The Americas are two continents (North America and South America). They are the third and fourth largest continents in the world. They are made up of four regions and fifty-three countries with 42.3 million square kilometres or 16.5 million square miles. The continent covers 8% of the earth’s surface and is almost 60% the size of the planet Mercury. The Americas is surrounded by the Antarctic, Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans and is a continent with twelve time zones and thirteen official languages. Over four hundred and thirty regional languages and dialects are spoken.