Name the states that are included in the wheat belt. Leading sectors of the economy of the USA and Canada. US transportation system

122. US agricultural areas

The USA is characterized by an exceptional diversity of forms Agriculture. It can be argued that all its main types found in economic life are represented here. developed countries West. It is not surprising that the agricultural regions of the United States began to form at the end of the 19th century. Over time, extreme diversity natural conditions, increasingly higher marketability, the development of transport providing transportation of bulk goods, created the prerequisites for the narrow specialization of not only individual farms, but also entire regions, which in the USA are usually called belts. The number of such belts - depending on the level of detail of the study - can vary quite significantly. But in the most generalized form they are usually distinguished into 9 (Fig. 191). It should be taken into account that in recent decades, some of these belts, for example cotton ones, have undergone significant transformation, while others have changed much less.

Milk belt The USA was formed in the Lake District and the North-East under conditions of a relatively short growing season and infertile soils. The bulk of agricultural land here is occupied by improved pastures and hayfields, and many field crops are cultivated for green fodder. Milk, butter, and cheese are sold in big cities and agglomerations. There are also dairy and cheese industry enterprises here. Dairy farming is most typical for the southeastern part of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. The population of cows is particularly large here, and dairy farms with high silos form the bulk of the rural landscape. The state of Wisconsin ranks first in the production of milk, butter and cheese (more than 100 varieties).

Rice. 191. Agricultural areas (belts) in the USA

Corn Belt The United States was formed in the southern part of the Central Plains, where soil and climatic conditions are extremely favorable for growing this crop. This primarily applies to chernozem-like soils of the plains, which have very high natural productivity. In crop rotation with corn, soybeans are usually grown, the crops of which especially increased after the Second World War, so this belt would now be correctly called corn-soybean. Both crops are used primarily for the production of compound feeds and concentrates necessary for fattening cattle and pigs, which has also long occurred in the Corn Belt, giving its agriculture a mixed crop-livestock orientation. The corresponding profile has food industry belts

In the center of the Corn Belt is Iowa, which ranks second in the country in corn and soybean production. In some counties in the state, this crop occupies more than 70% of the planted area. Iowa ranks uncompetitively first in the United States in terms of pig population, which reaches 16 million (with a population of 3 million people). The neighboring state of Illinois can also be considered a kind of “twin” of Iowa, providing 1/5 of the corn harvest and 1/6 of the soybean harvest in the country, and in terms of the number of pigs it is second only to Iowa. In addition, the corn belt includes parts of Kansas and Nebraska in the west, parts of Wisconsin in the north, and parts of Indiana and Ohio in the east.

The settlement of the vast territory of the corn belt, starting from its eastern edge - the Ohio Plains, expanded widely after the adoption in 1862 (during Civil War) the famous Homestead Act. This act, which gave every American citizen the right to a piece of land (a homestead) west of the Appalachian Mountains, was a victory for farm agriculture. The entire perfectly flat territory of the plains was divided into so-called townships - squares each 6 miles long and wide, i.e. an area of 36 square meters. miles (93.2 km 2). In turn, each square mile in such a township was divided into four parts with an area of 64.5 hectares. One such part was given ownership to the family farm. Typically, from 16 to 36 townships were united into one county or district - county.

This entire clear system of “chess” squares has been preserved to this day (Fig. 192). In most counties in Illinois and western Indiana, farms occupy more than 90 percent of the total land area, and in Iowa and adjacent areas of Kansas and Nebraska, even 95 percent. Each township has its own economic center - a small town with all the necessary services (market, church, school, post office, bank, hotel, restaurant, gas station). So it is not at all by chance that it was the example of the state of Illinois that worked here in the 1930s. the famous German scientist August Loesch substantiated his concept of central places.

Rice. 192. Scheme for dividing townships and individual farms in the USA: 1) dividing the territory into townships; dividing the township into squares; 3) dividing the square into trusses

To the west of Corn is located the no less famous wheat belt USA. Geographically, it coincides with the Great Plains, which began to be widely used for agriculture only at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. - after the extermination of huge herds of bison, as well as the extermination and displacement of local Indian tribes. The Great Plains prairies, which had very fertile soils but a drier climate, proved most suitable for wheat crops. Tens of thousands of immigrants from Europe poured into these places, and short time the prairies were also plowed. The subsequent history of the area was replete with ups and downs, but Lately its level of development is relatively stable. The wheat belt produces 20–25 million tons of this crop per year. True, the main flour-grinding enterprises have already developed outside its borders - in Minneapolis, Kansas City and other cities.

