Location: Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean, north of the conterminous US

Language: English (official), French (official)

Currency: 1 Canadian dollar (Can$) = 100 cents

Population: 31,006,347

Natural Hazards:
continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to
development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of
the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior,
and produce most of the country's rain and snow

Import: machinery and equipment, crude oil, chemicals,
motor vehicles and parts, durable consumer goods

Export: motor vehicles and parts, newsprint, wood pulp,
timber, crude petroleum, machinery, natural gas, aluminum, telecommunications equipment

Industries: processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish products, petroleum and natural gas

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 67,773 km; note—there are two major transcontinental freight railway
systems: Canadian National (privatized November 1995) and Canadian Pacific
Railway; passenger service provided by government-operated firm VIA, which
has no trackage of its own
standard gauge: 67,773 km 1.435-m gauge (183 km electrified) (1996)

Highways:
total: 912,200 km
paved: 246,400 km (including 16,600 km of expressways)
unpaved: 665,800 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 3,000 km, including Saint Lawrence Seaway

Ports & Harbors:
Becancour (Quebec), Churchill, Halifax, Hamilton,
Montreal, New Westminster, Prince Rupert, Quebec, Saint John (New Brunswick), St. John's (Newfoundland), Sept Isles, Sydney, Trois-Rivieres, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Windsor

Location: Middle America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, between Belize and the US and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala and the US

Language: Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages

Currency: 1 New Mexican peso (Mex$) = 100 centavos

Population: 100,294,036

Natural Hazards: tsunamis along the Pacific coast, volcanoes and destructive earthquakes in the center and south, and hurricanes on the Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean coasts

Import: metal-working machines, steel mill products, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment, car parts for assembly, repair parts for motor vehicles, aircraft, and aircraft parts

Export: crude oil, oil products, coffee, silver, engines, motor
vehicles, cotton, consumer electronics

Industries: food and beverages, tobacco, chemicals, iron and steel, petroleum, mining, textiles, clothing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, tourism

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 31,048 km
standard gauge: 30,958 km 1.435-m gauge (246 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 90 km 0.914-m gauge (1998 est.)

Highways:
total: 252,000 km
paved: 94,248 km (including 6,740 km of expressways)
unpaved: 157,752 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 2,900 km navigable rivers and coastal canals

Ports & Harbors: Acapulco, Altamira, Coatzacoalcos, Ensenada, Guaymas, La Paz, Lazaro Cardenas, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Progreso, Salina Cruz, Tampico, Topolobampo, Tuxpan, Veracruz

Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Language: English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)

Currency: 1 United States dollar (US$) = 100 cents

Population: 272,639,608

Natural Hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the
midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development

Import: crude oil and refined petroleum products, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food and beverages

Export: capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products

Industries: eading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods,
lumber, mining

Transportation:
Railways:
total: 240,000 km mainline routes (nongovernment owned)
standard gauge: 240,000 km 1.435-m gauge (1989)

Highways:
total: 6.42 million km
paved: 3,903,360 km (including 88,400 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,516,640 km

Waterways: 41,009 km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes

Ports & Harbors: Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Port Canaveral, Portland (Oregon), Prudhoe Bay, San Francisco, Savannah, Seattle, Tampa, Toledo