A Vast and Rich Land

To understand the United States, you have to first start with the land. The United States occupies the core of the North American continent. While the American people have had something to do with the creation of their wealth, they could not have accomplished what they did without the American land. America built its industrial base on and still produces enormous quantities of its own raw materials, from oil to timber to iron ore. The vast flat American heartland, and the fertile valleys of California, are among the most productive agricultural areas on earth. From the country's earliest days the three coasts (Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico), the Great Lakes, and the substantial river systems have provided key natural transportation networks. The United States is divided into 50 states, each having separate state governments, flags, laws and traditions. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa are also part of the United States, each with a special status as a dependency or territory.

The Continental United States

The Continental United States (the 48 states other than Alaska and Hawaii) has several major topographical regions, and covers four time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. The Atlantic coast varies from flat barrier reefs to hilly coastline. The northeastern coast functions as a vast megalopolis with cities like Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and many others. The southeast has growing cities like Charlotte, Atlanta, and Miami. The Appalachian Mountains begin fairly close to the coast, stretching north-south for most of the nation's length from Maine to north Georgia. Within the Appalachian Mountain chain are smaller mountain chains, such as the Adirondacks and Catskills in New York, the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania and the Smokies in Tennessee and North Carolina.

West of the Appalachians in the center of the continent, the land flattens out. The Mississippi River with its tributaries the Ohio and Missouri drains this vast central region into the Gulf of Mexico. The Great Lakes to the north support industrial cities like Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo. The Mississippi itself showcases the great cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. Kansas City, Missouri is the great trading city of the center of the continent. In the western half of this central region, Texas, with its great cities of Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, reaches north into Oklahoma, Kansas and the great plains and abuts the southwestern states on its west. The southwest encompasses the largely arid states of New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, with cities like Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson and the ever-growing Las Vegas. North of this area, the great rocky mountain city is Denver, Colorado; another is Salt Lake City, Utah. On the far west coast, California, with its great cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco, exists almost as a nation in itself, and the Pacific Northwestern states of Washington and Oregon with their cities of Seattle and Portland have their own unique heritage.

The Center of America

The vast center of the continent, at least 1,500 miles wide and stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the north of Canada, is a relatively flat plain. The Mississippi River Valley runs through the center of this region, fed by the Ohio River from the east and the Missouri River from the west, among others. Farther west, the plains become higher and more rugged. The massive Rocky Mountains, much higher than the Appalachians, take up much of the western third of the United States. The American west is extremely varied, with snow-covered mountains, high plains and prairies, and desert.

The Far West

The three far western states of California, Oregon and Washington have a coastline along the Pacific Ocean that in many places is rocky, with breathtaking scenery. Each of these states has a number of mountain ranges that are independent of the Rockies to their east. California is known for its large cities, but also has many areas of great natural beauty, as well as the immensely fertile agricultural valley that runs through the center of the state. Much of California is desert. The two northwestern states of Washington and Oregon are known for their wet climates in their Pacific coastal areas, though they are arid and desert-like further to the east. These two states are relatively large producers of agricultural products, but they also have cities, Portland in Oregon and Seattle in Washington, that each are known for their quality of life and economic diversity.

Point of View

When Americans refer to the different regions of their country, they might classify the states differently, depending on the purpose. All these classifications are arbitrary, of course. The East, for example, can mean all the states east of the Mississippi River, or just the states on the Atlantic coast, or even just the northeastern states, depending on who is making the reference, and for what purpose. The South may or may not include Texas, and in the mind of a speaker may or may not include states like Missouri or Kentucky. The term Midwest can have several meanings also: the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, certainly, but it can also extend west to include states like Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. Further west, the plains states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas may sometimes fall into this category, especially if spoken about by outsiders. The West of the United States is always west of the Mississippi and often considerably west of that: the land associated in the popular imagination with cowboys, Indians, wagon trains, gold mines, and the like. Big states like New York, Texas, Florida, and especially California are often spoken about on their own.

