History of discovery, research and geographical location of North America

The school curriculum has a few hours to study the mainland of North America. Geographical location, history of discovery, climate, flora and fauna are studied in detail. In order to facilitate the preparation of students, we decided to select the material that we will present in this article.

Briefly about the main

So, let's begin. What is North America? This is part of the land that is washed by 3 oceans at once. All of its territory is in the northern hemisphere. It is this geographical position of North America that directly influenced the name of the continent.

The oceans washing the continent

As is known, the influence of water bodies washing the continent is quite large. Therefore, it is very important to know which oceans affect North America. So, at the east coast it's Atlantic. It separates the described continent from Eurasia. On the east coast are two large gulfs.

From the north the continent borders on the Arctic Ocean. The description of the latter also runs through a subject such as geography (grade 7). North America, the geographical position of which we will consider in detail in the article, in the far north has a large number of islands and bays. Greenland belongs to this continent. The climate of the island is quite severe. It is located in the north-east of the continent, is influenced by currents and air masses of the Arctic Ocean. On the island there are only two climatic zones: the Arctic and the subarctic. From the western part, North America is washed by the Pacific Ocean. In the north-west the continent shares the Bering Strait with Eurasia .

Description of the geographical location of North America

The mainland in question is located in the Northern and Western hemispheres. The continent occupies the territory from the equator on the Panama Isthmus to the Arctic Ocean at Cape Murchison. The latter is the extreme north point. The distance over which the continent stretched from south to north is more than 7,000 km. The southern extreme point is the cape of Mariyato.

The geographical position of North America is characterized by a length not only from the equator to the northernmost point, but also from west to east. This distance is more than four thousand kilometers. Extreme points: Cape St. Charles (east) and Prince of Wales (west).

The continent occupies the third place in terms of land area, taking into account the islands. North America is second only to two continents - Eurasia and Africa.

Features of climate

Due to the great distance from north to south, almost all climatic zones are present on the mainland. There is only an equatorial one. The climate of the continent is mild, even in the northern part, because along the entire eastern coast North America is washed by the warm ocean current of the Gulf Stream. The flow of warm air from the Atlantic spreads across the continent. Also, a large flow of warm air masses is formed from the side of the Gulf of Mexico. That is why the geographical position of North America directly affects the local climate.

The winters of the central and southern parts are soft. In the north, the temperature can drop to -36 ° C. Summer is also cold, up to +6 ° C. Most often, such temperatures are observed in Greenland and on the islands of the Canadian archipelago. In the south of the continent, the winter is warm. The temperature in this season does not drop below 0 ° C. Summers are hot and humid. From east to west, the climate is also changing a lot. There are many forests on the east coast, while the west is more deserted. The amount of precipitation in the east is several times greater than in the west.

Flora and fauna

The geographical position of North America and its climate largely determine the local flora and fauna. It is worth noting that the main part of the continent is located in the temperate zone. In this regard, the flora is represented by a large number of deciduous and coniferous species. In the north, there is a sharp transition of deciduous forest to the arctic desert. The territories of Greenland and the Canadian Arctic archipelago are subject to glaciation.

The identity of the continent is determined by its rich fauna. Here you can find such species of animals that live not only in the local territory, but also in Eurasia. Also there are representatives who live exclusively in North America. The first type indicates that earlier the territories of Eurasia and North America were unified, that is, they were part of a single continent. The second shows that the division of continents has happened a long time, and evolution has developed in a free direction.

Neighborhood with South America

The most close to North America is the continent of South America. Section passes through the Isthmus of Panama. Before the construction of the canal, the ships had to circumambulate South America along the perimeter to get from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. With the commissioning of the channel, this problem was successfully solved.

It is worth noting that the school course is not only studying the geographical location of North America (Grade 7), but also South. In short, these two continents separate the equator. Naturally, this location of South America affects the climate, flora and fauna.

History of the continent study

The history of the study of this continent is quite interesting. It can be divided into several stages. The first record dates from the twentieth to eleventh centuries. In the years 981-983. The Normans assembled an expedition during which studies were conducted on Greenland, the Labrador Peninsula and the Newfoundland Islands. However, this information did not become known to the Old World.

The following records on the study of North America appeared four centuries later. In the XV-XVIII centuries. The French, the Spaniards and the English were interested in this continent. The discovery of the delta of the Mississippi occurred in 1528 thanks to the Spanish expedition. A little later, in the 40s, a study was carried out into the interior of the continent. Researchers were able to cross the Colorado Plateau, the Great Plains and a small part of the Rocky Mountains. After some time another expedition explored the Southern Appalachian Mountains. It was she who discovered the rivers Alabama and Tennessee.

The next stage in the study of North America can be called the era of the XVIII-XIX centuries. In the 30-ies of the XVIII century, the Russians organized many expeditions in order to survey the mainland from Alaska. The French and the British also participated in the study of this area.

In the XIX-XX centuries, the British continued to explore the continent. Their main task was to find the north-west passage. But the expedition, which was engaged in the study of the Arctic coast, in 1845 was missing. We searched for it for ten years. Remains were found on the island of King William. Those expeditions that were outfitted in search of Franklin and his team made a great contribution to the study of such a continent as North America.

The geographic location and history of research of this continent still attract scientists from all over the world.