"New York is in the US."

Translation: 纽约在美国。

[Shelties_Rule]

美国 is used here to mean the United States, but in other lessons it is used to refer to the American continent, including Canada and South and Central America. Is there a precise definition, or does it depend on context?

[chetlin]

For the continent(s), use 美洲. That last character 洲 means continent and is at the end of all of them. For just North America it's 北美洲 and similar for South (or Central).

国 means country, so 美国 is specifically the United States.

[Aphaia_JP]

Fun tips: America was transliterated 亜米利加 first in Japanese. Chinese did alike but they spelled 亜美利加 - 美 means beauty (originally "as splendid as large大 sheep羊 for sacrifice). Literally "美国" means "beautiful country".