Introduction

The continent has Rocky mountain ranges on the western side and Appalachian mountains on the eastern coast. In between the ranges, the Great plains are present called Prairies “Granaries of the World”.

Prairies lie in the USA and 3 states of Canada. They are temperate grasslands with nutritious grass known for wheat cultivation and animal rearing.

This continent has the largest coastline.

Shale gas reserves are found in huge proportions in the US.

The US has overtaken Russia as the largest gas producer and Saudi as the largest oil producer. This led to low imports for the US and boosted manufacturing there.

Agriculture

The agricultural pattern from east to west is cotton and tobacco, followed by the corn and soybean belt and then the wheat belt in prairies.

 The Appalachian mountains are old fold mountains that are a source of coal–bituminous, and anthracite.

Ocean continent collision led to ocean plate Farallon subdued under north American plate. This led to extensive volcanism and the formation of the Rockies. Colorado plateau is also seen.

San Andreas fault was formed due to transverse plate movement i.e. the north American plate moving southwest and the pacific plate moving northwest.

Rivers

Rivers of the USA are the Mississippi River, Colorado, Hudson, Rio Grande, and Columbia river. The Rio Grande is at the border of the USA and Mexico. Mississippi is the most important river system in the USA. It is the second-largest river after Missouri and empties into the Atlantic ocean.

Great lakes are at the boundary of the USA and Canada. Lakes are superior, to Michigan, Hudson, Ontario, and Erie. It is the largest, freshwater glacial system. Together holds almost 1/5th of the earth’s freshwater.

Lake Michigan is the largest lake fully within the country.

The USA has 4 deserts, 3 on the west coast and 1 along the Mexican border. It has 50 states and 9 time zones.

Canada has a flourishing paper and lumber industry. This is due to temperate forests, hydroelectricity from rivers, and labor. It also has a large uranium reserve [22% of the world].  Climate is tundra and taiga type.

Miscellaneous

1. Mexico city is the largest city in North America.
2. The only continent that has all types of climate and all types of biomes i.e. grassland, marine, desert, etc
3. 24 countries are in it.
4. Mount McKinley, Alaska is the tallest mountain.
5. Death Valley, California is the lowest point on it.
6. US second-largest coal producer after China. India is the 4th largest.