11. Traditional regions of the United States.

Americans often speak of their country as one of several large regions. These regions are cultural units formed by history and geography and shaped by the economics, literature and folkways that all the parts of a region share.

New England and Mid-Atlantic

Of all the regions of the USA, New England is perhaps the most distinctive in its imagery, culture, change of seasons, and rich history. The Northeast Corridor is the most densely populated region of the United States. It stretches north from Washington, D.C., up to the Canadian border and includes the states of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

In the 19^th century the region’s largest states, New York and Pennsylvania, became centers of heavy industry (iron, glass, and steel). As heavy industry spread throughout the region, rivers such as the Hudson and Delaware were transformed into vital shipping lanes. Cities on waterways - New York on the Hudson, Philadelphia on the Delaware, Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay - grew dramatically. New York is still the nation’s largest city, its financial hub, and its cultural centre.

Although there is heavy industry in some areas of the Northeast Corridor, the natural beauty of the northern part attracts many tourists. The interior of New England is mountainous and covered with forests. In the fall, thousands of people visit New England to see the spectacular colours of the changing leaves. Tourists also come to ski, especially to Vermont, the Green Mountain State, which has over thirty different skiing areas.

N ew England’s wildlife is diverse and ranges from whales and dolphins to thousands of species of birds and wild moose. Whale-watching has become an attraction along the coast. Specially designed boats take people to areas where humpback and fin whales gather to feed. The Atlantic Ocean off Cape Cod in Massachusetts is a popular place for whale-watching. Moose safaris are available in New Hampshire and Maine and are the best and most exciting way to view these shy giants.

New England is famous for seafood, especially lobster. The small coastal town of Rockland is the Lobster Capital of Maine and, each August, plays host to the Maine Lobster Festival.

Rhode Island is the smallest US state but has the longest name. Little Rhody, as it is known locally, measures just 48 miles long and 37 miles wide, however, the state’s full name is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

New England is also important for the cultural contribution it has made to the nation. The critic Van Wyck Brooks called the creation of a distinctive American literature, in the first half of the 19th century, “the flowering of New England.” The cluster of top-ranking universities and colleges in New England - including Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Wellesley, Smith, Williams, Amherst, and Wesleyan - is unequaled by any other region. America’s first college, Harvard, was founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1636.

Popular sports, including basketball and volleyball, were invented in Massachusetts; Springfield, MA, is home to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Midwest

The Midwest is known as the nation’s “breadbasket.” The fertile soil of the region makes it possible for farmers to produce abundant harvests of cereal crops such as wheat, oats, and corn. Corn is the most important of all American crops, as basic to American agriculture as iron is to American industry. Huge farms on the Great Plains — from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains — and the central states down through Texas produce wheat, corn, and soybeans for the nation and for export abroad.

The farmers in this area have often had to struggle very hard in the past. In the 1930s, part of the Great Plains and the Midwest became known as the Dust Bowl. The rains stopped and crops failed, then the soil blew away in great dust storms. Thousands of farmers lost their farms and moved west to California to start a new life.

Millions of cows graze in the pastures of the Great Lakes region, and this area is called the nation’s dairy belt. The state of Wisconsin is the leader in dairy farming and is famous for its production of cheese. Milk from more than 25,000 farms goes to Wisconsin’s cheese-making plants to produce one-third of all the cheese made in the United States. More than three hundred kinds of cheese are made in Wisconsin. Many were brought by immigrants from different countries. Two local cheeses are Brick, which is shaped like a brick, and Colby, originally made in the town of Colby. The most popular cheeses are Cheddar, Mozzarella, and Swiss cheese. Butter, yogurt, sour cream, and ice cream are other dairy products produced in this region.

The area around the Great Lakes of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan is well-known for producing steel, cars, and other industrial products. In the 1970s and 1980s demand for these products fell, and many plants downsized. The name “Rust Belt” began to be used to describe the area. Hundreds of thousands of people moved away in search of new jobs.

