A Sub continental Region South-West USA. Notice of Use Restrictions Certain materials in this presentation are included under the Fair Use exemption.

A Sub continental Region

South-West USA

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© EDMAN YOST, J. (1999), © EDMAN YOST, J. (1999), Copyright Chaos - An Educator's Guide to Copyright Law and Copyright Chaos - An Educator's Guide to Copyright Law and “Fair Use“Fair Use”, Intel Teach to the Future CD”, Intel Teach to the Future CD

Mineral Resources

• Recession of the 1980s• Conservation influence• Nuclear energy• Price of oil dropped for many years

in the 21st century• 2006 crude oil was around $73 a

barrel due to the demand for oil in China and India

Mineral Resources

• Economic horizon clouded:– Oil resources in Texas rapidly

depleting– Off shore oil rigs vulnerable to

hurricanes, as Hurricane Katrina demonstrated in 2005

Primary ActivitiesMineral Resources

Mineral Resources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNpz41xSOg

Mineral Resources

• Mineral exploitation has brought settlers to the region for generations

• 1848 California Gold Rush• Helped populate the west coast• Discovery of Silver in 1859 influx of

settlers to the Great Basin of Nevada• Consequent railway boom• Growth of the ‘Wild West’

Mineral Resources

• Scattered deposits of uranium, sulphur, gold, copper, lead and zinc worked today

• Oil and Gas (most important)• Texas has large reserves of both• Texan economy driven by oil for decades• Price increase in crude oil and 1973 oil

crisis brought great wealth to Texas

Secondary ActivitiesManufacturing

• North-East USA has dominated American manufacturing

• In recent years manufacturing in the South-West has exploded

• Concentrated in Texas, San Francisco, and Southern California along the Los Angeles-San Diego axis

Manufacturing

ManufacturingLocational Factors

• Resource-based industries because raw materials are available locally

• Beef cattle for meat packing and vegetables for canning

• Oil and gas for petrochemical industry

• Uranium for the nuclear industry

Manufacturing in Texas

• Diverse but three main fields:– Petrochemicals’: the ‘chemical crescent’

(coastal cities) 30 oil refineries on the coast, numerous chemical works and fertiliser plants

– Aerospace: NASA’s presence in Houston has attracted aerospace industries to Texas. Manufacture aircraft, space-related technology, space station components, satellite equipment and military surveillance technology. Dual-use goods

– IT: Texas Instruments and Dell

Manufacturing in California

• Silicon Valley (250,000)• Best-known centre for

manufacture of IT in the western world

• World war 2, Korean and Vietnam wars

Manufacturing in Silicon Valley

• Why? – Stanford Uni (engineering and science

leader) cutting edge electronics– Gifted innovators excelling in physics,

chemistry and related fields (Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, Steve Jobs and Steve Wosniak)

– Uni graduates maintain knowledge

Challenges for Silicon Valley

• Competition (far east) similar products• Rapid obsolescence (quality of

researchers and flooding of market)• Market forces (boom and bust)

Recession 1980s • Late 1980s demand for PCs took off• End of the Cold War: cancellation of

defence contracts (early 1990s)• Internet boom 1995

Challenges for Silicon Valley

• Increase of defence spending under George W. Bush (maintained into new century)

Economic Interaction between South-West USA

and Mexico

South West USA and Mexico

• Maquiladoras: A twin plant on the Mexican side supplying cheap products

• 3000km border with Mexico• NAFTA: North American Free Trade

Agreement promotes free trade • Maquiladoras owned by Mexican

subcontractors or are subsidiaries of multinationals that manufacture goods for sale to the USA

South West USA and Mexico

South West USA and Mexico

• Peso weaker than the Dollar• Work for Pesos and sell in Dollars• Subcontractors earn large profits• Physical work, low-skilled and low-

paid done in Mexico by Mexicans• Well-paid office jobs done in twin

plant north of the border in the US

Maquiladoras

• More than 2500 in operation• Up to 1,150,000 workers 70%

women• Part of global sweatshop??• Noise levels and ventilation below

developed world standards• Most workers live in hastily

constructed shanty towns nearby

Maquiladoras

• Affected by international economic forces:– Competition from China, labour costs

even cheaper than Mexico– 500 have closed in recent times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRdu5qo-htU

Tertiary Activities

Tourism

• Important tourist destination • Climate a major attraction (Sun Belt)• Yosemite, Joshua Tree and Bond

National Parks• San Francisco spectacular bay on the

Pacific Coast• Los Angeles (Disney resort)• Hollywood

Tourism

• Las Vegas Nevada (gambling capital od the world)

• Great Depression 1930s collapse in Nevada’s mineral and cattle industries

• Gambling legalised for revenue• 1940s saw the city become the

home of gangsters (casinos)• Built in Great Nevada Basin

Tourism• Hoover Dam supplies electricity• One million population• Slot machines and casinos• No clocks or windows in a casino

(disorientating)

Tourism

• Some offer free alcohol and cheap buffets

• Great entertainment• Reno (smaller version)• Sedona (Arizona) attracts those

interested in alternate lifestyles (yoga, nutrition, holistic therapies)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuCge37X0UM

Tertiary ActivitiesTransport

Dallas – Fort Worth Airport

Transport

• Roads: One car for every two people– US interstate connects South-West with

distant markets– Trucks make it east in five days

• Port: Two coasts– Pacific (Long Beach) and Gulf of Mexico

(Corpus Christi)– Major importer of petroleum from

Venezuela and the Persian Gulf

Transport

• Air Transport: Virtually every major city in the South-West has an airport– LA a major hub, Pacific Rim– Business community in Texas served

by Dallas and Houston