World Regional Geography GEG 101 ONLINE! CHAPTER 3: North America

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Studying the Chapter:

• Read and study the textbook. (See "Textbook Notes" below.)
  • Textbook Chapter Online: http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/6X/04717178/047171786X-5.pdf
• Read and study the Online Lecture

Map Quiz 11 - Chapter 3:

• blank outline map
• required map quiz locations
• online map quiz tutorial 

Review Activities:

• Chapter Quiz from the textbook Student Companion website
• GO TO MULTIPLE CHOICE QUIZ
• Exam 3 - Sample Short answer questions
• Realm Worksheet

For All Realms:

Keep these in mind as you read and study EACH REALM (chapter). Defining a Realm: Know the physical, cultural, economic, and/or historical criteria (characteristics) used to define the realm. Why are the boundaries drawn where they are? Are there any physical barriers (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests) at the realm border? Are there physical, cultural, economic, and historical differences on either side of the realm boundary? Do the realm boundaries tend to run through areas of sparse population? How do the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics of the realm differ from these characteristics of neighboring realms?   You may want to do the following FOR EACH REALM to help your learning: print this realm worksheet and keep track of the characteristics in the chart as you read and study the chapter. You may want to review the lecture on REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY Use the Goode's Atlas maps, especially the world maps at the beginning, to see differences between realms   Here are SOME of the physical, cultural, economic, and historical characteristics that you should consider physical geography landscapes climate precipitation major physical features physical barriers at the realm boundaries (oceans, seas, mountains, deserts, dense forests) cultural geography religion language politics other economic geography level of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41) per capita income (GDP) population growth rate % urban population life expectancy other measures of development - IMPORTANT: SEE TABLE G-1 (pp. 34-41) historical Geography culture hearths colonization - who colonized other   Know where most people live in the realm. See the population density map in your Goode's Atlas and Figure G-9 (pp. 18-19) in your textbook. Also, assess how well the 5 reasons explain the population distribution. Do they apply to this realm or not?   Know the CONCEPTS, IDEAS, and TERMS listed on the first page of each chapter and the italicized words within the chapter. ALSO, know EXAMPLES of the terms from the realm being studied. It is strongly suggested that you make a list of these terms with their definitions and examples. Each unit exam will have a question where you DEFINE and GIVE EXAMPLES of these terms.   You must understand map SCALE. Know the difference between a large scale map and a small scale map. Each unit exam will have a question about map scale. See Figure G-3. Large scale = large detail = small area Small scale = small detail = large area

Textbook Notes:

[Some maps may be difficult to read. To see a clear image, RIGHT CLICK on the image and select VIEW IMAGE]

BRIEF OUTLINE / 4 CLASS THEMES Chapter 3 NORTH AMERICA DEFINING THE REALM 143 Physical Geography: North America's Physical Geography 145 Physiography 146 Climate 148 Hydrography (Surface Water) 149 Historical Geography: Indigenous North America 149 The United States 151 Historical Geography: Population in Time and Space 151 Colonial and Nineteenth-Century Development 154 Post-1900 Industrial Urbanization 154 Cultural Geography 159 American Cultural Bases 160 Language and Religion 160 Ethnic Pattern 160 Immigration 160 The Emerging Mosaic Culture 161 Regional Issue: Immigration 162 Economic Geography: The Changing Geography of Economic Activity 161 Major Components of the Spatial Economy 163 Resource Use 163 Agriculture 163 Manufacturing 163 the Postindustrial Revolution 166 Canada 168 Historical Geography: Population in Time and Space 170 Pre-Twentieth Century Canada 170 Canada Since 1900 170 Cultural Geography: Cultural/Political Geography 171 Economic Geography 172 REGIONS OF THE REALM 175 The North American Core 175 The Maritime Northeast 177 French Canada 180 The Continental Interior 181 The South 183 The Southwest 185 The Western Frontier 186 The Northern Frontier 188 The Pacific Hinge 189

