3.4. Weather and climate in the usa

Due to the immense size and spread of topology in the US the climate is incredibly varied. If there is a “general” climate then it is temperate, but it is also tropical in Florida and Hawaii, arctic in Alaska, arid in the Great Basin of the southwest and semi-arid in the Great Plains to the west of the Mississippi River.

The temperature range runs between the extremes of 57 degrees C during the summer months in California’s Death Valley to -62 degrees C in Alaska, with every other shade in between.

The northern states are the coldest, with bitter, freezing winters – especially in the plains, Midwest and Northeast. Low temperatures in January and February in the Northwest are occasionally tempered by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

In contrast, the southern states are known as the Sunbelt, where it rarely drops below freezing.

Hot summers are the norm throughout the US, except in New England, Oregon and Washington state, all of which are rainier and less predictable than the rest of the country.

Temperate states are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, while humidity is characteristic of the south, east coast and Midwest (smog levels rise accordingly and can make visiting some cities uncomfortable for those with respiratory problems), and heatwaves common in the Southwest.

Spring and autumn conditions are generally mild, warm and sunny – but also wet in some areas, particularly the Pacific Northwest.

Tornado season arrives in the Midwest between April and June, and hurricanes are common in early summer along the southern East Coast and Gulf of Mexico coast – TV and radio will broadcast warnings for both, but the chances of encountering one on a short visit are remote.

3.5. Mineral resources of the usa

The chief mineral products of the USA are, in order of value, petroleum (US ranks second, after Saudi Arabia, in the production of petroleum), natural gas (USA is second after Russia in natural gas production), and coal (USA ranks second in coal after China). Major deposits of petroleum and natural gas occur in Alaska, California, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most coal deposits lie in the Interior Plains and the Appalachian Highlands.

Other important mineralsinclude clay, copper, gold, granite, iron ore, limestone, salt, sand, zinc, timber.

Land use: arable land: 19% permanent crops; 25% forests and woodland; 30% other.

Sources to generate energy are petroleum (40%) – for powering motor vehicles, heating houses and factories; natural gas (25%) – industrial use; household use; coal (25%); electric power.

3.6. Demographics of the United States

The United States has a population of 306 million. It is a very urbanized nation, with 81% of the population residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-year 2005 (the worldwide urban rate was 49%). The population center of the United States has consistently shifted westward and southward, with California and Texas currently the most populous states. The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2008 is 2,1 children per woman, which is roughly the replacement level. However, U.S. population growth is among the highest in industrialized countries, due to strong immigration, and the United States Census Bureau shows an increase of 1,01% between November 2007 and November 2008. Nonetheless, though high by industrialized country standards, this is below the world average annual rate of 1,19%. Long term, the U.S. growth rate is projected to surpass that of the world at large: the Census Bureau projects a population of 439 million in 2050, which is a 46% gain from 2007, compared to the world population’s gain of 38% over the same period, per United Nations projections; per the U.N., the U.S. increase will be 32%, from 306 million in 2007 to 402 million in 2050.

People under 20 years of age made up over a quarter of the U.S. population (27,6%), and people aged 65 and over made up one-eighth (12,6%) in 2007. The national median age was 36,7 years.

Ethnic groups in the United States. The United States is a diverse country racially and ethnically. White Americans are the racial majority and are spread throughout the country; racial minorities, composing one fourth of the population, are concentrated in coastal and metropolitan areas. The Black American or African American population is concentrated in the South, and also spread throughout parts of the Northeast and Midwest. Black Americans make up the largest racial minority in the United States.

White Americans make up 76% of the total population per the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS). Of the White American population, 8% are Hispanic (comprising approximately half of the Hispanic group’s population). White Americans are the majority in every region but attain their highest concentration in the Midwest, where they account for 84% of the population. Asian Americans are concentrated in the Western states; 47% of them reside there, mostly in California and Hawaii. Half of the American Indian population resides in the West; there were 4,1 million in 2000, including those of partial ancestry, their highest population ever since the U.S. was founded in 1776. The Inuit population is mainly found in Alaska, and more than three quarters of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population is found in the West, mostly in Hawaii and California. The population of those described as “two or more races” resides mostly in the West and South, where a combined 69% of all multiracial Americans reside. Americans of “some other race” – a catchall, non-standard category almost all of whose members are reclassified as white in official documents – are nearly all Hispanic or Latino in ancestral or national origin, and 44% lived in the West in 2006.

Hispanic and Latino Americans form a racially and ethnically diverse ancestral group, constituting the nation’s largest collated ancestral minority. Hispanics and Latinos are most concentrated in the West, where they represent 27% of the population, corresponding to 43% of the group’s population nationwide.

The official language of the USA is de facto English. Knowledge of English is required of immigrants seeking naturalization. Some Americans advocate making English the official language, which is the law in 27 states. Three states also grant official status to other languages alongside English: French in Louisiana (which is a former French colony), Hawaiian in Hawaii, and Spanish in New Mexico (former Mexican territory).