Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Britannica Sources used in this answer

How large is North America compared with the world’s other continents?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Map of North America showing international boundaries, country names, and capital cities. The map includes Canada, the United States, Mexico, Greenland, Central American countries, and Caribbean nations, with a locator inset at the bottom left for global context. Major bodies of water such as the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea are labeled.
North America

North America is the third-largest of the world’s continents, covering an area of approximately 9,355,000 square miles (24,230,000 square km).1

In terms of global scale, continents are generally ranked by size as follows: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. While North America is significantly smaller than the largest continents, it remains a major landmass, occupying the northern portion of the Western Hemisphere.21