| 1 | North America encompasses two of the world's biggest states territorially (Canada is the second largest in size; the United States is the fourth) |
| 2 | The North American realm is marked by clearly defined physiographic region. |
| 3 | Both Canada and the United States are federal states, but their systems differ. Canada's is adapted from the British parliamentary system, and is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories. The United States separates its executive and legislative branches of government, and it consists of 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a number of island territories under U.S. jurisdiction in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. |
| 4 | Both Canada and the United States are plural societies. Although ethnicity is increasingly important, Canada's pluralism is most strongly expressed in regional bilingualism. In the United States, major divisions occur along racial / ethnic lines. |
| 5 | Despite North America's internal social cleavages and regional economic inequalities, the realm is unified by the prevalence of European cultural norms. |
| 6 | By world standards, North America is a rich realm where high incomes and high rates of consumption prevail. Raw materials are consumed prodigiously. |
| 7 | North America's population, not large by international standards is the most highly urbanized and mobile among the world's geographic realms. |
| 8 | The North American realm is still the world's largest and most productive manufacturing complex. The region's industrialization generated its unparalleled urban growth, but a new postindustrial society and economy are rapidly maturing in both countries. |
| 9 | Agriculture in North America employs less than five per cent of the labour force; it is overwhelmingly commercial, mechanized, and specialized, and it normally produces a huge annual surplus for sale in overseas markets. |
| 10 | North America possesses a highly diversified resource base, but rates of depletion are high and energy prospects remain uncertain. |