Rice. 193. Kansas wheat farm plan

As is easy to see (Fig. 191), the US wheat belt consists of two separate parts - northern and southern, which differ greatly in both agroclimatic and cultural-ethnic conditions.

In the northern part (North and South Dakota), winter is too frosty and windy, so only spring wheat ripens here. This part is usually called the spring wheat belt. The population here is sparse, almost entirely farmers, there are practically no large cities. The majority of farms have such narrow specialization on wheat, that it can be called a kind of monoculture of this belt.

In the southern part (Nebraska and Kansas), where summers are much hotter and drier, winter wheat is grown, which has time to ripen before the onset of summer droughts. This is the winter wheat belt. But the profile of agriculture here is broader - primarily due to the fact that in recent decades it has also specialized in fattening cattle and other livestock; therefore, the crops grown on local farms are usually more diverse (Fig. 193). Large meat processing plants also sprang up in cities.

The discrepancy between the timing of harvesting in the spring and winter wheat belts, and in other areas adjacent to them from the south, leads here to the use of such a rational method as the transfer of harvesting equipment (combines) from south to north as the wheat ripens. Moreover, its harvesting is usually carried out not by the farmers themselves, but by special companies that send both equipment and labor, which begin the harvest in the spring in Texas and finish it in the early fall in North Dakota and Montana (Fig. 195). During the harvest season, combines usually work 16 hours a day. But the combine operator's work is made easier thanks to a sealed cabin with an air conditioning system, which protects him from the heat and from the thorny spines of the threshing ears.

The entire history of the American South is connected with the monoculture of “King Cotton” and the formation cotton belt. Cotton has been grown in the United States for more than two centuries. The main cotton-growing areas first became the southeastern states, where cotton was grown without irrigation, using the labor of blacks - first slaves, and then tenant-sharecroppers (croppers). Then the cotton belt moved further to the west - to Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, stretching for 2.5 thousand km and becoming the largest cotton-growing region in the world.

But after World War II the situation changed dramatically. Traditional cropping virtually disappeared, and former black tenants moved to the cities of the North and South. By the 1980s the old cotton belt turned out to be washed out. Large cotton plantations remained only in the lower Mississippi, while much of the production shifted to Texas and the southern Mountain States, where highly productive “cotton mills” arose on irrigated lands (under gravity and drip irrigation).

Rice. 194. Path and schedule of movement of mechanized columns for wheat harvesting

As for the rest of the territory of the South and the adjacent regions of the North, a vast region has formed here, which we, with a great degree of convention, called the region of diversified agriculture. In general, it is most characterized by the cultivation of grain crops such as wheat and corn, industrial crops such as peanuts, tobacco, cotton, as well as beef cattle breeding and poultry farming (broilers).

In recent decades, the western part of the United States has seen the formation of the most extensive pastoral beef belt with separate centers of rainfed and irrigated agriculture, the largest of which is located in the North-West. This belt occupies all of the Mountain States and adjacent parts of the Great Plains and Pacific States.

The main specialization of this belt is raising young beef cattle. Until relatively recently, it occurred mainly on natural pastures, on large cattle ranches with thousands and even tens of thousands of cattle and hundreds of cowboys. However, now on such ranches, driven grazing has become widespread, in which the pasture is divided into separate paddocks, and the cattle are periodically driven from one paddock to another. In this case, there is no need for shepherds (cowboys), and the degree of feed utilization increases. Young animals from such ranches are sent to the winter wheat belt states for raising, and then to the corn belt states for fattening and slaughter.

But recently, their own “meat factories” have emerged in the beef cattle-breeding belt. These are huge feeding farms where up to 100 thousand heads of cattle can be kept, but not on pastures, but in stalls. For this purpose, pens for 200–250 animals each are built right in the open air, in which feeding and watering of animals is carried out using automation, and the dosage is determined using computers. These "meat factories" usually serve large cities, such as the city of Los Angeles.