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

• North America encompasses two of the world's biggest states territorially (Canada is the second largest in size; the United States is third).
• Both Canada and the United States are federal states, but their systems differ. Canada's is adapted from the British parliamentary system and is divided into ten provinces and three territories. The United States separates its executive and legislative branches of government and it consists of 50 States the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a number of island territories under US jurisdiction in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
• Both Canada and the United States are plural societies. Although ethnicity is increasingly important, Canada's pluralism is most strongly expressed in regional bilingualism. In the United States, major divisions occur along racial lines.
• A substantial number of Quebec's French-speaking citizens supports a movement that seeks independence for the province. The movement's high-water mark was reached in the 1995 referendum in which (minority) non- French-speakers were the difference in the narrow defeat of separation. Prospects for a breakup of the Canadian state have diminished since 2000.
• North America's population, not large by international standards, is the world's most highly urbanized and mobile. Largely propelled by a continuing wave of immigration, the realm's population total is expected to grow by more than 40 percent overlie next half-century.
• By world standards this is a rich realm where high incomes and high rates of consumption prevail. North America possesses a highly diversified resource base, but nonrenewable fuel and mineral deposits are consumed prodigiously.
• North America is home to one of the world's great manufacturing complexes. The realm's industrialization generated its unparalleled urban growth, but today a new postindustrial society and economy are rapidly maturing in both countries.
• The two countries heavily depend on each other for supplies of critical raw materials (e.g., Canada is the leading source of US energy imports) and have long been each other's chief trading partners. Today, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which also includes Mexico, is linking all three economies ever more tightly as the last barriers to international trade and investment flow are dismantled.
• North Americans are the world's most mobile people. Although plagued by recurrent congestion problems, the realm's networks of highways, commercial air routes, and cutting-edge telecommunications are still the most efficient on Earth.

   

DEFINING THE REALM

• The North American Realm
  • Know the difference between the North American CONTINENT and the North American REALM
  • Two countries: The United States and Canada
  • From whom does the United States IMPORT the most and to whom does the United States EXPORT the most? (answer on pp. 143-144)
  • Where do most Americans (from the US) live and where do most Canadians live? (p. 144-145
  • In which realm is the State of Hawaii placed? (p. 145)
  • cultural pluralism

   

• Physical Geography

• Physiography
  • physiographic provinces (physical regions)
    • map

      

    • north-south alignment of the Rocky Mountain backbone and the much lower eastern Appalachian mountains, therefore the realm is open to air movements from the south (warm) and from the north (cold) [see "Tornado Alley" below]
    • vast interior plains between the mountain chains extending from the arctic ocean to the Gulf of Mexico
      • Canadian Shield
      • Interior lowlands
      • Great Plains
    • a third north-south mountain chain on the Pacific Coast
      • Sierra Nevada Mountains in California
      • Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon

     

• Climate Patterns
  • map

    

     

  • colder in the north, warmer in the south
    • in Canada east of the Rocky Mountains the warmest temperatures are similar to the coldest areas of the United States.
  • continentality: colder in the interior, warmer on the coasts
  • orographic rainfall and the rain shadow effect
    • as moist winds come from the west they rise as they hit the coastal mountains and drop much of their precipitation on the west coast (orographic rainfall)
    • to the east of these mountains is a rain shadow and dry conditions in the intermontain physiographic region (eastern California, Nevada, eastern Washington and Oregon
    • as the weather pattern moves to the east it rises again at the Rocky Mountains dropping its precipitation (orographic rainfall)
    • to the east of the rocky mountains is another dry area (the western Great Plains)
    • as the westerly winds move to the east they pick up more moisture over the interior lowlands bringing it further east

     

    • On the map above note the dry "B" climates to the east of the west coast mountains and east of the Rocky Mountains
    • On the map below note the low precipitation found in the interior west

      

       

    • RESULT: an arid (western) and a humid (eastern) America [see the 20-inch isohyet in figure G-7]

     

    Question: On a blank outline map label the major physiographic features of North America. West coast mountains Rocky Mountains Appalachian Mountains Great Plains On the map in the question above, show where you might find a RAIN SHADOW effect.   Use the map below to describe the spatial distribution of North America's climate and precipitation. What is "continentality"?

