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Sub-region of Americas · Country Index 2026

Northern America

How are the countries of Northern America doing?

Northern America’s two placed countries are Canada, 24th of 183 in the Country Index 2026, and United States, 37th. The region’s median is the better of the two, 24th, which places the region 4th of 22 sub-regions. 2 more of its 4 countries and territories are not placed.

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Northern AmericaUN M49 021

Northern America, shown in red on a map of the world

24th

median position of 183 · 4th of 22 sub-regions

Americas →median 81st

01Who is in it

The countries of Northern America

Alphabetical, with each country’s own banner photograph. The position is its place in the whole world ranking, never within the region.

02The region

About Northern America

The United States, Canada, and the North Atlantic territories.

Northern America covers the north of the continent: Canada and the United States, with Greenland in the Arctic and Bermuda in the Atlantic. It reaches from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico and holds the Great Lakes — the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world — the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains.

Its lands have been home to Indigenous nations for thousands of years. British and French colonisation shaped both large countries: the United States declared its independence in 1776, and Canada gained self-government step by step from 1867. Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and Bermuda a British Overseas Territory.

03Where

Northern America on the map

Each member shaded by its position in the Country Index 2026, darkest for the best placed; the countries across its land borders in grey. Hover a country for its position, or select it to open its profile.

Country Index position: 1st183rdMember, not placedAcross the border, another regionNot a country this site tracks

04Country Index 2026

Where Northern America’s countries place

Best placed first. Every position is a place in the whole world ranking of 183, never a second list within the region; “=” marks a position shared with another country. Hover the ⓘ for where a country would sit if any one key statistic were dropped.

The full Country Index 2026
Northern America’s 2 placed countries by their Country Index 2026 position, best placed first.
In regionCountryIn the world1st183rd
1Canada24 / 183between 21st and 25th if any one key were dropped · standings on 15 of 16 topics
2United States37 / 183between 36th and 38th if any one key were dropped · standings on 16 of 16 topics

A further 2 of its countries and territories are not placed: the Country Index 2026 places a country only once it holds a standing on 12 of its 16 voting topics. Bermuda and Greenland.

Northern America among the 22 sub-regions with a median

4th of 22. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

  1. Western Europe8thPlaced countries run from Switzerland 1st to France 19th.
  2. Northern Europe11thPlaced countries run from Denmark 2nd to Latvia 26th.
  3. Australia and New Zealand17thPlaced countries run from Australia 17th to New Zealand 19th.
  4. Northern America24thPlaced countries run from Canada 24th to United States 37th.
  5. Southern Europe31stPlaced countries run from Slovenia 14th to Bosnia and Herzegovina 62nd.
  6. Eastern Asia42ndPlaced countries run from South Korea 13th to Mongolia 75th.
  7. Eastern Europe43rdPlaced countries run from Czechia 10th to Russia 73rd.
  8. Central America80thPlaced countries run from Costa Rica 40th to Nicaragua 134th.
  9. Caribbean81stPlaced countries run from Barbados 67th to Haiti 173rd.
  10. South America83rdPlaced countries run from Uruguay 35th to Venezuela 133rd.
  11. South-eastern Asia86thPlaced countries run from Singapore 25th to Myanmar 159th.
  12. Polynesia89thPlaced countries run from Samoa 89th to Tonga 97th.
  13. Western Asia95thPlaced countries run from Cyprus 33rd to Yemen 181st.
  14. Central Asia102ndPlaced countries run from Kazakhstan 61st to Turkmenistan 158th.
  15. Southern Asia106thPlaced countries run from Bhutan 52nd to Afghanistan 175th.
  16. Melanesia107thPlaced countries run from Fiji 64th to Papua New Guinea 144th.
  17. Micronesia109thPlaced countries run from Kiribati 109th to Kiribati 109th.
  18. Northern Africa116thPlaced countries run from Tunisia 104th to Sudan 179th.
  19. Southern Africa121stPlaced countries run from South Africa 93rd to Eswatini 147th.
  20. Western Africa148thPlaced countries run from Cabo Verde 94th to Guinea-Bissau 171st.
  21. Eastern Africa153rdPlaced countries run from Mauritius 45th to South Sudan 183rd.
  22. Middle Africa166thPlaced countries run from São Tomé and Príncipe 115th to Chad 180th.
  23. Americas, the whole continent81st
  24. The world’s midpoint91st
1st183rdmedian

The square is each region’s median position; the grey bar runs from its best-placed to its lowest-placed country. Hover a row for their names.

