Chapter 18: Hawaii

Chapter 18 describes the beautiful landscape of the Hawaiian Islands. The location and the physical environment is near the middle of the Pacific Ocean. If one does not know the Hawaiian Island chain consist of the most massive volcanoes. The volcanic activity that created the islands continue even through today for the most part and several volcanoes are found on the Big Island. Hawaii has a tropical climate and the three major ethnic groups consist of Caucasians, Japanese, and Chinese. The agriculture in Hawaii are made up of sugar and later on pineapple. Something Hawaii has in common with Las Vegas, N.V. is the tourism, but Las  Vegas isn't as exotic as the Hawaiian Islands.

Chapter 17: The Northlands

In The Northlands the climate consist of long, cold winters, low precipitation, and poor soils. Their soils consist of cool needle-leaf forest environment but are generally acidic, poorly drained, and low agricultural quality. The vegetation in this area consist of the boreal forest or taiga and it's the largest biome in the world. The main season in this biome are summer and winter and it's either hot or humid. This region is also one of the most important mineral producing areas in the world
.

Chapter 16: The North Pacific Coast

In Chapter 16 we learn about the North Pacific Coast and according to the book the physical geography is defined by rugged terrain and a wet climate with moderate seasonal temperatures. The agriculture is very important in this area and some crop production contain of apples, strawberries, grapes, etc. Seattle is the largest city along the North Pacific Coast and a lodging center and British Colombia is easily the largest lumber producer in Canada. British Colombia supplies about 54% of all timber harvested in that county. Nevada isn't considered in the North Pacific Coast and is in The Empty Interior and the mountain ranges are dramatic.

Chapter 15: California

  In chapter 14 we learn about the state of California. Many view this state as the desirable ideal of a modern American lifestyle. The physical environment is lined by a series of long, linear mountain ranges that trend in a northwesterly direction; directly called the Coast Ranges. Pressures from the tectonic plate contact, summits are heavily folded and faulted. According to the book, the most famous fault is the San Andreas Fault and it extends from the Gulf of California through the Imperial Valley to Point Arena north of San Francisco, where it extends into the Pacific Ocean. In Nevada, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are near the western edge of the North American Plate

 

Chapter 14: The Southwest Border Area: Tricultural Development

In chapter 14 we focus on the Southwest region and the cultures that vary are distinguished by coexisting Spanish American, American Indian, and Northwest European American (Anglo) people. According to the book the Spanish introduced an extensive cattle grazing industry into southern Texas. The population in the Southwest region take pride in the concept of an "American melting pot." Meaning people form a population by common goals and sharing a broadly common culture. At a glance at the map, Las Vegas, N.V. could be considered and associated as a part of Southwest region but it isn't.

Chapter 13: The Empty Interior

As you can see the Empty Interior extends from the south of the Arctic to the Sierra Nevada of California, the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the Coast Mountains of British Colombia. Geographers often call this region "the Empty Interior" because the population density is so low. According to the text, Tourism, mining, ranching and lumbering play an important role in the regions economy. In relations to the Las Vegas Valley, tourism such as gambling is this areas major operation to draw in people for the attractions. Las Vegas also uses their electricity from the Boulder Dam also referred as the Hoover Dam, for power especially when it comes to the night life.

 

Here's a video about the history of gambling in Las Vegas! Enjoy!

Chapter 12: The Great Plains and Prairies

   In chapter 12 we learn about the Great Plains and how their dry wasteland has shifted  to more of a land of rich agricultural opportunity. The climate in this region of the United States include tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hail. According to the book, The Great Plains environment is uniform and monotonously flat. The most natural resource to this region is the control and management of water. The regions is about 500 mi (800 km) east to west and 2,000 mi (3,200 km) north to south. Much of the region was home to American Bison herds until they were hunted near extinction during the mid/late 19th century. In the valley of Nevada it is defined by Las Vegas with a 600 sq mi (1,600 km) basin area that contains the largest concentration of people in the state. The more northern area in Nevada has more agricultural soils than the city of Las Vegas.

