; Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972, the last one killing about 5,000 people; three earthquakes devastated El Salvador, one in 1986 and two in 2001; one earthquake devastated northern and central Costa Rica in 2009, killing at least 34 people; in Honduras a powerful earthquake killed seven people in 2009. Europe's colonization in North America led to most North Americans speaking European languages, including English, Spanish, and French, and the cultures of the region commonly reflect Western traditions. However, relatively small parts of North America in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central America have indigenous populations that continue adhering to their respective pre-European colonial cultural and linguistic traditions.

So who were the people who really deserve to be called the first Americans? VOA asked Michael Bawaya, the editor of the magazine American Archaeology. He told VOA that they came here from Asia probably "no later than about 15,000 years ago." Nonetheless, Columbus remains one of the most well known explorers of his time — and he’s still celebrated every year on Columbus Day. However, this holiday has become increasingly scrutinized in recent years — especially due to Columbus’ cruelty toward Indigenous people he encountered in the Americas. So some states have opted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead, urging us to reassess the very idea of the “discovery” of America.Further information: Timeline of the European colonization of North America, British America, French America, New Spain, and Russian colonization of the Americas A 1702 map of North America showing forts, towns, and (in solid colors) areas occupied by European colonial settlements There are varying historical accounts of his discovery of America. One saga claims that Erikson sailed off course while he was returning to Greenland and happened upon North America by accident. But another saga holds that his discovery of the land was intentional — and that he heard about it from another Icelandic trader who spotted it but never set foot on the shores. Intent on going there, Erikson raised a crew of 35 men and set sail.

D Magnetic Imaging using Conjugate Gradients: Temagami anomaly". Archived from the original on 11 July 2009 . Retrieved 13 March 2008. North America Land Forms and Statistics". World Atlas.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013 . Retrieved 16 June 2013. It is commonly said that "Columbus discovered America." It would be more accurate, perhaps, to say that he introduced the Americas to Western Europe during his four voyages to the region between 1492 and 1502. It's also safe to say that he paved the way for the massive influx of western Europeans that would ultimately form several new nations including the United States, Canada and Mexico.Pauketat, Timothy R. (23 February 2012). The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology. OUP US. p.96. ISBN 978-0-19-538011-8. But to say he "discovered" America is a bit of a misnomer because there were plenty of people already here when he arrived. The dominant languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Danish is prevalent in Greenland alongside Greenlandic, and Dutch is spoken side by side local languages in the Dutch Caribbean. The term Anglo-America is used to refer to the anglophone countries of the Americas: namely Canada (where English and French are co-official) and the U.S., but also sometimes Belize and parts of the tropics, especially the Commonwealth Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas (generally south of the U.S.) where the Romance languages, derived from Latin, of Spanish and Portuguese, (but French-speaking countries are not usually included) predominate: the other republics of Central America (but not always Belize), part of the Caribbean (not the Dutch-, English-, or French-speaking areas), Mexico, and most of South America (except Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana [France], and the Falkland Islands [UK]). These nations also take part in inter-continental trade blocs. Mexico takes a part in the G3 Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Venezuela and has a trade agreement with the EU. The U.S. has proposed and maintained trade agreements under the Transatlantic Free Trade Area between itself and the European Union; the U.S.–Middle East Free Trade Area between numerous Middle Eastern nations and itself; and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership between Southeast Asian nations, Australia, and New Zealand. Central America". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011 . Retrieved 28 June 2011.

North America: World of Earth Science". eNotes Inc. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010 . Retrieved 20 June 2011.Human development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. January 2010. pp.148–151. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2010 . Retrieved 6 May 2011. Office Québécois de la langue francaise. "Status of the French language". Government of Quebec. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011 . Retrieved 10 November 2010. Yet another controversial claim has sixth-century Irish monk St. Brendan finding the land around 500 A.D. Known for establishing churches in Britain and Ireland, he purportedly set out on a journey in a primitive ship to North America — with only a Latin book from the ninth century supporting the claim. Thompson, Andrea (18 May 2007). "Top 10 wettest cities". livescience. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015 . Retrieved 7 June 2015. But did Christopher Columbus discover America before other Europeans? Modern research has suggested that wasn’t even the case. Perhaps most famously, a group of Icelandic Norse explorers led by Leif Erikson likely beat Columbus to the punch by around 500 years.