Both North and South America are included in the geographical region known as the Americas. Both North America and South America are part of the New World, which is situated in the Western Hemisphere.
Humans first migrated to the Americas from Asia between 42,000 and 17,000 years ago, according to this theory. Although the Norse adventurer Leif Erikson arrived in the Americas first, Christopher Columbus’s expeditions were the first to result in the continent’s permanent settlement.
The Isthmus of Panama is the geographical location where North America and South America meet.
When the continents were divided at the Costa Rican border, Panama was considered to be a part of South America despite its current location as a province of Colombia. After Panama’s independence in 1903, the boundary between the two countries shifted.

Only Panama has managed to switch continents. With a total land area of 42.55 million square kilometres (16.43 million square miles), the Americas account for around 8.0% of Earth’s total surface and 28.4% of Earth’s total land area.
The United States, Brazil, and Mexico are home to over two-thirds of the 1.02 billion people that reside throughout both continents.
The United States has 31 nations and dozens of territories throughout both continents, while numerous European countries including the United Kingdom, France, Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark also have extensive holdings in North and South America.
Here are the top 10 biggest countries in the Americas:
- Canada (3,854,083 mi2)
- United States (3,617,827 mi2)
- Brazil (3,287,086 mi2)
- Argentina (1,073,234 mi2)
- Mexico (758,249 mi2)
- Peru (486,093 mi2)
- Colombia (440,715 mi2)
- Bolivia (424,052 mi2)
- Venezuela (353,748 mi2)
- Chile (291,855 mi2)

With an area of 3,854,083 square miles, Canada is the biggest nation in the world (9,984,670 square kilometres). Not only is Canada the third-largest nation in terms of land area, but it is also the sixth-largest by population.
Despite its vast territory, Canada’s total population of 37,500,000 places is just 39th globally in terms of people.
Also See: Largest Countries in Africa 2022
Since the northern section of Canada experiences terrible weather conditions, the bulk of the population resides in the southernmost regions near the Canadian-US border.
The United States, with roughly 3,617,827 square miles, is the second-largest nation in the Americas (9,372,610 square kilometres). The United States, with a total of about 329,000,000 inhabitants, ranks third in terms of population.
Rank | Country | Area | Region | Subregion |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Canada | 9984670 | North America | Northern America |
2 | United States | 9372610 | North America | Northern America |
3 | Brazil | 8515767 | South America | South America |
4 | Argentina | 2780400 | South America | South America |
5 | Mexico | 1964375 | North America | Central America |
6 | Peru | 1285216 | South America | South America |
7 | Colombia | 1141748 | South America | South America |
8 | Bolivia | 1098581 | South America | South America |
9 | Venezuela | 916445 | South America | South America |
10 | Chile | 756102 | South America | South America |
11 | Paraguay | 406752 | South America | South America |
12 | Ecuador | 276841 | South America | South America |
13 | Guyana | 214969 | South America | South America |
14 | Uruguay | 181034 | South America | South America |
15 | Suriname | 163820 | South America | South America |
16 | Nicaragua | 130373 | North America | Central America |
17 | Honduras | 112492 | North America | Central America |
18 | Cuba | 109884 | North America | Caribbean |
19 | Guatemala | 108889 | North America | Central America |
20 | Panama | 75417 | North America | Central America |
21 | Costa Rica | 51100 | North America | Central America |
22 | Haiti | 27750 | North America | Caribbean |
23 | Belize | 22966 | North America | Central America |
24 | El Salvador | 21041 | North America | Central America |
25 | Bahamas | 13943 | North America | Caribbean |
26 | Jamaica | 10991 | North America | Caribbean |
27 | Trinidad and Tobago | 5130 | North America | Caribbean |
28 | Saint Lucia | 616 | North America | Caribbean |
29 | Antigua and Barbuda | 442 | North America | Caribbean |
30 | Barbados | 430 | North America | Caribbean |
31 | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 389 | North America | Caribbean |
32 | Grenada | 344 | North America | Caribbean |
33 | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 261 | North America | Caribbean |