Discount hotels in the USA, but where?
Cultural Regions
The continental U.S. is often subdivided into 6 major cultural regions which
not so coincidentally often share common natural features and terrain as
well as similar ethnic groups. Those regions are:
- New England -- One of the regions first settled by the European
immigrants, this region lies in the upper north east of the U.S.
Geographicaly, this region is dominated by rocky uplands and sandy
outwash plains and with a climate having stark seasonal changes.
- Mid-Atlantic -- Another region settled earlier on in the U.S. history
and home to the capital of the U.S. Its geography is a variegated
region which includes forested ridges and marshy lowlands.
- South -- Culturally perhaps the most different of the states, the South
still maintains an identity developed prior to and during the civil
war. Its area is a low coastal area drained by comparatively few
rivers. There is a wide band of piedmont soil, mostly thick clay, and
forbidding mountain mazes
- Midwest -- This region was settled during the late 1700s and early
1800s well after the east coast. Many of these states lie on the great
central plains.
- Southwest --The Southwest is drier than the adjoining Midwest in
weather. The population is less dense and, with strong Spanish-American
and Native-American components, more ethnically varied than neighboring
areas. Outside the cities, the region is a land of open spaces, much of
which is desert. The magnificent Grand Canyon is located in this
region, as is Monument Valley.
- Western states -- The west is home to the pacific coast of the United
States as well as many gorges, plateaus and mountain ranges, the most
famous being the Rocky Mountains.
Climate
Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in
Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid
in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the
northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm
chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in
east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic
topography in Hawaii
Natural Resources
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium,
bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc,
petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use: arable land: 19% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 30% other: 26% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 207,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific
Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in
the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the
west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to
development.
Environment
Environment - current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in both
the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide
from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides
and fertilizers; very limited natural fresh water resources in much of the
western part of the country require careful management; desertification.
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic
Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes.
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