Hawaii

Hawaii is a chain of Islands that are 2050 miles long found in the middle of the pacific ocean between United States and Japan, composed of 8 different islands. The state capital  of Hawaii is Honolulu found in the island of Oahu. These islands were created by volcanic activity that still exist today.

Climate

Hawaii's seasons are split into two differnt ones which are a dry season , and a wet one. The dry season is from May to October and the winter season is from October to April. The climate in this region is Tropical, and the precipatation varies from the area you are found in due to the diverse environment. Some regions are mountonous , and some are flatter such as Oahu.

Tourism

This region is a very exotic place so tourism has risin up due to its vacation spots they have. Most of the people come from the United States mainland , and a lot of tourism from Japan. They have very nice beaches, and a whole chain of hotels due to this demand for tourism. Other than that they have a very nice envrionment, such as rainforest,beaches, and other outdoor activities.

The North Pacific Coast

The Physical Environment

The North Pacific is a very unique portion of the United States due to it's physical environment and the regions isolation from the rest of the regions around it. The coastline is a feature found in the Pacific Northwest which is a very rocky, coastlines with a lot of cliffs. It is a very mountanous region with a really rough environment, and because of this environment it makes a very rainy and wet region.

Climate

This region of the North Pacific is a very wet region, where the precipitation avarage is around 75 inches. The precipitation can increase as well if they are found close to certain side of the mountains.

Agriculture

The agriculture in this region is similar to that of the east coast .This regions agriculture is kept most only for their own consumption because of their isolation to any other region.

Forest

The high elevations and mountanous environment found in the North Pacific Coast is a result of a lot of forest areas in the region. Here some of the most exotic giant trees are found due to the high precipitation , meaning that lumber is one of the economic factors in the region.

California

California is one of the United States most diverse areas to living environment, and because of its inhabitants. "California is home to more than 12 percent of all Americans" (pg294 textbook). This shows how California is a very populated area, especially in the souther portions of the state.

The Physical Environment

California has a variety of mountain ranges which are the Coast Ranges , and the Sierra Nevada. Californias central portion is one big valley called the Central Valley which lies between these two mountain ranges mentions earlier. In this Valley is where most of the agriculture is found throughout the state. Most of the state to the southern portion, and going east is a very dry desert like environment.

Climate
The north portion of the state is more moist and wet compared to the southern portion of the state. The state has what is called a Mediterranean climate which means they receive moderate precipitation during the winter months, and mild winters, and hot summer mentions in our textbook on (pg 298). The costal portions of the state are much cooler than the interior portion of the state.

Urban California
California is considered mostly a modern urban state . "More than 90 percent of California's residents live in one or another of the states 25 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)" (pag307). The Los Angeles Area is the biggest city in California, made up of many different cultures, and people from all over the world. Los Angeles was built for people to use automobile transportation, so most of the places are found far from each other throughout the city.  " Today fully half of the central portion of Los Angeles has been surrendered to the automobile, either for roads or parking" (pg309 textbook). This city is also composed of a very diverse population which sometimes is not so good especially in a really populated city , where a alot of these people belong to minority groups. "Greater Los Angeles may be the largest Mexican metropolitan area outside of Mexico; the second largest Chinese metropolitan area outside of China; the second largest Japanese metropolitan area outside Japan; and the largest Korean,Filipino, and Vietnamese areas outside those countries" (pg 312 textbook).

The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development

Location/Tricultural Development

This area of the United States takes parts of southern California, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and southern portions of texas. This region is bordered by Mexico at their southern regions. This region of the country is very unique due to the three cultures that impacted the area due to the regions history. "The Southwest is a cultrue region distinguished by coexisting Spanish American, American Indian, and Northwest Europen American (anglo) people" (Page 276 textbook). These three cultures have shaped the region into what it has become today. Out of the three cultures the American Indian population had been kicked out of their land and re stettled into fixed reservation areas that the U.S government provided for them since they took over the land. The Spanish American population is one that is growing by the numbers and make much of the influence in the region. The Anglo people of the area not until recently have taken interest in the area since technology have along them to be in such a rugged desert like area without having to struggle because of the conditions. This also separates the these cultures from each other due to the financial cituations, the Hispanic and Indian American population are generally separated from the Anglo areas.

