2. North America is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Pacific; and on the north by a sea, covered a great part of the year with ice, called the Arctic or Northern Ocean.

3. On the south, it is bounded by the Gulf of Mexico, which divides it from South America, and by the narrow Isthmus of Darien, which unites it with that portion of the western continent.

4. North America contains the United States, occupied by the leading nation in this hemisphere; the British Possessions, Russian Possessions, and Polar Regions, lying to the north; and Mexico and Guatemala, lying to the south. The West Indies will be noticed in the history of South America.