A quarter of America’s steel is produced in Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana. Michigan is one of the nation’s leading manufacturing states and it leads in the production of automobiles. Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, is called the Automobile Capital of the World or Motor City. A third of US automobiles is assembled in factories in and around Detroit. One out of five workers in Michigan is employed in the automobile industry.

Today, the so-called Rust Belt is making an effort to develop new industries. More people work in the service sector, for example, in computer and technology companies. The downtown areas of big cities are being renewed. In places like Cleveland, Ohio, there are now new restaurants and stores downtown.

The West

The West of the USA occupies such states as Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and California. The West has vast areas of deserts.

W hen people think of the West today, the first thing that often comes to mind is cowboys riding bucking broncos at the rodeo. Bronco is a nickname for a wild horse. When a bronco bucks, it kicks its back legs in the air to try and throw the rider off. The first rodeos started in the mid-1800s, when cowboys showed all the skills they used for working cattle. Today, the rodeo is a professional sport where cowboys compete to stay on bucking broncos and bulls, and lasso or rope cattle as quickly as possible. The rodeos in Wyoming and Colorado are considered the most exciting, because there are so many contests and events. While the rodeo is going on, there are square dances, fairs, and country and western music concerts.

The United States has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The most spectacular places are preserved in America’s thirty-eight national parks. The Yellowstone National Park became America’s first national park in 1872. It covers over 3,472 square miles (8,900 square kilometers), mainly in the northwestern corner of Wyoming but also extending into Idaho and Montana. The park is in the Rocky Mountains and has an incredible diversity of natural features—waterfalls, plateaus, canyons, and more than three thousand hot springs and geysers.

There is also a wide variety of wildlife. Bears, antelope, elk, and even wolves wander throughout the park, and eagles build their nests in the forests. Camping and backpacking are encouraged at Yellowstone, but visitors must be careful. A few careless or unlucky people have been killed by angry bears.

The Southwest is full of dramatic landscapes with deep canyons and high plateaus. Both New Mexico and Arizona have very dry climates. Every year, four million visitors come to marvel at the Grand Canyon, a very large, deep gorge. The canyon began to form nearly two billion years ago. In the north of Arizona are the Painted Desert and Monument Valley, the beautiful backdrop for many western movies. The valley is full of sandstone buttes that rise high above the ground. Monument Valley is within the Navajo Reservation, home of the most populous American Indian tribe. To the south and east, lie dozens of other Indian reservations, including those of the Hopi, Zuni, and Apache tribes.

Texas is known as the Lone Star State because of its history as an independent country. At a mission church named the Alamo, 188 Texans died while fighting for independence from Mexico. Six weeks later the Texas Army won independence for Texas. It remained a republic from 1836 to 1845, when it became the twenty-eighth American state.

Oil was first discovered in Texas in 1901. It has been very important to the Texan economy ever since, and the state is the largest producer of oil in the United States. Houston and Dallas are centers of the state’s oil industry. The headquarters of the leading oil companies in America are located in these cities, creating thousands of jobs and attracting people from all over the country. Inland, there are oil wells throughout the state, especially along the southern coast. Offshore, platforms extract oil from under the sea in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil tankers travel inland along the Houston Ship Channel to the port of Houston to fill up with oil, which they transport to other parts of the country. Houston is America’s fourth largest city and the third largest port.

Mexican-Americans, also known as Chicanos, make up a large portion of the inhabitants of the Southwest — more than 25 percent of the population in Texas and 37 percent of the residents of New Mexico. The influence of Mexican culture is present everywhere in this region. Tex-Mex food includes chili con carne, a spicy meat dish, and tamales, made with cornmeal and ground beef. Spanish style influences architecture and music. Spanish is also the second language of the region. Signs in Spanish and English can be found everywhere, and you can hear Spanish spoken in the street.

C alifornia seems to have everything — a beautiful coastline on the Pacific with beaches and mountains and a warm climate. Its largest cities, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the state capital, Sacramento, offer cultural variety and excitement.