While groups of states do cooperate with each other, or even with Canadian provinces, on a regional basis, the individual 50 states and the District of Columbia are the only legal subdivisions of the Federal United States. Each of these states in turn is divided into counties for administrative purposes.

New England

The six northeastern states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont have been called "New England” since they were first settled in the seventeenth century. New England was the center of some of the first American industries. Boston in Massachusetts and nearby Providence in Rhode Island are the region's largest cities, but New England, especially the three southern New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, is heavily urbanized. Major cities include Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport in Connecticut, Worcester and Springfield in Massachusetts, Manchester in New Hampshire, Burlington in Vermont and Portland in Maine. With the demise of many traditional industries like textiles, many of the distinctive brick factory buildings in the regions have been converted into living space, office space and art studios.

Despite its industrial heritage, New England has areas of great natural beauty. Its long coastline, stretching from just north of New York City to the border between Canada and Maine, brings up images of lighthouses, beaches, fishing villages, sailboats, lobster dinners and idyllic summers at the shore. The region's interior rural areas are quite different, with rolling hills and gentle mountains interspersed with farmland, lakes, quaint villages and picturesque country roads. Interior New England is known for its spectacular fall foliage, the short period in autumn during which the leaves on the region's trees turn multiple colors before falling. The region is equally beautiful under winter snows and is a major ski destination. New Englanders tend to have a strong regional identity. The region has long had an association with open-mindedness regarding social issues: gay marriage and abortion rights for example. New England is also known for its highly regarded educational system; it is home to top universities like Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, MIT, Brown, Clark, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst among many others. The New England manner of speaking, especially around Boston, is distinct.

The Middle Atlantic States

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Middle Atlantic states include only New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In popular usage, the term may also apply to the neighboring states to the south: Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia, encompassing the District of Columbia. This larger region corresponds with the term "Atlantic Seaboard.” This Middle Atlantic is densely populated, and includes New York City, the most populous city in the United States, Albany, Buffalo, and Rochester in New York State, Newark, Jersey City and Trenton in New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. The larger Atlantic Seaboard region includes the nation’s capital of Washington, DC, Baltimore in Maryland, Wilmington in Delaware and Richmond in Virginia, as well as dozens of other industrial and commercial centers. The Eastern Seaboard region has always been known for its diversity of population. While New England to its north and the areas to the south were originally settled largely by protestant people from the British Isles, the Dutch were the first to colonize New York and the Hudson River Valley, Swedes founded settlements in Delaware and New Jersey, English Quakers founded Pennsylvania, many German settlers settled in Pennsylvania as well, and English Catholics founded Maryland. The cities of this region, along with those of New England, became the first great industrial, transportation and population bases of the new United States in the early 19th century. Cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia and especially New York have all had a history of assimilating large numbers of immigrants. The internal immigration of African Americans from the south to these northeastern cities has also been significant.

The Northeast

The Middle Atlantic region together with New England is referred to as the Northeast. The Northeast also encompasses the Megalopolis, the heavily populated corridor along the Atlantic coast between Washington, DC and Boston. The nation's largest city, New York, is situated at the coastal center of the region, with the national capital of Washington, DC at the region's southern end. Topographically, these Northeastern states are natural woodlands. The interior of the region is characterized by the northern stretch of the Appalachian mountains, which run roughly parallel to the Atlantic coast. Despite urbanization, industrialization, and the existence of vast transportation systems, the Northeast offers extensive areas of great natural beauty, both along its coastline and in its interior.

