Class 10 Elective Geography Chapter 4 Regional Geography of the USA Question Answer to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse throughout different chapters Assam Board HS Class 10 Elective Geography Chapter 4 Regional Geography of the USA and select needs one.
Class 10 Elective Geography Chapter 4 Regional Geography of the USA
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Regional Geography of the USA
Chapter: 4
Textual Questions And Answers
Q.1. Write in short the locational and geographical characteristics of the USA.
Ans: The United States of America is the world’s third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population. The United States of America is the world’s third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population. Located in North America, the country is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Along the northern border is Canada and the southern border is Mexico. There are 50 states and the District of Columbia.
More than twice the size of the European Union, the United States has high mountains in the West and a vast central plain. The lowest point in the country is in Death Valley which is at -282 feet (-86 meters) and the highest peak is Denali (Mt. McKinley) at 20,320 feet (6,198 meters).
Geography of the United States:
- There are meadows and forests on the East Coast.
- The Appalachian Mountains in the east.
- The Great Plains in the middle of the country.
- The Mississippi-Missouri river, in the middle.
- The Rocky Mountains west of the plains.
- Deserts and coastal areas west of the Rocky Mountains.
Q.2. Divide the USA into physical divisions. Give a comprehensive description of each of them.
Ans: The Continent of North America is divided into four major physical divisions.
They are:
- The Western cordilleras or the Rocky Mountains.
- The Great Central plains.
- The Appalachian Highlands.
- The Coastal Plains.
1. The Western cordilleras or the Rocky Mountains: Western Cordillera are a chain of young fold mountains. The Western Cordilleras run from Alaska in the northwest to Isthmus of Panama in the south for around 6900 km along the Pacific coast.
The Rockies are the highest part of western cordilleras. They are permanently snow-covered. The Western Cordilleras consists of many ranges like: Alaska range, Rocky mountains, Cascade range, Sierra Neveda, Sierra Madre.
2. The Great Central plains: The northern plains are formed by the alluvial deposits brought by the rivers – the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. These plains extend approximately 3,200 km from the east to the west. The average width of these plains varies between 150-300 km. The maximum depth of alluvium deposits varies between 1,000-2,000 m. From the north to the south, these can be divided into three major zones: the Bhabar, the Tarai and the alluvial plains. The alluvial plains can be further divided into the Khadar and the Bhangar.
3. The Appalachian Highlands: The Appalachians are among the oldest mountains on Earth, born of powerful upheavals within the terrestrial crust and sculpted by the ceaseless action of water upon the surface. The two types of rock that characterize the present Appalachian ranges tell much of the story of the mountains’ long existence.
4. The Coastal Plains: The Coastal Plains of India lie on either side of the Deccan Plateau, along the western and eastern coasts of India. They extend for about 6,150 km from the Rann of Kutch in the west to West Bengal in the east. They are broadly divided into the Western Coastal Plains and the Eastern Coastal Plains.
Q.3. Show on a sketch the physical divisions of USA.
Ans:
Q.4. Discuss with the help of a sketch the growth and the distribution of population in the USA.
Ans: At the time of independence of the United States of America in 1776, there were 13 states in the USA and the total population of the country was only 3 million. But soon after independence, the population of the USA grew rapidly due to the migration of people from Europe and merging of another 37 states with the USA at different times. The population of the USA in 1800 was only 5 million which grew to 76 million in 1900. Since the dawn of the 20th century, the rate of the growth of population in America has been very high due to better living conditions and availability of modern medical facilities. From 76 million in 1900 United States of America currently comprises 50 federal states with a total population of 302 million according to the 2007 estimate. The USA is third most populated country in the world. The following table gives an idea of the growth pattern of the population of the USA during the last three centuries.
Population Growth in the USA:
| Census Year | Population (in million) |
| 1776 | 3 |
| 1800 | 5 |
| 1900 | 76 |
| 2000 | 281 |
| 2007 | 302 |
Today there is a great decline in the growth rate of population in the USA. Currently, the population growth rate in the USA is only 0.6% as against the world population growth rate of 1.20%.
One of the most significant features of the population of the USA is its uneven distribution due to variation in natural condition, transportation system and development processes. The Appalachian Highlands and the Atlantic Sea Board located in the eastern part of the USA have high in the coastal region of California in thDiscuss The south and east part of the Michigan State comprising one-fourth of the total area of the USA is inhabited by two-third of the total population of the country. The average density of population in this region is 85 persons per sq. km. compared to the average density of 32 persons per sq. km for the whole country. The states of Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island have a population density of 300 persons per sq. km. The district of Columbia where Washington D.C. the capital of the country is situated, has a density of 3600 persons per sq. km. The States of Montana, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming situated in this region have a population density of less than 5 persons per sq. km. This region is unsuitable for human habitation and economic development due to its rugged terrain and scanty rainfall. The Cordillera region having sources of mineral resources is also inhabited to some extent.
