Physiography of North America:

• The northern part of North American continent is covered with snow laden mountain regions.
• These regions consist of Alaska in the north-west, Greenland in the north-east and the rest is Canada.
• Alaska is the largest state of the US.
• Due to snow, these regions are not useful for agriculture.
• When the last Ice Age ended about 4000 years back, the glaciers melted and formed five huge lakes in North America.
• They are collectively known as Great Lakes.
• Five Great Lakes namely (1) Superior, (2) Huron, (3) Erie, (4) Ontario and (5) Michigan.
• The Great-Lakes contain 1 /5th of the total surface water on earth. Hence, they form the largest freshwater system of the world.
• North America also consists of vast plains.
• Important rivers like Mississippi, Missouri and Mackenzie make the plains fertile. These plains are also known as ‘Plains of Prairies’.
• These plains are world famous for their wheat production.
• There are also two specific mountain ranges in the east and the west of the North American continent.
• They are (1) Rockies Mountains in the west (2) Appalachian Mountains in the east.
• Among all, Mt. McKinley is the highest peak. It lies in Alaska range.
• Since Alaska remains covered with snow, Eskimo community of Alaska lives in special types of houses called ‘Igloo’.
• Animals such as reindeer, seal, walrus, white bear, etc. are found in these snowy regions.