Long Island  contributed this section. Long Island is 190 km (about 118 mi) long from east to west and 19 to 37 km (about 12 to 23 mi) wide, covering an area of 4,463 sq km (about 1,723 sq mi). Population 8,781,268 (as of 2000 estimate). Long Island is the largest island in the United States, located in southeastern New York. It thrusts eastward from New York Bay to a point abreast of the Connecticut-Rhode Island state line, with Long Island Sound to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east. The island's eastern end is split by Peconic Bay to form two narrow peninsulas, or forks. The northern fork is 43 km ( about 27 mi) long and ends at Orient Point, and the southern fork is 68 km (about 42 mi) long, ending at Montauk Point. Long Island was built up by a glacier, which, as it melted and retreated, left deposits called moraine. The island features two separate moraines, running almost its entire length. Over most of Long Island, the two deposits are virtually indistinguishable from each other. At the eastern tip the two moraines are separated by water into the two forks. The north shore of the island is hilly and deeply indented. On the south shore the ocean breaks on a narrow sandbar, backed by Great South Bay, Moriches Bay, and Shinnecock Bay. These bays are connected to the ocean through occasional breaks, or channels, in the protective sandbar. This ribbon of sand widens at various points to form virtual islands fronting the open sea. These islands have developed into a series of bathing beaches and summer colonies, including the Fire Island National Seashore.

Long Island marks the southernmost and easternmost part of New York State and comprises four counties: Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. Kings County, which is coextensive with Brooklyn and is on the island's southwestern end, and Queens, at the island's western end, are also boroughs, or administrative units, of New York City. These two counties account for more than half the island's population. Nassau is a sprawling, thickly settled suburban area adjacent to the great metropolis to its west. Suffolk, which comprises the eastern two-thirds of the island and is the largest in area, has many suburban communities. It is also the most productive agricultural county in New York State, with large farms, known especially for growing potatoes. In addition, Long Island has a large duck-raising industry and an important commercial fishing industry, in particular oyster and clam fishing.

The Megalopolis

The term "Megalopolis” (from the ancient Greek for "very large city”) was coined by French geographer Jean Gottman in 1961 to refer to the 500-mile stretch of urban areas, industrial and transportation networks that runs from the nation's capital of Washington, DC in the south to Boston in the north, with New York City at its center. In true fact, many areas between these and other cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, Bridgeport, New Haven and Providence can be quite rural, agricultural or otherwise non-urban. Nevertheless, several centuries of development have given this rather large area a certain identity of its own. The movement of population, industry and communications infrastructure to the south and west in recent decades and the growth of other American urban areas have challenged the economic and social dominance of the Megalopolis, but it is still the largest urban concentration in the United States. If the Megalopolis has a "Main Street” it is certainly Interstate Highway 95.

The South

The South is made up of the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida on the Atlantic Coast, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas farther to the west. Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Texas are sometimes considered southern states also. Florida, because of its multi-ethnic nature, is often not included in the mix. This region is very varied, from Atlantic coastal plains, to the Mississippi river valley, to the Gulf Coast. People in this large area speak many dialects of English, though the southern accent in general is characterized as having long vowels and nasalized vocal pitch. Traditionally rural and agricultural over much of American history, the South in the second half of the twentieth century saw significant migration from the north and the growth of a number of its major cities, including Atlanta in Georgia and both Charlotte and Raleigh in North Carolina. Other major cities with rich cultural heritages include Charleston in South Carolina, Savannah in Georgia, New Orleans in Louisiana, and Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee. While south Florida is technically a part of the South, its large city of Miami, with its heavy Northeastern and Latin American influences, is not truly a part of the southern culture. Without the South, American culture would be poor indeed. Almost all American music either originated in the South or has been heavily influenced by southern traditions: blues, jazz, country & western, bluegrass, folk music, Cajun music, gospel, and much more. Southern cooking in its many varieties delights (and fattens) Americans all over the country. It is so varied that a number of Life In The USA food sections have been devoted to it: Southern Cooking, Cajun Cuisine, Low Country Cooking, Creole Cuisine, and let's not forget the significantly southern side of the glories of Hot Sauce and, that American culinary triumph, Barbecue. The heritage of southern literature is also quite deep. Mark Twain is considered the father of southern literature, but in the twentieth century he was followed by such major writers as William Faulkner, Caroline Gordon, Tennessee Williams, Katherine Anne Porter, Allen Tate, Thomas Wolfe, Robert Penn Warren, Truman Capote, Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, Reynolds Price, James Dickey, Walker Percy, Harper Lee, and John Kennedy Toole, to name but a few.