  • The central part of the US has more tornadoes than any other place on earth

    From pp. 148-149: "A large number of storms develop here on the highly active weather front between tropical gulf air to the south and polar air to the north." because there are no physical barriers between the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean

    Question: On a map of the US show the location of "Tornado Alley" and explain

• Hydrography (Surface Water)

 

• Historical Geography: Indigenous North America

   

THE UNITED STATES

• Historical Geography: Population in Time and Space
  • current population distribution:

    

   

  • Current population distribution is the result of historical and ongoing migrations patterns:
    • a general westward shift, currently turning to the sunbelt in the southwest
    • rapid growth of urban areas
    • movement of African Americans from the rural south to the urban north and a current return flow back to the south
    • influx of immigrants from outside the US
      • mostly European before 1960
      • now more from Middle America migrating to the states near the southern border
      • and from Asia migrating primarily to the west coast

     

• Colonial and Nineteenth Century Development

   

  • Post-1900 Industrial Urbanization:
    • Urban Geography is concerned with the spatial aspects of cities and urban networks

     

    • 3 Key Models to explain the Urban Geography of the US:
      • Borchert
      • Adams
      • Vance

       

    • Borchert's Model (Metropolitan Evolution): Evolution of the urban system
      • macroscale
      • Generalization of the historical growth of the US urban system in the nineteenth century
        • an explanation of WHERE cities were/are in the US
        • based on key changes in energy and transportation technology
      • Occurred in 5 stages:
        • Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830)
          • WHERE - leading cities were northeastern ports oriented toward Europe rather than oriented inland toward their hinterlands
        • Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)
          • affected by the spread of steam powered railroads
          • WHERE - a nationwide system of cities and transportation forming
          • New York became a primate city
        • Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920)
          • industrial revolution in the US
          • WHERE - a fully established nationwide system of cities
          • rise of steel and auto industries in Midwestern cities
        • Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-1970)
          • national urban system matures
          • based on automobiles and airplanes
          • growth of service industries and the importance of amenities
            • WHERE - growth of suburbs and movement to the southwest
        • Satellite-Electronic-Jet Propulsion Epoch (1970-?)
          • favoring globally-oriented cities
          • WHERE - "world cities" especially along the coasts

     

    • Formation of an American Manufacturing Belt - or the North American Core area
      • WHERE

        

        NOTE: but only less than 1% of the land area is actually used for manufacturing

         

  • Megalopolitan Growth
    • megalopolis - definition
    • Atlantic Seaboard Megalopolis
      • WHERE?

        

      • from Maine to Virginia

       

    • Six other primary conurbations have also emerged:
      • Lower Great Lakes (Chicago-Detroit-Cleveland-Pittsburg)
      • Piedmont (Atlanta-Charlotte-Raleigh/Durham)
      • Florida (Jacksonville-Tampa-Orland-Miami)
      • Texas (Houston-Dallas/Ft.Worth-San Antonio)
      • California (San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco)
      • Pacific Northwest (Portland-Seattle-Vancouver)

       

    • In Canada: Mainstreet (Windsor [near Detroit])-Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City) bordering the US along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River/Seaway

   

  • Adam's Model (Stages Of Intraurban Growth): The changing structure of the US metropolis: See Figure 3.10
    • Focused on intraurban growth; the INTERNAL structure of urban areas
    • Based on breakthroughs in transportation technology
    • A pattern of outward-areal expansion
    • 4 eras of intraurban structural evolution:

    Stage I: before 1888: Walking-Horsecar Era compact pedestrian city everything within a 30 minute walk slightly enlarged with the introduction of horse drawn trolleys Stage II: 1888-1920: Electric Streetcar Era expansion of cities out along the new electric streetcar lines the city core separated into CBD, residential district, and industrial district Stage III: 1920-1945: Recreational Auto Era result of the impact of the automobile wave of mass suburbanization central city reached its economic peak people live in the suburbs and work and shop in the city the central city partitions into ethnic, economic, and racial neighborhoods; ghettos formed Stage IV: 1945-Present: Freeway Era The building of expressways expanded the urban area greatly along the new corridors suburban business districts develop; "outer cities"; "suburban downtowns"; (see Vance's model of Urban realms below) the CBD begins to decline in importance

