North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered by some geographers to be a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 4.8% of Earth’s total surface area and about 16.5% of its land area. As of 2018[update], its population was estimated at around 730 million people in 23 independent states, or about 4.8% of Earth’s population,: p1 if nearby islands are included (North American indigenous peoples number close to 60 million).
North America
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