4. The usa economic geography

The United States has a capitalist mixed economy, which is fueled by abundantnatural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity.

Mining. The United States is a major contributor to the global mining industry – petroleum, natural gas and coal.

Agriculture – is a major industry in theUnited Statesand the country is a net exporter of food. The country is a top producer of corn, soy beans, rice, and wheat. Beef cattle rank as most valuable product of American farms. Other leading farm products, in order of value, include milk, chickens and eggs, cotton. US farms also produce large amounts of hay, tobacco, turkeys, potatoes, tomatoes, apples and peanuts.

Fishing. The greatest quantities of fish are taken from the Gulf of Mexico (shrimp, oysters). The Pacific Ocean supplies Alaska Pollock, cod, crabs, herring, salmon, tuna. The Atlantic yields cod, flounder, herring and other fish.

Manufacturing. The value of American manufactured goods is greater than that of any other country. The leading categories of US products are, in order of importance, transportation equipment, food products, chemicals, nonelectrical machinery, electrical machinery and equipment, fabricated metal products, printed materials, primary metals, paper products, scientific and medical instruments.

Services: finance, insurance, real estate, commodity and security exchanges.

Creative industries: include more than 12,000 stations, about 1,550 television stations, and more than 1,400 cable TV systems. Hollywood film industry and popular music also make a great contribution to the country’s economy.

Transport. The backbone of the nation’s transportation infrastructure is a network of high-capacity highways. America created car culture, so don’t be surprised by the fact that nearly everyone of legal driving age has a car and uses it at every possible opportunity.

The rail network is among the world’s best, though the passenger rail network is underdeveloped by European and Japanese standards. For a country that owes so much to the penetration of railroads and that has such a potent railroad mythology, the US has a train system that can be surprisingly impractical and not always comfortable. Ticket prices vary in value, but the earlier you make a reservation, the cheaper the ticket.

Air travel is the preferred means of travel for long distances. Most visitors arrive by air, and heavy competition on popular routes means that inexpensive flights are often available. The main international airports are in Boston, New York, Washington, Miami, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. There are connecting flights from these airports to hundreds of other US cities.

IT. The major centres for technology in the USA are the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Northwest.

Silicon Valleyis thesouthern partof theSan Francisco Bay AreainNorthern California,United States. The term originally referred to the region’s large number ofsilicon chipinnovators and manufacturers, but eventually came to refer to all thehigh-techbusinesses in the area; it is now generally used asa metonym for the high-tech sector. Despite the development of other high-tech economic centers throughout the United States, Silicon Valley continues to be the leading high-tech hub because of its large number of engineers andventure capitalists. Geographically, Silicon Valley encompasses the northern part ofSanta Clara Valleyand adjacent communities.