   

  • James Vance's Urban Realms Model; defines a new tributary area

    "pepperoni pizza model" Single urban structure of the past with one CBD is transformed into a multicentered model in which several outlying activity concentrations rival the Central Business District (CBD) each of these suburban downtowns is self-sufficient serving its own area   the economic position of the original CBD declines serving more low income people decline in manufacturing shift toward service industries; high skyscrapers gentrification: the displacement of low income residential areas with more expensive residential investments

    figure 3-11 (idealized model) and 3-12 (model applied to Los Angeles)

     

Cultural Geography - US

• American Cultural Bases
  • love of newness - example: moved to suburbs
  • desire to be near nature- example: suburbs are a form of being in the country
  • freedom to move
  • individualism
  • societal acceptance
  • aggressive pursuit of goals
  • a firm sense of destiny
• Language and Religion
  • English
  • more than 12% speak a primary language other than English
  • different dialects of English
  • Christian-dominated
  • regional expression of religions
    • Southern Baptists in the southeast
    • Lutherans in the upper Midwest and northern Great Plains
    • Mormons west of the Rockies, centered on Utah
    • Catholics in the manufacturing belt, New England, and along the Mexican border
    • Judaism: most highly agglomerated religion in the US; suburbs of Megalopolis, Southern California, South Florida, Midwest
• Ethnic Patterns (national ancestry)
  • non-whites equal more than 1/3 of the population; 50% by mid-century
  • 4 largest non-white ethnic groups
    • Hispanics:
      • 60% in California, New Mexico, and south Florida
      • rapidly expanding and dispersing
    • African-Americans: in the South, central cities of the manufacturing belt, and west coast
    • Asian-Americans: urban-based clusters along the Pacific coast
    • Native Americans: in the West
• Immigration
  • Source areas:
    • 1950s: 50% from Europe, 25% from Latin America, 15% from Canada
    • Now: 50% from Latin America, 25% from Asia, 15% from Europe and Canada
  • in 2004, more than 33 million US residents (11.5%) were born in other countries; the highest total in US history
  • WHERE?
    • urban areas
    • once dominant manufacturing belt now has less than 25% of the immigrants
    • the sunbelt states of California, Texas, and Florida receive over half of all new immigrants
• The Emerging Mosaic culture
  • the US is becoming more "separated", NOT by race or income, but rather, by:
    • age
    • occupational status
    • and especially lifestyle

   

  Question: Would the United States be called a "nation-state" or a multinational state"? Why?   Briefly describe the spatial distribution of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans.

Economic Geography - US: the Changing Geography of Economic Activity

• one of the world's most advanced economies (see table G-1)
• currently completing a restructuring from and industrial economy to a postindustrial society

• Major components of the spatial economy:
  • Primary Sector (extractive sector; especially mining and agriculture)
  • Secondary Sector (Manufacturing sector)
  • Tertiary Sector (Services sector)
  • Quaternary Sector (Information)
    • subset of Quaternary sector: Quinary (Management)

   

  • primary sector was dominant up to the 20th century
  • secondary sector led the way in the early 20th century
  • tertiary sector (services) surpassed manufacturing around mid-century
  • quaternary sector now dominant

   

  • current labor force:
    • 2% in agriculture
    • 15% manufacturing
    • 18% services
    • 65% in the quaternary sector (including 10% in the quinary)

   

• PRIMARY SECTOR:
  • Resource Use
    • mineral resources concentrated in three zones:
      • Canadian Shield north of the Great Lakes: iron ore, gold, nickel, uranium, and copper
      • Appalachian Highlands: coal and iron ore
      • mountain ranges of the West: coal, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, silver, and gold
    • fossil fuel energy resources (petroleum, coal, and natural gas)
      • figure 3-14
      • oil:
        • Gulf Coast: Texas to Louisiana
        • Texas-Oklahoma-Kansas
        • Alaska's central north slope
        • Canada: southern Alberta-Saskatchewan-Manitoba and Atlantic Ocean around Newfoundland
      • natural gas
        • same as oil fields
      • Coal
        • some of the largest reserves on Earth
        • US has a "400-year supply"
        • WHERE?