05By subject

Topic by topic

Every country’s position on each topic, its shade darker the higher it sits in that topic’s field; select a cell for the country’s page on the topic. Strongest for Northern America: Digital & Technology, 1st of 22 sub-regions. Weakest: Environment & Sustainability, 18th of 21.

All topics
Northern America: each country’s position on each topic, with the region’s median and its place among sub-regions.
Digital & TechnologyFood & AgricultureEnergyGovernance & InstitutionsWork & LabourDemocracy & Civil LibertiesEconomy & InnovationDevelopment & Human CapitalGender & EqualityHealth & WellbeingPeace & SecurityPoverty & InequalityMobility & TradeRisk & ResilienceEducation & KnowledgeEnvironment & SustainabilityMoney & Public FinancePeople & Population
Canada7 of 19828 of 184No standing8 of 19436 of 18215 of 19818 of 17627 of 19621 of 18336 of 20034 of 17728 of 15938 of 17752 of 19370 of 198150 of 186No standingNo standing
United States8 of 19812 of 18459 of 16525 of 19414 of 18268 of 19828 of 17646 of 19643 of 18330 of 200136 of 17779 of 1597 of 17772 of 19360 of 198171 of 186No standingNo standing
BermudaNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing150 of 177No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
GreenlandNo standingNo standing22 of 165No standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standingNo standing
Region median7th of 19812th of 18422nd of 1658th of 19414th of 18215th of 19818th of 17627th of 19621st of 18330th of 20034th of 17728th of 15938th of 17752nd of 19360th of 198150th of 186——
Among sub-regions1st of 221st of 222nd of 212nd of 222nd of 213rd of 223rd of 214th of 224th of 214th of 225th of 205th of 216th of 226th of 227th of 2218th of 21——

Columns run from the topic where Northern America places best among sub-regions to the one where it places lowest. A region’s median on a topic needs at least two members with a standing; a hatched cell has no standing.

06In numbers

Northern America in 6 numbers

Each line is every country in the world at its published value; Northern America’s countries are the red ticks, and the dashed line is the world median. There is no regional average: a region has countries, not a life expectancy of its own.

All statistics

  • Population

    people · log scale

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · no better end

    GreenlandBermudaCanadaUnited States496world median 6,541,4131,438,069,596

  • Land area

    km²

    FAO · 2024 · 221 countries · no better end

    BermudaGreenlandCanadaUnited States0.4world median 87,58916,376,870

  • GDP per person

    international $, PPP · log scale

    World Bank Group · 2025 · 185 countries · higher is better

    No reading: Bermuda, Greenland

    CanadaUnited States1,067world median 17,265139,593

  • Life expectancy

    years at birth

    UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · 222 countries · higher is better

    GreenlandUnited StatesBermudaCanada54.46world median 74.6386.37

  • Human development

    HDI, 0–1

    UNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · 193 countries · higher is better

    No reading: Bermuda, Greenland

    United StatesCanada0.388world median 0.7620.972

  • Unemployment

    % of the labour force

    ILO · 2025 · 182 countries · lower is better

    No reading: Bermuda, Greenland

    United StatesCanada0.13world median 5.08434.2
Every value for Northern America’s countries
CountryPopulation 2023Land area 2024GDP per person 2025Life expectancy 2023Human development 2023Unemployment 2025
Bermuda64,698rank 20054rank 213—82.31rank 28——
Canada39,299,105rank 388,788,700rank 457,990rank 2482.63rank 230.939rank 166.907rank 58
Greenland55,922rank 201410,449rank 58—70.06rank 156——
United States343,477,335rank 39,147,420rank 376,931rank 1079.3rank 570.938rank 174.198rank 113

07In records

Northern America in records

The member at the extreme of each statistic, read from its newest edition. Where two members share the top, no record is named.

