World Regional GeographyChapter 11: A Geographic Profile of the United States and Canada

• Canada is only slightly larger in area than the U.S.• Canada and the U.S. share the longest international

border in the world, at 5,527 miles• Population

– United States 302 Million (2007) Pop Density = 81/mi2

– Canada 33 Million (2007) Pop Density = 9/mi2

– Together, the countries have 5% of the world’s population on13% of its land surface

• 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of U.S. border• Canadians and Americans are overwhelmingly urban

– 79% of Canadians and Americans are city dwellers– Megalopolis (“Boswash”) is home to 1 out of 7 Americans

• 500-mile-long narrow, urban belt from Boston to Washington• Includes 7 metropolitan areas

11.1 Area & Population

Principal Features of the U.S. and Canada

Population Distribution of the U.S. & Canada

Population Cartogram of the U.S. & Canada

• Nations of Immigrants– Due to immigration, the U.S. is the only MDC in the world that is

experiencing significant population growth– Each year, more than a million immigrants arrive in the U.S.

and over 200,000 arrive in Canada– 40,000 Guest Workers enter the U.S. Annually– Illegal Aliens / Undocumented Workers

• Estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S.

• Controversy of Illegal Immigration in U.S.– Fear of immigrants taking jobs and bleeding social services– Others argue low-wage immigrants are vital for the American

economy, taking jobs shunned by most Americans, while contributing to the economy through their purchases

– Measures to Handle Illegal Immigration• Secure Fence Act of 2006• Secure Border Initiative and the Virtual Fence

11.1.1 Migration into North America

Migration Flows into the U.S. & Canada

• Remarkably diverse natural environments– They include some of the most spectacular wild

landscapes on the planet– Present people with a vast array of opportunities for

land use and settlement

• It is important to consider how these landforms have promoted or hindered human uses andhow climates have also done the same

11.2 Physical Geography & Human Adaptations

• Major Landforms– Greenland

– Canadian Shield

– Appalachian Mountains

– Piedmont

– Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains

– Great Plains

– Rocky Mountains

– Columbia Plateau

– Great Basin

– Pacific Mountain Ranges

– Arctic Coastal Plain

11.2.1 Landforms and Land Uses

Physical Geography of the U.S. & Canada

Climates of the U.S. & Canada

Biomes of the U.S. & Canada

Land Use in the U.S. & Canada

• The U.S. has more climatic types than any other country in the world, and even Canada is quite varied– Tundra (Canada and Alaska)– Subarctic (Canada and Alaska)– Humid Continental (Midwest)– Humid Subtropical (U.S. Southeast)– Tropical Savanna (Southern Florida)– Tropical Rain Forest (Hawaii)– Marine West Coast (Coastal Pacific Northwest)– Mediterranean (Central and Southern California)– Semiarid / Steppe (Interior West)– Desert (U.S. Southwest)– Undifferentiated Highland (Rockies, Sierra Nevada)

11.2.2 Climates and Land Uses

• Migrations of Native Americans into the Region– Began their migrations as Asians– Started crossing what was then a land bridge between Alaska and

Siberia at least 12,500 (possibly as early as 33,000) years ago– Migration persisted until about 3,000 years ago

11.3 Cultural & Historical Geographies

• Similarities to Indigenous Cultures of Latin America– Some developed civilizations, the rather complex, agriculture-

based ways of life associated with permanent or semipermanent settlements and stratified societies

• Dominant Native American Civilizations– Mogollon (300 B.C.E. – 1400 C.E.)– Hohokam (100 B.C.E. – 1500 C.E.)– Anasazi ( – 1300 C.E.)

• Mound Builder Civilizations– Poverty Point (2000 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.)– Adena (2000 B.C.E. – 200 C.E.)– Hopewell ( 200 B.C.E. – 700 C.E.)– Mississippian ( 700 C.E. – 1700 C.E.)

11.3.1 Native American Civilizations

Anasazi Pueblo Dwelling in Arizona

• Seven Native American Language Families(represented by more than 250 languages)– Aztec-Tanoan– Hokan-Siouan– Penutian– Mosan– Algic– Na-Dene– Eskimo-Aleut

• A trait apparently shared by most of the Native American groups was their deep reverence for the natural world

11.3.2 Indigenous Culture Groups & Lifeways

Native American Culture Areas

• Narratives of what took place in North America following 1492– Europeans: Times of settlement, development, taming the

frontier, and “civilizing the savages”– Native Americans: Times of depopulation and cultural

demolition

• Canada– Native American peoples refer to themselves as the First Nations in

acknowledgement of their pre-Columbian claims to the land– In 1999, Canada ceded ¼ of its total area to the Inuit peoples in creating

the territory of Nunavut

• United States– Native American Reservations (“The Res”)

• Home to 1/3 of Native Americans today• Among poorest communities of the country• Plagued by high rates of incarceration, alcoholism, drug abuse,

depression, broken families, teen suicide, and unemployment• Importance of gambling revenues

11.3.3 European Impacts on Native Cultures

Modern Native American Lands

Lakota at the Wounded Knee Massacre SitePine Ridge, South Dakota

Native American CasinoLaguna Reservation, New Mexico

• Waves of European Settlement in North America– Religious persecution in Europe– Colonization of new lands by European powers– Expansionist efforts of newly independent Canada and the U.S.