The state motto, Eureka (Greek for “I have found it”), dates from the gold rush of 1849, which brought thousands of people, all hoping to get rich in California. Many Americans see a move to California as a chance to escape from ordinary lives in other parts of America. Every year, 600,000 people come to the west coast. Some people say that the state’s main export is hope and its main import is people. More than thirty-seven million people live in the state.

California is known for its alternative lifestyles and new ideas. Artists and writers have moved to San Francisco because of its reputation for artistic freedom. Many young people move to Los Angeles because they want to become actors or get a job in some other aspect of the movie business.

California produces more agricultural products than any other state. All kinds of fruit and vegetables grow well in the temperate climate. It is especially known for its avocados and grapes. Eighty percent of all American wine is produced in California, and the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, in northern California, are the center of America’s wine-making industry. Many of these crops are grown in irrigated fields, so water conservation has become an important issue in California. The state encourages farmers to monitor carefully how much water they use, so that this valuable resource is not wasted.

As the largest center of industry in the West, California attracts all kinds of workers. The state specializes in aerospace and high-tech industries. South of San Francisco is the Santa Clara Valley. It is famous because it has so many companies that specialize in computer technology, especially chip manufacturers. In fact, the valley is better known as Silicon Valley, named for the material that computer chips are made of. There are also many research centers for computer hardware and software.

Thousands of people from the US and abroad have moved to California to work in the computer industry. There are so many people that there is a housing shortage, and rents have gone up.

The states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest have many unspoiled landscapes. The backbone of the Northwest is the Cascade mountain range, which is 100 miles (161 km) long and has several volcanoes. Puget Sound, an inland waterway in Washington, is dotted with islands. The coastline is wild and beautiful.

Seattle (Washington) and Portland (Oregon) have become two of the most popular cities in America. Many people have moved to the area, especially from the congested cities of California. They are attracted by the natural beauty and more relaxed lifestyle. There are plenty of activities for those who live the outdoor life: hiking, skiing, mountain climbing, sailing, and fishing.

Both cities are cultural centers, with museums, ballet companies, and symphony orchestras. The region has also been called the New Silicon Valley, because of the recent growth of the computer industry. Seattle is a major center for manufacturing airplanes.

Forestry and the logging industry have traditionally been major sources of employment in Washington and Oregon since the last century. When the Northern Pacific Railroad reached Oregon in 1882, the region’s wood products could be transported all over the United States.

Forests still cover almost half of Oregon. High rainfall encourages the growth of trees like Douglas firs, hemlocks, and pines. Trees are cut to produce lumber and to be made into paper and other wood products. Environmentalists, especially those interested in forest conservation, are concerned about how much logging is being done in the Northwest. Federal laws now protect the remaining large stretches of old national forests from the logger’s saw. In addition, new trees must be planted where trees have been cut down.

The South

The original states that formed the South were Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

The South is perhaps the most distinctive region of the United States. The American Civil War (1861-65) devastated the Old South socially and economically. Slavery was the issue that divided North and South. To northerners, it was immoral; to southerners, it was integral to their way of life and their plantation system of agriculture. The scars left by the war took decades to heal. The abolition of slavery failed to provide African Americans with political or economic equality; and it took a long, concerted effort to end segregation. The “New South” has evolved into a manufacturing region and high-rise buildings crowd the skylines of such cities as Atlanta and Little Rock. The region however still has many landscapes to delight the human sense of poetry and wonder. The region is blessed with plentiful rainfall and a mild climate. Crops grow easily in its soil and can be grown without frost for at least six months of the year. Owing to its mild weather, the South has become a mecca for retirees from other regions.

The financial and transportation center of the modern South is Atlanta, the state capital of Georgia. Its airport is one of the busiest in the world, and many multinational companies have their headquarters there.

For many years cotton was the most important agricultural product in the South; it grew well in the region’s hot climate. Now major cotton-growing areas, such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, produce peanuts, soybeans, and tobacco. The large cotton plantations that were worked by slaves before the Civil War are gone.