08Latest editions

Who rose and fell in the published ranks

The moves of Northern America’s countries between each report’s two newest editions, in the publisher’s own ranks. A report whose field changed by more than 5% is left out.

Ranks as published by UNDP Human Development Report Office in the Human Development Index: reference years 2022 (192 countries ranked) → 2023 (193 ranked), both from its 2025 report.

Improved most

rank before → after
  1. United States18 → 17+1

Declined most

rank before → after

No country moved this way.

Every country in the Human Development Index

09In context

Across the border

The countries outside Northern America that share a land border with one of its members, with their world positions, and the sub-regions they belong to. Land borders only, as drawn on the map.

Central America

The neighbouring sub-regions

10Places

Landmarks of Northern America

Two places from each member with a gallery on its profile.

  • Valley of the Ten Peaks and Moraine Lake, Banff National Park, Canada. Mountains from left to right: Tonsa (3057 m), Mount Perren (3051 m), Mount Allen…

    Moraine Lake

    Glacially fed lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks.

    Photo: Gorgo · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

  • Horseshoe Falls

    Horseshoe Falls

    Largest of the three waterfalls at Niagara Falls, on the Canada–United States border.

    Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.5 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

  • Grand Canyon view from Pima Point

    Grand Canyon

    Steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in northern Arizona.

    Photo: Chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

  • The Statue of Liberty (Bartholdi, 1886) on Liberty Island; a sightseeing boat passes in the foreground with the New Jersey skyline behind.

    Statue of Liberty

    Copper statue on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, dedicated in 1886.

    Photo: Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale

11Keep reading

Explore further

All regions

The rest of Americas

12Method

Questions, method and sources

Which countries are in Northern America?

4 countries and territories: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland and United States. Membership follows the United Nations’ M49 classification.

Which country in Northern America is placed highest?

Canada, placed 24th of 183 in the Country Index 2026. United States is placed lowest, 37th. 2 of the region’s 4 countries and territories are placed; the rest hold standings on too few topics.

How does Northern America compare with other regions?

Its median is 24th of 183 — with two placed countries, the better of the two positions, which places it 4th of 22 sub-regions. The median across Americas is 81st. The middle of the whole field is 91st. Nothing is weighted by population or size.

How many people live in Northern America?

382,897,060 in 2023, the sum of the UN DESA Population Division’s figures for its 4 countries and territories.

What is the largest country in Northern America?

By land area, United States: 9,147,420 square kilometres (2024). By population, United States: 343,477,335 people (2023).

How a region’s figure is made
  1. Membership. Countries belong to regions by the United Nations’ M49 classification; each country declares its sub-region, and a continent is the sum of its sub-regions.
  2. Positions. Each country’s position is its Country Index 2026 result, unchanged. This page slices the world ranking by place; it does not re-rank anyone.
  3. The median. A region’s figure is the median of its placed countries’ positions: half sit at or above it, half below. With an even number of placed countries it takes the better of the two middle positions, since there is no country at a half place. Countries the index does not place are named, never counted in.
  4. A place among peers. Continents are compared with continents and sub-regions with sub-regions, never a part with the whole that contains it; regions sharing a median share a place. Nothing is weighted by population or size, and population and land area are the only figures ever added up.

Where the regions come from

United Nations Statistics Division, Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49). M49’s middle level (Sub-Saharan Africa; Latin America and the Caribbean) is left out, so every sub-region sits directly under its continent. Kosovo, Northern Cyprus and Somaliland are not in M49 and are placed by geography.

Where the positions come from

Every position is a country’s result in the Country Index 2026 or one of its topics, unchanged. The population and land-area figures are the UN DESA Population Division’s and the FAO’s, added up and shown with their year; every other statistic names its publisher beside its numbers.

Photographs

Each country’s own banner from its profile: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Northern America: countries, population and rankings, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/regions/northern-america

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