Appalachia

The region called Appalachia runs from southern New York State in the north, through western Pennsylvania and Maryland, the entire state of West Virginia, the extreme western areas of the states of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, the eastern portions of Kentucky and Tennessee and the northern parts of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Most of Appalachia is within the Appalachian mountain area though not all of the Appalachians—in New England particularly—are in Appalachia. Appalachia is quite a large region, and not all stereotypes apply, but for much of American history this was a land isolated from most of the major American population centers in the east and along the Great Lakes. Though rich in natural resources it is considered an economically disadvantaged region. With exceptions of course, the population tends to be of British extraction, with elements from England (particularly the north of England), Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (the so-called "Scots-Irish”). These people are predominantly Protestant in religion, with a strong inclination toward evangelical Christianity. With the development of extensive coal mining in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Germans, Italians and other European immigrants came to enrich the cultural mix in this region. Appalachia also has a significant native-American heritage, particularly associated with the populous Cherokee tribe. Native-Americans and whites have intermarried in the region over the centuries. One of the great unkind stereotypes of Appalachia involves the people called "hillbillies:” isolated, uneducated, rather primitive white people who live crudely, drink illegally distilled whisky called "moonshine,” speak a fossilized Elizabethan variety of English, feud with their neighbors, and are otherwise a breed apart from the standard American culture. A related negative stereotype is the "redneck,” a term applied, usually unfairly, to many rural southerners. These stereotypes ignore the rich cultural heritage of the region. Appalachia has a significant literary tradition, and also a fine heritage of traditional handicrafts, but it is the region’s music that truly puts it on the world cultural map. The area’s long isolation preserved traditional forms of music that have all but died out in Great Britain. Broadly speaking this is called "mountain music” today; the genre called "bluegrass” is an offshoot, the American genre of "country and western” music an important descendant. Another stereotype of Appalachia involves coal mining. This is an important industry in the region because portions of it lie above some of the richest coal reserves in the world, but modern Appalachia has many other industries, thriving cities, and a significant tourism industry because of the region’s great natural beauty. Pockets of poverty do still exist in Appalachia, but the region is better integrated into the national economy than it has been in the past.

The Midwest

Officially, the United States Census Bureau defines the Midwest as comprising twelve states in the upper middle portion of the Continental United States. The area largely east of the Mississippi River, known as the East North Central states, includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. The seven West North Central States include Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota just west of the Mississippi, and the Great Plains states of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota further to the west. All of these twelve states are relatively flat, though only the western half of the region comprises true grasslands, or prairies. Moving from east to west through this vast region, the elevation increases, the rainfall decreases, and the native grass becomes shorter. These states are heavily industrialized along their Great Lakes coasts, but the remaining areas are largely agricultural. The eastern region is known as a rich production area for corn and soybeans while the prairies to their west are the great grain belt of the United States, specializing in wheat. The largest city in the Midwest is Chicago in Illinois, a manufacturing and transportation center on the shores of Lake Michigan. Other large metropolitan areas include Detroit in the state of Michigan, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, St. Louis and Kansas City in Missouri, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati in Ohio, Indianapolis in Indiana, Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and Omaha in Nebraska.

The Great Lakes Region

The area around the Great Lakes (Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior) has a heritage as America's former industrial heartland. Because many of the Great Lakes areas have seen industrial decline to varying degrees, they are often, perhaps inaccurately, referred to as "the Rust Belt.” This industrial area runs in an arc from Buffalo, New York, to Erie, Pennsylvania, to Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio, to Detroit, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota. The

Great Plains

This vast core of the continent includes the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, with parts of Texas. These states are flat, though the land gets rougher and of higher elevation as you move west, true prairies. In its vastness more than 1,000 miles wide this is an imposing region, one of the world's richest sources of agricultural products.

