Chapter 12
North America
Chapter Overview
The United States of America and Canada are two of the largest countries in the world
(Canada ranks second, the U.S. fourth). The United States is the world’s third most populous
country, but it is considerably smaller than China and India. Both countries are predominantly
urban, highly productive, and very affluent. Settlement of the region by Native Americans (First
Nations in Canada) began over 20,000. Contemporary North America has been most profoundly
influenced, however by Europeans who settled between 1500 and 1900.
North America has a vast and diverse resource base which has enabled Canada and the U.S.
to develop the world’s leading agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Nearly all of the world’s
climates are found in North America, with the majority of the region dominated by midlatitude
climates. The western third of Canada and the United States is mountainous with some active
volcanoes in the Cascades and southwestern Alaska. The Canadian Shield and interior lowlands
dominate between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains, which extends from
northern Georgia into the Atlantic Provinces of Canada. Major river systems and the Great Lakes
play an important role in defining both physical and human geographies of the region. The
Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio system not only drains nearly one-third of the continent, it also has
served as an important transportation network for the movement of goods and people. The region
experiences a wide range of natural hazards, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes,
volcanoes and floods.
The United States exerts global influence politically, economically, and militarily, although
not without criticism. Its economy is by far the world’s largest and U.S. corporations playing a
major role in globalization. Canada’s economic output is considerably less than that of the
United States but its per capita GNI PPP is comparable. Both the U.S. and Canada are in Stage 4
of the demographic transition (low birth and death rates), although immigration to the U.S.
results in above-average population growth. Similarly, both countries are highly urbanized. In
the U.S., 90 percent of the population lives within a two-hour dive of a city of at least 300,000
people. The highest population concentrations are in the northeastern U.S. and in clusters around
the Great Lakes. Since the mid-1900s, population growth has been most rapid in states in the
southeastern and southwestern U.S.
Despite its affluence, the U.S. has many pockets of poverty and the gap between the
materially wealthy and materially poor is increasing. Much of the poverty in concentrated in
inner-city areas that also contain high proportions of African Americans or Hispanics. The
United States is comprised of ten sub-regions, each with distinct physical, economic, and cultural
geographies.
Comprised of ten provinces and three territories, Canada has many cultural and economic
similarities to the United States and is linked to it in many ways. In spite of the dominance by its
southerly neighbor, Canadians have a strong sense of national pride and identity. Although the
country maintains an identity distinct from the United States, a secessionist movement led by
French-speakers in Québec threatens to fracture the country. Development of the Canadian
economy generally followed that of the U.S., although with lag of several years. The
manufacturing strength of the country emerged in Québec and Ontario. The Prairie Provinces of
Manitoba, Saskatchewan are the major wheat-growing areas and Alberta is a major oil, coal and
natural gas producer. Economic growth in the Pacific Rim has stimulated similar growth in
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British Columbia. The sparsely populated north is comprised of three territories, whose
economies historically have been oriented on extractive industries, particularly mining. Nunavut
was created out of the Northwest Territories in 1999 after two decades of negotiation between
the Inuit and the federal government.
Chapter Outline
Point–Counterpoint: North American Free Trade Agreement
Point-Counterpoint: Hurricane Katrina and Metropolitan New Orleans
Geography at Work: Using Geography to Aide Public Policy: The White House
Personal View: Canada
I.
Territory and Human Settlement
II. Physical Geography and Human–Environment Interaction
A. Tropical to Polar Climates
B. Mountains and Plains
1. Western Mountains
2. Canadian Shield
3. Interior Lowlands
4. Appalachian Mountain System
C. Major Rivers and the Great Lakes
D. Natural Vegetation and Soils
E. Natural Hazards
F. Regional Environmental Issues
III. Regional Culture History
A. The Emergence of a Region
B. Native Americans
C. European Settlers
D. Wealth of Natural Resources
1. Primary Products and New Lands
2. Slower Canadian Changes
3. Resources of U.S. Manufacturing
E. Human Resources
1. New People, New Skills
2. Education and Technology
3. Management of Manufacturing
4. Canada Emerges
IV. World Roles
A. The United States and the United Nations
B. Globalization: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
C. Global Role of the Regional Economy
D. North American Population Patterns
1. Population Change: Natural Growth
2. Population Distribution: Increasing Urban Density
3. Patterns of Migration in the United States
4. Contemporary Immigration Patterns in the United States
5. Native Americans and the United States Government
6. Internal Migration in the United States
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7. Canadian Patterns of Ethnic Integration
8. Centrifugal Force: The Challenge of Québec and the Rights of Indigenous
Canadians
V. Subregions of North America: The United States
A. The United States at a Glance
B. Problems of Affluence
1. Increasing Gap between the Materially Wealthy and Materially Poor
2. Congregation and Segregation
C. Economic Development
1. Commercial Farming Basis
2. Manufacturing Becomes Central
3. Service Industries
4. Regional Politics
D. Urban Landscapes
1. Industrial and Commercial Cities
2. Post-1945 Cities
3. Postindustrial Cities
4. Gentrification
E. Regions of the United States
1. New England
2. Megalopolis
3. Manufacturing Belt
4. Appalachia
5. U.S. Heartland: Midwest and Great Plains
6. The South
7. Western Mountains
8. Pacific Coast
9. Alaska and Hawaii
VI. Subregions of North America: Canada
A. Canadian City Landscapes
B. Economic Development
C. Regions of Canada
1. Atlantic Provinces
2. Québec
3. Ontario
4. Prairie Provinces
5. West Coast
6. Northern Canada
Themes/Perspectives for General Discussion
1. How does Canada distinctly assert its individuality from the United States? What do the
two regions have in common?
