North America vs North American country

North America and North American country both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
North America	Yes	No	No	No
North American country	Yes	No	No	No

North America (noun)	North American country (noun)
the nations of the North American continent collectively	any country on the North American continent
a continent (the third largest) in the western hemisphere connected to South America by the Isthmus of Panama