Florida, the Sunshine State, was bought from the Spanish in 1819. It is the southernmost state on the mainland and has a long coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Oranges grow all year round even in winter, when the weather is very cold further north.

The warm climate has made Florida an important vacation resort. More than eight million visitors come to Miami Beach every year. There are also many theme parks. The state capital is Tallahassee, but the biggest city is Miami, which has a large Hispanic community. Over half of the people who live there speak Spanish as their first language.

At the southern tip of Florida are the Everglades, where a shallow freshwater river moves slowly toward the sea. It is the home of alligators, crocodiles, many different kinds of birds, and the manatee or sea cow.

Alaska

Alaska is the largest of the American states. It officially became a state on January 3, 1959. It was purchased from Russia for $7 million in 1867 and was made a territory of the United States in 1912. Its name comes from the Aleut for “great land.” Native American people — mostly Inuit, Yupik Inuit, and Aleut — have lived in Alaska for many thousands of years. Today, they make up about 15 percent of the population.

L ife in Alaska has always been difficult, but the Inuit and Aleut people learned to adapt to the harsh climate. Until recently, they lived by hunting seals, whales, caribou, and bears, and by fishing. They used sleds pulled by dogs to travel over the snow-covered land, and lived in igloos, houses made of snow, or tents made of skin, bone, and earth. Most Inuit now have a more modern lifestyle, but there are still some people who live part of the year in a traditional way.

It remained largely unexplored until the Gold Rush in the 1880s. Fur trade was the main economic activity in Alaska for more than 150 years after 1741. In the 1880s and 1890s major gold deposits were discovered. In addition, other minerals, particularly copper, tin, mercury, and silver, were also mined. During the 1940s and 1950s large military bases were built. Beginning in the late 1970s, the economy underwent a fundamental change as the state’s enormous oil deposits were exploited. The oil industry is now a major industry.

Much of the state is still wild and unspoiled. Almost a third of Alaska is north of the Arctic Circle. Alaska is not an easy place to live in. There are many places that cannot be reached by road, so people go by air. Planes are used to fly in food and other supplies. One in every fifty people in Alaska has a pilot’s license. During the winter, there are only a few hours of sunlight, and children go to school in the dark. In the summer, there is daylight even at night. At Point Barrow, Alaska’s northernmost point, the sun never sets between May and August. Tourists come to see Alaska's mountain scenery, historic coastal towns and the state’s vast areas of untamed wilderness. Mount McKinley (Denali) in the Alaska Range is North America’s highest peak at 20,320 feet and one of the greatest challenges for mountain climbers.

Hawaii

The name Hawaii is believed to be an English adaptation of the native word for “homeland”. First settled by Polynesians sailing from other Pacific islands between A.D. 300 and 600, Hawaii was visited in 1778 by British Captain James Cook, who called the group the Sandwich Islands. Following its annexation in 1898, Hawaii became a U.S. territory in 1900. Hawaii is the youngest state, joining the Union in 1959 as the 50th state, just after Alaska.

Hawaii is world famous for its pleasant climate and spectacular beauty. It has deep-blue seas, brilliantly colored flowers, graceful palm trees, magnificent waterfalls and dramatic volcanoes. Hawaii is made up of 132 tropical islands, but people only live on seven of them. The largest island is called Hawaii, while the well-known tourist resort of Honolulu is on Oahu.

Tourism is Hawaii’s biggest industry. People are attracted by its beautiful scenery and beaches. Surfers come to experience the high waves.

The people who originally inhabited Hawaii were Polynesians. Later, many other Europeans and Americans came to grow pineapples and sugarcane on large plantations, and the plantation owners brought Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Filipino workers to work for them. Croups of American missionaries came to convert the Polynesians to Christianity and impose their western values. Today, only 1 percent of Hawaii’s population is Polynesian. The rest of Hawaii’s citizens are from a variety of origins: about 40 percent are Japanese or Filipino, and about 30 percent are from mainland America.