The remaining areas are located in the coastal areas of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. They specialize in temperate, subtropical and tropical horticulture (Florida, California, and Hawaii). Rice and sugar cane are the main crops for the region along the Gulf Coast. And more than half of the country’s total potato harvest comes from two states located in the far Northwest—Idaho and Washington.

In terms of overall production of commercial agricultural products, the corn belt is in the lead.

123. US Transportation System

Transport system The USA (together with the Canadian transport system) forms a special North American type. Its formation was influenced by the vastness of the territory and the characteristics of the country’s EGP; large volume of output, high level of marketability of the farm; uneven distribution of production and population; high transport mobility of the population; activity of processes of inter-district and international division of labor.

For all major quantitative indicators, characterizing dimensions of the transport system, The USA has no equal in the world. In fact, this country occupies, one might say, an uncompetitive first place in terms of the length of railways, roads and pipelines, in terms of freight turnover of railways, in terms of freight turnover and passenger turnover of road and air transport, in terms of the size of the vehicle fleet, in the number and bandwidth airports. If we take into account sea vessels sailing under “cheap” flags, and this is 3/4 of the total navy USA, then in terms of tonnage the USA, along with Japan, will also be among the world leaders. It can be added that the US transport network is about 1/3 of the world's.

Other characteristic features of the US transport system are the enormous capacity of freight and passenger flows, the long range of transportation, the enormous development of intercity, but also international communications, a high level of technical equipment, and significant redundancy of transport capacity. True, in terms of specific indicators (per 1000 km 2 of territory or 1000 people), the United States usually does not stand out. But for a giant country this is quite understandable.

It is also important to emphasize that although transport develops primarily under the influence of production, it, in turn, itself has a great influence on its location, specialization and cooperation. The development of road transport is directly related to the processes of suburbanization and very high transport mobility of the population. In addition, transport accounts for about 1/4 of the country's total energy consumption and more than 1/2 of all liquid fuel consumption.

Transport structure The USA has its own characteristics. Thus, in cargo turnover, none of its types sharply predominates: 32% are by rail, 24.5% by road, 18% by sea, 14% by pipeline, 11% by inland waterway and 0.5% by air transport . But the situation in passenger turnover is completely different: 82% of it is provided by automobile transport, 17.5 – air and only 0.5% – railway transport.

We have already mentioned the very special role road transport in the US, where a car is used for 98% of all urban transport, 85% of all intercity transport and 84% of all trips to and from work.

But motorization is not only a fleet of vehicles, but also roads, the total length of which in the country has already exceeded 6.5 million km, amounting to more than 1/5 of the world. A significant part of them relate to roads with improved surfaces. Highway construction in the United States began a long time ago, but especially advanced in the mid-1950s, when President Dwight Eisenhower began implementing a program to build a network of national highways. The main length of the American highway consists of two lanes in each direction, plus an alternate road and another alternate road. Most often, oncoming traffic lanes are isolated, or even completely separated from each other. Most highways are administered by individual state governments, and many charge tolls. Let us also add that approximately 13 thousand settlements in the United States with a total population of 85 million people are completely dependent on motor transport, i.e. they have no other means of communication. It is not surprising that on the main intercity roads the traffic intensity is usually many thousands of cars per day.

Railway transport played a huge role in the historical development of the United States. Construction railways, especially transcontinental highways, had a very great impact on the development and distribution of the country's productive forces. Back in the 1930s. people traveled from ocean to ocean across the country mainly by trains; The Twentieth Century Express, which ran between New York and Los Angeles, was especially famous. But then the role of railways, due to competition from motor transport, began to rapidly decline, and the total length of the railway network began to decrease. In 1913 it was 413 thousand km, in 1950 – 360 thousand, and in 2005 – 230 thousand km.

The reduction of the railway network is primarily due to the elimination of parallel lines built during boom periods of railway construction. A distinctive feature of US railways is the low level of electrification (only 1%) and the sharp predominance of diesel traction. This is explained primarily by the policy of oil monopolies interested in railway transport as one of the consumers of petroleum products. Recently, there has been some “renaissance” of this type of transport in freight transport is no longer associated so much with traditional bulk cargo, but with an increase in container transportation. In addition, projects for the construction of the country's first high-speed railways are being developed.

