North America is the third largest continent. It is located in the northern hemisphere, between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and to the north of South America. North America consists of three large nations and one large island territory that covers most of its area. They are Canada, the United States of America (U.S.), Mexico and Greenland. There are also seven smaller nations at its southern extreme (collectively known as Central America), around two dozen island nations and territories of various sizes in the Caribbean, and one isolated French territory off the Canadian Atlantic coast.North America's highest point is Alaska's Denali, which rises to 6,194 m (20,322 ft) above sea level. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. The most populous country in North America is the United States with 318.4 million persons.