Texas

Texas, known as the "Lone Star State,” is the second largest American state in area (after Alaska) and also in population (after California). Texas is the only state with three cities having more than a million people each. Houston is the nation’s fourth largest city. The Dallas-Fort Worth complex is the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan area. San Antonio is also a major metropolis. The large western city of El Paso is also part of a major metropolitan area if you factor in its immediate neighbor across the Rio Grande, the Mexican city of Juarez. The state capital of Austin, which has also the largest center of the state university system, enjoys a reputation as a center of American traditional music. In the national consciousness, Texas is usually thought of as a region in itself. The area of eastern Texas that borders the southern states of Louisiana and Arkansas, known for its pine woodlands, is a continuation of the Deep South. Southerners often consider Texas part of the South, especially considering the fact that the state joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War of 1861-1865. The vast central and northern expanses of Texas, however, are prairies, linking Texas to the plains states to its north: Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. Western and southwestern Texas has identifications with the desert southwest, while the long border area has understandable associations with Mexico. Texas also has a long coastline on the Gulf of Mexico with its own maritime character. Texas began as an independent country after violently breaking with Mexico in 1836. The massacre of American settlers at the Alamo mission in San Antonio during that war is an iconic event in Texas, and indeed American, history. In 1845, the young country joined the United States. Texas became a major cattle producer. Though the state today has quite a diversified economy (the second largest in the United States after California’s), the image of the longhorn steer, the cowboy, and downright bigness has always stuck to Texas. The later establishment of Texas as an oil producing center only tended to enhance the state’s reputation for bigness, boldness, and brashness. As easy as Texas is to stereotype, it has many complexities. Many Americans are not aware that much of central and south central Texas was settled by Germans, for example, and that people of German descent make up more than 10% of the population. Dig into the history of Texas Barbecue and you quickly uncover German traditions of curing and processing meats. More than a third of the state’s population is Hispanic, though even here the term does not refer to a unified group; recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America mix with native Tejanos whose families have been Texan for centuries. Texas also has a significant African-American population. As part of the American "sun-belt” it has also attracted many migrants from the northern United States: black, white, Asian and Hispanic. Many Texans speak a form of English they call "Texan,” distinguished by a nasalized pronunciation, a specialized vocabulary, and incredibly long multi-syllabic vowels. Texas has a strong association with evangelical Protestantism and is considered a mainstay of the so-called Bible Belt, the largely southern region where religion-based social conservatism holds sway. Of course, due to its diversity and size, nearly every religion—from Roman Catholicism to Judaism to Hinduism—is represented. The ultimate descriptor of Texas—after the highly applicable term "big”—is variety: sophisticated cities with major universities and hospitals, symphony orchestras and fine restaurants, dirt-poor border towns, oil wells and refineries, high tech industries, the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, immense cattle feed lots, fields of grain that stretch to the horizon, Gulf coast shrimp boats and beaches, and much more.

The Bible Belt

The term "Bible Belt” is not an exact description. It is used rather loosely to refer to a region of the United States where socially conservative evangelical Protestantism holds sway: roughly the southeastern quarter of the American continent stretching west into most of the state of Texas. The term was coined in 1924 by the iconoclastic American writer H.L. Mencken. Church attendance in these regions tends to be higher than the national average. Most of the major evangelical protestant universities of the nation are in this region and a good deal of television evangelical programming originates there. In some areas, it is common to see large billboards with evangelical Christian content. Religious references may also enter into common speech in the area: an example being told "God Bless You” where elsewhere the response might be a simple "Thank You.” While many religious denominations are associated with the "Bible Belt,” the deepest connection is with the Baptists. From a standpoint of the northern, east coast or west coast secular society, the term "Bible Belt” is often used pejoratively. This may also be the case among the so-called mainstream protestant denominations outside (or even inside) the region: Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc., and among the nation’s Roman Catholics. Bear in mind that the area’s social conservatism has political ramifications, particularly relating to issues of abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, public support for private schools, and many other social issues. Evangelical Christians tend to be associated with the political phenomenon call the "Religious Right.” These groups are active in many other parts of the United States, but not with the same intensity as in the south. Of course many other religious, political and social influences are current in these areas. The United States is well-wired, with national media and a national identity that is not always beholden to regions. In intelligent, thoughtful discussion it may well be best to avoid the "Bible Belt” reference, as it does tend to oversimplify. That said, if you’re looking for indications of the phenomenon, and you travel to the south, you will find them without much difficulty.