        Appalachia northern US Great Plains and southern Alberta southern Illinois and into Kentucky

  • Agriculture
    • most space-consuming economic activity
    • regionalization of US agricultural production
      • a modification of the Von Thunen's Model at the Macro Scale
      •  

      New "Rings", innermost to outermost: Atlantic Fruit, Vegetable and Dairy Belt: fruit/vegetable/dairy near populated areas Corn Belt: corn and corn to feed to livestock Wheat Belt Grazing Region: ranching where calves are born and sent to the corn feedlots Forestry

      • Megalopolis is the "Central City"

• SECONDARY SECTOR: Manufacturing
  • Manufacturing Belt

    

  • 
    • close to the Megalopolis national market
    • close to resources
      • near coal
      • access to iron ore via the Great Lakes
    • access to the world via the eastern ports, Great Lakes, and Erie Canal
    • historical inertia
  •  economies of scale
  • even though these factors have changed, industries tend to stay where they are because of historical inertia
  • but industries are moving to the West and South:
    • transportation costs are no longer significantly lower in the old manufacturing belt
    • energy costs lower in the South and Central energy producing states
    • need for more highly educated work force
    • noneconomic factors appear to be more important now: amenities like warm weather, recreational opportunities

 

• TERTIARY, QUATERNARY, AND QUINARY SECTORS: The Postindustrial Revolution
  • often called "the new economy" or "the computer age", "high technology", "white-collar"
  • fastest growing sector in the US
  • most are "footloose", i.e. they easily, and often, move
  • Different location Factors:
    • "Standard of living" amenities more important:
      • warm, sunny climates favored
      • suburbs, or beyond, but
      • close to major city
      • year-round recreational activities
      • quality housing
    • Economic factors
      • availability of start up capital
      • Low risk environment
        • Tax breaks
        • Cooperative state and local governments
      • close to major city
      • close to major university
      • Businesses
    • Technopole

     

 

Questions: How does the North American realm rank compared to other realms on the common measures of economic development?   What are primary activities, secondary activities, tertiary activities, and quaternary activities?   What percent of the labor force of the United States works in primary activities?   Compare von Thunen's, model of agricultural zones (see below) with the graph of "Agricultural Regions of the United States" (see textbook, figure 3-15, p. 157). Does the von Thunen model help (at least a little) to explain the spatial distribution of agricultural regions in the United States? (see textbook!!).   Describe WHY North America's manufacturing belt arose where it did and describe the spatial changes that are occurring now.   Discuss the "Four Spatial Economic Changes" that have occurred in North America (See Online Lecture) Population Distribution Urbanization Urban Structure Economic Activity

CANADA

• a federal state
• 10 Provinces and 3 territories
  • Nunavut: created in 1999,
• Population Distribution: Where do people live and why?

  

• 32.2 million people
• most live within 200 miles of the US border
• Four Population Clusters (1 major, 3 minor)

  

  1. Mainstreet (more than 60% of total population)
  2. St. John to Halifax in the maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
  3. Prairie Provinces
  4. Vancouver area in the southwest corner of British Colombia

  Question: Describe the ECUMENE of Canada. Do the physical criteria that we discussed in the Introduction apply to the ecumene of Canada" near coasts along rivers / near fresh water flat terrain temperate (C) climates (55% of pop.) fertile soil (river valleys, volcanic soils, other)

• Historical Geography: Population in time and Space
  •  
  • Pre-Twentieth-Century Canada: Frontier-Staples Era (<1935)
    • the Canadian interior was settled later than that of the US
    • Bi-cultural division: The French and the British
      • The French were first - New France: St. Lawrence basin, Great Lakes region, Mississippi River Valley
      • series of wars beginning in the 1680's and ending with France's defeat in 1763; the British now controlled Canada
      • French Quebec was given the right to retain its legal and land-tenure systems as well as the freedom of religion (French are Catholic, British Protestant
      • British North America after the US Revolutionary War
      • English refugees from the US flee to French Canada
      • 1791 French Canada divided into English Ontario and French Quebec, failed
      • 1867 the British North American Act establish the Canadian federation
        • Ontario and Quebec again separated
        • the French in Quebec given special right
      • Canada expands westward

