The USA

Résumé du document

The USA, fiche de 4 pages en anglais sur la puissance américaine et ses spécificités





- 4th largest population in the world => 303 million inhabitants

- Average density => 31 inhabitants per square km

- East of the Mississippi river => ½ of the population

Essentially moved to South and West and the North shows a migratory deficit

Extraits

[...] People born in LA are leaving the region The population is only growing because of migrants of the pop) of people use public transport to travel Toughest air quality regulations in the USA Worst urban air pollution of any MEDC city) Weak winds, smog The effects on health are a cause for serious concern. 1996: 5873 deaths caused by particulates The annual costs to the region's hospitals of respiratory diseases and cancers related to air pollution is as high as 10 billion $ Inequalities in LA average income: $84,000 in Bel Air, $6,700 in Watts unemployment: in Bel Air and in Watts ethnic groups: Bel Air: White: Black Hispanic 3.5 Asian IDEM Watts: White: Black: Hispanic: Asian: THE CAUSES OF SUBURBANISATION POPULATION OF US ETHNIC GROUPS more Irish people in the USA than in Ireland more Greeks than in Greece More Jews than in Israel Ethnic group (from the biggest to the smallest) - White - Hispanic - Black - Asian - North American Indians and Hawaiians only indigenous people) USA country of immigrants - Until the 1920's, immigration dominated by Europeans (which is why whites form the largest group today) - Ancestors of the current black population were imported as slaves to work on plantations - Hispanic population: from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba within the last 40 years. [...]

[...] American territorial organization POPULATION DYNAMICS 4th largest population in the world 303 million inhabitants Average density 31 inhabitants per square km East of the Mississippi river of the population Essentially moved to South and West and the North shows a migratory deficit Population growth has progressively has slowed down since the 60s Life expectancy is higher demographic future immigration Immigration has added more than 60 million people since the end of the 19th century. 60% of the world's official immigrants + brain drain A NATION OF CITY-DWELLERS 8 Americans out of 10 live in a town North-East: Megalopolis: 60 million inhabitants and sprawls over 800 kms from Boston to Washington. Metropolises are centres of economic decision where tertiary activities are concentrated. of jobs in the US are found in the services. [...]

[...] Between North of the Rocky Mountains and south of the Appalachians: huge diagonal rural area Some isolated towns are prosperous (Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City) Atlanta: symbol of this new success Delta Airlines hub and intensive industrialization (Coca-Cola, aeronautics ) A CASE STUDY: LOS ANGELES Few places grew so much and so fast in the 20th century as LA. 100,000 in 1900 15,495,000 in 1996 Built-up area extends over 86,000 200 km from the north to the south two hours at least Spanish colonial town in 1781 By the LA River towards the coast, across mountains and out into the desert. 1st suburbs built in the 20s and 30s along electric railway lines. [...]

[...] Sometimes became ghettos (Harlem in Manhattan, Watts in LA) Outer rings, affluent suburbs for the upper middle class and new economic centres sprawl away from the CBD SPACE DYNAMICS Manufacturing Belt: home to more than a third of the overall population Industrial activities Obsolescence of its infrastructures companies have relocated their activities in the Sun Belt (California, Florida, Texas) Megalopolis adapted to Globalization and has lost none of its power. South-East to Seattle: 100 million inhab. Live in the Sun Belt. [...]

[...] THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A superpower THE FIRST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD of the world GDP 303 million inhabitants largest consumer market A strong influence on international trade negotiations (GATT, WTO ) Ranks first in various sectors (aeronautics, agriculture service trade, synthetic materials . ) 40% of the world Stock Exchange transactions traded in Wall Street First centre for dispatching and receiving investments 34 multinational firms rank among the 100 biggest companies in the world (General Motors, Ford, Exxon, IBM, Philip Morris ) THE TERRITORY, SOURCE OF MAERICAN POWER 9,3 million of square km 20% of agricultural exports in the World only of the American labour force. [...]