Cross-Border Economy

The United States and Mexico border have very different economies which are separated by a fence, but belong to the same region. The this makes the region even more unique , espeically those cities that close in proximity through the different countries. Once Mexico made a program that allowed the United States to cross the border, and create labor intensive manufacturing industries that provides jobs for a poor Mexico which are having problems with jobs for its people. Some people from Mexico cross the border to go work in the United States due to their poor economy. Most Americans only travel to Mexico to enjoy vacations at resorts that exist in Mexico. El Paso, Texas , and Cuidad Juarez are called twin cities but belong to different countries this shows the close proximity shown in the map at the bottom.

The Empty Interior

" North America's largest are of sparse population south of the Arctic stretches from the the Rocky Mountains' eastern slopes west to the Sierra Nevada of California, the Cascade Range of the Pacific northwest, and the Coast Mountains of British Columbia" (pg252 textbook).

The Phsyical Environment

This area of the United states has a very rugged terrain making it a hard place to live. The area is surrounded by different mountain chains, and extensive platues in between them. The mountains in this area of the United States are very tall, rugged, and pointy. The other feature of this region are the plateaus which make up most of the Empty Interior, that is why most of the scenic places such as the Grand Canyon are one of the most visted places visited because of the snenic look that erosion has cause on the plateaus.

The Grand Canyon to the left and the above image is part of the snake river valley in the southern part of idaho. Here smililar erosion has carved canyons, but the difference is that the Grand Canyons are much deeper making it a bigger attractions to peoples eyes.

Boise/Nampa, Idaho are part of the Empty Interior , and we can see it due to is physical characteristics and climite that it is part of  this region.

Climate

The climate of this area due to it's precipitation is arid or semiarid. It is a very try regions except for the higher elevations regions. the images below show how the Boise area looks in time of summer , and in the winter when its hot and dry. The Empty Interior also holds all if not most of the regions of desert that exist in the country. Every vacation I decided to go to Boise, Idaho I find myself driving through the Empty Interior through most of nevada, southeast oregon, and finally into Idaho.



Boise, Idaho (SUMMER)

Agriculture

" Irrigated crops dominate agricultural production in the Empty Interior(figure 13.5) in the text book shows the areas. This helps population with is sparse in the area stay in the location and provide some economic value to the land they own. The image at the bottom shows an example of the irrigation that is used in the idaho areas.









Boise, Idaho (WINTER)



Irrigation in Idaho

The Great Plain and Prairies

The Region of the Great Plains

The Great Plains and Praries is a very long and flat land full of grasslands. Despite some regions being less attractive than others. "The Sand Hillsof nebraska, the Badland of South Dakota, the Alberta uplands, the Manitoba lowland-there are a few examples of the Great plains landscapes that are  different both geologically and in their apperance" (pg 233 text book). The great plains have different environments in respect to thier region. The west side of the Great Plains is much more drying than the east portion.

Montana left , Sand Hills Nebraska on the right,  Badlands South Dakota below. These are just a few different features of the environment that the Great Plains pocess.

Agriculture

The Agriculture in the Great Plains is large scale and machinery intesive. The whole region usually produces the same kinds of crops due to the environment of the great plains that make those crops suitable for their production. The crop that is mostly grown in the region is Wheat. "Wheat is by far the most important crop grown in the region, combining crop tolarance of dry conditions with large, reliable market demand" (pg241 textbook).  The system of irrigation usually used in the regions is center pivot irrigation systems throughout the great plains.  "Draw on subsurface water, each circle shown to the right is 1/2-mile in diameter"( pg 245 textbook).

The Agricultural Core

Location
The Agricultural Core lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains all the ways down to the gulf coast and up. This portion of the United States is known as the Midwest due to the european settlement who implied that the west started at the Appalachian Mountains.(Reginal landscapes of the United States and Canada  pg 209 and 210)

Climate

The climate in this area of the United States was favorible to settle since there was trees which meant building materical and it indicated moisture and best soils to grow the crops they needed.The climate is very similar and consistant with rain the whole year so the farmers dont have to worry about droughts. This portion is one of the best climates for growing corn since they get plenty of rain and sunshine.

There general low relief also helps with heavy machinery that are used to harvest the crops throughout the region.

The Boise/Nampa area of Idaho also has its agricultural areas whos climate requires more irrigation due to the arid climate in the area. The machinery they have in these areas are large machinery for irrigation like shown in the image below.