Majority of the population of the USA, i.e. nearly three-fourth of the total population live in the urban areas due to the industrial development of the country.
Q.5. Discuss the role of agriculture in the economy of the USA.
Ans: The United States is one of the world’s largest producers, consumers, exporters and importers of agricultural commodities. This chapter gives an overview of the role of agriculture in the US economy. It examines the number and size of farms and how they have changed over time, and reviews the increased productivity of the agricultural sector. It also looks at the rise of farm-household incomes and at the expanding web of interactions between farm households and the surrounding non-farm communities.
Agriculture , food, and related industries contributed roughly $1.420 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, a 5.5-percent share. The output of America’s farms contributed $223.5 billion of this sum—about 0.9 percent of U.S. GDP. The overall contribution of agriculture to GDP is larger than 0.9 percent because sectors related to agriculture rely on agricultural inputs to contribute added value to the economy. Sectors related to agriculture include food and beverage manufacturing; food and beverage stores; food services and eating/drinking places; textiles, apparel, and leather products; and forestry and fishing.
Q.6. What do you mean by agricultural belt ? How many agricultural belts have been recognised in the USA ? Show them on a sketch and describe each of them briefly.
Ans: Agricultural Belts are specialized Belts used in farming equipment and machinery to transfer power and drive various agricultural implements.
There are nine recognised agricultural belts in the USA. Gates has farmlands in Louisiana, Nebraska, Georgia and other areas.
Detailed description of each of them is given below:
(i) Rice and sugar cane belt: The Rice Belt of the United States includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, four southern U.S. states that grow a significant portion of the nation’s rice crop. The name is in conformity with the Corn Belt of the Midwestern United States, in which much of the nation’s corn is grown.
For decades, about 12 lakh to 15 lakh people have been migrating within Maharashtra to cut sugarcane. They travel from the drought-affected Marathwada to western Maharashtra’s Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Satara, Solapur, and Ahmednagar. These areas are also known as the sugar belt.
(ii) The cotton belt: The Cotton Belt is a region of the Southern United States where cotton was the predominant cash crop from the late 18th century into the 20th century. The Cotton Belt region in dark red, and cotton growing areas in pink.
(iii) Winter wheat and tobacco belt: The tobacco belt covers North Carolina, Kentuckey, Virginia, Maryland, etc. The eastern part of this belt produces large quantities of tobacco and the western part covering Nebraska, Kansas, East Colorado, Oklahama and Texas produce winter wheat. Much of the winter wheat produced here is exported to other countries.
(iv) Maize belt: Maize Belt, traditional area in the midwestern United States, roughly covering western Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, eastern Nebraska, and eastern Kansas, in which corn (maize) and soybeans are the dominant crops.
(v) Spring wheat belt: Hard red spring wheat is grown in parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, where the climate is more severe and the winters are too cold for winter wheat.
(vi) Mixed agriculture of north-east: Rice, the major crop, claims over 85 % of the cropped area. The region is known for ‘slash and burn’ type of shifting cultivation, locally known as jhuming. About 12 % of the net sown area is under shifting cultivation, and over 400,000 families are still engaged in this kind of farming.
(viii) The Mediterranean agricultural belt: This belt comprises California, located on the Pacific coast of the USA. Besides wheat and cotton, the region also produces a variety of fruits like orange, grapes, apple, etc.
(ix) The Mixed farming belt of the north west margin: Washington, Idaho, and Oregon located in the NorthWestem margin of USA are suitable for cultivation of wheat andmaize. Besides production of crops, animals are reared for milkand meat. Therefore, this region is called mixed agricultural belt.
Q.7. Name the major industries of the USA and show them on a map. Describe any one of them.
Ans: Eight major Industrial Regions of USA and Southern Canada are:
1. Southern New England.
2. Mid-Atlantic States.
3. Pittsburgh-Lake Erie Region.
4. Detroit Industrial Region.
5. Lake Michigan Region.
6. Southern Appalachian Region.
7. Eastern Texas.
8. Pacific Coastal Region.
North American industrial region comprising of USA and Canada is a highly developed industrial region of the world. USA is now the wealthiest and most highly developed nation in the world. Southern Canada is also well developed.
The USA has become the world’s greatest industrial country. She had the immense advantages of space and virgin resources. The speed at which the industrial pattern of the USA is shifting and changing today is, in some sense, a measure of her industrial wealth and of the newness of her development.
Q.8. Write short notes on the following:
(a) Physiography of the Rocky mountainous region.
Ans: The Rocky Mountains province generally consists of rugged topography attaining relief of more than 2500 m near the Continental Divide. The southern Rocky Mountains are generally divisible from E to W into foothills, front ranges, main ranges, and locally western ranges on the basis of morphotectonics.
(b) Physiography of Appalachian highlands.
