This document provides an overview of the cultural geography of the United States and Canada. It discusses population patterns, with most Americans and Canadians living in urban areas near the coasts or inland waterways. The history section outlines the migration of early peoples to North America and later colonization by Europeans. Both nations experienced industrialization and westward expansion in the 19th century. Government structures established the US as a republic and Canada as a constitutional monarchy. Culturally, both countries are multicultural but differ in their official languages, with English predominant in the US and both English and French in Canada.

1. THE CULTURAL
GEOGRAPHY OF THE
U.S. AND CANADA

2. I. POPULATION PATTERNS
A. Human Characteristics
Nations of immigrants:
Europeans, Africans, Asians,
Latin Americans
Natives already here
B. Population Distribution and
Density
More than 330 million
people, or 5% or world’s
population
300 million in the U.S., 33
million in Canada
85 per sq. mile in U.S.
9 per sq. mile in Canada

3. •Most Americans live in the Northeast, Great
Lakes Region, and the West Coast
•Near transportation routes, commerce, and
manufacturing
1970s: many moved to the Sunbelt, the South
and West for jobs
Sparsely populated areas include the Great
Basin and Alaska
•Most Canadians live near the Great Lakes/ St.
Lawrence River
•Some spots in the plains and west coast
90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the
U.S.
2/3 of Canada is unpopulated.

4. URBANIZATION
•¾ of the people live in cities or
suburbs: Metropolitan area
1. Coastal Cities
•Boston, New York
Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Washington D.C. for a
megalopolis called the Bos
Wash on the east coast.
•Miami, New Orleans,
Houston on the Gulf coast
•Los Angeles, San Diego,
San Francisco, Seattle,
Vancouver on the west coast.

5.  2.




Inland Cities
Often located near inland waterways
Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Chicago,
Milwaukee, Cleveland, Buffalo near the Great
Lakes/ St. Lawrence
Pittsburgh and St. Louis near major rivers
Others include: Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio,
Denver, Memphis, Minneapolis, Kansas City,
Salt Lake City, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton
They are transportation and business
centers for the surrounding areas.

6. II. HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT
 A.
History
 1st people crossed the land bridge
 Bering Strait from Asia
 Started about 30,000 years ago
 By 10,000 years ago, people living
almost everywhere in N. America
 1. Early Americans
 Adapted to survive in different
climates
 Changed their cultures.

7. 2.EUROPEAN COLONIZATION




Vikings arrived around 1000 AD
Columbus arrived 1492, started
colonization
1500s, Europe searched for land,
minerals, riches, and freedoms
Most were from Spain, France, and
England
 English on the east coast
 North: commerce for money
 South: agriculture, cash crops,
and slavery
 French settled near the St.
Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers
for fur trade
 Spanish settled SW U.S., Florida,
South and Middle America

8. 3. TWO NATIONS
1763, France gave up land in N.
America
Britain taxed America
 “No Taxation w/o
Representation”
American Revolution: 1775-1781
 Many loyalists fled to Canada
Declared Independence in
1776
Canada never fought
Britain divided into Upper
(British) and Lower (French)
Quebec
 United in 1841
 Self-government 1849
Dominion of Canada 1867
 Added territory

9. 4. INDUSTRY AND EXPANSION






1800s, rapid industrialization:
 Setting up of manufacturing with
machines
Used water, then steam to power
Canals and later railroads to transport
goods
Midwest and Northeast the leaders,
cities boom, immigrants
 Textiles from Southern cotton
Westward Expansion
 Louisiana Purchase, 1803
 Mexican-American War 1846-48
 Gold rushes and farming
 Bough Alaska in 1867
American Civil War: 1861-1865

10. 5. TECHNOLOGY AND GROWTH
Dry Farming on the Great
Plains
 Steel machines
 Transcontinental RR 1869
(Canada 1885)
 2nd wave of the Industrial
Rev.
 Auto industry
 Both fought in the World
Wars
 Vast resources helped
them win
 U.S. a superpower, opposed
by the Soviet Union
 Cold War: 1948-1991


11. 6. U.S. GOVERNMENT
 Constitution
written in
1787, ratified 1789
 Bill of Rights: 1st ten
amendments
 Formed a republic
 Three Branches
 Executive: President
 Legislative: Congress
 Judicial: Courts
 Checks and Balances

12. 7. CANADA’S GOVERNMENT






Canada independent by 1867
 Needed English approval to
change the govt. until 1982
Executive: British Monarch,
Governor-General, and Prime
Minister
Legislative: Parliament, Prime
Minister involved too
Judicial: Supreme Court of
Canada
U.S.: 50 states and some
territories
Canada: 10 provinces and 3
territories

13. III. CULTURES AND LIFESTYLES

A. A Region’s Cultures
 Multicultural
 Melting pot vs. mosaic
 1. Religious Freedom
 Protected by law
 Mainly Protestant Christians
 Canada: mainly Catholics
 2. Languages
 U.S.: English mainly, no official language
 Canada: bilingual
 French and English

14. A. THE ARTS
No true American style for a
while
 Heavily influenced by Europe
 Architecture: skyscrapers.
 A skyscraper is a tall,
continuously habitable
building of many storey's,
usually designed for office and
commercial use.
 Literature: Edgar Allan Poe, Mark
Twain, Ernest Hemingway
 Music: Jazz, Rap, Country, Blues


15. B. LIFESTYLES
1. A Mobile Society
 Cars, planes, etc.
 2. Standard of Living:
 Very high, good housing
 3. Health Care
 Among the healthiest in the world
 4. Education
 Very high literacy rates
 U.S. 98%, Canada: 97%
 5. Sports and Recreation
 Football, basketball, baseball, hockey…
 Lots of national parks in both countries:
Yellowstone, Wood Buffalo Park: huge
 6. Celebrations
 Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Independence
Days


16. REPORTED BY:
JESSICA D. ADOFINA
BSED II-A
THANK YOU
!!! 