Inland water transport played almost the main role in the first stages of US colonization. This was facilitated by the abundance of rivers and lakes and the possibility of year-round navigation. Now the total length of the internal waterways The USA is 41 thousand km. Transportation along river routes is carried out mainly using non-self-propelled barges, which form trains of 20–30 barges, moved by pusher tugs. Recently, lighter barges have also been increasingly used, acting as floating container ships.

Rice. 195. US transportation system

Aviation transport The United States carries out a significant portion of passenger traffic, both domestic and international.

Pipeline transport, which began to develop in the USA earlier than in other countries, takes on the bulk of the transportation of oil and petroleum products and all the transportation of natural gas.

Finally, sea transport The United States serves mainly the foreign trade of this country, although coastal shipping also reaches a large extent.

Transport network configuration The USA is relatively simple. Its frame is formed by transcontinental railways in latitudinal and meridional directions (Fig. 195). Latitudinal highways connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the country, primarily New York and Washington with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Moreover, half of all transportation is carried out between New York and Chicago.

The meridional railway lines run primarily along both ocean coasts, along the Mississippi Valley and in other places. Among them, the most important are the high-speed lines of the Northeast “corridor” (Boston – New York – Washington; length 735 km), as well as the Chicago – New Orleans, Chicago – Atlanta lines. The main transcontinental highways partly duplicate the directions of the railways, but many of them are also laid along independent routes.

On this main frame naturally a network of inland waterways is superimposed. In the latitudinal direction, this is primarily the river system. St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, in the late 1950s. converted into a 4,000 km long deep-sea route accessible to seagoing vessels. Mainly bulk cargo is transported along this route - iron ore, coal, timber, grain. In the meridional direction, this is primarily the river system. Mississippi, which covers 31 states, from the Appalachians to the Rocky Mountains. It carries 450 million tons of cargo annually, more than the Great Lakes. The freight turnover of such tributaries of the Mississippi as the Ohio and Tennessee is especially high. More than 100 million tons of cargo are transported annually along the world's longest Intracoastal Waterway, one branch of which runs along the Atlantic coast and the other along the Gulf Coast.

The configuration of the US pipeline network is characterized by a “diagonal” direction. This is explained by the fact that it connects the main oil-producing region of the South-Western Center with the main oil-consuming areas in the North-East.

Large transport hubs have formed at the intersection of land and water transport routes. According to calculations by S. B. Schlichter, New York ranks first among them. In second place is Chicago, where 30 railroads, 20 highways, and 24 pipelines converge. Followed by Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston and others major centers. Important component Most of these transport hubs form large airports. There are approximately 5,000 public airports in the United States alone. Of the 33 largest international airports in the world, 17 are located here. At the same time, the airports of New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas annually receive and send more than 50 million passengers. Air passenger traffic is heaviest on lines connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as New York and Florida.

An equally important component of many transport hubs in the United States is formed by sea trade ports, or, more precisely, port-industrial complexes. In the early 1990s. the country had 11 ports with a cargo turnover of more than 40 million tons per year and 8 ports with a cargo turnover of 20 million to 40 million tons. In terms of volumes of cargo processed, the first place is occupied by the ports of the Atlantic coast, which is distinguished by an abundance of convenient natural harbors; these are primarily New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and the coal port of Hampton Rhodes. On the Gulf Coast, such large ports have grown as New Orleans (with the largest cargo turnover in the country - 220 million tons), Houston and the phosphate rock export port Tampa. Recently, the importance of the ports of the Pacific coast has been rapidly growing, the total cargo turnover of which has already reached 2/3 of the cargo turnover of the Atlantic ports of the United States. Los Angeles and Long Beach stand out here. The main container ports in the United States include New York, Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and Baltimore.

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Farming is a branch of agriculture, the process of cultivating the soil in which the harvest of certain crops is obtained. Agriculture in North America is very developed, especially in developed countries such as Canada and the United States of America. The territory of North America is usually divided into agricultural poles.

Corn Belt

The so-called “corn belt” is located in the United States and occupies the states of Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and other states located in the Midwestern United States. The name of the belt speaks for itself: fertile soils rich in nitrogen are favorable for growing corn. The volumes of corn grown are enormous. Most of it is intended for livestock feed, some is exported, and some remains on the domestic market.

Rice. 1. Corn fields of North America.