Here's a youtube video about the Great Plains and it also shows the beautiful scenery of the Plains. 

 http://www.answers.com/topic/great-plains#ixzz2CX1XYUUY

Chapter 11: The Agricultural Core

This chapter we learn about the agricultural core which is also classified as the interior plains. The characteristics geographers include topography, average temperature, growing season, and related environmental factors. According to the book, there are two characteristics that geographers identify regions within the interior plains. Longitudinal differences in annual precipitation and the way people respond to them in the landscapes the differences create. The most familiar names for this region is the Middle West or the more common name is known as the Midwest. The climate in the agricultural core has adequate rainfall and has the best soils to grow crops. In Las Vegas, rock dust is used in organic agriculture to replenish minerals that have been removed from soils especially when growing fruits and vegetables.


http://www.lvrj.com/view/compost-better-than-rock-dust-as-desert-soil-supplement-121574624.html

Chapter 10: The Southern Coastlands: On The Subtropical Margin

In chapter 10 we focus on the Southern Coastlands and starts from the mouth of the Rio Grands and ranging through Florida's peninsula to coastal North Carolina. According to the book it is a humid, subtropical place that appeals to visitors, attracts new residents, and has farms that grow crops distinctive to its environment. The subtropical crops supports a large production of citrus fruits and rice. Natural hazards especially hurricanes are a threat to the region every summer. In relations to Las Vegas, NV the natural hazards we have are thunderstorm winds and flooding.

Image: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&tbnid=TOcY1Cn19M6ICM:&imgrefurl=

Chapter 9: The Changing South

Chapter 9 describes the Changing South and the Southern culture. According to the book racial discrimination and segregation was a reality in the region's past but has much less effect on the regions politics and geography today. Here is the census bureau about the Las Vegas Valley.

People QuickFacts	Las Vegas	Nevada
	Population, 2011 estimate	589,317	2,723,322
	Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base	583,748	2,700,551
	Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2011	1.0%	0.8%
	Population, 2010	583,756	2,700,551
	Persons under 5 years, percent, 2010	7.2%	6.9%
	Persons under 18 years, percent, 2010	25.7%	24.6%
	Persons 65 years and over, percent, 2010	12.0%	12.0%
	Female persons, percent, 2010	49.6%	49.5%
	White persons, percent, 2010 (a)	62.1%	66.2%
	Black persons, percent, 2010 (a)	11.1%	8.1%
	American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2010 (a)	0.7%	1.2%
	Asian persons, percent, 2010 (a)	6.1%	7.2%
	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 2010 (a)	0.6%	0.6%
	Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2010	4.9%	4.7%
	Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2010 (b)	31.5%	26.5%
	White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2010	47.9%	54.1%
	Living in same house 1 year & over, 2006-2010	77.8%	78.2%
	Foreign born persons, percent, 2006-2010	22.3%	19.3%
	Language other than English spoken at home, pct age 5+, 2006-2010	33.1%	28.2%
	High school graduates, percent of persons age 25+, 2006-2010	81.6%	84.3%
	Bachelor's degree or higher, pct of persons age 25+, 2006-2010	21.1%	21.8%
	Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2006-2010	25.3	23.6
	Homeownership rate, 2006-2010	57.7%	60.1%
	Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2006-2010	33.5%	29.4%
	Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2006-2010	$251,300	$254,200
	Households, 2006-2010	211,975	979,621
	Persons per household, 2006-2010	2.70	2.65
	Per capita money income in past 12 months (2010 dollars) 2006-2010	$26,993	$27,589
	Median household income 2006-2010	$54,334	$55,726
	Persons below poverty level, percent, 2006-2010	13.1%	11.9%

	Business QuickFacts	Las Vegas	Nevada
	Total number of firms, 2007	54,557	221,260
	Black-owned firms, percent, 2007	5.4%	3.9%
	American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms, percent, 2007	0.7%	0.8%
	Asian-owned firms, percent, 2007	10.5%	7.9%
	Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned firms, percent, 2007	S	0.3%
	Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2007	9.9%	8.1%
	Women-owned firms, percent, 2007	29.5%	28.6%
	Manufacturers shipments, 2007 ($1000)	872,940	15,735,787
	Merchant wholesaler sales, 2007 ($1000)	1,566,589	19,255,893
	Retail sales, 2007 ($1000)	9,178,860	37,433,983
	Retail sales per capita, 2007	$16,394	$14,579
	Accommodation and food services sales, 2007 ($1000)	3,134,003	28,815,533

	Geography QuickFacts	Las Vegas	Nevada
	Land area in square miles, 2010	135.82	109,781.18
	Persons per square mile, 2010	4,298.2	24.6
	FIPS Code	40000	32
	Counties	Clark County

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/32/3240000.html