An Urban Center
 The
coastal region of the Northeast is a
megalopolis, a type of region where cities
and suburbs have grown so close together
they form one big urban area.
 The Northeast is the most densely populated
region of the United States. Population
density is the average number of people per
square mile. The population is denser in
parts of New Jersey than in crowded
countries like India and Japan.
Today, manufacturing, finance, communications,
and government employ millions of urban
Northeasterners.
 In Philadelphia, Americas founders adopted the
Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution. Today Philadelphia is an industrial
powerhouse located near the mouth of the
Delaware River.
 The Boston area is home to more than 20
colleges and universities. Cambridge, a Boston
suburb, is the home of Harvard, the oldest
university in the U.S. The city is also famous for
its science and technology.

 More
than 7 million people live in New York
City.
 New York City is our nation’s “money capital”
and about 500,000 New Yorkers work for
banks and other financial institutions. The
famous New York Stock Exchange is on Wall
Street.
 New York is also a center of fashion,
publishing, advertising, television, radio, and
the arts. New York’s Broadway is famous for
its theaters where more than eight million
people see plays every year.
From 1892 to 1943, the first stop for millions of
immigrants to the United States was Ellis Island.
From here, immigrants could see the Statue of
Liberty, half a mile away in New York harbor.
 In the 1800’s many Irish, Germans, and
Scandinavians immigrated to the U.S. Later
poured in from Southern and Eastern Europe.
During the 1900’s people also came from the
Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.
 After entering the port cities, many immigrants
stayed in those cities and built new lives. Today
New York is rich in ethnic diversity.

Farming has always been important to the
South’s economy and farmers once depended on
cotton as their only source of income.
 Today cotton still brings a lot of money to the
South, but most southern farmers produce a
wide variety of crops and farm animals.
 Some areas of the South have become famous for
their agricultural product. Georgia is known as
the Peach State and is famous for its peanuts
and pecans. Texas raises more cattle than any
other state. Arkansas raises the most chickens
and turkeys.

 In
Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas companies
drill for oil and natural gas to be used as
fuel. These resources are also made into
petrochemicals, such as plastics and paint.
 In Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, and
Tennessee, miners dig for coal.
 Southern states are also leading producers of
salt, sulfur, lead, zinc, and bauxite --- a
mineral used to make aluminum.
 The
South's fishing industry is strongest in
Louisiana and Texas along the Gulf of Mexico.
 The timber industry is found in nearly every
southern state. Softwood trees are used for
building or for paper and hardwood trees are
used for furniture.
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The change from an agriculture based economy to an
industry based economy is called industrialization.
One of the most important industries in the South is
the textile industry, which makes cloth. The textile
industry is strongest in Georgia, the Carolinas, and
Virginia.
Another industry in the south is the high technology
industry, which makes computers and other
electronic products. Some centers of high technology
are Raleigh, North Carolina and Austin, Texas.
In Florida, Texas, and Alabama, people work for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
running the nations space exploration program.
 Miami,
Florida is a gateway to Central and
South America. New Orleans, Louisiana
connects the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississippi
River system.
 The South is a part of the Sun Belt, a broad
area of the U.S. Stretching from the
southern Atlantic Coast to the coast of
California. It is known for its warm weather.
 The
city of Washington is not in any state.
Instead, it is in the District of Columbia,
which lies between the states of Maryland
and Virginia. This are was chosen as the site
for the nations capital in 1790. Washington,
D.C., is home to the nation’s leaders and to
hundreds of foreign diplomats.