The Subtropical Environment

The Southern Coastlands climate is humid and subtropical making it an ideal place to grow crops, and live since their winters are mild. In the Boise/Nampa area is more of a arid or semi-arid climnate making it harder to get water, there for making irrigation a major source for their crop growing. Both climates are affected by their location meaning they will have differences with anything to due with the weather. In the subtropical environment we see more things that are affected by the climate conditions such as winter freeze which affects the growing of crops, even to hurricanes which affect the reagion as natural disasters. In the Boise area of idaho the climate is more dry, and desert like in the sorrounding environments except in the more populated regions close to rivers there is much more life to the environment such as the Boise river , and the Snake river which passes close to the Nampa area.  In the chart below we see the risk of the common natural disasters in the blue shade of the gragh in the Boise region.
The trade is another important part of the subtropical environment in the southern part of the United states because of the coastal presence that they have. Many ports such as New Orleans are common to the big trade they have with much of the latin american countries, including South America.

The Changing South

Much like the south the southern part of Boise is known as the regional hub for music and performing arts. Jazz is big here, with the Gene Harris Jazz Festival happening every spring. A range of museums provide something for every art lover and history buff, including the Boise Art Museum, Idaho Historical Museum, Basque Museum and Cultural Center, and the Discovery Center of Idaho. Theater is also popular in Boise with a number of theater groups working in the city, including the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Little Theatre, and the Boise Contemporary Theatre. Boise is also home to a large Basque population, numbering 15,000, that adds to the city’s cultural diversity. Every five years, the community holds a large Basque festival called Jaialdi. http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/idaho/boise . Boise like many other cities have a cultural meaning compared to where the location of their home is. This passive about talks about how Boise is a very diverse city, and how music, art, different cultures, and physical environment help to make it a unique part in the United States. Boise also has a very good University which is located in downtown, having one of the best football programs in the country it helps build community, and makes them have a sense of coming together.

Religion

According to 2000 estimates, Idaho has about 311,425 Mormons, 18,745 adherents in the Assemblies of God, and 17,683 United Methodists. There were 130,847 Roman Catholics and an estimated 1,050 Jews (http://www.city-data.com/states/Idaho-Religions.html). Religion is very diverse in these areas of Idaho due to the different population that live in the city, and the rural parts of the towns. These different beliefs also make up the views on everyone that lives in the area and also creates boudaries among different cultures as well, but in another sense It can bring different cultures together.

Appalachia and The Ozarks

A Varied Topography

The boise region has a lot of different physical characteristic that are seen in the sorrounding areas which are quite a few. The Boise are is surrounded by rugged mountains, platues which created canyons because of the erosion from natural water, and valley low lands. In this sense we can say that Boise has a varied topography just like in the Appalachia and the Ozark regions which had their simalarities. The 2002 Census of Agriculture by the USDA reports that twenty-two percent of the land or 11.77 million acres (47,630 km²) in Idaho is used for agricultural purposes. The average farm size is 470 acres (1.9 km²) and the average age of the farm operator is 54.1 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_Idaho). Transportation in the Boise area is very simple and straight forward. Nampa located west lies around 10 miles west of boise, taking the 84 highway east will get to you to boise in 15 minutes. Most of the highways on the outsides of town are the ones crossing mountains , canyons, over rivers to make it easy to transport through the rugged and different aspects of the physical barrier that the environment imposes on the population.

The Bypassed East

Much like the Bypassed east the Boise region physically belongs to the northern part of a mountain range which is the Rockie Mountains. Another similarity is how due to erosion they have created plataues or rounded mountain compared to the Rockies rugget topography. Boise is also located in a valley next to mountain ranges, so there for lowlands are the primary agricultural zones , and the higher elevations are more natural resources and forestry. Therefore most of the populations are found in the lowland areas than mountanous areas due to the more ruggedness of the mountains. Fishing is also important in this region since it contains many fresh water fish, compared to the bypassed east which had more salt water fishing. Tourism is another of Boise's natural givens since it has a magnificant scenery, and outdoor environment need for rafting,skying , and snowboarding along its rivers , and mountains.

The North American Manufactoring Core

In Boise and Nampa not a lot of industrialization is seen close to the city, but you do see some plants around in the more rural areas such as Nampas northside , and some parts of the outskirts of boise. The more important things in Idaho is the Landscape and natural resourses , and the tourism with a alot of the natural outdoors sceneries and activities. "Idaho's rich tapestry of landscapes reflects an incrdible mineral weath and geologic diversity. It was the allure of gold that first drew miners to the Idaho Territory in the 1860s" (http://www.idahogeology.org/PDF/GeoNotes_(G)/geonote_40.pdf). Resource industries—food processing, chemical manufacturing, and lumber production—form the backbone of manufacturing in Idaho. Value added by manufacture increased from $1.4 billion in 1977 to $16 billion in 1995. In 1997, the value of shipments by major industries was $18 billion, reflecting the 6th-fastest growth rate in the previous five years for the nation (66.5%)(http://www.city-data.com/states/Idaho-Industry.html). It is seen that Idaho has a diverse manufactoring core which comes from different areas not only just industrial plants.

