document_title: North America

question_text: is puerto rico in north or central america

question_tokens: is puerto rico in north or central america

text: North America

text: Name

text: The Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann.[7] Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a world map, in which he placed the word "America" on the continent of South America, in the middle of what is today Brazil. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio:[8]

text: ... ab Americo inventore ... quasi Americi terram sive Americam (from Americus the discoverer ... as if it were the land of Americus, thus America).

text: For Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespucci's name (Americus Vespucius), but in its feminine form "America", following the examples of "Europa", "Asia" and "Africa".

text: Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the northern continent, In 1538, Gerard Mercator used America on his map of the world for all the Western Hemisphere.[9]

text: Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty and so a derivation from "Amerigo Vespucci" could be problematic.[10] Ricardo Palma (1949) proposed a derivation from the "Amerrique" mountains of Central America—Vespucci was the first to discover South America and the Amerrique mountains of Central America, which connected his discoveries to those of Christopher Columbus.

text: Alfred E. Hudd proposed a theory in 1908 that the continents are named after a Welsh merchant named Richard Amerike from Bristol, who is believed to have financed John Cabot's voyage of discovery from England to Newfoundland in 1497. A minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of 'Amairick'. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language.[9]

text: Extent

text: The term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States and Canada together.[11] Alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland[12][13][14] and Mexico (as in the North American Free Trade Agreement),[13][15][16][17][18] as well as offshore islands. The UN geoscheme for "North America" separates Mexico from the United States and Canada, placing it instead within its designated "Central America" region, while also treating the islands of the Caribbean separately from the US/Canada definition—the UN's "North America" definition still includes the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and Greenland together with the US/Canada continental definition, with both insular entities being tectonically on the North American plate.

text: In France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Greece, and the countries of Latin America, the cognates of North America usually designate a subcontinent of the Americas comprising Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and often Greenland, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, and Bermuda.[19][20][21][22][23]

text: North America has been historically referred to by other names. Spanish North America (New Spain) was often referred to as Northern America, and this was the first official name given to Mexico.[24]

text: Regions

text: Geographically the North American continent has many regions and subregions. These include cultural, economic, and geographic regions. Economic regions included those formed by trade blocs, such as the North American Trade Agreement bloc and Central American Trade Agreement. Linguistically and culturally, the continent could be divided into Anglo-America and Latin America. Anglo-America includes most of Northern America, Belize, and Caribbean islands with English-speaking populations (though sub-national entities, such as Louisiana and Quebec, have large Francophone populations; in Quebec, French is an official language along with English).

text: The southern North American continent is composed of two regions. These are Central America and the Caribbean.[25][26] The north of the continent maintains recognized regions as well. In contrast to the common definition of "North America", which encompasses the whole continent, the term "North America" is sometimes used to refer only to Mexico, Canada, the United States, and Greenland.[12][13][14][15][27]

text: The term Northern America refers to the northern-most countries and territories of North America: the United States, Bermuda, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Canada and Greenland.[28][29] Although the term does not refer to a unified region,[30] Middle America—not to be confused with the Midwestern United States—groups the regions of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.[31]

text: The largest countries of the continent, Canada and the United States, also contain well-defined and recognized regions. In the case of Canada these are (from east to west) Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Canadian Prairies, the British Columbia Coast, and Northern Canada. These regions also contain many subregions. In the case of the United States – and in accordance with the US Census Bureau definitions – these regions are: New England, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic States, East North Central States, West North Central States, East South Central States, West South Central States, Mountain States, and Pacific States. Regions shared between both nations included the Great Lakes Region. Megalopolises have formed between both nations in the case of the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes Megaregion.

text: Countries, territories, and dependencies

text:
Flag

Country or territory[16][17][18]

Area(km2)[32]

Population(2016 est.)[33]

Population density(per km2)

Capital

Anguilla (United Kingdom)

7001910000000000000♠91

14,764

164.8

The Valley

Antigua and Barbuda

7002442000000000000♠442

100,963

199.1

St. John's

Aruba (Netherlands)[note 2]

7002180000000000000♠180

104,822

594.4

Oranjestad

The Bahamas[note 3]

7004139430000000000♠13,943

391,232

24.5

Nassau

Barbados

7002430000000000000♠430

284,996

595.3

Bridgetown

Belize

7004229660000000000♠22,966

366,954

13.4

Belmopan

Bermuda (United Kingdom)

7001540000000000000♠54

61,666

1203.7

Hamilton

Bonaire (Netherlands)[note 2]

7002294000000000000♠294

7004120930000000000♠12,093[34]

41.1

Kralendijk

British Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)

7002151000000000000♠151

30,661

152.3

Road Town

Canada

7006998467000000000♠9,984,670

36,289,822

3.4

Ottawa

Cayman Islands (United Kingdom)

7002264000000000000♠264

60,765

212.1

George Town

Clipperton Island (France)

7000600000000000000♠6

5000000000000000000♠0

0.0

—

Costa Rica

7004511000000000000♠51,100

4,857,274

89.6

San José

Cuba

7005109886000000000♠109,886

11,475,982

102.0

Havana

Curaçao (Netherlands)[note 2]

7002444000000000000♠444

159,371

317.1

Willemstad

Dominica

7002751000000000000♠751

73,543

89.2

Roseau

Dominican Republic

7004486710000000000♠48,671

10,648,791

207.3

Santo Domingo

El Salvador

7004210410000000000♠21,041

6,344,722

293.0

San Salvador

Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (Venezuela)

7002342000000000000♠342

Gran Roque

Greenland (Denmark)

7006216608600000000♠2,166,086

56,412

0.026

Nuuk

Grenada

7002344000000000000♠344

107,317

302.3

St. George's

Guadeloupe (France)

7003162800000000000♠1,628

449,975

246.7

Basse-Terre

Guatemala

7005108889000000000♠108,889

16,582,469

128.8

Guatemala City

Haiti

7004277500000000000♠27,750

10,847,334

361.5

Port-au-Prince

Honduras

7005112492000000000♠112,492

9,112,867

66.4

Tegucigalpa

Jamaica

7004109910000000000♠10,991

2,881,355

247.4

Kingston

Martinique (France)

7003112800000000000♠1,128

385,103

352.6

Fort-de-France

Mexico

7006196437500000000♠1,964,375

127,540,423

57.1

Mexico City

Montserrat (United Kingdom)

7002102000000000000♠102

5,152

58.8

Plymouth (Brades)[note 4]

Navassa Island (United States)

7000500000000000000♠5[35]

5000000000000000000♠0[36]

0.0

Nicaragua

7005130373000000000♠130,373

6,149,928

44.1

Managua

Nueva Esparta (Venezuela)

7003115100000000000♠1,151

La Asunción

Panama[note 2][note 5]

7004754170000000000♠75,417

4,034,119

45.8

Panama City

Puerto Rico (United States)

7003887000000000000♠8,870

3,667,903

448.9

San Juan

Saba (Netherlands)

7001130000000000000♠13

7003153700000000000♠1,537[34]

118.2

The Bottom

San Andrés and Providencia (Colombia)

