The American Geography

The United States of America

The United States of America is a country located in North America, it has an area of
9,833,520 km2, it is bordered by the Pacific Ocean in the west, the Atlantic Ocean in the east,
Canada in the North and Mexico in the south. It is a country that consists of fifty (50) states
and Washington D.C. which is the capital city of the USA. The last two (2) states to join the
Union were Alaska and Hawaii. Both joined in 1959. And apart from those fifty (50) states,
there five (5) territories that belongs to the USA. These territories are, Puerto Rico and U.S.
Virgin Islands located in the Caribbean Sea, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the
North Pacific Ocean, and American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean. The fifty (50) U.S
states are group into five different regions; Northeast, West, Midwest, Southeast, and
Southwest.

The Southwest Region

The Southwest is a region of the United States that includes Arizona, New Mexico, Texas,
and Oklahoma. The geography of the region is mainly made up of four features: the Mojave,
Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts, and the Colorado Plateau. For that reason, the climate of
this region is semi-arid and arid, depending on the location. Much of the Southwest is an arid
desert climate.
Southwest Water Supply

The Colorado River Rio Grande The Gila River

90% of the southwest water supply comes from surface water sources, such as reservoirs
and river intakes. Local reservoirs are supported by three large strategic reservoirs: Colliford,
Roadford and Wimbleball. The other 10% of our supply comes from groundwater sources
such as springs, wells and boreholes and are mainly located in East Devon.
During the winter months, when river levels are healthy, water is abstracted from rivers
with the reservoirs providing back-up supplies. The river and reservoir systems are linked
together by a network of pipes, which enable us to transfer water around the region.
The Colorado river is considered the primary river of the Colorado Plateau in the
American Southwest. The headwaters of the Colorado are located in Rocky Mountain
National Park (Colorado) at proximally 9,000 ft (2,740 meters) above sea level.
The Rio Grande (also called the Rio Bravo del Norte, or Rio Bravo) traverses the
American Southwest from the Rio Grande National Forest (Colorado) to the Gulf of Mexico,
passing through southern Colorado and central New Mexico, and then forming the border
between Texas and Mexico.
The Gila River extends westward from southwestern New Mexico to its confluence with
the Colorado River near Yuma, Arizona. Although free-flowing in western New Mexico and
eastern Arizona, the Gila rarely contains water once it reaches central Arizona. Like all rivers
in the Southern Basin and Range, in Arizona, the Gila River provided prehistoric people the
water necessary for life, and particularly for farming. Today, the Gila River Indian
Community, the Ak Chin Indian Community, and the San Carlos Apache remain on the river.

Southwest Climate

The American Southwest might evoke images of a hot, dry landscape - a land of rock,
canyons, and deserts baked by the sun. Indeed, much of this region has low annual rainfall
and seasonally high temperatures that contribute to its characteristic desert climate. Yet this
landscape actually supports a vast array of plants and animals, along with millions of people
who call the Southwest home. All of these plants, animals, and people need water to survive.
Water is already scarce in the Southwest, so every drop is a precious resource. People in the
Southwest are particularly dependent on surface water supplies like Lake Mead, which are
vulnerable to evaporation. Thus, even a small increase in temperature (which drives
evaporation) or a decrease in precipitation in this already arid region can seriously threaten
natural systems and society. Droughts also contribute to increased pest outbreaks and
wildfires, both of which damage local economies, and they reduce the amount of water
available for generating electricity - for example, at the Hoover Dam.

Products and Natural Resources

When it comes to products and natural resources, there are many cattle and sheep ranches in
the Southwest region. The Southwest region leads all other states in the raising of beef cattle
as well as sheep. The cattle provide beef to all parts of the United States. Some beef is sold to
other countries, like Japan. Deserts are full of valuable minerals. Gold, iron, and copper are
found in the Colorado River basin. New Mexico is known for its silver mines. Arizona
produces about two-thirds of the copper mined in the United States. People have been
digging in Arizona for precious metals for a long time. Native Americans used gold, silver
and copper for tools and weapons as well as for jewelry and in paint for pottery. Copper ore is
still mined in the state for many different uses. Copper is used in mostly in wire or coins,
such as a penny.
The Southwest region is also rich in the fuels that supply energy. Uranium, coal, natural
gas, and oil are all found in the Southwest region. The most important natural resource in the
Southwest is oil. Oil is so valuable that it has been nicknamed “black gold.” The oil that
bubbles up from the ground is called crude oil, and is not very useful. A refinery is a kind of
factory that separates crude oil into parts like gasoline and heating oil. Some parts of the
crude oil are used to produce goods like plastic, crayons, and medicines.
One of the biggest problems of the Southwest region is a limited water supply. Aqueducts
are used in the Southwest to move water from lakes and rivers to farms and cities. Aqueducts
are large pipes or canals that move water over a long distance. The people of the Southwest
rely on the Colorado River for many things. The Colorado River provides drinking water for
25 million people. It supplies water for more than three million acres of farmland. Water
rushing through machines called turbines cause huge machines to spin. These spinning
turbines produce much of the electricity used in the Southwest.
National parks and forests

Grand Canyon, AZ Big Bend National Chickasaw National White Sands, NM

The southwest Region contains many well-known national parks including Grand Canyon in
Arizona, Big Bend national park in Texas, Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma,
and White Sands in New Mexico.
The Grand Canyon is one of the most visited national parks in the United States. An
estimated 5.9 million people visit the Grand Canyon a year, making it the second most
popular national park following just behind the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina
and Tennessee.

References:
 Southwestern United States. (2003). Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_United_States#Climate

 Southwest Products and Natural Resources. (2016). YouTube.

 States of the Union. (2017). U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom.
https://uk.usembassy.gov/states-of-the-union-states-of-the-u-s/#:~:text=States%20of
%20the%20U.S.,under%20the%20authority%20of%20Congress.

 A Closer Look: Temperature and Drought in the Southwest. (2023). United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/southwest#:~:text=see%20Figure
%203).-,Background,to%20its%20characteristic%20desert%20climate.

 13 Things You Didn’t Know About Grand Canyon National Park. (2017). U.S. Department
of the Interior. https://www.doi.gov/blog/13-things-you-didnt-know-about-grand-
canyon-national-park#:~:text=The%20Grand%20Canyon%20is%20one,of%20North
%20Carolina%20and%20Tennessee.
 Where does our water come from? (s.f). South West Water.
https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/environment/water-resources/where-does-our-
water-come-from/#:~:text=water%20come%20from%3F-,90%25%20of%20our
%20supply%20comes%20from%20surface%20water%20sources%2C%20such,as
%20reservoirs%20and%20river%20intakes.&text=1%20%2F%201-,90%25%20of%20our
%20supply%20comes%20from%20surface%20water%20sources%2C%20such,%3A
%20Colliford%2CRoadford%20and%20Wimbleball.