Physical America
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   1. Situation of America

   America is located between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It extends from the glacial Artic Ocean in the north until the glacial Antarctic Ocean in the south, with a longitude of 14,000 kilometers.

   It has a total of 42,262,142 square kilometers. Of these, North America has 23,880,192 km2 and 440,302,196 inhabitants, while South America has 17,819,100 km2 and 375,000,000 inhabitants.

   2. Indicate if the statement is true or false:
 

America is surrounded by the Indian Ocean

  

America is located between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans

  

It is located in between both Poles

  

It has a longitude of 15,000 km

  

North America is the largest

  

South America is the most populated

  

   3. Topography of North America:

   Different mountain ranges can be distinguished: In the north, there are the Mountains of Alaska. To the west, there are the Rocky Mountains, running through Canada and the United States. By the western coast, there are the Coast Ranges, with the Cascades and Sierra Nevada mountains. In the center of the United States, there are the Great Plains. To the east, near the Atlantic Ocean, there are the Appalachian Mountains. In the south, in Mexico, there is the Sierra Madres (East, West and South).

   4. Answer where these mountains are located: the north, center or south.

The Sierra Madres

  

The Rocky Mountains

  

The Mountains of Alaska

  

The Coast Ranges

  

The Sierra Madre of the west

  

The Cascade Mountains

  

The Sierra Madre of the south

  

The Great Central Plain

  

The Appalachian Mountains

  

    5. Topography of South America

  We can distinguish: The young mountains of the west, with the great mountain range of the Andes, which borders the Pacific Ocean. The immense plains of the center, which make up the basin of three rivers: the Orinoco, the Amazon and the Plata. The plateaus: those of Guyana in the north, those of Brazil in the center, and those of Patagonia in the south. The Mountain of Aconcagua, with 6,956 meters, is the highest peak of South America.   

   6. Answer if they are in the west, center or are plateaus:

The Patagonia

  

The Andes

  

The Amazon plain

  

The Guayanas

  

The Brazilian plateau

  

The Plata plain

  

    7. The Coasts (look at the previous maps)

   America has a great quantity of coasts, which belong to three oceans:

    - The coasts of the glacial Artic Ocean form three zones: the Alaska Peninsula in the northwest, the Labrador Peninsula in the east, and the Hudson Bay in the center. In the cold waters of this ocean there is Greenland and the Baffin Bay.

   - In the Atlantic Ocean there is Newfoundland Island to the north and the peninsula of Florida to the south. In Central America there is the island of Cuba, the island La Española in the Caribbean Sea and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. In South America there is the Strait of Magellan and Cape Horn, near Antarctica.

   - On the coasts of Pacific there is the Bering Strait in the north, which separates America from Asia. The peninsula of California is in North America, the Panama Canal in Central America and Cape Horn bordering the two oceans.

   8. Indicate if it is located in North, Central or South America:

Strait of Magellan

  

The Alaska Peninsula

  

The Panama Canal

  

The island of Cuba

  

Baffin Bay

  

Cape Horn

  

The Labrador Peninsula

  

    9. Rivers and Lakes

   American rivers are long and mighty.

   - The Mackenzie River flows into the glacial Artic Ocean.

   - The following rivers flow into the Atlantic Ocean: In the North America, the Saint Lawrence and the Mississippi rivers. In Central America, the Bravo or Rio Grande. In South America, the Orinoco River to the North, the Amazon River in the center and the Plata in the South.

   - The rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean are smaller: the Columbia and the Colorado rivers.

   There are lakes located in North America, in the region of the Great Lakes, which are five: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. In the Andes Mountains there is the Titicaca Lake.

   10. Indicate to which Ocean these rivers flow into: Artic, Atlantic or Pacific

The Amazon

  

The Mackenzie

  

The Mississippi

  

The Columbia

  

The Orinoco

  

The Colorado

  

The Plata

  

    11. Climate and vegetation of America

   - In North America there is a glacial climate in the lands near the Arctic and the vegetation is reduced to mosses and lichens. In the center, the climate is continental and the type of vegetation is steppe and meadow. In the south, the climate is tropical, with very warm and very humid summers and mild winters, which favors the cultivation of cotton.

   - In Central America and the Antilles Islands (Cuba, Haiti and others), the climate is tropical and the vegetation is composed of tropical forests.

   - In South America, on both sides of the Equator, the climate is tropical and equatorial with virgin jungles. In Patagonia, the climate is extremely continental, rough and intensely cold. The vegetation is composed of steppes and stunted grass.

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®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain) No 141, of 29-IX-1999
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