Lausanne World Pulse – Urban Articles – An Overview of North America and the Caribbean

By Justin Long

North America
North America is bordered on all sides by ocean, covering about 24.5 million square kilometers (9.5 million square miles), or about sixteen percent of the world. It is the third largest continent after Asia and Africa, and with some 515 million people it has the fourth largest population. It has access to enormous natural resources, although its economy has been transitioning into one that is dominated more by services than by manufacturing.

North America’s only land connection is to South America at the narrow Isthmus of Panama. For the purposes of this survey, the area from Mexico south is considered Central America, part of southern America. Greenland, a Danish self-governing island, is part of North America geographically; Bermuda is considered part geopolitically given its historical political and cultural ties to the continent.

With 314 million people, North America is the fifth most populous region in the world. It is growing slowly; by 2025 it is projected to reach 388 million. Most of the population is urban, and it is growing more urbanized every day.

North America shares a strong common cultural identity, although it is made up of a diverse number of ethnic groups. The three dominant cultures include white Euro-Americans (making up two-thirds of the continent), Hispanics and African-Americans. Asians and Middle Eastern cultures together make up nearly ten percent of the region and are found in significant concentrations particularly on the coasts. Over 240 languages are spoken in North America, although the most prevalent are English, Spanish and French (the latter having been historically significant and still strong in certain regions, particularly Canada and Louisiana, USA).

North America is the world’s wealthiest region; however, its share of global wealth is in decline with the rise of China’s and India’s economies. Nevertheless, the region has been blessed with riches, small percentages of which trickle into missions. The average per person giving of three percent equates to billions of dollars for evangelism and cross-cultural work.

In spite of North America’s wealth, extreme poverty, crime, drug use and diseases such as HIV/AIDS can be found. AIDS is not widespread; there are perhaps one million people living with the disease, most of whom are adults.

Christianity in North America
Historically, Christianity first came to the region with European colonists in the 1600s. The Americas were colonized for nearly two centuries, but the United States declared independence in the late 1700s. In the 1800s, several missions movements were launched; the late 1800s were notable for the beginnings of the Student Volunteer Movement and related plans to evangelize the world (which was impactful, but nonetheless failed). The impact of two World Wars, the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the civil rights issues and social revolutions of the 1960s, the liberalization of the 1970s, the commercialism of the 1980s and the technological revolutions of the 1990s all left their mark on the region. In the 1990s, another attempt to evangelize the world was a strong influence; however, the attempt failed.