7001530000000000000♠53

7004777010000000000♠77,701[34]

1468.59

San Andrés

Saint Barthélemy (France)

7001210000000000000♠21[35]

7003744800000000000♠7,448[36]

354.7

Gustavia

Saint Kitts and Nevis

7002261000000000000♠261

54,821

199.2

Basseterre

Saint Lucia

7002539000000000000♠539

178,015

319.1

Castries

Saint Martin (France)

7001540000000000000♠54[35]

7004298200000000000♠29,820[36]

552.2

Marigot

Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France)

7002242000000000000♠242

6,305

24.8

Saint-Pierre

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

7002389000000000000♠389

109,643

280.2

Kingstown

Sint Eustatius (Netherlands)

7001210000000000000♠21

7003273900000000000♠2,739[34]

130.4

Oranjestad

Sint Maarten (Netherlands)

7001340000000000000♠34

39,537

1176.7

Philipsburg

Trinidad and Tobago[note 2]

7003513000000000000♠5,130

1,364,962

261.0

Port of Spain

Turks and Caicos Islands (United Kingdom)[note 6]

7002948000000000000♠948

34,900

34.8

Cockburn Town

United States[note 7]

7006962909100000000♠9,629,091

322,179,605

32.7

Washington, D.C.

United States Virgin Islands (United States)

7002347000000000000♠347

104,913

317.0

Charlotte Amalie

Total

7007245009950000000♠24,500,995

7008541720440000000♠541,720,440

22.9

text: History

text: Geologic history

text: Laurentia is an ancient craton which forms the geologic core of North America; it formed between 1.5 and 1.0 billion years ago during the Proterozoic eon.[37] The Canadian Shield is the largest exposure of this craton. From the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic eras, North America was joined with the other modern-day continents as part of the supercontinent Pangaea, with Eurasia to its east. One of the results of the formation of Pangaea was the Appalachian Mountains, which formed some 480 million years ago, making it among the oldest mountain ranges in the world. When Pangaea began to rift around 200 million years ago, North America became part of Laurasia, before it separated from Eurasia as its own continent during the mid-Cretaceous period.[38] The Rockies and other western mountain ranges began forming around this time from a period of mountain building called the Laramide orogeny, between 80 and 55 million years ago. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama that connected the continent to South America arguably occurred approximately 12 to 15 million years ago,[39] and the Great Lakes (as well as many other northern freshwater lakes and rivers) were carved by receding glaciers about 10,000 years ago.

text: North America is the source of much of what humanity knows about geologic time periods.[40] The geographic area that would later become the United States has been the source of more varieties of dinosaurs than any other modern country.[40] According to paleontologist Peter Dodson, this is primarily due to stratigraphy, climate and geography, human resources, and history.[40] Much of the Mesozoic Era is represented by exposed outcrops in the many arid regions of the continent.[40] The most significant Late Jurassic dinosaur-bearing fossil deposit in North America is the Morrison Formation of the western United States.[41]

text: Pre-Columbian

text: The indigenous peoples of North America have many creation myths by which they assert that they have been present on the land since its creation.[42] The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion.[43] The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 25,000 to 11,000 years ago.[44]  The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 13,000 years before present.[45] Some genetic research indicated secondary waves of migration occurred after the initial Paleo-Indian colonization,[46] but prior to modern Inuit, Inupiat and Yupik expansions.[47]

text: Before contact with Europeans, the natives of North America were divided into many different polities, from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several "culture areas", which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones and give a good indication of the main lifeway or occupation of the people who lived there (e.g., the bison hunters of the Great Plains, or the farmers of Mesoamerica). Native groups can also be classified by their language family (e.g., Athapascan or Uto-Aztecan). Peoples with similar languages did not always share the same material culture, nor were they always allies. Anthropologists think that the Inuit people of the high Arctic came to North America much later than other native groups, as evidenced by the disappearance of Dorset culture artifacts from the archaeological record, and their replacement by the Thule people.

text: During the thousands of years of native habitation on the continent, cultures changed and shifted. One of the oldest cultures yet found is the Clovis culture of modern New Mexico. Later cultures include the Mississippian culture and related Mound building cultures, found in the Mississippi river valley and the Pueblo culture of what is now the Four Corners. The more southern cultural groups of North America were responsible for the domestication of many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes and squash. Perhaps most importantly they domesticated one of the world's major staples, maize (corn).

text: The earliest verifiable instance of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by any European culture with the landmasses that geologically constitute the "mainland" of modern North America has been dated to the end of the 10th century CE – this site, situated at the northernmost extent of the island named Newfoundland, is known as L'Anse aux Meadows, where unmistakable evidence of Norse settlement was uncovered in the early 1960s.[48]

text: As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many important cultural advances were made there. For example, the Maya civilization developed a writing system, built huge pyramids and temples, had a complex calendar, and developed the concept of zero around 400 CE, a few hundred years after the Mesopotamians.[49] The Mayan culture was still present in southern Mexico and Guatemala when the Spanish explorers arrived, but political dominance in the area had shifted to the Aztec Empire whose capital city Tenochtitlan was located further north in the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs were conquered in 1521 by Hernán Cortés.[50]

text: Colonial period

text: During the Age of Discovery, Europeans explored and staked claims to various parts of North America. Upon their arrival in the "New World", the Native American population declined substantially, because of violent conflicts with the invaders and the introduction of European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity.[51] Native culture changed drastically and their affiliation with political and cultural groups also changed. Several linguistic groups died out, and others changed quite quickly. The names and cultures that Europeans recorded were not necessarily the same as the names they had used a few generations before, or the ones in use today.

text: Britain, Spain, and France took over extensive territories in North America – and fought over them. In the late 18th century and beginning of the 19th, independence movements that sprung up across the continent, led to the creation of the modern countries in the area. The 13 British colonies on the North Atlantic coast declared independence in 1776, becoming the United States of America. Canada was formed from the unification of northern territories controlled by Britain and France. New Spain, a territory that stretched from modern-day southern US to Central America, declared independence in 1810, becoming the First Mexican Empire. In 1823 the former Captaincy General of Guatemala, then part of the Mexican Empire, became the first independent state in Central America, officially changing its name to the United Provinces of Central America.

text: Geography

text: North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America (which, less commonly, is considered by some as a single continent[52][53][54] with North America a subcontinent).[55] North America's only land connection to South America is at the Isthmus of Panama. The continent is delimited on the southeast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia-Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America.[56][57][58] Alternatively, some geologists physiographically locate its southern limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from this point.[59] The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North America.[3] The continental coastline is long and irregular. The Gulf of Mexico is the largest body of water indenting the continent, followed by Hudson Bay. Others include the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of California.

text: Before the Central American isthmus formed, the region had been underwater. The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerged former land bridge, which had connected North and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela.

text: There are numerous islands off the continent's coasts; principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Aleutian Islands (some of which are in the Eastern Hemisphere proper), the Alexander Archipelago, the many thousand islands of the British Columbia Coast, and Newfoundland. Greenland, a self-governing Danish island, and the world's largest, is on the same tectonic plate (the North American Plate) and is part of North America geographically. In a geologic sense, Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but an oceanic island which was formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago. The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. However, Bermuda is often thought of as part of North America, especially given its historical, political and cultural ties to Virginia and other parts of the continent.