The West

The official Census Bureau definition of the west includes more than half the United States: the entire region west of the Mississippi River (including Hawaii and Alaska). When Americans refer to "the west,” however, they usually refer to the desert and mountain areas of the western United States that were in the past associated with the "wild west” or the "old west.” This usually does not include the western states of California, Oregon and the state of Washington, which together constitute the "West Coast.” Though the west is no longer strictly associated with cowboys and Indians, mining camps, railroads, saloons, and wagon trains, it cannot totally escape these references. Western states include Arizona and New Mexico in the southwest, Colorado, Utah and Nevada just to the north, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho further north still. The western parts of the plains states of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas have continuing association with the culture of the American west. It is of course impossible to separate the true history of the region from the Hollywood movies that have so often turned to it for dramatic material. The period of the "wild” west stretches at most from about 1840 to 1890; the heyday was the period following the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, hardly longer than a single generation. During this period white settlers from the east came in increasing numbers. The United States army waged an aggressive and successful war against the Native American populations, totally destroying many, moving many others to reservations. Throughout the region today, particularly in the southwest, Native American communities survive and keep their cultures active, though many struggle with poverty. While outlaws did operate in the west during a relatively brief period and lawmen did chase them down, there were fewer of them than Hollywood would have us believe, and their stories were somewhat less romantic than is often suggested. The mines, towns and railroads of the west were usually built by Irish labor that came from the east, and large numbers of Chinese laborers who crossed the Pacific looking for a better life. The west features great physical beauty. Arizona’s Grand Canyon and Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park are perhaps the best known tourist destinations, but the region has striking landscapes throughout its vast expanse. The west is not heavily urbanized (if you exclude Texas), though it does have a few large cities like Denver Colorado, Phoenix Arizona, Salt Lake City Utah, Albuquerque New Mexico and of course the glittering entertainment center of Las Vegas Nevada. This region has vast areas of national forests, parks and government reserves that are very sparsely inhabited. Mining is still a large industry, as is agriculture and animal husbandry in some areas. Tourism is also economically important; the region has travel facilities of all kinds, from simple campgrounds to dude ranches to luxury ski resorts like Aspen Colorado. If you are interested in the "old west” or the "wild west” it is not difficult to find a tourist or entertainment facility that will oblige you, with a gift shop to match.

The Rocky Mountain States

The core of the "Rocky Mountain States” includes the states of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. This area is also sometimes referred to as the "Mountain West.” The southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona are sometimes included in these definitions, and are included in the US Census Bureau’s "Mountain States” classification, though they are only contiguous with the Rockies in their northern areas. The Rocky Mountains, the highest in elevation in the United States, stretch on a north/south axis through this vast region, and in fact extend north into Western Canada and Alaska. Because of the mountains the area is thinly populated. Phoenix in Arizona, the nation’s fifth largest city, is the region’s largest city, followed by Denver in Colorado, but in both these cases the cities are situated at the edges of the region. The same can be said for the burgeoning cities of Las Vegas in Nevada, Tucson in Arizona and Colorado Springs in Colorado. The largest truly mountain city deep in the region is Boise in Idaho, at 200,000 in population the nation’s 101st largest city. Salt Lake City in Utah is also a major metropolitan area in the region. The half million people in mountain-ringed Albuquerque, New Mexico can make a case for real urbanization in the region, but culturally this city and nearby Santa Fe belong to the southwest. Much land in the region is government owned and controlled. As can be expected in an area of great natural beauty, tourism is a major industry. The mining and oil and gas industries are also well developed. Most of these states except Nevada observe "Mountain Standard Time” leaving them two hours ea

