America

(a-mere-kah,) one of the five great divisions of the world, the greatest after Asia, and often called The New World, on account of its recent discovery. Excluding the unknown regions of the North, and the archipelago of Terra del Fuego in the South, A. extends from Point Barrow, in Lat. 71° 24' N., to Cape Forward, on the Straits of Magellan, in Lat. 53°53′ 7″ S.; its area being about 14,950,000 sq. m. This immense tract, embracing every variety of climate, soil, race, natural history, every geological formation, and exhibiting all the phenomena known to physical science, is described in this work under every head relating to its geography, natural features, and history. We therefore limit this article to a sketch of its general physical geography. The vast and important tract of land known as A. is naturally divided into two peninsulas, respectively called North A. and South A., separated, between abt. Lat. 7º and 18° N., by a strip of land called Central A. NORTH A. According to the most natural division of the continent, North A. begins N. of the Gulf of Mexico in about 30° N. Lat., and terminates in the Arctic [s. 25]