North America

===Regions===<!--linked from Regions of North America; use Template:anchor if section name changes-->
{{Further|List of regions of Canada|List of regions of the United States}}

North America includes several regions and subregions, each of which have their own respective cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions include several regions formalized in 20th- and 21st-century trade agreements, including [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]] between [[Canada]], [[Mexico]], and the [[United States]], and [[Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement|CAFTA]] between [[Central America]], the [[Dominican Republic]], and the United States.

North America is divided linguistically and culturally into two primary regions, [[Anglo-America]] and [[Latin America]]. Anglo-America includes most of North America, [[Belize]], and [[Caribbean]] islands with [[English language|English]]-speaking populations. There are also regions, including [[Louisiana]] and [[Quebec]], with large [[Francophone]] populations; in [[Quebec]], [[French language|French]] is the official language.<ref name="language">{{cite web|url=http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/english/charter/index.html|title=Status of the French language|author=Office Québécois de la langue francaise|publisher=Government of Quebec|access-date=10 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514153402/http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/english/charter/index.html|archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref><!--Original French: http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/charte/charte/clflgoff.html -->.

The southern portion of North America includes Central America and non-English speaking Caribbean nations.<ref name="BritannicaCA">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Central America|url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861670266/Central_America.html|encyclopedia=Encarta Encyclopedia|access-date=30 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103174029/http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861670266/Central_America.html|archive-date=3 November 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Caribbean|url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Caribbean|dictionary=The Free Dictionary|access-date=30 May 2011|archive-date=6 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106140233/http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Caribbean|url-status=live}}</ref> The north of the continent maintains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of North America, which encompasses the whole North American continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used more narrowly to refer only to four nations, Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the U.S.<ref name="CIAGreenland">{{cite web |title=The World Factbook – North America |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_noa.html |access-date=20 June 2011 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-date=23 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623043844/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/wfbExt/region_noa.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="CountryReports">{{cite web|title=Countries in North America – Country Reports |url=http://www.countryreports.org/maps/northamerica.aspx |publisher=Country Reports |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427050055/http://www.countryreports.org/maps/northamerica.aspx |archivedate=27 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="eNotes">{{cite web|title=North America: World of Earth Science |url=http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/north-america |publisher=eNotes Inc. |access-date=20 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220133458/http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/north-america |archive-date=20 December 2010 }}</ref><ref name=Trilateral>{{cite web|title=North American Region |url=http://www.trilateral.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=12 |publisher=The Trilateral Commission |accessdate=30 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021204534/http://www.trilateral.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=12 |archivedate=21 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Parsons |first1=Alan |last2=Schaffer |first2=Jonathan |title=Geopolitics of oil and natural gas |publisher=U.S. Department of State |series=Economic Perspectives |date=May 2004}}{{full citation needed|date=February 2014}}</ref> The U.S. Census Bureau includes Saint Pierre and Miquelon, but excludes Mexico from its definition.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/c/countrycode.html|title=Schedule C - Country Codes and Descriptions|publisher=US Census Bureau|access-date=3 December 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203204307/https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/c/countrycode.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The term Northern America refers to the northernmost countries and territories of North America: the U.S., [[Bermuda]], Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/migration/index.asp?panel=3 |title=Definition of major areas and regions |publisher=United Nations |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703142031/https://esa.un.org/migration/index.asp?panel=3 |url-status=live }}</ref><!--Cruft, commenting out 3 February 2014:from World Migrant Stock: The 2005 Revision Population Database, United Nations Population Division. Accessed on line 3 October 2007.--><ref>{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |title=Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings |publisher=UN Statistics Division |access-date=3 October 2007 |archive-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116150809/https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm |url-status=live }} ([http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regnf.htm French] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224062835/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regnf.htm |date=24 December 2010 }}).</ref> Although the term does not refer to a unified region,<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 5, Middle America |date=17 June 2016 |url=http://open.lib.umn.edu/worldgeography/part/chapter-5-middle-america/ |access-date=3 April 2018 |publisher=University of Minnesota |archive-date=1 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401174521/http://open.lib.umn.edu/worldgeography/part/chapter-5-middle-america/ |url-status=live |last1=Royal Berglee |first1=PhD }}</ref> [[Middle America (Americas)|Middle America]] includes Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Middle America (region, Mesoamerica) |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381099/Middle-America |access-date=20 June 2011 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |archive-date=19 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919063254/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381099/Middle-America |url-status=live }}</ref>

North America's largest countries by land area are Canada and the U.S., both of which have well-defined and recognized subregions. In Canada, these include (from east to west) [[Atlantic Canada]], [[Central Canada]], [[Canadian Prairies]], the [[British Columbia Coast]], and [[Northern Canada]]. In the U.S., they include [[New England]], the [[Mid-Atlantic (United States)|Mid-Atlantic]], [[South Atlantic states]], [[East North Central states]], [[West North Central states]], [[East South Central states]], [[West South Central states]], [[Mountain states]], and [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific states]]. The [[Great Lakes region]] and the [[Pacific Northwest]] include areas in both Canada and the U.S.