Northeast -economic heart of the U.S. -has 1/3 of countries’ population -New York is largest metropolis -has headquarters of many corporations, banks, wall street, universities, cultural centers (broadway), global organizations (UN) -8of 10 wealthiest counties here

South -before civil war, primarily agricultural -plagued by poverty -some sun belt migrant move here to escape the cold (move to Atlanta, Florida etc.) -large number of blacks live here -sunbelt- the strip of the United States along the southern border

Midwest/Great Plains -America’s breadbasket -land used for raising cattle, or grain farms where water is available -grow a lot of corn and wheat -most important food producing area in North America -size of farms have increased, number of farms decreased

Southwest -high temperatures, dry climate -get a lot of sunbelt migrants also -high Hispanic, Native American population -Dallas-Fort Worth largest metropolitan area in this region -east Texas has a lot of oil

Mountain West -growing rapidly, putting stress on physical environment, especially water -Las Vegas gets 90% of its water from a Colorado River reservoir but the levels are dropping and they will have a water crisis soon -people are moving here because of climate and because of technology that makes it more bearable (ex. Air conditioning)

North -most sparsely populated area of the continent -extremely cold climate -very large native American population -make up %15 of Alaska’s population and half of the Northwest Territories in Canada -the other people live there in order to exploit the natural resources (ex. Lumber, oil)

Pacific Coast -Far west coast of U.S. and Canada -lots of earthquakes (part of ring of fire) -California is most populated state in the U.S. (12% of countries population) -Los Angeles-second largest city after New York -lots of agriculture in this region (i.e. tomatoes, grapes, almonds) -California is considered entertainment capital of the country (Hollywood) -Los Angeles has busiest port in North America, receiving shipments from Asia -Vancouver -1/3 of population’s primary language is of Chinese origin -half of the population’s primary language is a different language than English -busiest port in Canada