NORTH

AMERICA
By: Group 3
NORTH AMERICA, THIRD LARGEST OF THE WORLD’S
C O N T I N E N T S , LY I N G F O R T H E M O S T PA R T B E T W E E N T H E A R C T I C C I R C L E
AND THE TROPIC OF CANCER.

 Name: Nor th America (from the female Latinate version of

Amerigo Vespucci’s name)
 Demonym: Nor th American
 Area: 9.5 million square miles
 Population: 565 million
 Largest Countr y: Canada. The countr y is covering almost half the
Nor th American continent's land area. Canada is slightly bigger
than the USA and about as big as China.
 Main Languages: English is most widely spoken in Nor th America.
Spanish and French are spoken by many as second language in
the USA . While Spanish is the most common first language in
the Caribbean, French is the first language of 20% of the
Canadian population.
 Largest City: Mexico City, which is the capital city of Mexico with
a population of about 9 million. With more than 20 million
inhabitants in the metropolitan area, this is one of the largest
cities in the world.
BACKGR0UND
 Smallest Country: St Kitts and Nevis with only about
54,000 inhabitants. This island country is located in
the Caribbean Sea. The least populated dependency
is Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory, with less
than 6,000 inhabitants.
 Biggest Island: Greenland. This is also the world's
largest island that is not a continent! Greenland is
located in the North Atlantic Ocean.
 Longest River of North America: Missouri River/USA
(3,767 metres/2,341 miles). The Missouri River
flows through seven states of the USA: Montana,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas
and Missouri. Together with the Mississippi River, it
forms one of the largest river systems in the world.
BACKGROUND
 Biggest Lake: Lake Superior. This is the largest of
the Great Lakes in the USA. This lake is as big as
South Carolina/USA or Austria! Lake Superior is
shared by Canada (to the north) and the United
States (to the east, south and west). Lake Superior is
also considered the largest freshwater lake by area
in the world.
 Lowest Point: Death Valley. In the Death Valley
National Park you will not only find the lowest point
in North America with 86 m/282 ft. below sea level,
but this is also the hottest and the driest national
park in the USA.
 Most of the North American people are Christians
(75%), others are Muslims, Jews and some
indigenous people have their indigenous beliefs.
23 COUNTRIES…
 Antigua and Barbuda
 Bahamas
 Barbados
§ Honduras
 Belize § Jamaica
 Canada § Mexico
 Costa Rica § Nicaragua
 Cuba § Panama
§ Saint Kitts and Nevis
 Dominica
§ Saint Lucia
 Dominican Republic § Saint Vincent and the
 El Salvador Grenadines
 Grenada § Trinidad and Tobago
 Guatemala § United States of
America (USA)
 Haiti
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
 Eye contact. Most Americans make eye contact
during important conversations. If you do not make
eye contact, people may think you are lying or
something is wrong.
 Smiling. Americans smile a lot to be polite and to
show that everything is okay. When you meet
someone new, they expect you to smile at them.
 Posture. If you stand up straight, people tend to give
you more respect.
 Touch. Most Americans shake hands when they meet.
Sometimes people will hug each other if they already
know each other.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
 Gestures. It is best to nod or show some kind of sign
that you are listening throughout a conversation.
 Rubbing your chin. In Canada usually means that you
are thinking about something but if you flick your
chin outwards it is a sign that you are insulting the
person you are looking at.
 Handshakes are also important in the business world
for making agreements.
 Physical Contact. Touching someone of another
gender – especially in the workplace – can be
misinterpreted as sexual harassment.
 People of the Mexican culture do not value time the
way that we do here in America.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
 The Mexican culture believes that you should
outwardly show your emotions.
 In the Mexican culture, direct eye contact is not
valued like we value it in America.
 In the Mexican culture, many women greet other
women by kissing them on the cheek or touching
their arm or shoulder. Women do not greet men this
way, though.
 "Thumbs down" is considered offensive in Quebec. as
is slapping an open palm over a closed fist. French-
Canadians use the "thumbs up" sign to mean "okay.
 Space. In the USA, people have more “personal
space.” This means if you are talking to someone,
they will probably stand at least a foot away from
you.