1. The West

2.  Water - shapes natural vegetation, economic activity, and population density.  Dry Areas (little precipitation) - natural vegetation: short grasses, cactus - example: Reno, Nevada

3.  Wet Areas - receive enough rainfall to contain deciduous and coniferous forests - Example: Seattle, Washington  Tropical - Example: Hawaii  Tundra - a dry, treeless plain that sprouts grasses and mosses only in the summer, when the top layer of soil thaws - Example: Alaska

4.  Mining  Forestry  Commercial Fishing

5.  Mining - Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada contain minerals of gold, silver, copper, tin, etc. - 1800’s people rushed to the West seeking fortune. - Businesses were set up to provide goods and services to miners- and population grew  Natural gas and oil - 1960’s - Trans-Alaska Pipeline carries oil across the tundra

6.  Forestry - half of nation’s construction lumber is from the forests of the Pacific Northwest  Commercial Fishing - fish caught in Alaska, Hawaii, and other Pacific Coast states bring in billions of dollars.

7.  Transcontinental Railroad - 1880’s - railroad fare was lowered between the Midwest and Los Angeles - people began to move West - most live in cities

8.  Los Angeles, California - second largest city -1920’s aircraft and motion picture industry - aqueducts – large pipes that carry water over long distances (to support growing population)

9.  Alaska - largest state however least populated  Hawaii - made up of eight main islands