       

  • Canada since 1900:
    • Economic transition from mercantile economy to one oriented to staples (raw materials and agricultural goods for export)
    • Growth of the industrial heartland: Toronto-Hamilton-Windsor (near Detroit)

     

    • Urban spatial changes - Macroscale (Interurban) Model of Maurice Yates
      • - A model to explain Canada's urban system
      • - Views cities as points in a network that interact with one another and serve the hinterlands
      • - Similar To Borchert's Model of the US urban system (review):
        • Sail-Wagon Epoch (1790-1830)
        • Iron Horse Epoch (1830-1870)
        • Steel-Rail Epoch (1870-1920)
        • Auto-Air-Amenity Epoch (1920-1970)
      • - Included 3 Developmental Eras in Yates' model:
        • Frontier-Staples Era (prior to 1935)
          • century long transition from a frontier mercantile economy to one based on the production of raw materials and agricultural products for export
          • increasing manufacturing activity in the industrial heartland of Canada
          • Montreal and Toronto emerged as dominant cities
        • Era of Industrial Capitalism (1935-1975)
          • Increase in manufacturing and tertiary sectors of the economy, especially after 1950
          • Increase in urbanization
          • Large investment by US corporations in Canadian branch-plant production (especially the auto industry)
          • Alberta experiences urban growth due to oil and natural gas production
          • "Mainstreet" develops
        • Era of Global Capitalism (since 1975)
          • Rise in foreign investment from Asian Pacific Rim and Europe
          • Canada's movement into postindustrial society
          • suburbanization
          • Country achieves 77% urbanization

     

• Cultural Geography
  • Languages
    • 60% English
    • 23 % French
    • 17% other languages

     

    • 18% speak both French and English
    • 90% of French speakers (Francophones) live in the province of Quebec (spatial clustering)

      

     

    • Divided Quebec
      • 80% French Canadian
      • historic, traditional, and emotional focus of French culture in Canada
      • movement to separate (balkanize) from Canada
        • French Quebecers regarding themselves as second-class citizens
        • bilingualism tended to mean that the French learn to speak English by not the reverse
        • 1970 a separatist political party came to power in the province of Quebec
        • 1980 referendum for independence solidly rejected
        • 1995 vote for independence was narrowly defeated
        • separatist feelings appear to be diminishing because:
          • provincial laws in Quebec firmly established the use of French and the preservation of Quebecois culture
          • more English speakers in Quebec learn to speak French; arrival of a new wave of immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe
          • landslide defeat of the pro-independent political party the Parti Quebecois in provincial elections in 2003
        • future?

         

    • Canada's first Nations and Inuit Peoples (Native Americans and Eskimos)
      • Recent changes:
        • creation of Nunavut territory
        • treaty for limited self-government in northern British Colombia
      • Concerns:
        • growing concern that the FEDERAL government protect their rights against the power of the PROVINCES
        • Especially the Cree in northern Quebec
          • what would happen if Quebec became independent?
          • independence for Nunavut as well?
          • excellent source of hydroelectric power

        Question: What is "Nunavut"? Briefly discuss the attempts by the Province of Quebec to separate from Canada.

    • Centrifugal Forces: growing regionalism
      • the west opposed federal concessions to Quebec' "special status" and seek "equal treatment" for all provinces
      • recent elections indicate a possible devolution and the formation of "Four Canadas":
        • Quebec
        • the West (British Colombia, Alberta, Saskatchewan)
        • The Atlantic Provinces
        • Ontario-led center

   

