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.

 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 Washington, D.C., is home to the nation’s leaders and to hundreds of foreign diplomats.