6/ Natural resources

• coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, gold, iron, mercury, etc.

• Land use:

  • arable land 19%

  • permanent crops 0%

  • permanent pastures 25%

  • forests and woodlands 30%

  • other 26%

7. Natural hazards

- tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquake activity around Pacific Basin

- hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts

- tornadoes in the midwest and south-east

- mud slides in California

- forest fires in the west

- flooding

- permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development.

A look at the People. Ethnic, Religious and Social Diversity of the USA.

1. General characteristics of the USA population

2. Diversity and Uniformity as opposing characteristics of the US society

3. immigration as the Major source of diversity

4. restrictions on immigration

5. racism as another source of diversity

General Characteristics

5% of the Earth's inhabitants

density - 32 persons per sq km

4 million people – at the first national census (1790), 76 million (1900), about 300 million people now.

Natural growth rate – 0.6 % compared with a 1.25% growth rate for the world.

14.1 births and 8.2 deaths per 1,000 people (2008)

Diversity and Uniformity

Uniformity

• in Canada, 68% of the population speaks only French

• India has 14 major languages and China 7 major dialects

• reasons for relative linguistic uniformity:

  • early British dominance

  • widespread literacy

• Cultural differences are also disappearing because people travel or move to other places more

• they promote the same fashions in dress, entertainment, behaviour

• newer suburbs, apartments, offices, shops, factories, highways, hotels, gas stations and schools tend to look much the same

• mass media are uniform and the English language dominates

• e-mail and the Internet are spreading American English

“American society”:

• a “melting pot”

• a “salad bowl”

• a “mosaic”

Diversity

• America's society remains a diverse mix of ethnic, religious and racial groups because of its historical development and wide range immigrations.

• Pluralism adds to the richness and strength of the nation's culture.

• Diversity – a source of friction

• the nation's motto - “E pluribus unum” (“From many, one”)

• this diversity is one of America's distinguishing characteristics.

Religious diversity.

Religious of the US:

• Christianity

  • Roman catholic

  • eastern orthodox

    • Russian orthodox

    • Greek orthodox

  • Protestant

    • Methodists

    • baptism

    • Lutherans

    • Mormons

• Islam

• Buddhism

• Hinduism

• the variety of religious beliefs in the US surpasses the nation's multitude of ethnicities, nationalities, races

• 83 % - identify themselves as Christians

• Christians belong to a wide variety of Churches that differ on theology, the way they interpret the Bible, organisations, programs and policies

• most Christians in America are Protestants, but hundreds of Protestants denominations and independent congregations exist (Baptists, Lutherans, etc)

• Roman Catholics, the next largest religious group in the US, are far more unified than Protestants

• the Eastern Orthodax Church, the 3^rd major group of Christian churches, is divided by national orogin, with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church being the largest of the branches in the US

• Judaism is the next largest religion in the US, with about 2% of the population. Is divided into branches.

• Other religious practiced in America include Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Islam is among the fastest-growing religious groups; its members were about 1% of the US population in 2001

• Large numbers of Americans do not have a religious view of the world – some 8 % are nonreligious, secular, or are atheists

• more than a quarter of the American population is unaffiliated with any church or denomination

• this mixture of multiple religious and secular points of view existed from the very beginning of European colonisation