Portal:North America
The North America Portal
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North America is a continent in the Northern and Western Hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean. The region includes the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Clipperton Island, Greenland, Mexico, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States.
North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), representing approximately 16.5% of the Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa, and the fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. , North America's population was estimated as over 592 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population. In human geography, the terms "North America" and "North American" sometimes refer to just Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Greenland.
It is unknown with certainty how and when first human populations first reached North America. People were known to live in the Americas at least 20,000 years ago, but various evidence points to possibly earlier dates. The Paleo-Indian period in North America followed the Last Glacial Period, and lasted until about 10,000 years ago when the Archaic period began. The classic stage followed the Archaic period, and lasted from approximately the 6th to 13th centuries. Beginning in 1000 AD, the Norse were the first Europeans to begin exploring and ultimately colonizing areas of North America.
In 1492, the exploratory voyages of Christopher Columbus led to a transatlantic exchange, including migrations of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the early modern period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, immigrants from Europe, Asia, and descendants of these respective groups. (Full article...)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Georgetown_University_seal.svg/220px-Georgetown_University_seal.svg.png)
Georgetown University is a private Jesuit research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic institution of higher education in the United States and the nation's first federally chartered university.
The university has eleven undergraduate and graduate schools. Georgetown's main campus is on a hill above the Potomac River and identifiable by Healy Hall, a National Historic Landmark. It is classified among R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity and its undergraduate admissions is considered highly selective. The university offers degree programs in forty-eight disciplines, enrolling an average of 7,500 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate students from more than 135 countries. The school's athletic teams are nicknamed the Hoyas and include a men's basketball team, which is a member of the Big East Conference. (Full article...)![Multilevel streets in Chicago](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Chicago_top_down_view.png/425px-Chicago_top_down_view.png)
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (née Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a U.S. senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as the first lady of the United States to former president Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party and the first woman to win the popular vote for U.S. president.
Raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, Rodham graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 and from Yale Law School in 1973. After serving as a congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas and, in 1975, married Bill Clinton, whom she had met at Yale. In 1977, Clinton co-founded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. She was appointed the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation in 1978 and became the first woman partner at Little Rock's Rose Law Firm the following year. The National Law Journal twice listed her as one of the hundred most influential lawyers in America. Clinton was the first lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. As the first lady of the U.S., Clinton advocated for healthcare reform. In 1994, her health care plan failed to gain approval from Congress. In 1997 and 1999, Clinton played a leading role in promoting the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the Adoption and Safe Families Act, and the Foster Care Independence Act. She also advocated for gender equality at the 1995 World Conference on Women. In 1998, Clinton's marital relationship came under public scrutiny during the Lewinsky scandal, which led her to issue a statement that reaffirmed her commitment to the marriage. (Full article...)The Azteca is a horse breed from Mexico, with a subtype, called the "American Azteca", found in the United States. They are well-muscled horses that may be of any solid color, and the American Azteca may also have Paint coloration. Aztecas are known to compete in many western riding and some English riding disciplines. The Mexican registry for the original Azteca and the United States registries for the American Azteca have registration rules that vary in several key aspects, including ancestral bloodlines and requirements for physical inspections. The Azteca was first developed in Mexico in 1972, from a blend of Andalusian, American Quarter Horse and Mexican Criollo bloodlines. From there, they spread to the United States, where American Paint Horse blood was added. (Full article...)
Did you know...
- ...that in 1869 the Spanish colonial authorities banned Baseball in Cuba because Cubans began to prefer baseball to viewing bullfights, the Spaniards' national sport?
- ...that the Pewee Valley Confederate Memorial (pictured) is the only American Civil War obelisk monument in Kentucky to be made of zinc?
- ...that Tropical Storm Larry caused five deaths and US$53.6 million in damage when it struck the Tabasco state of Mexico, the first landfall in the state since 1973?
- ... that the Valley of Mexico has been one of the most heavily populated places on the planet for almost two millennia?
- ... that during the Dead Rabbits Riot of 1857, residents of Mulberry Street in New York City were forced to barricade themselves in their homes?
Selected panorama
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Panorama_of_Mexico_City_from_Torre_Latinoamericana.jpg/900px-Panorama_of_Mexico_City_from_Torre_Latinoamericana.jpg)
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