Question

What is the longitudinal extent of North America?
$A)$$23^\circ W - 72^\circ W$latitude
$B)$$30^\circ W - 110^\circ W$latitude
$C)$$53^\circ W - 150^\circ W$latitude
$D)$$53^\circ W - 180^\circ W$latitude

Answer 1

Hint: Longitude is a spatial coordinate that describes the east-west location of a point on the Earth's surface or a celestial body's surface. It is an angular measurement denoted by the Greek letter lambda ($\lambda $). It is generally expressed in degrees. Meridians (lines that run from pole to pole) connect points of the same longitude together.

Complete answer:
North America, the world's third-largest continent, stretches from Alaska's small the Aleutian Islands to Panama's Isthmus. The continent contains the massive island of Greenland in the northeast, as well as the Caribbean Sea and western North Atlantic Ocean's tiny island countries and territories. The continent extends halfway across the world in the far north, from Greenland to the Aleutian Islands. The continent is just $50$ kilometres ($31$ miles) wide at its narrowest point in Panama.

The mountainous west, the Great Plains, the Canadian Shield, the varied eastern zone, and the Caribbean are the five physical regions that makeup North America. The western coasts of Mexico and Central America are related to the mountainous west, while the eastern lowlands and coastal plains reach into the region.

Except for the north-eastern part, which is occupied by Greenland, and the north-western portion, which is occupied by Alaska, the largest state in the United States, the northern half of North America is sparsely inhabited and mostly covered by Canada.

The correct option is \[{\mathbf{D}}.\] i.e, The longitudinal extent of North America lies between $53^\circ W - 180^\circ W$ latitude.

Note: North America, the world's third-largest continent, is located mostly between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer. It stretches more than $5,000$ miles ($8,000$ kilometres) east-west and comes within $500$ miles ($800$ kilometres) of both the North Pole and the Equator.