North America & the Caribbean

An introduction 

North America is a continent in the Earth's northern hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast. It covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometres about 4.8% of the planet's surface or about 16.5% of its land area. As of July 2007, its population was estimated at nearly 524 million people. It is the third-largest continent in area, following Asia and Africa, and is fourth in population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

North America is often divided into subregions but no universally accepted divisions exist. Northern America is used to refer to the northern countries and territories of North America: Canada, the United States, Greenland, Bermuda, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. They are often considered distinct from the southern portion of the Americas, which largely comprise Latin America. The term Middle America is sometimes used to collectively refer to Mexico, the nations of Central America, and the Caribbean.

There is a huge variation in economic and social development within the region. Canada and the USA have highly developed economies and human development indicators whereas some of the small Caribbean and Central American countries are struggling with widespread poverty, slow economic development and poor infrastructure.

St John is currently working in 11 countries across North America and the Caribbean and is providing a huge variety of services and support to communities, which reflects the great diversity of this region. Click on country pages to find out more about St John activities.