There are 23 generally recognized sovereign countries in the continent of North America, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, the Central American nations, and the Caribbean states.

Quick Scoop

In geography and encyclopedias, North America is usually defined to include three big subregions:

  • Northern mainland (Canada, United States, Mexico)
  • Central America (e.g., Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama)
  • The Caribbean island states (e.g., Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Bahamas).

Counting all independent states in these three subregions gives 23 countries that are widely accepted as part of the North American continent in modern references. Some sources and trivia games still talk about “3 countries in North America” (just Canada, the United States, and Mexico), but that uses a much narrower, older-school idea of the continent.