Today North America consists of ??? sovereign nations. The continent was colonized by the Europeans.

Most of the present-day nations gained independence from the late 18th century through the 20th century. There are still ??? dependencies on the continent

Sovereign states

Below there is a list of all present sovereign states in North America and their predecessors:

Sovereign state	Predecessors
Belize	Maya civilization (c250-1547) Viceroyalty of New Spain (Colony of Kingdom of Spain - 1521-1821) Spanish West Indies (Colony of Kingdom of Spain - 1821-1862) British Honduras (Colony of Kingdom of Great Britain - 1862-1981) Belize (1981-present)
Canada	Viceroyalty of New France (Colony of Kingdom of France - 1534-1763) British America (Colony of Kingdom of Great Britain - 1763-1783) British North America (Colony of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - 1783–1867) Dominion of Canada (1867–present)
Mexico	Aztec Triple Alliance (1325-1521) & Maya civilization (c250-1547) Viceroyalty of New Spain (Colony of Kingdom of Spain - 1521-1821) Mexican Empire (1821-1823) United Mexican States (1824-1864) Mexican Empire (1864-1867) United Mexican States (1867-present)
United States	British America (Colony of Kingdom of Great Britain - 1607-1783) United States of America (1776–present)

Non-sovereign territories

This section contains areas that are not sovereign states, but are not part of the sovereign states listed above. This includes dependent territories and integral areas of a primarily non-North American state.

Dependent territories

Dependencies that are not internationally recognised, or not in effect, are listed in italics.

Dependent Territories	Predecessors
Greenland	Greenland (Colony of Icelandic Commonwealth - 982-1261) Greenland (Colony of the Kingdom of Norway - 1261-1814) Greenland (Colony of the Kingdom of Denmark - 1814-1953) Greenland (Amt of the Kingdom of Denmark - 1953-2009)  Greenland (Constituent Country of the Kingdom of Denmark - 2009-present)

Other areas