text: The vast majority of North America is on the North American Plate. Parts of western Mexico, including Baja California, and of California, including the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and Santa Cruz, lie on the eastern edge of the Pacific Plate, with the two plates meeting along the San Andreas fault. The southernmost portion of the continent and much of the West Indies lie on the Caribbean Plate, whereas the Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates border the North American Plate on its western frontier.

text: The continent can be divided into four great regions (each of which contains many subregions): the Great Plains stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic; the geologically young, mountainous west, including the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, California and Alaska; the raised but relatively flat plateau of the Canadian Shield in the northeast; and the varied eastern region, which includes the Appalachian Mountains, the coastal plain along the Atlantic seaboard, and the Florida peninsula. Mexico, with its long plateaus and cordilleras, falls largely in the western region, although the eastern coastal plain does extend south along the Gulf.

text: The western mountains are split in the middle into the main range of the Rockies and the coast ranges in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, with the Great Basin—a lower area containing smaller ranges and low-lying deserts—in between. The highest peak is Denali in Alaska.

text: The United States Geographical Survey (USGS) states that the geographic center of North America is "6 miles [10 km] west of Balta, Pierce County, North Dakota" at about 48°10′N 100°10′W / 48.167°N 100.167°W / 48.167; -100.167, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) from Rugby, North Dakota. The USGS further states that "No marked or monumented point has been established by any government agency as the geographic center of either the 50 States, the conterminous United States, or the North American continent." Nonetheless, there is a 4.6-metre (15 ft) field stone obelisk in Rugby claiming to mark the center. The North American continental pole of inaccessibility is located 1,650 km (1,030 mi) from the nearest coastline, between Allen and Kyle, South Dakota at 43°22′N 101°58′W / 43.36°N 101.97°W / 43.36; -101.97 (Pole of Inaccessibility North America).[60]

text: Geology

text: Canadian geology

text: Geologically, Canada is one of the oldest regions in the world, with more than half of the region consisting of precambrian rocks that have been above sea level since the beginning of the Palaeozoic era.[61] Canada's mineral resources are diverse and extensive.[61] Across the Canadian Shield and in the north there are large iron, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, and uranium reserves. Large diamond concentrations have been recently developed in the Arctic,[62] making Canada one of the world's largest producers. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and best known, is Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater. The nearby, but less known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. Its magnetic anomalies are very similar to the Sudbury Basin, and so it could be a second metal-rich impact crater.[63] The Shield is also covered by vast boreal forests that support an important logging industry.

text: United States geology

text: The lower 48 US states can be divided into roughly five physiographic provinces:

text:
The American cordillera
The Canadian Shield[61] Northern portion of the upper midwestern United States.
The stable platform
The coastal plain
The Appalachian orogenic belt

text: The geology of Alaska is typical of that of the cordillera, while the major islands of Hawaii consist of Neogene volcanics erupted over a hot spot.

text: Central American geology

text: Central America is geologically active with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring from time to time. In 1976 Guatemala was hit by a major earthquake, killing 23,000 people; Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972, the last one killing about 5,000 people; three earthquakes devastated El Salvador, one in 1986 and two in 2001; one earthquake devastated northern and central Costa Rica in 2009, killing at least 34 people; in Honduras a powerful earthquake killed seven people in 2009.

text: Volcanic eruptions are common in the region. In 1968 the Arenal Volcano, in Costa Rica, erupted and killed 87 people. Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lavas have made it possible to sustain dense populations in the agriculturally productive highland areas.

text: Central America has many mountain ranges; the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the Cordillera Isabelia, and the Cordillera de Talamanca. Between the mountain ranges lie fertile valleys that are suitable for the people; in fact, most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala live in valleys. Valleys are also suitable for the production of coffee, beans, and other crops.

text: Climate

text:
North America is a very large continent which surpasses the Arctic Circle, and the Tropic of Cancer.
Greenland, along with the Canadian Shield, is tundra with average temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 °C (50 to 68 °F), but central Greenland is composed of a very large ice sheet. This tundra radiates throughout Canada, but its border ends near the Rocky Mountains (but still contains Alaska) and at the end of the Canadian Shield, near the Great Lakes.
Climate west of the Cascades is described as being a temperate weather with average precipitation 20 inches (510 mm).[64]
Climate in coastal California is described to be Mediterranean, with average temperatures in cities like San Francisco ranging from 57 to 70 °F (14 to 21 °C) over the course of the year.[65]

text:
Stretching from the East Coast to eastern North Dakota, and stretching down to Kansas, is the continental-humid climate featuring intense seasons, with a large amount of annual precipitation, with places like New York City averaging 50 inches (1,300 mm).[66]
Starting at the southern border of the continental-humid climate and stretching to the Gulf of Mexico (whilst encompassing the eastern half of Texas) is the subtropical climate. This area has the wettest cities in the contiguous U.S. with annual precipitation reaching 67 inches (1,700 mm) in Mobile, Alabama.[67]
Stretching from the borders of the continental humid and subtropical climates, and going west to the Cascades Sierra Nevada, south to the southern tip of durango, north to the border with tundra climate, the steppe/desert climate is the driest climate in the U.S.[68]

text: Ecology

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2015)

text: Notable North American fauna include the bison, black bear, prairie dog, turkey, pronghorn, raccoon, coyote and monarch butterfly.

text:
Notable plants that were domesticated in North America include tobacco, maize, squash, tomato, sunflower, blueberry, avocado, cotton, chile pepper
and vanilla.

text: Demographics

text: Economically, Canada and the United States are the wealthiest and most developed nations in the continent, followed by Mexico, a newly industrialized country.[69] The countries of Central America and the Caribbean are at various levels of economic and human development. For example, small Caribbean island-nations, such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Antigua and Barbuda, have a higher GDP (PPP) per capita than Mexico due to their smaller populations. Panama and Costa Rica have a significantly higher Human Development Index and GDP than the rest of the Central American nations.[70] Additionally, despite Greenland's vast resources in oil and minerals, much of them remain untapped, and the island is economically dependent on fishing, tourism, and subsidies from Denmark. Nevertheless, the island is highly developed.[71]

text: Demographically, North America is ethnically diverse. Its three main groups are Caucasians, Mestizos and Blacks.[citation needed] There is a significant minority of Indigenous Americans and Asians among other less numerous groups.[citation needed]

text: Languages

text: The dominant languages in North America are English, Spanish, and French. Danish is prevalent in Greenland alongside Greenlandic, and Dutch is spoken side by side local languages in the Dutch Caribbean. The term Anglo-America is used to refer to the anglophone countries of the Americas: namely Canada (where English and French are co-official) and the United States, but also sometimes Belize and parts of the tropics, especially the Commonwealth Caribbean. Latin America refers to the other areas of the Americas (generally south of the United States) where the Romance languages, derived from Latin, of Spanish and Portuguese (but French speaking countries are not usually included) predominate: the other republics of Central America (but not always Belize), part of the Caribbean (not the Dutch-, English-, or French-speaking areas), Mexico, and most of South America (except Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana (France), and the Falkland Islands (UK)).