Megalopolis

The same way the Megalopolis is composed of a region characteristics, the Boise/Nampa area have similar physical characteristics among their region. We can say that the Megalopolis that exist in Idaho runs from west to east along the Snake river basin. A lot of water ways are also present in the Boise and Nampa areas , but they dont always provide traviling through them. Boise City-Nampa is the biggest metropolitan area between Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise#Demographics). Boise being the biggest metropolitan city in all of Idaho serves as a urban center in the middle of a mostly rural and natural place bringing in companies such as Micron Technology. All the other small cities around Boise which are growing around the area making it the center of all the cities. Cities like Boise, Idaho, Denver, Colorado, and Minneapolis, Minnesota dominate cultural lives well outside of their home states; regions with multiple big cities in close proximity, such as along the northern east coast of the US, find that their footprints are much smaller, even if the populations are far larger (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003651.html). Here it shows how even much smaller cities in a proximity of each other have the same effect that the Megalopolis in the east coast has on their regions which are similar.

Foundations of Human Activity

European Settlement and Native Americans
American Indian tibes predominat in the are in historic times included the Nez Perce and the Coer d' Alene in the north: and the northern and western Shoshone and Bannock peoples in the south. Mormons are found in idaho because in early times they believe it was still part of Utah. Mormon pioneers would go on to establish the majority of historic and modern communities in Southeastern Idaho. Irish people moved into Idaho looking for agricultural land , and because catholics were already present in the northern and eastern parts of Idaho which moved them west. The first african american in Idaho came with the Lewis and Clark Expedition , but most african americans came to the area after the civil war when slavery was abolished.Blacks are the fourth largest ethnic group in Idaho according to the 2000 census. Mountain home,Boise, and Garden City have significant African American populations.The Basque people  from the Iberian penisula in Spain and southern France were traditionally  shepherds in Europe. They came to Idaho, offering hard work and perseverance in exchange for opportunity. One of the largest Basque communities in the US is in Boise, and I was able to attend one of the festivals held in Boise by the basque people.
Population/Urbanization
Through the 90's Boise's population has grown by about 48%. It is estimated that in the first 5 years of the past decade the population of Boise has grown by about 4%. Since 2005 Boise's population has grown by about 3%. (www.idcide.com/citydata/id/boise.htm) The population is growin in Boise and Nampa , which is seen when you leave the town where you see a alot of contruction of new homes, and the city growing. The city is growing amoung a mostly rural environment. The Boise area is a more diverse place , but whites are still the main race in both the city and the rural parts.

Race

Population by Race
	White	92%
	African American	1%
	Native American	1%
	Asian	2%
	Hawaiian	0%
	Other/Mixed	4%

As % of Population

The Physical Environment

Topography of Boise/Nampa
Boise/Nampa region is composed of a intermontaine Basins and platateaus according to the map from our textbook figure 2.1, and also being bordered by the Rocky Montains. With the Rockie Mountains east, a series of high, heavily dissected plateaus west of the Rockies (pg 23 textbook). This shows how the Boise/Nampa region is surrounded by mountains, and river going through or around them have caused erosion making up canyons, valleys , and Plateaus.  Many of Idaho's major cities are in the Snake River Plain, as is much of its agricultural land. Also located within Snake River Plain. Boise is located north of the Snake river , making it a part of this snake river portion which most of the major cities are located in Idaho. The Boise River is a tributary of the Snake river, approximately 75 miles (121km) long(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise_River). The Boise River runs through a portion of downtown Boise.



Climate
The climate in Boise/Nampa area is very different depending on either winter or summer. During the Summer it is very hot and dry with low humidity making it better to withstand, and during the winter it gets cold with some snowfall. In the chart it shows the average temperature for every month of  the year showing that low temperature during winter and high during summer.

http://www.realidaho.com/images/weather/boise-average-temperature.gif

Regions and Themes

Boise  is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho as well as the country seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, this is the principal city of the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon. As of the 2008 Census Bureau estimates, Boise's city population was 205,314, making it the third largest city in the Northwest United States. The Boise Metropolitan area is estimated to have 585, 207 inhabitants, by far the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho. It is also the 98th largest US city by population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boise,_Idaho