Map Exercise 2 US Demographics

1. Turn to p. 102. Where are we?  Write several sentences to describe the geographical distribution of high and low population density areas in the US.
The population density map shows that that we, US citizens, are clustered fairly close to our coastlines, especially if you include the shores of the Great Lakes. Most of us live within 200 miles of a coast. West of the 100°W meridian is the sparsest region of the lower 48 states. Between that meridian and the Pacific Coast, it’s easy to identify the scatter of urban areas where most people live in this empty region. East of the 100°W meridian is the densest region of the lower 48 states. As one moves eastward from that meridian, population density increases and the distances between major metropolitan areas decrease. The only sparsely populated areas are in the Appalachian Mountains, the swamps of South Florida and the overworked rural areas of the Plantation South.

What percentage of US citizens were urbanites in 2000? _________79%______

2. How many Urban Center Populations greater than 2,000,000 are found west of the 100°W meridian? ____7______
List them: Seattle   Portland    Phoenix    San Diego   Riverside   Los Angeles                   

3. How many Urban Center Populations greater than 2,000,000 are found east of the 100°W meridian and north of the 35°N parallel of latitude? _____12__  List them: Minneapolis   St. Louis   Chicago   Detroit   Cleveland   Pittsburgh    Washington D.C.    Baltimore   
                Philadelphia    Newark    New York  Boston


4. How many Urban Center Populations greater than 2,000,000 are found east of the 100°W meridian and south of the 35°N parallel of latitude? ____5___  List them: Houston   Dallas Atlanta   Tampa   Miami

5. Turn to page 51.  What percentage of Chinese 40-60% and Indian 20-40% citizens were urbanites in 2007?

6. Turn to p. 49.   How many metropolitan areas with populations that exceeded 2,000,000 are in China?  ____16_____________ In India? ___14_____

7. Turn to p. 103.  What type of thematic map is shown? _Proportional symbol_  At what areal unit are the data organized? county

8. Describe the geographical distribution of African-American populations.
Primarily in southeastern US and urban areas in West, Northeast, Great Lakes.

9. Describe the geographical distribution of Hispanic populations.
Primarily in Southwest (from California to Texas), south Florida and large urban areas in Northeast, Great Lakes. Southern California really stands out for its share of the US’s Latinos.

10. Describe the geographical distribution of Asian populations.
Coastal urban areas and Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston


11. Turn to p. 104-105.  What type of thematic maps are these?  _Choropleth____________  At what areal unit are the data organized? ___County

13. Which three regions of the US have the oldest populations? _Great Plains and Midwest, __Southwest, especially Arizona, South Florida

14. Which region(s) of the US have the youngest populations?  _Texas border, Imperial and Central Valleys of California, Mormon West Why? Large percentage of migrants who tend to be young.

15. Which region of the US decreased in population between 1990 and 2000? _____________ Great Plains_________________________

16. Which region(s) of the US increased in population by the highest percentage between 1990 and 2000? _____Southwest and South Florida____
Why? _______________________________ Low absolute populations, retirees, migration ____________________________

17. Which region(s) have the lowest percentages of native residents? “Native”, in this case, does not mean Native American. It means citizens who were born in their current state of residence. _Western US_Look at the Interstate Population Shifts Map Why? __Migration___________