Wheat belt

The wheat belt covers the territories of Canada and the United States. In Canada, wheat is grown in the provinces of Manitoba and Albert; in the United States, this crop occupies Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North and South Dakota. The soils here are chernozem, just suitable for a good harvest of cereals. Spring wheat is sown in the north of the belt, winter wheat in the south. In addition to wheat, other grain crops are grown here: rice, barley, sorghum. Cereals are a major US export.

Cotton Belt

This belt is formed in the southern United States of America, namely in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. This crop has been cultivated here since the 17th century. In the 18th-19th centuries, cotton production volumes were at a very high level. This was due to fertile soils and slave labor. Gradually the soil exhausted all its resources and production began to decline. Some of the cotton grown is processed at local enterprises, and some is exported to other countries.

Rice. 2. Cotton fields of North America.

In recent decades, tobacco and peanuts have been grown in this area. The United States accounts for the majority of the tobacco export market. Tobacco is grown in Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia.

Many territories are gradually changing their focus. Where previously they were exclusively engaged in the cultivation of some crops, others now dominate. This natural process, which cannot be stopped.

Milk belt

The Milk Belt occupies the southeastern territory of Canada and the northeastern territory of the United States of America. There are farms here that specialize in dairy products. Vast meadows and fields are used for grazing livestock and growing fodder crops for them.

It's not just the US and Canadian agriculture that are developed. Other North American countries also have their own own successes. For example, Mexico is the world leader in avocado harvesting, Guatemala is the world leader in nutmeg harvesting, and Costa Rica has succeeded in growing pineapples.

Belts are regions of the country that are united by the similarity of one or another characteristic.

As a rule, the names of the belts are unofficial, but their names are very popular and widespread among the population.

Today there are a large number of belts in the United States of America; below we will describe only the most popular of them.

"Bible Belt"

“Bible Belt” refers to a region in the United States in which mainly people who are carriers of the evangelical religion, so to speak, Protestants, live.

This belt includes following states Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

As you can see, this is mainly the South of the United States of America. Historically, Protestant organizations have a very strong position here, the largest of which is the Southern Baptist Convention. There is a very large percentage of believers among the population here.

The city of Nashville is located in Tennessee, which is also called the “buckle of the Bible Belt.”

"Black belt"

In the southeastern United States of America, the Black Belt is located, as the name implies, mostly black Americans live here.

Previously, the term described the region's dark soil, which was very good for farming. But later, thanks to the fertile soil, a lot of black slaves were brought here and the modern name changed its meaning.

The Black Belt region includes the following states: Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Delaware.

"Mormon Corridor"

The so-called “Jelly Belt” refers to the western region of the United States. It is typically home to a large number of followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known to the world as Mormons.

Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, the first Mormon settlements began to form here. The belt includes the following states: Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and California.

The humorous name “Jelly Belt” comes from the belief that Mormons have one of their favorite dishes, which is prepared using jelly. Also, the state of Utah, where Mormons live most, ranked first in consumption of this product.

"Corn Belt"

The "Corn Belt" of the United States, or as it is also called the "Grain Belt", is an area located in the Midwest of the country.

Here, for a long time, traditionally, starting from the mid-19th century, the main agricultural crop was corn.

The US Grain Belt is the country's true breadbasket. Cereals are grown here, with corn growing in the first place. It is this belt that feeds the whole country and that is why it is so important.

The Grain Belt includes the following US states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota and Missouri.

"Rust Belt"

The “Rust Belt”, or as it is also called the “Factory, Industrial” region, is located in the Northeast and Midwest of the country.

Here are the main industrial enterprises countries such as steel, engineering, automobile.

The belt got its name due to the decline of industry in the country in the early 70s of the last century. During that period, many US enterprises were closed and what was left was “rusty iron”.

Later, when production resumed in the region, the belt began to be called “factory”, but the old name is often used.

The Rust Belt includes the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.

"Sun Belt"

As the name suggests, this includes states located in the South and Southwestern United States. A warm climate and long hot summers prevail here. All the main resorts of the country are located in this region.

The Sun Belt includes the following US states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, California, Nevada and Virginia.

Here is a brief summary of what we wanted to tell you about the residential zones in the United States of America.

Forward >

Lesson topic: “Leading sectors of the economy of the USA and Canada.” The purpose of the lesson is to get acquainted with the leading sectors of the economy and learn the features of the agro-industrial complex and the transport system of the USA and Canada.

