---
id: kb-2026-00329
title: North America Geography
schema_type: TechArticle
category: geography
language: en
confidence: medium
last_verified: '2026-05-28'
created_date: '2026-05-22'
generation_method: ai_assisted
ai_models:
  - claude-opus
derived_from_human_seed: true
conflict_of_interest: none_declared
is_live_document: false
data_period: static
atomic_facts:
  - id: fact-north-america-01
    statement: North America covers about 24.23 million square kilometers and is the third-largest continent.
    source_title: North America - Britannica
    source_url: https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-north-america-02
    statement: The Great Lakes contain about 21 percent of the world's surface fresh water.
    source_title: Great Lakes Facts and Figures - US EPA
    source_url: https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/great-lakes-facts-and-figures
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-north-america-03
    statement: Death Valley's Furnace Creek recorded 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913, a world-record air temperature cited by the National Park Service.
    source_title: Weather - Death Valley National Park
    source_url: https://home.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/weather-and-climate.htm
    confidence: medium
completeness: 0.78
known_gaps:
  - Country-by-country political geography, climate regions, and population distributions are not exhaustively covered.
disputed_statements:
  - statement: The 1913 Death Valley temperature record has been debated by some researchers, so readers should treat it as an official-record claim rather than a settled climatological analysis.
primary_sources:
  - title: North America - Britannica
    type: reference
    year: 2026
    url: https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America
    institution: Encyclopaedia Britannica
  - title: Great Lakes Facts and Figures - US EPA
    type: government_reference
    year: 2026
    url: https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/great-lakes-facts-and-figures
    institution: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  - title: Weather - Death Valley National Park
    type: government_reference
    year: 2023
    url: https://home.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/weather-and-climate.htm
    institution: National Park Service
secondary_sources:
  - title: The World Factbook
    type: database
    year: 2026
    url: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
    institution: Central Intelligence Agency
---

## TL;DR

North America is the third-largest continent and includes major physical systems such as the Great Lakes, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains, and extensive Arctic-to-tropical climate variation.

## Core Explanation

For this compact entry, the strongest source-backed claims are continent scale, the Great Lakes freshwater share, and the official Death Valley heat record. More detailed regional geography belongs in separate entries.

## Evidence Notes

The previous version cited one textbook page for several precise facts. This repair separates continent scale, freshwater data, and heat-record claims into direct sources.

## Further Reading

- [North America - Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/place/North-America)
- [Great Lakes Facts and Figures - US EPA](https://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/great-lakes-facts-and-figures)
- [Weather - Death Valley National Park](https://home.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/weather-and-climate.htm)

## Related Articles

- [Great Lakes](great-lakes-hydrology-ecology-and-transboundary-management.md)
- [Climate Zones](climate-zones.md)
- [World Geography](world-geography.md)