NORTH AMERICA.
Northern and largest division of Western Continent, separated from South America by Gulf of Mexico, and connected with it by Isthmus of Panama.
Area, 8,918,346 square miles; extends from Arctic Ocean to about 8° north latitude; extreme width, over 3,000 miles. Eastern coast line to southern extremity of Mexico, about 13,000 miles; western, about 11,000 miles. Has remarkable lake and river systems: the latter includes the Mississippi and its tributaries, whose combined navigable length is about 40,000 miles, and it is estimated that the great lakes contain a third of all fresh waters on the globe. The political divisions are Greenland, Iceland, Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, United States, Central America and Mexico.
Extent in latitude results in great variety of climate, while the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding oceans furnish to most localities abundant moisture.
Ottawa, capital of Dominion of Canada, and great lumber depot; pop., 27,412; St. Johns, capital of Newfoundland, and easternmost seaport of North America; pop., 22,583. Number lighthouses in United States, Canada and Spanish America, 1,127.
Record of great fires: New York, 1835; loss $29,199,000. San Francisco, 1851; loss, 2,500 blocks. Chicago, 1871; loss, $160,594,500. Boston, 1872; loss, $72,997,500.
Rich soil and excellent tillage combine to produce abundant food supply for home consumption and foreign export. Tobacco, cotton, woods, dye-stuffs, grain, flour, meat, eggs and butter are among the supplies exported. Value of grain crops, United States and Canada, $1,114,428,500. Annual import of fruit in United States since 1871, 6 lbs. per inhabitant.