Southwestern United States

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:US map-Southwest.PNG The southwestern United States (called the American Southwest or simply the Southwest) is a region of western United States, warmer than the northern states and drier than the eastern states; the population is less dense and, with moderate Mexican and American Indian components, more ethnically varied than neighboring areas. Contained within this region is the Desert Southwest consisiting of mainly of Arizona and New Mexico. Texas and Oklahoma are generally considered part of the Southwest, with Colorado, Utah, and Nevada also frequently considered part of the Southwest. California, too, is sometimes considered part of the Southwest, especially southern California. When the western frontier of the United States was farther east, Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri were considered Southwestern states.

Outside the cities, the region is a land of open spaces, much of which is desert. The magnificent Grand Canyon is located in this region, as is Monument Valley. This region contains many Indian reservations including the Navajo, Apache, Hopi, Zuni and Pueblo people. Most of the Southwest once belonged to Spain or Mexico but ownership was ceded to the United States after the Mexican-American War of 1846-48, with the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 following. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo defines sovereignty over this region.

Culture

Image:Southwestern Chillis and Skull.jpg

Mexican heritage continues to exert a strong influence on the U.S. Southwest, which is a convenient place to settle for immigrants (legal or illegal) from farther south. The regional population is growing rapidly, with Arizona and Texas in particular rivaling the southern states as a destination for retired Americans in search of a warm climate.

Population growth in the hot, arid Southwest has depended on two human artifacts: the dam and the air conditioner. Dams on the Colorado and other rivers, and aqueducts such as those of the Central Arizona Project have made it possible to develop large areas of farmland with irrigation and have brought water to once-small towns such as Las Vegas, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, allowing them to become metropolises. Las Vegas is renowned as a world center for gambling, while Santa Fe, New Mexico, the historic center of government for much of the Southwest is famous as a center for the arts, especially painting, sculpture, and opera. Another system of dams and irrigation projects waters the California Central Valley, which is noted for producing large harvests of fruits and vegetables. The combined population of the eight Southwest states is around 70 million (2005).

See also

• Chihuahuan desert
• Great Basin desert
• Mojave desert
• Sonoran desert
• Tex-Mex cuisine
• Aztlán
• MEChA
• Voz de Aztlán

Sources

• Boyd, Jean Ann. Jazz of the Southwest: An Oral History of Western Swing. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998. ISBN 0292708599
• Foreman, Grant. Pioneer days in the Early Southwest. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. ISBN 0585268444
• Kurtz, Jane. The American Southwest Resource Book : The People and the Culture. Austin: Eakin Press, 1999. ISBN 1571680659

Template:U.S.Regionsbg:Югозапад (САЩ) pt:Região Sudoeste dos Estados Unidos da América