Ans: Appalachian Mountains, Mountain system, eastern North America. The Appalachians, among the oldest mountains on Earth, extend almost 2,000 mi (3,200 km) from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in the northeast southwestward to Alabama in the U.S. They include the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, the Catskill Mountains in New York, the Allegheny Mountains primarily in Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and North Carolina, the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee, and the Cumberland Plateau extending from West Virginia to Alabama. Their highest peak is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. See also Appalachian Geosyncline; Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
(c) Drainages of central plain.
Ans: The Central Plain is drained by several rivers like the Rhine, Volga, Danube, Dnieper, Ural etc. These rivers form a radial pattern of drainage. They flow into various streams in different directions from a high central area.
The Central Plain region generally takes the form of a flat sandy plain with elevations between 700 and 800 feet (240 m) above sea level. There are variations on the flatland, however. Hills in Barron County possess the region’s highest altitudes, reaching more than 1,200 feet (370 m) above sea level.
(d) Urbanisation of the USA and the principal urban centres.
Ans: The USA is economically and industrially the most developed country in the world. Of the total population of the country (302 million), more than 76% lives in the urban centres. Thus, a major portion of the population of the USA lives in towns and cities. New York with a population of 22 million is the largest and the most populated city in the USA. The second most populated city is Los Angeles with a population of 18 million. The other important urban centres of the USA are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Whiling, Cliveland, Detroit, Michigan, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc.
(e) Economic characteristics of the USA.
Ans: The American economy and economic system are primarily known as a free market system. This system is characterized by private ownership of property, competition, and the freedom to choose. Individual consumers and businesses are free to trade privately without much government interference. What influence the government does have over the economy primarily has to do with tax collection, safety regulations, and laws that deal with maintaining a level of an economic playing field as possible for all parties involved. As depicted on the circular flow chart below, the market comprises businesses, otherwise known as producers, and individuals, otherwise known as consumers, who offer incentives to work together. Individuals offer businesses money in exchange for the goods and services they need or want, such as food, shelter, clothing, entertainment, etc. Businesses offer individuals money in the form of an hourly wage or salary in exchange for their labor so that the business can continue to operate and produce its goods and services. Because of this mostly uninterrupted cycle of free trade among private citizens and businesses, the United States can be considered a capitalist country. People set out to gain profit and wealth for themselves, whether working for someone else or starting their own business. Because everyone within its system is motivated or incentivized to acquire personal wealth, everyone around them benefits through the labor they provide or the money they spend.
(f) Agricultural belts of the USA.
Ans: The important characteristic of the agriculture of the USAis its agricultural belts. On the basis of physiography, climate, soul etc. the country is divided into several belts from east to west. In every belt importance is paid on cultivation of a special variety of crop.
Density of population is very low and hence, agriculture is highly mechanised and extensive in type. Per capita productivity compared to other states of the world is high. The main agricultural belts of USA are extended from the Atlantic coast towards west up to 100 west longitude. The whole state may be divided into nine agricultural belts from the south to the north.
(g) North-eastern industrial region of the USA.
Ans: Due to Availability of mineral Resources Iike coal, iron, petroleum and well developed transport and communication network, the north-eastern part of USA as an industrial region has developed. This is known as North East Industrial region.The region extends from St Luis, South of the Lake Superior And Baltimore in the east (Atlantic Coast). The region covers Scanned about 10 % of the total area of the USA and gives home to 50 % of the total population of the USA. About 75 % of the total industry of the USA is concentrated here. Five industrial centres are located within this industrial region.
(h) Pacific coastal industries of the USA.
Ans: The region is comprised of Washington, Oregon and California state situated in the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the west. This is the country’s smallest and youngest industrial centre. Nearly 10% of the total labour force work in these industry Los Angeles and San Francisco located in this region are famous industrial region. Using hydroelectricity and petroleum several industries like iron and steel, aviation, paper and wine manufacturing industries have flourished here. The film industry developed in California area of USA is very famous in the world.
(i) Dry agriculture and dairy farming belt of the USA.
Ans: The belt is consisted of the western part of the Central Plain and the eastern part of the Cordillera region. Rainfall Here is low but well distributed throughout the year and hence grasses grow. The condition is congenial for rearing animal like sheep and cattle. Western part of texas New Mexico. Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Wyoming. Idaho and montano etc. are included in this belt. Jowar and bajra are produced under dry farming method and barley and maize are practised often with irrigation. Milk, beef, meet, wool etc are important dairy products obtained from animal rearing.
(j) Mineral resources of the USA.
Ans: A Mineral Resource is a concentration or occurrence of solid material of economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust in such form, grade or quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. Mineral Resources are subdivided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured Mineral Resources, as indicated in the figure.
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1. Discuss with the help of a sketch the growth and the distribution of population in the USA
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Class 10 chapter 5 extra questions answer elective geography