text: The French language has historically played a significant role in North America and now retains a distinctive presence in some regions. Canada is officially bilingual. French is the official language of the Province of Quebec, where 95% of the people speak it as either their first or second language, and it is co-official with English in the Province of New Brunswick. Other French-speaking locales include the Province of Ontario (the official language is English, but there are an estimated 600,000 Franco-Ontarians), the Province of Manitoba (co-official as de jure with English), the French West Indies and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, as well as the US state of Louisiana, where French is also an official language. Haiti is included with this group based on historical association but Haitians speak both Creole and French. Similarly, French and French Antillean Creole is spoken in Saint Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica alongside English.

text: Religions

text: Christianity is the largest religion in the United States, Canada and Mexico. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey, 77% of the population considered themselves Christians.[72] Christianity also is the predominant religion in the 23 dependent territories in North America.[73] The United States has the largest Christian population in the world, with nearly 247 million Christians (70%), although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations.[74] Mexico has the world's second largest number of Catholics, surpassed only by Brazil.[75] A 2015 study estimates about 493,000 Christian believers from a Muslim background in North America, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.[76]

text: According to the same study religiously unaffiliated (include agnostic and atheist) make up about 17% of the population of Canada and the United States.[77] No religion make up about 24% of the United States population, and 24% of Canada total population.[78]

text: Canada, the United States and Mexico host communities of both Jews (6 million or about 1.8%),[79] Buddhists (3.8 million or 1.1%)[80] and Muslims (3.4 million or 1.0%).[81] The biggest number of Jewish individuals can be found in the United States (5.4 million),[82] Canada (375,000)[83] and Mexico (67,476).[84] The United States host the largest Muslim population in North America with 2.7 million or 0.9%,[85][86] While Canada host about one million Muslim or 3.2% of the population.[87] While in Mexico there were 3,700 Muslims in the country.[88] In 2012, U-T San Diego estimated U.S. practitioners of Buddhism at 1.2 million people, of whom 40% are living in Southern California.[89]

text: The predominant religion in Central America is Christianity (96%).[90] Beginning with the Spanish colonization of Central America in the 16th century, Roman Catholicism became the most popular religion in the region until the first half of the 20th century. Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in other Christian groups, particularly Protestantism, as well as other religious organizations, and individuals identifying themselves as having no religion. Also Christianity is the predominant religion in the Caribbean (85%).[90] Other religious groups in the region are Hinduism, Islam, Rastafari (in Jamaica), and Afro-American religions such as Santería and Vodou.

text: Populace

text: The most populous country in North America is the United States with 318.4 million persons.[91] The second largest country is Mexico with a population of 112,322,757.[92] Canada is the third most populous country with 32,623,490.[93] The majority of Caribbean island-nations have national populations under a million, though Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico (a territory of the United States), Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago each have populations higher than a million.[94][95][96][97][98] Greenland has a small population of 55,984 for its massive size (2,166,000 km² or 836,300 mi²), and therefore, it has the world's lowest population density at 0.026 pop./km² (0.067 pop./mi²).[99]

text: While the United States, Canada, and Mexico maintain the largest populations, large city populations are not restricted to those nations. There are also large cities in the Caribbean. The largest cities in North America, by far, are Mexico City and New York. These cities are the only cities on the continent to exceed eight million, and two of three in the Americas. Next in size are Los Angeles, Toronto,[100] Chicago, Havana, Santo Domingo, and Montreal. Cities in the sunbelt regions of the United States, such as those in Southern California and Houston, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, are experiencing rapid growth. These causes included warm temperatures, retirement of Baby Boomers, large industry, and the influx of immigrants. Cities near the United States border, particularly in Mexico, are also experiencing large amounts of growth. Most notable is Tijuana, a city bordering San Diego that receives immigrants from all over Latin America and parts of Europe and Asia. Yet as cities grow in these warmer regions of North America, they are increasingly forced to deal with the major issue of water shortages.[101]

text: Eight of the top ten metropolitan areas are located in the United States. These metropolitan areas all have a population of above 5.5 million and include the New York City metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Chicago metropolitan area, and the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.[102] Whilst the majority of the largest metropolitan areas are within the United States, Mexico is host to the largest metropolitan area by population in North America: Greater Mexico City.[103] Canada also breaks into the top ten largest metropolitan areas with the Toronto metropolitan area having six million people.[104] The proximity of cities to each other on the Canada–United States border and Mexico–United States border has led to the rise of international metropolitan areas. These urban agglomerations are observed at their largest and most productive in Detroit–Windsor and San Diego–Tijuana and experience large commercial, economic, and cultural activity. The metropolitan areas are responsible for millions of dollars of trade dependent on international freight. In Detroit-Windsor the Border Transportation Partnership study in 2004 concluded US$13 billion was dependent on the Detroit–Windsor international border crossing while in San Diego-Tijuana freight at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry was valued at US$20 billion.[105][106]

text: North America has also been witness to the growth of megapolitan areas. In the United States exists eleven megaregions that transcend international borders and comprise Canadian and Mexican metropolitan regions. These are the Arizona Sun Corridor, Cascadia, Florida, Front Range, Great Lakes Megaregion, Gulf Coast Megaregion, Northeast, Northern California, Piedmont Atlantic, Southern California, and the Texas Triangle.[107] Canada and Mexico are also the home of megaregions. These include the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, Golden Horseshoe – both of which are considered part of the Great Lakes Megaregion – and megalopolis of Central Mexico. Traditionally the largest megaregion has been considered the Boston-Washington, D.C. Corridor, or the Northeast, as the region is one massive contiguous area. Yet megaregion criterion have allowed the Great Lakes Megalopolis to maintain status as the most populated region, being home to 53,768,125 people in 2000.[108]

text: The top ten largest North American metropolitan areas by population as of 2013, based on national census numbers from the United States and census estimates from Canada and Mexico.

text:
Metro Area

Population

Area

Country

Mexico City

21,163,226†

7,346 km2 (2,836 sq mi)

Mexico

New York City

19,949,502

17,405 km2 (6,720 sq mi)

United States

Los Angeles

13,131,431

12,562 km2 (4,850 sq mi)

United States

Chicago

9,537,289

24,814 km2 (9,581 sq mi)

United States

Dallas–Fort Worth

6,810,913

24,059 km2 (9,289 sq mi)

United States

Houston

6,313,158

26,061 km2 (10,062 sq mi)

United States

Toronto

6,054,191†

5,906 km2 (2,280 sq mi)

Canada

Philadelphia

6,034,678

13,256 km2 (5,118 sq mi)

United States

Washington, D.C.

