<P> North America occupies the northern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, the Americas, or simply America (which, less commonly, is considered by some as a single continent with North America a subcontinent). North America's only land connection to South America is at the Isthmus of Panama . The continent is delimited on the southeast by most geographers at the Darién watershed along the Colombia - Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America . Alternatively, some geologists physiographically locate its southern limit at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, with Central America extending southeastward to South America from this point . The Caribbean islands, or West Indies, are considered part of North America . The continental coastline is long and irregular . The Gulf of Mexico is the largest body of water indenting the continent, followed by Hudson Bay . Others include the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the Gulf of California . </P> <P> Before the Central American isthmus formed, the region had been underwater . The islands of the West Indies delineate a submerged former land bridge, which had connected North and South America via what are now Florida and Venezuela . </P> <P> There are numerous islands off the continent's coasts; principally, the Arctic Archipelago, the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Aleutian Islands (some of which are in the Eastern Hemisphere proper), the Alexander Archipelago, the many thousand islands of the British Columbia Coast, and Newfoundland . Greenland, a self - governing Danish island, and the world's largest, is on the same tectonic plate (the North American Plate) and is part of North America geographically . In a geologic sense, Bermuda is not part of the Americas, but an oceanic island which was formed on the fissure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge over 100 million years ago . The nearest landmass to it is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina . However, Bermuda is often thought of as part of North America, especially given its historical, political and cultural ties to Virginia and other parts of the continent . </P> <P> The vast majority of North America is on the North American Plate . Parts of western Mexico, including Baja California, and of California, including the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, and Santa Cruz, lie on the eastern edge of the Pacific Plate, with the two plates meeting along the San Andreas fault . The southernmost portion of the continent and much of the West Indies lie on the Caribbean Plate, whereas the Juan de Fuca and Cocos plates border the North American Plate on its western frontier . </P>

Are the bahamas considered part of north america