The following is a list of contemporary ethnic groups of North America. There has been constant debate over the classification of ethnic groups. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be associated with shared ancestry, history, homeland, language or dialect and cultural heritage; where the term "culture" specifically includes aspects such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing (clothing) style and other factors.
By the nature of the concept, ethnic groups tend to be divided into subgroups, may themselves be or not be identified as independent ethnic groups depending on the source consulted.
North America here is considered to be approximately delimited from Europe by the Greenland Sea (extending east to Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and Iceland along the Fram and Denmark straits); from South America by the Darién Gap and the portion of the Caribbean Sea north of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Nueva Esparta, Providencia, San Andrés, Trinidad, and Tobago; from Asia by the Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait, and Bering Sea (along the Baker-Shevardnadze line); and from Oceania by the Polynesian Triangle and Micronesia.
The following groups are commonly identified as "ethnic groups", as opposed to ethno-linguistic phyla, national groups, racial groups or similar.