5,949,859

14,412 km2 (5,565 sq mi)

United States

Miami

5,828,191

15,896 km2 (6,137 sq mi)

United States

text: †2011 Census figures.

text: Economy

text:
Rank

Country

GDP (PPP, peak year)millions of USD

Peak year

1
United States
20,412,870
2018

2
Mexico
2,571,680
2018

3
Canada
1,847,081
2018

4
Cuba
254,865
2015

5
Dominican Republic
186,048
2018

6
Guatemala
145,514
2018

7
Puerto Rico
130,578
2014

8
Panama
112,204
2018

9
Costa Rica
88,844
2018

10
El Salvador
59,626
2018

text:
Rank

Country

GDP (nominal, peak year)millions of USD

Peak year

1
United States
20,412,870
2018

2
Canada
1,842,627
2013

3
Mexico
1,314,390
2014

4
Puerto Rico
105,035
2016

5
Cuba
87,133
2015

6
Guatemala
82,356
2018

7
Dominican Republic
80,413
2018

8
Panama
66,711
2018

9
Costa Rica
61,287
2018

10
El Salvador
29,407
2018

text: North America's GDP per capita was evaluated in October 2016 by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be $41,830, making it the richest continent in the world,[1] followed by Oceania.[109]

text: Canada, Mexico, and the United States have significant and multifaceted economic systems. The United States has the largest economy of all three countries and in the world.[109] In 2016, the U.S. had an estimated per capita gross domestic product (PPP) of $57,466 according to the World Bank, and is the most technologically developed economy of the three.[110] The United States' services sector comprises 77% of the country's GDP (estimated in 2010), industry comprises 22% and agriculture comprises 1.2%.[109] The U.S. economy is also the fastest growing economy in North America and the Americas as a whole,[111][1] with the highest GDP per capita in the Americas as well.[1]

text: Canada shows significant growth in the sectors of services, mining and manufacturing.[112] Canada's per capita GDP (PPP) was estimated at $44,656 and it had the 11th largest GDP (nominal) in 2014.[112] Canada's services sector comprises 78% of the country's GDP (estimated in 2010), industry comprises 20% and agriculture comprises 2%.[112] Mexico has a per capita GDP (PPP) of $16,111 and as of 2014 is the 15th largest GDP (nominal) in the world.[113] Being a newly industrialized country,[69] Mexico maintains both modern and outdated industrial and agricultural facilities and operations.[114] Its main sources of income are oil, industrial exports, manufactured goods, electronics, heavy industry, automobiles, construction, food, banking and financial services.[115]

text: The North American economy is well defined and structured in three main economic areas.[116] These areas are the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), and the Central American Common Market (CACM).[116] Of these trade blocs, the United States takes part in two. In addition to the larger trade blocs there is the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement among numerous other free trade relations, often between the larger, more developed countries and Central American and Caribbean countries.

text: The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) forms one of the four largest trade blocs in the world.[117] Its implementation in 1994 was designed for economic homogenization with hopes of eliminating barriers of trade and foreign investment between Canada, the United States and Mexico.[118] While Canada and the United States already conducted the largest bilateral trade relationship – and to present day still do – in the world and Canada–United States trade relations already allowed trade without national taxes and tariffs,[119] NAFTA allowed Mexico to experience a similar duty-free trade. The free trade agreement allowed for the elimination of tariffs that had previously been in place on United States-Mexico trade. Trade volume has steadily increased annually and in 2010, surface trade between the three NAFTA nations reached an all-time historical increase of 24.3% or US$791 billion.[120] The NAFTA trade bloc GDP (PPP) is the world's largest with US$17.617 trillion.[121] This is in part attributed to the fact that the economy of the United States is the world's largest national economy; the country had a nominal GDP of approximately $14.7 trillion in 2010.[122] The countries of NAFTA are also some of each other's largest trade partners. The United States is the largest trade partner of Canada and Mexico;[123] while Canada and Mexico are each other's third largest trade partners.[124][125]

text: The Caribbean trade bloc – CARICOM – came into agreement in 1973 when it was signed by 15 Caribbean nations. As of 2000, CARICOM trade volume was US$96 billion. CARICOM also allowed for the creation of a common passport for associated nations. In the past decade the trade bloc focused largely on Free Trade Agreements and under the CARICOM Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) free trade agreements have been signed into effect.

text: Integration of Central American economies occurred under the signing of the Central American Common Market agreement in 1961; this was the first attempt to engage the nations of this area into stronger financial cooperation. Recent implementation of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has left the future of the CACM unclear.[126] The Central American Free Trade Agreement was signed by five Central American countries, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. The focal point of CAFTA is to create a free trade area similar to that of NAFTA. In addition to the United States, Canada also has relations in Central American trade blocs. Currently under proposal, the Canada – Central American Free Trade Agreement (CA4) would operate much the same as CAFTA with the United States does.

text: These nations also take part in inter-continental trade blocs. Mexico takes a part in the G3 Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and Venezuela and has a trade agreement with the EU. The United States has proposed and maintained trade agreements under the Transatlantic Free Trade Area between itself and the European Union; the US-Middle East Free Trade Area between numerous Middle Eastern nations and itself; and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership between Southeast Asian nations, Australia, and New Zealand.

text: Transport

text: The Pan-American Highway route in the Americas is the portion of a network of roads nearly 48,000 km (30,000 mi) in length which travels through the mainland nations. No definitive length of the Pan-American Highway exists because the US and Canadian governments have never officially defined any specific routes as being part of the Pan-American Highway, and Mexico officially has many branches connecting to the US border. However, the total length of the portion from Mexico to the northern extremity of the highway is roughly 26,000 km (16,000 mi).

text: The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built in the 1860s, linking the railroad network of the eastern US with California on the Pacific coast. Finished on 10 May 1869 at the famous golden spike event at Promontory Summit, Utah, it created a nationwide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West, catalyzing the transition from the wagon trains of previous decades to a modern transportation system.[127] Although an accomplishment, it achieved the status of first transcontinental railroad by connecting myriad eastern US railroads to the Pacific and was not the largest single railroad system in the world. The Canadian Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) had, by 1867, already accumulated more than 2,055 km (1,277 mi) of track by connecting Ontario with the Canadian Atlantic provinces west as far as Port Huron, Michigan, through Sarnia, Ontario.

text: Communications

text: A shared telephone system known as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 17 Caribbean nations.

text: Culture

text: Canada and the United States were both former British colonies. There is frequent cultural interplay between the United States and English-speaking Canada. Greenland shares some cultural ties with the indigenous people of Canada but is considered Nordic and has strong Danish ties due to centuries of colonization by Denmark. Spanish-speaking North America shares a common past as former Spanish colonies. In Mexico and the Central American countries where civilizations like the Maya developed, indigenous people preserve traditions across modern boundaries. Central American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean nations have historically had more in common due to geographical proximity.

text: Northern Mexico, particularly in the cities of Monterrey, Tijuana, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexicali, is strongly influenced by the culture and way of life of the United States. Of the aforementioned cities, Monterrey has been regarded as the most Americanized city in Mexico.[128] Immigration to the United States and Canada remains a significant attribute of many nations close to the southern border of the US. The Anglophone Caribbean states have witnessed the decline of the British Empire and its influence on the region, and its replacement by the economic influence of Northern America. In the Anglophone Caribbean. This is partly due to the relatively small populations of the English-speaking Caribbean countries, and also because many of them now have more people living abroad than those remaining at home. Northern Mexico, the Western United States and Alberta, Canada share a cowboy culture.

