fredag 16. november 2012

The Midwest



About the Midwestern

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S geographic regions. The area is referred to as the Midwest throughout the Untited States. The region cosist of 12 states in the north-eastern and north-central United States, and are named: Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. 

Focus on Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.



Minnesota is the 12th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the U.S. states. Nearly 60% of its residents live in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area (known as the "Twin Cities"), the center of transportation, business, industry, education, government and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation.

Population

The population in the Midwest is about 65,377,684 people, according to a raport from the United States Census.



Important industry

The Midwest Region could be named as the "Land of Farms". That is because its one of the most important farming areas in the United States. Along all the farming, the Midwest has a huge manufacturing industy. The Midwest Regions climate and natural resources are important to its economy.

Climate of the Midthwest

The Midwest’s climate is shaped by the presence of the Great Lakes and the region’s location in the middle of the North American continent. This location, far from the temperature-moderating effects of the oceans, contributes to large seasonal swings in air temperature from hot, humid summers to cold winters. In recent decades, a noticeable increase in average temperatures in the Midwest has been observed, despite the strong year-to-year variations. The largest increase has been measured in winter, extending the length of the frost-free or growing season by more than one week, mainly due to earlier dates for the last spring frost.

Some interesting facts about the Midwest

These interesting Midwest facts revolve around the fascinating states of Michigan and Wisconsin:
If you stand anywhere in the state of Michigan, you'll be within 85 miles of at least one of the Great Lakes.
The Grand Hotel, a popular tourist lodge on Michigan's Mackinac Island, has 385 guestrooms—each one is decorated completely differently. During each of the Grand Hotel's tourist seasons, more than 50,000 Grand Pecan Balls are made and eaten—by far the most popular dessert on the menu.
The minute Prohibition was over—12:01 AM, January 1, 1934—the city of Milwaukee, a.k.a. Beer City, shipped 15 million beer bottles!
Milwaukee is also known as the host city for popular TV shows, including "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley."
Racine, Wisconsin became well-known when the Racine Belles, the city's women's baseball league, was featured in "A League of Their Own."


Typical for people in the Midwest

The Midwest is described as a place where its filled with Rednecks and farmland. Rednecks is when a someone acts like a hick, but is decribed less offensive. But people living in this actual areas disagree. They mean that the Midwest has far more to offer than just farmland and rednecks. There are large Asian, Black, and Latino populations there. Made up of twelve states: 1) Region that the U.S. Census Bureau claims is comprised of these twelve states: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri. Here are som typical living standards of the Midwest:

  • Home of 
  • deep-dish pizza, 
  • motown music, 
  • cheese, 
  • friendly faces, 
  • a bangin' theatre scene, 
  • corn, 
  • the gateway to the west, 
  • affordable living, 
  • and a hell of a lot of lakes. 

Where does the name "redneck" come from?

The origins of the term redneck actually go back to the 1930's in a number of disputes in West Virginia. A large group of unionized miners marched south to Logan County, to pressure the mine owners there to allow their miners to become unionized. To identify themselves, the miners all wore red bandannas around their necks. The publicity associated with the battles and the subsequent court cases created the term red-necks, and at that time they were viewed as the good guys in the conflict. 

Originally, the term came from the later 1800's in southern Georgia and Alabama to refer to sharecroppers who worked in the fields thus getting a sunburned neck. They were called 'rednecks' as a term meant for hard working people. Today, the term is used by comedians and commentators to refer to people who are uneducated, close-minded and racist individuals.


Sources:
  • http://www.tripcart.com/Midwest-States,Fun-Facts-Index.html
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States
  • http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=midwest
  • http://englishrepublic.ru/Topics/AmericanRegions.pdf
  • http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_did_the_name_'redneck'_come_from
  • http://globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/full-report/regional-climate-change-impacts/midwest








onsdag 7. november 2012

About USA + funfacts


I will take the time to write about USA, and add som fun facts in the end.

 The United States of America (commonly called the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 314 million people, the United States is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area, and the third-largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.

Paleoindians migrated from Asia to what is now the United States mainland around 15,000 years ago. The descendent and isolated Native American population was greatly reduced by European contact, primarily by disease after European colonization occurred, beginning in the 1500s. The United States itself was initially derived from thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, delegates to the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and establishment of a sovereign union. The rebellious states with direct help from France and several other European powers, defeated the British Empire in the American Revolution, the first successful colonial war of independence.

 The current United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a stronger central government. The Bill of Rights, consisting of ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.



Fun facts:

 The United States is divided into 50 states. However state each varies in size considerably. The smallest state is Rhode Island with an area of just 1,545 square miles (4,002 sq km). By contrast the largest state by area is Alaska with 663,268 square miles (1,717,854 sq km).

 Alaska has the longest coastline in the United States at 6,640 miles (10,686 km).

Bristlecone pine trees, believed to be some of the world's oldest living things, are found in the western United States in California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. The oldest of these trees is in California. The oldest living tree itself is found in Sweden.

 The only royal palace used by a monarch in the U.S. is located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the Iolani Palace and belonged to the monarchs King Kalakaua and Queen Lili'uokalani until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893. The building then served as the capitol building until Hawaii became a state in 1959. Today the Iolani Palace is a museum.

 Because the major mountain ranges in the United States run in a north-south direction, they have a large impact on the climate of the country's various regions. The west coast for example has a milder climate than the interior because is moderated by its proximity to the ocean, whereas places like Arizona and Nevada are very hot and dry because they are on the leeward side of mountain ranges.

 Although English is the most commonly spoken language used in the U.S. and is the language used in government, the country has no official language.

 The tallest mountain in the world is located in the United States Mauna Kea, located in Hawaii, is only 13,796 feet (4,205 m) in altitude above sea level, however, when measured from the seafloor it is over 32,000 feet (10,000 meters) high, making it taller than Mount Everest (Earth's tallest mountain above sea level at 29,028 feet or 8,848 meters).

 The lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States was at Prospect Creek, Alaska on January 23, 1971. The temperature was -80°F (-62°C). The coldest temperature in the contiguous 48 states was at Rogers Pass, Montana on January 20, 1954. The temperature there was -70°F (-56°C).

 The hottest temperature recorded in the United States (and in North America) was in Death Valley, California on July 10, 1913. The temperature measured 134°F (56°C).

 The deepest lake in the U.S. is Crater Lake located in Oregon. At 1,932 feet (589 m) it is the world's seventh deepest lake. Crater Lake was formed via snowmelt and precipitation that gathered in a crater created when an ancient volcano, Mount Mazama, erupted about 8,000 years ago.






Pictures from: www.google.no, unknown photographer

Sources: www.wikipedia.org, www.geography.unknow.com