2. How did manufacturing affect the growth of North America? What were some of the
resources that spurred manufacturing growth?
3. How has the hydrology of North America benefited economic development?
4. Describe the climate patterns of North America.
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5. How has immigration to the United States changed over the years? What have been the
patterns related to country of origin as well as location of settlement within the U.S.?
6. What is Parti Québécois? How would an independent Québec alter the position of North
America (especially Canada) in the global political and economic structure?
7. Is the gap between the materially wealthy and materially poor changing? If so, how?
8. What is the dominant economic sector in the U.S.? In Canada? Are these sectors
dominant in each of the sub-regions? If not, what are the differences?
9. Describe urban areas in the U.S. before and after World War II, and describe their growth
over the years.
10. Characterize the differences among Canada’s various sub-regions.
11. What are the demographics of the population in Canada? Is it growing? Shrinking?
Where do most of its citizens reside?
Key Terms and Concepts
Act of Confederation (Canada)
Appalachian Regional Commission
Canadian Shield
central business district (CBD)
concentric pattern of urban zones
coniferous
counter-migration
Cree
cultural hegemony
deciduous
Dust Bowl
economies of scale
edge city
First Nation
Fordism
Francophone
gentrification
ghetto
Group of Eight
Homestead Act
horizontal integration
Hudson’s Bay Company
hydrology
long lot
Megalopolis
Native American
North American Free Trade Agreements
Parti Québécois
production line
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
toponym
UN Security Council
uneven development
vertical integration
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Check the News – Current events that you might want to explore for your lecture, or have
students explore on their own, from paper or on-line news services.
1. What have been recent events related to Native American (First Nations) issues?
2. What natural disasters have occurred recently in North America? What are the
short-term and long-term impacts of these disasters?
3. How has immigration to the United States and Canada changed since the
September 11, 2001 attacks? Have the countries reacted in a similar fashion with
respect to immigration?
4. What recent events have affected the high levels of consumption of consumer
goods in North America?
5. How is the population shifting within North America?
6. In what ways has the United States been involved in military actions recently?
What have been the most significant developments?
7. What world leaders have the U.S. President and Canadian Prime Minister met
with recently? What were the topics of discussion?
8. Have there been any recent issues where the United States and Canada disagreed?
What was the issue and what were the stances of the two countries?
9. What is the current status of NAFTA? Have there been any recent changes to the
agreement? Are there discussions about additional countries becoming signatories
to the agreement?
Suggestions for Further Reading
Birdsall, S., and J. Florin. Regional Landscapes of the U.S. and Canada. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
Bone, Robert M. The Geography of the Canadian North: Issues and Challenges, 2nd
edition. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Bone, Robert M. The Regional Geography of Canada, 2nd edition. Don Mills,
Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Canadian Association of Geographers. Canada and the Global Economy: The
Geography of Structural and Technological Change. Montreal: McGill-Queen's
University Press, 1996.
Garreau, Joel. The Nine Nations of North America. New York: Avon Books, 1989.
Getis, A., and J. Getis, eds. The United States and Canada: The Land and the People.
Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown/McGraw-Hill, 1995.
Janelle, D. G. Geographical Snapshots of North America. New York: Guilford Press,
1992.
McKnight, T. L. Regional Geography of the United States and Canada, 3d rev ed.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Warkentin, J. Canada: A Regional Geography. Scarborough, Canada: Prentice Hall,
1997.
Zelinsky, W. The Cultural Geography of the U. S.: A Revised Edition. Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992.
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