text: Sports

text:
Canada, Mexico and the US submitted a joint bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The following table shows the most prominent sports leagues in North America, in order of average revenue.[129][130]

text:
League
Sport
Primarycountry
Founded
Teams
RevenueUS$ (bn)
AverageAttendance

National Football League (NFL)
American football
United States
1920
32
$9.0
7004676040000000000♠67,604

Major League Baseball (MLB)
Baseball
United StatesCanada
1869
30
$8.0
7004304580000000000♠30,458

National Basketball Association (NBA)
Basketball
United StatesCanada
1946
30
$5.0
7004173470000000000♠17,347

National Hockey League (NHL)
Ice hockey
United StatesCanada
1917
31
$3.3
7004177200000000000♠17,720

Liga MX
Football (soccer)
Mexico
1943
18
$0.6
7004255570000000000♠25,557

Major League Soccer (MLS)
Football (soccer)
United StatesCanada
1994
20[sn 1]
$0.5
7004215740000000000♠21,574

text: Jump up ^ MLS plans to expand to 21 teams in 2017, and to 24 teams by 2020.


document_title: Management by objectives

question_text: the first step in management by objectives is

root

text: Management by objectives

text: History[edit]

text: Peter Drucker first used the term "management by objectives" in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.[1] While the basic ideas of MBO were not original to Drucker, they pulled from other management practices to create a complete “system”.[4] The idea draws on the many ideas presented in Mary Parker Follett's 1926 essay, "The Giving of Orders".

tag: p

text: After the term and idea were brought up, Drucker's student, George Odiorne, continued to develop the idea in his book Management Decisions by Objectives, published in the mid-1960s.[5][6] MBO was popularized by companies like Hewlett-Packard, who claimed it led to their success.[5][7]

text: Concept and framework[edit]

text: Management by objectives at its core is the process of employers/supervisors attempting to manage their subordinates by introducing a set of specific goals that both the employee and the company strive to achieve in the near future, and working to meet those goals accordingly.[1]

text: Five steps:

text:
Review organizational goal
Set worker objective
Monitor progress
Evaluation
Give reward

tag: ol

text: Features and advantages[edit]

text: The principle of MBO is for employees to have a clear understanding of their roles and the responsibilities expected of them, so they can understand how their activities relate to the achievement of the organization's goals. MBO also places importance on fulfilling the personal goals of each employee.

text: Proponents argue that benefits of MBO include:

text:
Motivation – Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment. This increases employee job satisfaction and commitment.
Better communication and coordination – Frequent reviews and interactions between superiors and subordinates help to maintain harmonious relationships within the organization and also to solve problems.
Clarity of goals.
Subordinates tend to have a higher commitment to objectives they set for themselves than those imposed on them by another person.
Managers can ensure that objectives of the subordinates are linked to the organization's objectives.
Common goal for whole organization means it is a unifying, directive principle of management.

text: Application in practice[edit]

text: There are endless ways to exercise management by objectives. One must simply find specific goals to aim for in an organization or business. Many noteworthy companies have used MBO. The management at the computer company Hewlett-Packard (HP), has said that it considers the policy a huge component of its success. Many other corporations praise the effectiveness of MBO, including Xerox, DuPont, Intel,[8] and countless others.[9] Companies that use MBO often report greater sales rates and productiveness within the organization. Objectives can be set in all domains of activities, such as production, marketing, services, sales, R&D, human resources, finance, and information systems. Some objectives are collective, and some can be goals for each individual worker. Both make the task at hand seem attainable and enable the workers to visualize what needs to be done and how.

text: In the MBO paradigm, managers determine the mission and the strategic goals of the enterprise. The goals set by top-level managers are based on an analysis of what can and should be accomplished by the organization within a specific period of time. The functions of these managers can be centralised by appointing a project manager who can monitor and control activities of the various departments.[10] If this cannot be done or is not desirable, each manager's contributions to the organizational goal should be clearly spelled out.[11]

text: Objectives need quantifying and monitoring. Reliable management information systems are needed to establish relevant objectives and monitor their "reach ratio" in an objective way.[12] Pay incentives (bonuses) are often linked to results in reaching the objectives.

text: The mnemonic S.M.A.R.T. is associated with the process of setting objectives in this paradigm. "SMART" objectives are:

text:
Specific - Target a specific area for improvement.
Measurable - Quantify or suggest an indicator of progress.
Assignable - Specify who will do it.
Realistic - State what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
Time-Related - Specify when the result(s) can be achieved.[13]

tag: ul

text: The aphorism "what gets measured gets done", is aligned with the MBO philosophy.

text: Arguments against[edit]

text: MBO has its detractors and attention notably among them W. Edwards Deming, who argued that a lack of understanding of systems commonly results in the misapplication of objectives.[14] Additionally, Deming stated that setting production targets will encourage workers to meet those targets through whatever means necessary, which usually results in poor quality.[15]

text: Point 7 of Deming's key principles encourages managers to abandon objectives in favour of leadership because he felt that a leader with an understanding of systems was more likely to guide workers to an appropriate solution than the incentive of an objective. Deming also pointed out that Drucker warned managers that a systemic view was required[16] and felt that Drucker's warning went largely unheeded by the practitioners of MBO.

text: There are several limitations to the assumptive base underlying the impact of managing by objectives,[citation needed] including:

text:
It over-emphasizes the setting of goals over the working of a plan as a driver of outcomes.
It under-emphasizes the importance of the environment or context in which the goals are set.

text: That context includes everything from the availability and quality of resources, to relative buy-in by leadership and stake-holders. As an example of the influence of management buy-in as a contextual influencer, in a 1991 comprehensive review of thirty years of research on the impact of Management by Objectives, Robert Rodgers and John Hunter concluded that companies whose CEOs demonstrated high commitment to MBO showed, on average, a 56% gain in productivity. Companies with CEOs who showed low commitment only saw a 6% gain in productivity.[citation needed]

text: When this approach is not properly set, agreed and managed by organizations, self-centered employees might be prone to distort results, falsely representing achievement of targets that were set in a short-term, narrow fashion. In this case, managing by objectives would be counterproductive.

