Countries of the Americas

Edited by Vicki A Benge

North America and South America are continents in the western hemisphere connected by the Isthmus of Panama. North America is the third-largest continent on the Earth, after Asia and Africa. The countries of Canada, the United States and Mexico occupy the North American continent.

Traditionally, the countries that occupy the Isthmus of Panama are termed Central American countries and include those from the southern border of Mexico to the northern border of Colombia. They are, in alphabetical order, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

South American, Earth's fourth largest continent, is home to the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. French Guiana, an oversees department of France, is located on the northeastern coast of the continent, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the countries of Brazil and Suriname.

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The Antilles, another name for the West Indies, encompasses all of the islands in the region between North and South America, with the exception of The Bahamas. The West Indies extends from the coast of southern Florida to the coast of Venezuela.

The Greater Antilles, located in the western West Indies, consists of the countries of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Haiti, as well as the self-governing commonwealth, Puerto Rico, associated with the United States.

The Lesser Antilles are a group of islands in the southeastern West Indies that includes Barbados, the Leeward Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands.

The Windward Islands are the southern part of the Lesser Antilles and are located in the West Indies. Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, are independent countries and principal islands in the Windward Islands group. Martinique, another principal island of the Windward group is administered by France at this (2011) writing.


See basic geographic information and maps of the countries of the Americas:


Western Hemisphere

Try these puzzles based on geography of the Americas:
American Countries Crossword Puzzle
American Capitals Word Find Puzzle
American Countries Word Find Puzzle
Caribbean Countries 15 Puzzle Box