Agriculture The USA has a high level of development, large volumes and variety of products, which account for about 25% of the world's. Profile crop production primarily determined by grain crops, which occupy 2/3 of the area. The main food crop is wheat, but more fodder crops - corn, sorghum - are harvested. Among oilseeds, the first place belongs to soybeans, which are used for the production of soybean oil and for livestock feed. Cotton stands out among the fibrous crops. Sugar crops are represented equally by sugar beets and sugar cane. The role of fruits and vegetables that are included in the diet of most Americans is great. Livestock is determined, first of all, by the breeding of cattle for both dairy and meat production. Pig breeding is also common poultry. The United States produces about 4 billion tons of broilers annually. Important Feature agro-industrial complex of the USA - its pronounced export orientation. The US share in world exports is: wheat - 1/3, soybeans - 1/2, corn - 2/3. In addition, the United States is the world's largest exporter of broiler and egg products. In the 90s Russia annually imported about 1 million tons of chicken, the so-called. “Bush legs” (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. “Bush Legs” ()

The extreme diversity of natural conditions, high marketability, and the development of transport created the prerequisites for the specialization of entire regions, which in the USA are called " belts"(Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. US Agriculture ()

Milk belt The USA was formed in Priozerye and in the northeast. The main part of agricultural land is occupied by pastures and hayfields, and many cultivated plants are cultivated for green fodder. Milk, butter, and cheese are sold in large cities and agglomerations. The largest number of cows is in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

Corn Belt The United States is located primarily in the southern Central Plains, centered in the state of Iowa. In addition to corn, soybeans are also grown here, so it would be more correct to call this belt “corn-soybean.” The Corn Belt region includes parts of Kansas and Nebraska, parts of Wisconsin, and parts of Indiana and Ohio.

Wheat belt The USA coincides territorially with the Great Plains. This belt produces 20-25 million tons of wheat per year. Spring wheat is grown in North and South Dakota and Montana, winter wheat is grown in Texas, Nebraska and Kansas.

Main areas cotton belt At first there were states in the southeastern United States, where cotton was grown without artificial irrigation, using black labor. Then this belt shifted westward to the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas, becoming one of the largest cotton-growing areas in the world.

Pasture Beef Cattle Belt is located in the northwest and occupies all the mountain states with adjacent parts of the Great Plains and Pacific states. The main area of specialization is the raising of young cattle, which are produced on large cattle ranches with tens of thousands of head of cattle and hundreds of cowboys. However, now driven grazing has become widespread on such ranches. The ranch area is divided into pens, and cattle are moved from one to another. Need for large quantities cowboys disappeared, and the role of feed increased. The young animals are then transported to the wheat belt states for raising and to the corn belt states for fattening and slaughter.

Other agricultural areas located in the coastal areas of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States. The main industry and their specialization is horticulture and vegetable growing in the states of Florida and California. Rice and sugar cane are the main crops along the Gulf Coast belt, and Idaho and Washington produce more than half of all potatoes.

Agriculture Canada

Canada ranks second in the world in food exports, as it has a developed agriculture, which is characterized by a high level of mechanization, specialization and marketability of production. In Canada, 80% of the agricultural land area is located in large capitalist farms, the size of which is more than 50 hectares.

Canadian agriculture not only meets the food needs of the population, but also plays an important role in foreign trade countries. A special place is occupied by the export of wheat, the export of which Canada ranks second in the world after the United States. Canadian agriculture is one of the most productive in the world, with rapid growth in labor productivity. It employs about 5% of the active population, 30% of farms produce 75% of the gross commercial products. Favorable climatic conditions and vast expanses of fertile land contribute to the development of various branches of agriculture. Farms occupy about 8% of the country's territory, b O The majority of which is occupied by arable land and pastures.

The most important agricultural regions are Central Canada, where they are engaged in vegetable growing, horticulture, dairy farming and poultry farming, and the steppe provinces, which, due to the characteristics of natural conditions, have long become one of the leading areas of grain specialization.

Fisheries based on the biological resources of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans take second place in Canada after agriculture.

Transport system The USA is one of the most developed in the world, and the country ranks first in terms of the length of roads and pipelines, and in terms of cargo and passenger turnover of road and air transport. Transport structure USA: freight turnover relies more on rail and road transport, while passenger traffic uses road and air transport.