text: Recent research[edit]

text: Management by Objectives is still practiced today, with a focus on planning and development aiding various organizations.[17] The most recent research focuses on specific industries, specifying the practice of MBO for each.[18][19] In addition, following criticism of the original MBO approach, a new formula was introduced in 2016, aiming at revitalizing it, that is the OPTIMAL MBO, which stands for its components, namely: (O) Objectives, Outside-in; (P) Profitability (budget) related goals; (T) Target Setting; (I) Incentives & Influence; (M) Measurement; (A) Agreement, Accountability, Appraisal, Appreciation; and (L) Leadership Support.[20]

text: While the practice is used today, it may go by different names – the letters "MBO" have lost their formality, and future planning is a more standard practice.[5]


document_title: Scandinavian Mountains

question_text: where are the kjolen mountains located on a map

text: Scandinavian Mountains

text: Names in Scandinavia[edit]

text: Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skandinaviska fjällkedjan, Skanderna (encyclopaedic and professional usage), Fjällen ("The Fells", common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ("The Keel"), and in Norwegian Den skandinaviske fjellkjede, Skandesfjellene, Kjølen ("The Keel") or Nordryggen ("The North Ridge", name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In southern Norway there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such as Dovrefjell, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, and Rondane.[4][5][6][7]

text: Orography[edit]

text: The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area (of mean altitude of over 1,000 m[8]) between Stavanger and Trondheim in southern Norway, with numerous peaks over 1,300 m and some peaks over 2,000 m.[9] Around Trondheim Fjord peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m rising again to heights in excess of 1,900 m further north in Swedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway.[9][A] The southern part of the mountain range contains the highest mountain of Northern Europe, Galdhøpiggen at almost 2,500 m.[11] This part of the mountain chain is also broader and contains a series of plateaux and gently undulating surfaces[9][12] that hosts scattered inselbergs.[12] The plateaux and undulating surfaces of the southern Scandinavian Mountains form a series of stepped surfaces. Geomorphologist Karna Lidmar-Bergström and co-workers recognize five widespread stepped surfaces. On eastern Norway some of the stepped surfaces merge into a single surface. Dovre and Jotunheimen are rises from the highest of the stepped surfaces.[13] In south-western Norway the plateaux and gently undulating surfaces are strongly dissected by fjords and valleys.[14] The mountain chain is present in Sweden from northern Dalarna northwards; south of this point the Scandinavian Mountains lie completely within Norway.[9] Most of the Scandinavian Mountains lack "alpine topography",[B] and where it does have it does not relate to altitude.[12] Example of this is the distribution of cirques in southern Norway that can be found both near sea level and at 2,000 m. Most cirques are found between 1,000 and 1,500 m.[16]

text: To the east the Scandinavian Mountains proper bounds with mountains that are lower and less dissected and are known in Swedish as the förfjäll (literally "fore-fell"). Generally the förfjäll do not surpass 1,000 m above sea level. As a geomorphic unit the förfjäll extends across Sweden as a 650 km long and 40 to 80 km broad belt from Dalarna in the south to Norrbotten in the north. While lower than the Scandinavian Mountains proper, the förfjäll's pronounced relief, its large number of plateaux and its coherent valley system distinguish it from so-called undulating hilly terrain (Swedish: bergkullsterräng) and plains with residual hills (Swedish: bergkullslätt) found further east.[17]

text: Geology[edit]

text: Bedrock[edit]

text: Most of the rocks of the Scandinavian Mountains are Caledonian which means they were put in place by the Caledonian orogeny. Caledonian rocks overlie rocks of the much older Svecokarelian and Sveconorwegian provinces. The Caledonian rocks actually form large nappes (Swedish: skollor) that have been thrusted over the older rocks. Much of the Caledonian rocks have been eroded since they were put in place meaning that they were once thicker and more contiguous. It is also implyed from the erosion that the nappes of Caledonian rock reached once further east than they do today. The erosion has left remaining massifs of Caledonian rocks and windows of Precambrian rock.[18]

text: While there are some disagreements geologists generally recognize four units among the nappes: an Uppermost, an Upper, a Middle and a Lower one. The last one is made up Ediacaran (Vendian), Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian-aged sedimentary rocks. Pieces of Precambrian shield rocks are in some places also incorporated into the Lower nappes.[18]

text: It was during the Silurian and Devonian periods that the Caledonian nappes were stacked upon the older rocks and upon themselves. This occurred in connection to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean as the ancient continents of Laurentia and Baltica collided.[18] This collision produced a Himalayas-sized mountain range named the Caledonian Mountains roughly over the same area as the present-day Scandinavian Mountains.[19][20] In Scandinavia the Caledonian Mountains begun a post-orogenic collapse in the Devonian implying tectonic extension and subsidence.[21] Despite occurring in about the same area the ancient Caledonian Mountains and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated.[C]

text: Origin of the mountains[edit]

text: The origin of today's mountain topography is debated by geologists.[24] Geologically, the Scandinavian Mountains are an elevated, passive continental margin similar to the mountains and plateaux found on the opposite side of the North Atlantic in Eastern Greenland or in Australia's Great Dividing Range.[20] The Scandinavian Mountains attained its height by tectonic processes different from orogeny, chiefly in the Cenozoic.[23] A two-stage model of uplift has been proposed for the Scandinavian Mountains in southern Norway. A first stage in the Mesozoic and a second stage starting from the Oligocene.[19] The uplift of southern Norway has elevated the westernmost extension of the sub-Cambrian peneplain which forms part of what is known as the Paleic surface[D] in Norway.[26][27] In southern Norway the Scandinavian Mountains had their main uplift phase later (Neogene) than in northern Scandinavia which had its main phase of uplift in the Paleogene.[28] The various episodes of uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains were similar in orientation and tilted landsurfaces to the east while allowing rivers to incise the landscape.[29] Some of the tilted surfaces constitute the Muddus plains landscape of northern Sweden.[28] The progressive tilt contributed also to create the parallel drainage pattern of northern Sweden.[29] Uplift is thought to have been accommodated by coast-parallel normal faults and not by fault-less doming.[29][30] Therefore, the common labelling of the southern Scandivavian Mountains and the northern Scandinavian Mountains as two domes is misleading.[29]

text: Unlike orogenic mountains there is no widely accepted geophysical model to explain elevated passive continental margins such as the Scandinavian Mountains.[31] Various mechanisms of uplift have, however, been proposed over the years. A 2012 study argues that the Scandinavian Mountains and other elevated passive continental margins most likely share the same mechanism of uplift and that this mechanism is related to far-field stresses in Earth’s lithosphere. The Scandinavian Mountains can according to this view be likened to a giant anticlinal lithospheric fold. Folding could have been caused by horizontal compression acting on a thin to thick crust transition zone (as are all passive margins).[32][33]

text: Alternative lines of research have stressed the role of climate in inducing erosion that induces an isostatic compensation;[22] fluvial and glacial erosion and incision during the Quaternary is thought to have contributed to the uplift of the mountain by forcing an isostatic response.[22][24] The total amount of uplift produced by this mechanism could be as much as 500 m.[24] Others geoscientists have implied diapirism in the asthenosphere as being the cause of uplift.[22] One hypothesis claim that the early uplift of the Scandinavian Mountains could be indebted to changes in the density of the lithosphere and asthenosphere caused by the Iceland plume when Greenland and Scandinavia rifted apart about 53 million years ago.[34]

text: Quaternary geology[edit]

