North America

After living and traveling in the northwest corner of North America all my life, it's only natural that I start my journey here - from my home in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is an amazingly large and diverse area which includes 3 countries; Canada, United States and Mexico. Here are a few statistics:

The North American continent is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean.

It covers an area of about 24,700,000 km² (9,536,723 mi²), or about 4.8 percent of the planet's surface. It is the third-largest continent in area, after Asia and Africa, and is fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Mt. McKinley, Alaska, US is the highest elevation at 6194 m (20,321 ft), while the lowest is Death Valley, California, US at 86 m (282 ft) below sea level.

As of July 2005, its population was estimated at over 514,000,000.