Rice. 4. Map of US transport roads ()

Length of all highways The USA exceeded 6.5 million km, which is 20% of the world (Fig. 4). There are 13 thousand settlements in the USA with a population of about 86 million people. completely dependent on automobiles as it has no other means of communication.

Distinctive feature railways The USA has a low level of electrification (no more than 1%) and the predominance of diesel traction. This is explained by the policy of oil monopolies, which are interested in railway transport as one of the consumers of petroleum products.

total length inland waterways The USA is 41 thousand km. Cargo transportation along river routes is carried out using non-self-propelled barges, which form trains of 20-30 barges, moved by pusher tugs.

Skeleton of a transport system The USA forms transcontinental railways in both latitudinal and meridional directions. Latitudinal highways connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the country, primarily New York and Washington with San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles. The meridional railway lines run along both ocean coasts along the Mississippi Valley and in other places, among which the most important are the Boston-New York-Washington high-speed lines, as well as the Chicago-New Orleans and Chicago-Atlanta lines. The main highways to some extent follow the directions of the railways, although many of them are laid along independent routes. In addition, the United States has a developed network of inland waterways. In the latitudinal direction it is the system of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, and in the meridional direction it is the system of the Mississippi River.

A significant part of domestic and international passenger traffic is carried out by air transport USA. Domestic air travel is the most efficient and widespread means of transportation in the country. Any, even the most remote, provincial city has its own airport. The USA has some of the largest airports in the world: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles.

For pipeline network The USA is characterized by a diagonal direction. It connects the oil-producing region of the southwestern Center with the oil-consuming region in the northeast. At the intersection of land and water transport routes, large transport hubs:Chicago , New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston. Large airports form an important part of hubs. Of the 33 largest international airports in the world, 17 are located here. An important part of the US transport hubs is formed by port-industrial complexes. In terms of cargo volumes, the first place is occupied by the ports of the Atlantic coast: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Hampton Roads. On the Gulf Coast - New Orleans, Houston and Tampa. On the Pacific Coast, Oakland, Seattle, Los Angeles and Long Beach stand out.

Canada's transportation system

Canada's transport system is well developed, which is due to the large area of the country, its coastal location, the peculiarity of its economic and geographical location, as well as the export nature of the economy. In terms of freight turnover, railway transport occupies the first place, its length is 67 thousand km. The length of roads is 900 thousand km. Canada has well-developed air, pipeline and water transport. The country's largest ports are Vancouver, Set-Ul, Montreal, Quebec, and the largest airport is Montreal.

The main type of agricultural enterprises in the United States is large capitalist farm, which grows the bulk of its products for sale (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Farm USA ()

Family farms predominate, making up about 90% of enterprises, producing 93% of the region's gross output. Typically, each family farm enters into a contract with a company in the agribusiness system. This company supplies the farmer with machines, fertilizers, seeds, and also provides scientific and methodological support. The same company indicates to the farmer the exact deadlines for delivery of products, their size and quality. Failure by a farmer to meet quality targets or be late on time threatens to break the contract and complete ruin.

The discrepancy in the timing of harvesting in the winter and spring wheat belts leads to the use of such a rational harvesting method as the transfer of harvesting equipment from south to north as the wheat ripens.

Rice. 6. Harvest ()

Moreover, its harvesting is not carried out by the farmers themselves, but by special companies that send both equipment and labor, which begin the harvest in May in Texas, in June in Oklahoma, in July in Kansas, in August in Nebraska and Wyoming and finish it in September in North Dakota and Montana. During the harvest period, combines usually work 16 hours a day (Fig. 6).

Recently, unique meat factories have emerged in the beef cattle-breeding complex.

Rice. 7. Cattle in the pen ()

These are huge feeding farms that contain up to 100 thousand heads of cattle, but not on pastures, but in stalls (Fig. 7). For this purpose, pens for 200-250 animals each are built, in which feeding and watering of animals is carried out using automation, and dosage is carried out using a computer. Such complexes serve large cities, such as Los Angeles.

Bibliography

1. Geography. A basic level of. 10-11 grades: Textbook for general education. institutions / A.P. Kuznetsov, E.V. Kim. - 3rd ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, 2012. - 367 p.