The Southwest

The "Southwest” is a term that usually refers to the two large desert states of New Mexico and Arizona. These states have a high native American population and have the largest Indian reservations in the country. The southwest is home to Phoenix in Arizona, at more than a million people the nation’s fifth largest city. The large city of El Paso in the extreme west of Texas and its bordering city of Juarez in Mexico may also be included in the region. Tucson in Arizona and Albuquerque in New Mexico come next in the ranking, each with about half a million people. The region is otherwise not heavily urbanized. Santa Fe, New Mexico’s state capital, founded in 1607, is the second oldest city in the United States (after St. Augustine, Florida). It is a mistake to think of Arizona and New Mexico as a single cultural unit. The north of Arizona features the Grand Canyon, one of the world’s great natural wonders. A huge portion of the northeast part of Arizona is taken up by Indian reservations, mostly inhabited by the Navajo, the nation’s most populous recognized tribe (though unofficially, the Cherokee are probably more numerous). New Mexico, which is bisected by the Rio Grande running north to south, has more than 20 other Indian peoples who live in autonomous communities called "pueblos.” These peoples, who number from several hundred to several thousand, each have distinctive cultures and languages (some vital, some in danger of extinction). They have little in common with either the Navajos or their linguistic cousins the Apaches. Another phenomenon that sets New Mexico apart from Arizona is its "Hispanic” culture. Both states of course have Spanish-speaking communities composed of immigrants from Mexico and Central America (and their American-born descendants). New Mexico, however, has another significant Hispanic population that has nothing to do with Mexico, and which proudly traces its roots directly back to 16th and 17th century Spain. A number of small rural communities in New Mexico enjoy special privileges granted them by the Spanish crown hundreds of years ago that are still honored by the present day state and federal governments. New Mexico also has a distinctive cuisine that must not under any circumstances be confused with Mexican, Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex or other hybrid southwestern types of cooking (even if the names of many of the dishes are similar). Each of New Mexico’s native American pueblo peoples have distinct cooking traditions, art and handicrafts. Even the Spanish-language folk music of New Mexico is unique. Another difference between the two states involves elevation. The major cities of Arizona—Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa—are situated at elevations lower than 2000 feet and hence become extremely hot during the summer. Albuquerque ranges from 5000 to 6300 feet, and Santa Fe sits at 7000 feet; these cities get hot enough in summer, but have cool evenings every day of the year. The topography, called "high desert” is unique, and many areas are more alpine than arid. Both states have vast regions of spectacular physical beauty, but the arid desert vista filled with saguaro cactuses and mesas is more widespread in Arizona. Phoenix is also only a six hour drive to Los Angeles, while Albuquerque and Santa Fe are more isolated and self contained. All these cities are American cities of course—with fast-food restaurants, tire shops, shopping malls—but the New Mexico cities at the same time hold onto a special unique chunk of their own culture, in fact several chunks, if you factor in the native American influence.