• Economic Geography of Canada
  • A diversified, high quality resource base
    • minerals
    • oil and natural gas (Alberta)
  • leading agricultural producer and exporter (Prairie Provinces)
  • decline of manufacturing (secondary sector)
  • postindustrial transformation of the southern Ontario manufacturing heartland
    • growing tertiary and quaternary sectors
    • employ 70 % of labor force
  • US-Canada Free Trade Agreement of 1989
    • has eliminated tariffs on cross-border trade
    • more trade occurs between the US and Canada than between any other two countries in the world
    • 4/5 of Canada's exports go to the US
  • NAFTA ratified in 1994
    • North American Free Trade Agreement
    • between the US, Canada, and Mexico
    • world's second-largest trading bloc
    • to be fully implemented in 2009
    • eliminating most trade barriers for agricultural and manufactured goods, as well, as tertiary and quaternary services
    • Chile invited to join in 1995, but the US congress prevented it
    • FTAA - Free Trade Area of the Americas??????
  • Devolutionary forces: strong North-South ties building between the "Four Canadas" and the adjacent areas in the US further weakening the centripetal forces holding Canada together
    • Maritime Provinces and New England
    • Quebec with New York
    • Ontario with Michigan and other Midwest states
    • Prairie Provinces and the Upper Midwest
    • British Colombia and the Pacific Northwest
  • Kenichi Ohmae's regional state concept
    • Definition: a regional state is a "natural economic zone" that defies old borders and is shaped by the global economy
    • regional state leaders deal directly with foreign partners
    • two "regional states" were identified by Ohmae in Canada:
      • Pacific Northwest (Seattle-Vancouver)
      • Great Lakes Area (Ontario-Michigan)
    • currently three additional regional states:
      • Maritime Provinces -New England
      • Quebec-New York
      • Prairie Provinces-Upper Midwest

    Question: What is NAFTA and what does it have to do with Kenichi Ohmae's concept of a "regional state"?

REGIONS OF THE REALM

Maritime Northeast French Canada North American Core Continental Interior South Southwest Western Frontier Northern Frontier Pacific Hinge

• North American Core
  • SYNONYMOUS WITH THE MANUFACTURING BELT
  • includes the LARGEST CITY AND CAPITAL OF BOTH COUNTRIES
  • EXTENSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS AND FACILITIES
  • IMPACT OF POST INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT?

     

• Maritime Northeast
  • UPPER NEW ENGLAND AND THE ATLANTIC PROVINCES
  • ECONOMIC FOCUS
    • PRIMARY ACTIVITIES
    • RECREATION
    • TOURISM
  • PROSPECTS FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC STABILITY?

     

• French Canada
  • THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF QUEBEC AND NEIGHBORING ACADIA
  • LONG LOT SYSTEM
  • IMPACT OF QUEBEC’S NATIONALISM?
  • MONTREAL

     

• Continental Interior
  • CENTER OF CONTERMINOUS US AND SOUTHERN CANADA
  • TREMENDOUS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
  • CORN AND WHEAT BELTS
  • GEOGRAPHY OF SOYBEANS
  • URBAN CENTERS
    • KANSAS CITY
    • MINNEAPOLIS-ST PAUL
    • WINNIPEG
    • OMAHA
    • DENVER

     

• The South
  • THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE REALM
  • MOST DYNAMIC REGION IN TERMS OF CHANGE
  • CONTINUING ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
  • POVERTY AND INCOME DISPARITY
  • CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS

   

• The Southwest
  • US-MEXICAN BORDER REGION
  • A TRICULTURAL REGION?
  • RECENT ECONOMIC TRENDS

     

• The Western Frontier
  • THE REALM’S NEWEST REGION
  • POPULATION INFLUX
  • THE LAS VEGAS BOOM
  • OTHER METROPOLISES
  • DENVER
  • SALT LAKE CITY
  • ECONOMIC CHANGES

   

• The Northern Frontier
  • NORTH OF 52°N LATITUDE
  • NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST REGION
  • includes Alaska
  • FRONTIER STATUS
  • INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
  • Economic activities
    • mining (nickel, uranium, copper, gold, silver, lead, diamonds,and zinc)
    • fossil fuels (including tar sands) and hydroelectric power
    • forestry
    • native subsistence economy

     

• The Pacific Hinge
  • PACIFIC COASTLANDS OF THE CONTERMINOUS US AND SW CANADA
  • SIGNIFICANCE OF “HINGE?”
  • 50 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH
  • THE BALANCE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT
  • NATURAL HAZARDS?