CHAPTER 18 - HAWAII

     Nevada is the farthest thing from Hawaii in terms of characteristics. Hawaii has multiple islands, many active volcanoes, and a rich cultural diversity. One thing Nevada has going for it that it can relate to the state of Hawaii is that there is a substantial ranching economy on many of the drier portions of the islands. Ranches in Hawaii are similar to that of Nevada where thousands of acres of land are dedicated for ranching.



Hawaii is a major tourist destination, offering beautiful weather year round, exotic land views, and unique beaches. Not to mention their volcanoes.

     Nevada can't offer this type of tropical paradise, but tourism isn't so bad there either. With many mountains, lakes, and yes, Las Vegas, it may not be the ideal vacation spot, but it is still a place where people like to get away.

Source: United States and Canada, 7th Edition (Our textbook)

CHAPTER 16 - The North Pacific Coast

 When you think of the North Pacific Coast, what do you think of? Rain, wet, mountains, and cool air. Compare this to Nevada: Little/No Rain, Dry, many mountains, and warm air. The North Pacific Coast is also famous for its luscious trees.Isn't that picture on the left beautiful? Now compare this to what Nevada is mostly considered below.

Here is a picture of Mount St. Helens. With an elevation of 8,365 feet, it is located in Skamania County, Washington, and it is an active stratovolcano.

Nevada has many mountains and I will list a few of them on here: King Peak, Mount Fitzgerald, and Mount Washington. The elevation of Nevada makes it the 5th highest state in the country with a mean altitude of 5,500 feet.

 

 Here is a picture of Mount Fitzgerald. 

  

Here is a picture of King Peak

Source:  http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/mapcom/nv_mapscom.htm

CHAPTER 15 - California

 

      Nevada's neighbor in state, California, where many people consider the most desirable place of American living. Its beach-oriented land of surfers, comes second to its great diversity of people and environments in the state (Stephen S. Birdsall). Even with all the glitz and glamor that California has to offer, it comes with a price. The freeway system is considered the worst in the country.

Compare that to Nevada, it is much better. That again has to do with the scarcity of people living all throughout Nevada. Much of it is desert land, so there are going to be many open highways.

 

The picture above is of interstate highway 15.

Nevada is also known to have earthquakes. Being a neighbor of California this comes as no surprise.

The largest earthquake to strike Nevada was back in 1915 when it occurred along a fault on the eastern side of Pleasant Valley, which lies North-center in Nevada. Magnitude was a 7.1. Here's a picture where Pleasant Valley is on the map of Nevada, identified by a star emblem. 

 

Source:  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1915_10_03.php

CHAPTER 14 - The Southwest Border Area

The Southwest Border Area is a culture region defined by Spanish American, American Indian, and whites. It makes sense that there would be many people of Spanish descent in this region due to the border with Mexico and the early settlement history. American Indians, who were living across the states before settlers moved West, were forced to move in parts of the land where whites deemed undesirable. In Nevada, with a total population of 2.63 million (data from 2010), whites make up 57% of the population, African Americans make up 8% of the population, American Indians make up 2% of the population, Asian Americans make up 8%, and people of Latino/Hispanic descent make up 25%

 

 Nevada: Population Distribution by Race/Ethnicity, states (2009-2010), U.S. (2010) 

Compare Nevada to:

---

Population Distribution by Race/Ethnicity, states (2009-2010), U.S. (2010)View 50-State Comparison
	NV #	NV %	NV % of US Total	US #	US %	US % of US Total
White	1,487,000	57%	<1%	196,784,000	64%	100%
Black	203,100	8%	<1%	37,024,600	12%	100%
Hispanic	649,600	25%	1%	49,881,300	16%	100%
Other	289,300	11%	1%	21,501,300	7%	100%
Total	2,628,900	100%	<1%	305,191,100	100%	100%

 

Source: http://www.statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?ind=6&cat=1&rgn=30

CHAPTER 13 - The Empty Interior

The Empty Interior is defined as places having sparse populations in large areas.As you can see from the map, Nevada falls in the area known as the empty interior. Nevada's land area is 110,000+ square miles, however the population is far from taking advantage of this land mass. That's why irrigated agriculture and ranching are important in Nevada. In the book, it explains that the empty interior is an area where lumber, tourism, and mining dominate.

In Nevada there are multiple wildlife parks that are dedicated to preserving and viewing wildlife. There are hundreds of species of birds, bears, fish, lions, deer, elk, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, bighorn sheep, cows, toads, lizards, snakes, and many more!


Source: http://travelnevada.com/things-to-do/wildlife/

CHAPTER 12 - The Great Plains and Prairies

The Great Plains is an area where weather is extreme. Periods of extreme drought are then followed by periods of heavy rain, and other various violent storms/natural disasters.


The middle of the country is where the great plains is defined. As you can see from this map, Nevada is probably the driest state in terms of rainfall, averaging less than 5 inches per year.



Tornadoes, thunderstorms, hail, and droughts all occur throughout the great plains consistently. Very cold winters and very hot summers are common through the great plains. In Nevada, much is the same. Very hot summers and quite cool winters, but without all the extreme weather.

Here is a map showing the average wind speeds throughout the states. As you can see, weather in Nevada is pretty dull, but consistent. In the great plains, up to down from Texas to Minnesota, you can see that there is a wide variety of wind speed.

CHAPTER 11 - Agricultural Core

Agriculture is very important for the state of Nevada. Because of the states irrigated land, it grows alfalfa hay, which is the leading crop of the state. This is then sold to neighboring states primarily those with dairy operations. They also produce primarily potatoes, wheat, and barley. The Hoover Dam was also built along the Colorado River, and it now produces power for the state. Due to the vast amount of land, cattle and sheep ranching are also big. Nevada's ranches rank 3rd in the country in terms of size, with an estimated 3,500 acres of ranches. The land is irrigated where crops can grow, even though Nevada's climate is very dry

 

 

 Source: http://agri.nv.gov/AgInNevada.htm

.