text: Many slopes and valleys have straight courses due to the fact that they follow tectonic fractures that are more prone to erosion.[14] Another result of tectonics in the relief is that slopes corresponding to footwalls of normal faults tend to be straight.[12] There is evidence that the drainage divide between the Norwegian Sea and the south-east flowing rivers were once further west.[14] Glacial erosion is thought to have contributed to the shift of the divide, which in some cases ought to have been in excess of 50 km.[14] Much of the Scandinavian Mountains has been sculpted by glacal erosion. The mountain chain is dotted with glacial cirques usually separated from each other by pre-glacial surfaces.[9] Glacier erosion has been limited in these paleosurfaces which form usually plateaus between valleys. As such the paleosurfaces were subject of diverging and slow ice flow during the glaciations. In contrast valleys concentrated ice flow forming fast glaciers or ice streams.[16] At some locations coalesced cirques form arêtes and pyramidal peaks. Glacial reshaping of valleys is more marked in the western part of the mountain chain where drowned glacier-shaped valleys constitute the fjords of Norway. In the eastern part of the mountain chain glacial reshaping of valleys is weaker.[9] Many mountain tops contain blockfields which escaped glacial erosion either by having constituted nunataks in the glacial periods or by being protected from erosion under cold-based glacier ice.[14] Karst systems, with their characteristic caves and sinkholes occur at various locations in the Scandinavian Mountains but are more common in the northern parts. Present-day karst systems might have long histories dating back to the Pleistocene or even earlier times.[14] Much of the mountain range is mantled by deposits of glacial origin including till blankets, moraines, drumlins and glacifluvial material in the form of outwash plains and eskers. Bare rock surfaces are more common in the western side of the mountain range. Although the ages of these deposits and landforms vary, most of them were formed in connection to the Weichselian glaciation and the subsequent deglaciation.[14]

text: The Cenozoic glaciations that affected Fennoscandia most likely began in the Scandinavian Mountains.[35] It is estimated that during 50% of the last 2.75 million years the Scandinavian Mountains hosted mountain-centered ice caps and ice fields.[36] The ice fields from which the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet grew out multiple times most likely resembled today’s ice fields in Andean Patagonia.[35][E] During the last glacial maximum (ca. 20 ka BP) all the Scandinavian Mountains was covered by the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet. This ice sheet extended well beyond the mountains into Denmark, Germany, Poland and the former USSR. As the ice margin started to recede 22-17 ka BP the ice sheet became increasingly concentrated in the Scandinavian Mountains. Recession of the ice margin led the ice sheet to be concentrated in two parts of the Scandinavian Mountains, one part in Southern Norway and another in Northern Sweden and Norway. These two centres were for a time linked so that the linkage constituted a major drainage barrier that formed various large ephemeral ice-dammed lakes. About 10,1 ka BP the linkage had disappeared and so did the southern centre of the ice sheet thousand years later. The northern centre remained a few hundred years more and 9,7 ka BP the eastern Sarek Mountains hosted the last remnant of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.[37] As the ice sheet retreated to the Scandinavian Mountains it was dissimilar to the early mountain glaciation that gave origin to the ice sheet as the ice divide lagged behind as the ice mass concentrated in the west.[35]

text: Highest mountains[edit]

text: Norway[edit]

text: Of the 10 highest mountain peaks in Scandinavia (prominence greater than 30 m or 98 ft), six are situated in Oppland, Norway. The other four are situated in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. There are 83 peaks equal to or taller than 2,200 m (7,218 ft) in Norway.[citation needed]

text:
2,469 m (8,100 ft) Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
2,465 m (8,087 ft) Glittertind (Oppland)
2,405 m (7,890 ft) Store Skagastølstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
2,387 m (7,831 ft) Store Styggedalstinden east (Sogn og Fjordane)
2,373 m (7,785 ft) Skarstind (Oppland)
2,369 m (7,772 ft) Vesle Galdhøpiggen (Oppland)
2,368 m (7,769 ft) Surtningssue (Oppland)
2,366 m (7,762 ft) Store Memurutinden (Oppland)
2,351 m (7,713 ft) Jervvasstind (Sogn og Fjordane)
2,348 m (7,703 ft) Sentraltind (Sogn og Fjordane)

text:
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text:
Galdhøpiggen seen from west, Norway's highest mountain

Glittertind

Falketind in Jotunheimen

Landscape between Abisko National Park and Kebnekaise

text: Sweden[edit]

text: There are 12 peaks in Sweden that reach above 2,000 m high (6,600 ft), or 13 depending on how the peaks are defined. This list is defined according to UIAA.[citation needed] Eight of them are located in Sarek National Park and the neighbouring national park Stora Sjöfallet. The other four peaks are located in the further north region of Kebnekaise. All mountain names are in Sami but with the more common Swedish spelling of it.

text:
2,104 m (6,903 ft) Kebnekaise (Lappland) - Note: Altitude includes the peak glacier. If melting continues, Kebnekaise Nordtoppen, just 500 meters away, might become the highest point.
2,097 m (6,880 ft) Kebnekaise Nordtoppen (Lappland) - the highest fixed point in Sweden.
2,089 m (6,854 ft) Sarektjåkkå Stortoppen (Lappland)
2,076 m (6,811 ft) Kaskasatjåkka (Lappland)
2,056 m (6,745 ft) Sarektjåkkå Nordtoppen (Lappland)
2,043 m (6,703 ft) Kaskasapakte (Lappland)
2,023 m (6,637 ft) Sarektjåkkå Sydtoppen (Lappland)
2,016 m (6,614 ft) Akka Stortoppen (Lappland)
2,010 m (6,594 ft) Akka Nordvästtoppen (Lappland)
2,010 m (6,594 ft) Sarektjåkkå Buchttoppen (Lappland)
2,005 m (6,578 ft) Pårtetjåkka (Lappland)
2,002 m (6,568 ft) Palkatjåkka (Lappland)

text: Other popular mountains for skiers, climbers and hikers in Sweden

text:
Sulitelma 1,860 m (Lappland)
Helagsfjället 1,796 m (Härjedalen)
Norra Storfjället 1,767 m (Lappland)
Templet 1,728 m (Jämtland)
Lillsylen 1,704 m (Jämtland)
Åreskutan 1,420 m (Jämtland)
Storvätteshågna 1,204 m (Dalarna)
Molnet 1,191 m (Dalarna)

text: Finland[edit]

text:
1,324 m (4,344 ft) Halti (Lappi/Lappland and Norwegian Troms)
1,317 m (4,321 ft) Ridnitsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
1,280 m (4,200 ft) Kiedditsohkka (Lappi/Lappland)
1,240 m (4,068 ft) Kovddoskaisi (Lappi/Lappland)
1,239 m (4,065 ft) Ruvdnaoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)
1,180 m (3,871 ft) Loassonibba (Lappi/Lappland)
1,150 m (3,773 ft) Urtasvaara (Lappi/Lappland)
1,144 m (3,753 ft) Kahperusvaarat (Lappi/Lappland)
1,130 m (3,707 ft) Aldorassa (Lappi/Lappland)
1,100 m (3,608 ft) Kieddoaivi (Lappi/Lappland)

text: As of July 2016[update], to mark the centenary of Finland's independence in 2017, the government of Norway is considering adjusting Norway's border with Finland in the Halti area, giving Finland a 1,331 m peak (one of the two peaks of Halti), which would become Finland's highest point.[38]

text: The highest independent prominence in Finland is Taivaskero (807 m high) in Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park.[citation needed]