2. Economic and social geography of the world: Textbook. for 10th grade general images. institutions / V.P. Maksakovsky. - 13th ed. - M.: Education, JSC "Moscow Textbooks", 2005. - 400 p.

2. Prepare a report on the US transportation system.

3. Prepare a report on the leading industries in Canada.

The United States is characterized by an exceptional diversity of forms of agriculture. It can be argued that all its main types found in economically developed Western countries are represented here. It is not surprising that the agricultural regions of the United States began to form at the end of the 19th century. Over time, the extreme diversity of natural conditions, increasingly high marketability, and the development of transport providing transportation of bulk goods created the prerequisites for the narrow specialization of not only individual farms, but also entire regions, which in the United States are commonly called belts. The number of such belts - depending on the level of detail of the study - can vary quite significantly. But in the most generalized form they are usually distinguished into 9 (Fig. 191). It should be taken into account that in recent decades, some of these belts, for example cotton ones, have undergone significant transformation, while others have changed much less.

Milk belt The USA was formed in the Lake District and the North-East under conditions of a relatively short growing season and infertile soils. The bulk of agricultural land here is occupied by improved pastures and hayfields, and many field crops are cultivated for green fodder. Milk, butter, and cheese are sold in big cities and agglomerations. There are also dairy and cheese industry enterprises here. Dairy farming is most typical for the southeastern part of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. The cow population here is particularly large, and dairy farms with tall silos form a major part of the rural landscape. The state of Wisconsin ranks first in the production of milk, butter and cheese (more than 100 varieties).

Rice. 191. Agricultural areas (belts) in the USA

The settlement of the vast territory of the corn belt, starting with its eastern edge - the Ohio Plains, expanded widely after the adoption of the famous Homestead Act in 1862 (during the Civil War). This act, which gave every American citizen the right to a piece of land (a homestead) west of the Appalachian Mountains, was a victory for farm agriculture. The entire perfectly flat territory of the plains was divided into so-called townships - squares each 6 miles long and wide, i.e. an area of 36 square meters. miles (93.2 km 2). In turn, each square mile in such a township was divided into four parts with an area of 64.5 hectares. One such part was given ownership to the family farm. Typically, from 16 to 36 townships were united into one county or district - county.

Rice. 192. Scheme for dividing townships and individual farms in the USA: 1) dividing the territory into townships; dividing the township into squares; 3) dividing the square into trusses

To the west of Corn is located the no less famous wheat belt USA. Geographically, it coincides with the Great Plains, which began to be widely used for agriculture only at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. - after the extermination of huge herds of bison, as well as the extermination and displacement of local Indian tribes. The Great Plains prairies, which had very fertile soils but a drier climate, proved most suitable for wheat crops. Tens of thousands of settlers from Europe poured into these places, and in a short time the prairies were also plowed up. The subsequent history of the area was replete with ups and downs, but recently the level of its development has been relatively stable. The wheat belt produces 20–25 million tons of this crop per year. True, the main flour-grinding enterprises have already developed outside its borders - in Minneapolis, Kansas City and other cities.

Rice. 193. Kansas wheat farm plan

As is easy to see (Fig. 191), the US wheat belt consists of two separate parts - northern and southern, which differ greatly in both agroclimatic and cultural-ethnic conditions.

In the northern part (North and South Dakota), winter is too frosty and windy, so only spring wheat ripens here. This part is usually called the spring wheat belt. The population here is sparse, almost entirely farmers, there are practically no large cities. The majority of farms have such a narrow specialization in wheat that it can be called a kind of monoculture of this belt.

The discrepancy between the timing of harvesting in the spring and winter wheat belts, and in other areas adjacent to them from the south, leads here to the use of such a rational method as the transfer of harvesting equipment (combines) from south to north as the wheat ripens. Moreover, its harvesting is usually carried out not by the farmers themselves, but by special companies that send both equipment and labor, which begin the harvest in the spring in Texas and finish it in early autumn in North Dakota and Montana (Fig. 195). During the harvest season, combines usually work 16 hours a day. But the combine operator's work is made easier thanks to a sealed cabin with an air conditioning system, which protects him from the heat and from the thorny spines of the threshing ears.

Rice. 194. Path and schedule of movement of mechanized columns for wheat harvesting

In terms of overall production of commercial agricultural products, the corn belt is in the lead.