California

California, on the West Coast, is a world all of its own. It is the most populous state in the United States and has the largest economic output. The cities of Los Angeles and San Diego in southern California each have more than a million people (Los Angeles, in fact, is the nation’s second largest city after New York). The San Jose and San Francisco metropolitan areas further north are also among the nation’s largest. California is also physically large, third in area after Alaska and Texas, and hence has a great variety of landscapes and ecological regions. It has a long Pacific coastline, several ranges of coastal mountains, a vast interior valley, and many arid regions. California has diverse industries. Southern California is known for Hollywood and the entertainment industry, but it also has a large aerospace presence. The area known as "Silicon Valley” between San Jose and San Francisco is a center of high-technology development and innovation. Computers and electronics are the state’s largest industrial export. With major ports like Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Francisco and Oakland, California is also a major Pacific-rim transportation and logistic center. The state is also an agricultural powerhouse. The Central Valley of the state, divided into the San Joaquin Valley to the south and the Sacramento Valley to the north, produce fruits and vegetables sold over the entire United States. California is now the largest dairy products producer in the nation. Though home to many large-scale industrial agricultural operations, California is also a center of small-scale artisanal food production. Modern California cuisine, with its emphasis on fresh, artisanal and natural ingredients, has had a real impact on American food culture. A giant in many food areas, California has a near stranglehold on the production of wine in the United States: more than 90% of American production, at all levels of quality. The state’s size and varied topography give it climates and soils suitable for virtually every type of wine grape variety. Napa and Sonoma counties just north of the San Francisco Bay area are world famous for their quality wines, but many other areas from Mendocino to the north to the Sierra Foothills to the east to Lodi in the center, down through Monterey, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara counties to the south are producing wines of all types, many of them of top quality. The hot Central Valley is known for bulk wine production, but even here some high quality wines are produced. As with the food industry, a few immense companies produce wine on an industrial scale, while thousands of smaller operations make their own special contributions. Culturally rich, California is also ethnically mixed. The state has a large Hispanic population, but as a Pacific-rim presence it also has large communities of Asian-Americans: Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Thais, Filipinos and others. The large cities also have major African-American populations. California has attracted internal migration of Americans of all types for most of the twentieth century. It can sometimes be argued that California has its own distinct culture, but no one has ever been able to define it with any accuracy. The only sure thing is that it is big, it is varied, and it plays an important role in American life.

The Pacific Northwest

The states of Washington and Oregon, along with parts of Idaho and the Canadian province of British Columbia, are often referred to as the Pacific Northwest. The coastal areas of Washington and Oregon are green and lush, and known for their changeable, often rainy climate. The area has a number of mountain ranges, including the Coast Mountains, the Cascades and portions of the Rocky Mountains. The eastern areas of both states have extensive arid regions. The east-west flowing Columbia River is a major feature. Seattle in Washington and Portland in Oregon are the largest cities. The large city of Vancouver in Canadian British Columbia shares many cultural values and regional identification with Seattle and Portland. The urbanized western areas of the Pacific Northwest are known particularly for liberal politics and tolerance on major social issues such as reproductive rights, gay rights and decriminalization of drugs. The area also has a strong association with ecological awareness, more than anywhere else in the United States. By the same token, traditional Protestantism is not as widely practiced in the region as it is elsewhere in the United States. Alternate belief sytems and self-developmental disciplines are popular. Asian religions, particularly Tibetan Buddhism, have a real presence in the region. The interior areas tend to be more conservative and more closely associated with the religious right, yet they are less politically powerful because of their relatively small population. Agriculture is important in the region. Both states are large producers of fruit, Washington being the number one producer of apples in the United States. The two states rank just behind California in wine production. Seattle is home to Boeing, a major aerospace company. Giant high-technology corporations like Microsoft, and amazon.com, among hundreds of others, also make the Seattle area their home. Fishing, forest products, mining, metals, hydroelectric power, and outdoor tourism are also major industries. The region is known particularly for outdoor activities: hiking, climbing, camping, boating, skiing and many others. The region’s local food products, from seafood like Dungeness crab and salmon to indigenous wild mushrooms and berries, forms the basis for a distinctive Pacific Northwest cuisine, which in some manifestation may show Asian influences. Ties between the region and Asia are strong. The Seattle area is also known as the coffee-drinking capital of the nation, the place where today’s American coffee house culture is said to have begun.

Alaska and Hawaii

The United States has two states not connected to the other 48. Alaska, the largest state in area and the smallest in population, is known for its great wilderness areas and natural beauty. Hawaii, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, is a tropical paradise, a glamorous vacation spot, as well as an important agricultural region.