• Several Territorial Acquisitions of the United States– Manifest Destiny (opening of settlement all the way to the Pacific)

• California Gold Rush (1849) as impetus for settlement

• Homestead Act (1862)– Allowed pioneer family to claim up to 160 acres of land for $10

• Multiculturalism Act (1988)– Recognized Canada as a multicultural society

11.3.4 European Settlers and Settlements

Territorial Acquisitions of the U.S. & Canada

Major Ethnic Groups in the U.S. & Canada

• Minorities comprise about 1/3 of the U.S. population– 14% are Hispanic (42 million)

– 12% are African Americans (35 million)

– 4% are Asian Americans

• By 2050, Non-Hispanic whites will drop below 50%of the U.S. population

11.3.5 Ethnic Minorities

Ethnic Urban Landscapes of the U.S.Black-run Business in Los Angeles, California

Ethnic Urban Landscapes of the U.S.Latino Neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois

Ethnic Urban Landscapes of the U.S.Chinatown in San Francisco, California

• Language– English and French are Canada’s official languages– U.S. does not have an official language (English spoken by 96%)– “Spanglish”

• Hybrid tongue of Spanish and English

• From Hispanic neighborhoods into mainstream culture of U.S.

• Laws guarantee religious freedoms in both nations– Both countries predominantly Christian– Largest single denomination is Roman Catholicism

• 43% in Canada / 26% in the United States

– Other monotheistic faiths in the U.S.• 5 million Jews and 1 million Muslims

– Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the U.S.

11.3.6 Nonindigenous Languages & Faiths

Nonindigenous Languages of the U.S. & Canada

Religions of the U.S. & Canada

• The U.S. and Canada are very wealthy nations– United States $ 44,260 GNI PPP

– Canada $ 34,610 GNI PPP

• Where the United States ranks:– World’s largest economy

– World’s largest producer and consumer of goods / services

– World’s largest federal foreign debt

– World’s largest national debt

– With about 5% of the world’s population,the U.S. has a third of the world’s wealth

11.4 Economic Geography

• Keys to Region’s Affluence– Large endowments of important natural assets– Large population represents pool of labor and talent as well as a market– Mechanized economies– Peace and stability within and between these countries– Overall sense of internal unity and track record of continuity in political,

economic, and cultural institutions

• Imbalance in the Distribution of National Wealth– Wealthiest 1% of Americans take in 20% of country’s total income– Poorest 10% of Americans take in less than 2% of total income– In 2006, 12% of Americans lived below the poverty line,

whereas only 5% of Canadians were below its poverty line– However, this is a region where most people enjoy the “good life”

11.4.1 Sources of the Region’s Affluence

• U.S. and Canada resemble European environments and their potential for production of wheat, cattle, and other products

• Largest food-exporting region of the world– U.S. has more arable land than any other country– A much smaller proportion of Canada is arable,

but it has more farmable land than many other countries• Resource Rich:

– Forests (Canada is world’s largest exporter of wood)– Mineral Resources– Energy Resources– Oil (Including Tar Sands in Canada)– Natural Gas

11.4.2 An Abundance of Resources

Canadian Timber En Route to East Asia

Tar Sands Locations in Canada

Oil Production at the Athabasca Tar Sands Facility

• Transition to Service Sector / Information Technology– Although raw materials contribute much to their wealth,

the U.S. and Canada have become prosperous becauseof machines and mechanical energy, complemented bya boom in IT

– Most Americans and Canadians employed in service sector

• Finance, Medical Care, Retail Sales, Entertainment, etc.

– Manufacturing now only accounts for 9% of U.S. economy

• Rust Belt

– U.S. profits from a “knowledge economy”

• Designing products, but not making them

11.4.3 Mechanization, Services, and I.T.

Steel Mill in South Korea, Not Pittsburgh!

• Vital Trading Partners– Canada is much more dependent on the U.S.– Canada is the leading country in total trade with the U.S.– Main pattern of trade is the exchange of Canadian raw and

intermediate materials for American manufactured goods• Economic Disputes

– Wheat War– Salmon War– Lumber Dumping

• Despite occasional disagreements, the trend hasbeen toward more cooperation and free trade

• Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (1988)• North American Free Trade Agreement (1994)

11.4.4 U.S.-Canadian Economic Relations

• Transcontinental railroads first linked the coasts

• Interstate Highway System (Late 1950s)– Primary network for the trucking of cargo across the U.S.

– Reflects American love affair with the automobile

• Public transportation is popular only in cities– Gridlock makes it an attractive alternative to driving

11.4.5 Transportation Infrastructure

Highway and Railway Network

• Historical Relations between the U.S. and Canada• The United States’ Place in the World

11.5 Geopolitical Issues

• Friction following the American Revolution– Northern colonies failed to join the Revolution

• British used those colonies as bases during the war

– Many in the north came from Tory stock• Wanted to maintain political connections with British government

– Tensions were high over who would have ultimate control of the central and western reaches of the continent

• War of 1812 fought largely as U.S. effort to conquer Canada

• Canada’s emergence as a unified nation came partly as a result of U.S. pressure– Hostility between U.S. and Canada did not immediately end

with the establishment of an independent Canada,but relations improved gradually

• Today these countries are strong allies

11.5.1 Historical Relations

• U.S. displays its power through military action and trade• Isolationism

– Geographic advantage of being far away from world’s hot spots– Entered both world wars late

• Attacks of September 11, 2001– Policy of Preemptive Engagement

• The U.S. remains the world’s sole superpower– Strongest economy– Military expenditures larger than those

of the next 14 countries combined– Dominance of global popular culture– World’s best universities– Headquarters to many of the world’s

leading international organizations

11.5.2 The United States’ Place in the World