Regions of the United States of America

• Northeast

• South

• Midwest

• West

An abundance of Natural Resources made us who we are today…

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Most of the people live along the Coast and the Great Lakes

(Think) Population Density..

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GROSS NATONAL PRODUCT - GNPGROSS NATONAL PRODUCT - GNP

The NortheastThe Northeast

* The total value of a nation’s output of goods and services

Manufacturing and Trade center

1 MEGALOPOLISMEGALOPOLIS

• The Northeast has relatively few natural resources.• The Northeast has few mineral resources.

Apart from coal in Pennsylvania

• The Appalachian Mountains make some areas quite rugged.• The Northeast has been a center of :

Commerce and fishing since Colonial times.

FACTORIES

The Northeast’s rivers have been

vital to its history.

Manufacturing + Trade

The NortheastThe Northeast

Jagged shorelines provided many excellent harbors for merchant ships sailing back to Europe. Diffusion ?

Boston, NY., Wash D.C.

A Leader in IndustryA Leader in Industry• Industrialists harness water power by building water wheels that

powered machines.• Factories were built at waterfalls along rivers.

• The factories produced goods.

• * sold across the United States and• exported to markets around the world.

• The rivers also served as: • trade routes• railroad routes• highway routes.

Erie Canal linked the Hudson River in New York Great Lakes

– this increased trade between : Midwest and North East!!

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Climate, VegetationClimate, Vegetation

The SouthThe South Hot sticky humid

(SUNBELT) Air conditioning helped migration

to this area..

SW Airlines biggest region

is in the south

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Climate, VegetationClimate, Vegetation

Warm, wet climate = thick mixed forests

stands of mangrove trees.

Textile mills were built close to farms

that grew cotton.

Marshy inlets of lakes and rivers in Louisiana are called bayous.

Rich soils, ideal for agriculture, built large plantations.

Farming is still important to the South’s economy.

GULF COAST ACCESS – for trade = HUGE… (Lack of Labor Unions)

Some parts of the South, such as Appalachia, are deeply impoverished.

The SouthThe South

Oil was discovered in east Texas in 1901

Oil = $

Manufacturing facilities on Gulf of Mexico.

Due to raw materials and ocean ports.

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The MidwestThe Midwest

3 An Agricultural EconomyAn Agricultural EconomyFlat

Fertile soil that is rich in a dark-colored

organic material called HUMUS.

The Midwestern climate favors

agriculture with its long, hot summers.

The Nation’s Breadbasket Midwestern farms, the most productive in the world ,

produces the nation’s grain, dairy products, and pork.

The MidwestThe Midwest

Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the world’s busiest market for many farm products.

CHICAGORailway system brought

farm products to Chicago

DETROITNation’s Auto industry

The WestThe West4

Abundance or scarcity of water affects

-natural vegetation

-economic activity

-population density

Much of the West has a semiarid or arid climate, with short grasses, shrubs, sagebrush, and cactuses for vegetation.

Hawaii has a wet tropical climate

and dense tropical vegetation.

The tundra of Alaska is dry, treeless plain that sprouts grasses,

mosses only when the top layer of soil thaws in the summer.

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The WestThe West

Natural Resources and the EconomyNatural Resources and the Economy

The Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada

are rich in minerals such as :

gold, silver, uranium, copper, and tin.

Most of the mineral wealth :

(Gold and Silver) deep underground

prospectors who swarmed into the area in the 1800s.

1960s - Major oil field in Alaska

transformed the state’s economy.

The Trans-Alaska pipeline carries crude oil

from northern Alaska to the southern coast.

Forestry and commercial fishing

are also important to the economy of the region.

4The WestThe West

Continental Divide

Rocky Mountains

SAN FRANCISCO 49

ers

Gold Rush

The Transcontinental railway in 1869 spurred

the growth of towns and cities along its length.

Due to : harsh landscape and climate

Few people settled in the region’s countryside.

Most people live in cities.

Los Angeles = 2nd Largest city in the United States

Originally a cattle town that provided

beef for prospectors during the gold rush.

To support its growing population - Los Angeles

MOVED water through aqueducts,

large pipes that carry water long distances.

Alaska is an immense but sparsely populated

state with few roads through its rugged mountains.

Hawaii is an island chain more than 2,000 miles from the mainland-

was annexed in 1898 to provide a refueling station for naval vessels.

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