Explore map of Western US, The Western United States is a large region located in the western part of the country. It includes states like California, Arizona, and Colorado. This area is known for its diverse geography, which includes mountains, deserts, and coastlines. The Rocky Mountains, a major mountain range, run through several states in this region. The West is also home to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the beautiful Pacific coastline in California. This variety of landscapes offers a lot of different outdoor activities, like hiking, skiing, and beach visits. The climate in the West varies a lot, from very hot deserts to snowy mountain areas.
Explore western USA map to locate all the states belongs to western part of United States of America.
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About Western United States
The Western United States, often known as the American West, Far West, or simply the West, includes the states furthest west in the U.S. The idea of what is considered the West has changed as people moved westward. Before 1800, the Appalachian Mountains' peak was the western edge. Later, areas west of the Mississippi River were seen as the West.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 13 states in the farthest west include regions from the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin all the way to the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii, an island state in the mid-Pacific. The Western United States is bordered by the Midwestern and Southern United States to the east, Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south.
The West has different natural areas, like dry plateaus and plains, especially in the Southwest; mountain forests in the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and the Rocky Mountains; the Pacific Coast's long beaches; and the rainforests in the Pacific Northwest.
Subregions and Outlying Areas of Western United States
The Western U.S. is the biggest part of the country, taking up almost half of the mainland U.S. This region is known for its varied geography, which includes the cooler rainforests in the Northwest, big mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Cascade Range, many glaciers, and the far end of the Great Plains. It also has most of the desert areas in the U.S. The Mojave and Great Basin deserts are entirely in this region, along with parts of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts (the latter stretches into Texas and Mexico). Because of this wide range of landscapes, it's hard to precisely define the region.
In the early 1990s, historian Walter Nugent did a survey to understand how people think of the West. He asked three groups connected to the region: many Western historians (187 people), 25 journalists and publishers, and 39 Western authors. Most of the historians said the East boundary of the West is further East than the Census says, near the Great Plains or the Mississippi River. The survey showed there's a lot of different opinions on where the West starts and ends.
Subregions
The U.S. Census Bureau divides the Western U.S. into two smaller groups:
Pacific States:
Washington
Oregon
California
Alaska
Hawaii
There are also different ways to group these states. The Southwest usually includes Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas, and the Oklahoma panhandle. On the other hand, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington are often seen as part of the Northwest or Pacific Northwest.
The term "West Coast" usually means California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Hawaii, being far away from the mainland U.S., doesn't really fit into these categories.
Outlying Areas
The U.S. has three inhabited Pacific territories - American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands - which are often included in discussions about the Western United States. American Samoa is located in Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, on the other hand, are in the Mariana Islands in the western North Pacific Ocean. Both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are part of the 9th Circuit's jurisdiction, which covers Western states like California and Nevada. This includes their district courts (see District Court of Guam and District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands).
These territories are also recognized as part of the Western U.S. by various U.S. organizations. This includes the U.S. National Park Service, the Federal Reserve Bank system, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), and the USGS (United States Geological Survey).
Geography of Western US
The Coast Ranges run along the Pacific Ocean. These mountains are not as big as the Rocky Mountains but are still significant. They catch a lot of the moisture from the ocean. Behind these ranges, there are fertile valleys like California's San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Next are the Sierra Nevada in the south and the Cascade Range in the north. Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada is the tallest peak in the lower 48 states, standing at 14,505 feet (4,421 m). The Cascades have volcanoes, like Mount Rainier in Washington, which is over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) high. Mount St. Helens in the Cascades erupted in 1980. Crater Lake was formed by a major eruption at Mount Mazama around 4860 BC. These mountains get a lot of rain and create dry areas to their east, covering places like Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The Mojave and Sonoran Deserts are in these dry areas.
The Rocky Mountains lie beyond the deserts. In the north, near the Canada-U.S. border, the desert region is narrow because the Rockies are close to the Cascade Range. The Rockies stretch from New Mexico to Alaska and are the highest region in the U.S., with an average height above 4,000 feet (1,200 m). The tallest peaks, 54 of which are over 14,000 feet (4,300 m), are in central and western Colorado. The Great Plains, to the east of the Rockies, are partly considered part of the Western U.S.
The West has long rivers flowing into the Pacific Ocean, while eastern rivers flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River is the easternmost boundary of the West today. The Missouri River, a Mississippi tributary, starts in the Rockies and crosses the Great Plains. The Colorado River goes through the Mountain states and forms the Grand Canyon.
The Colorado River is an important water source in the Southwest. Many dams, like the Hoover Dam, create reservoirs on this river. The river is used so much for drinking and irrigation in California that its water rarely reaches the Gulf of California now. The Columbia River and its tributary, the Snake River, water the Pacific Northwest. The Platte River runs through Nebraska and is famously wide but shallow. The Rio Grande forms the Texas-Mexico border, then goes north, dividing New Mexico.
The United States Coast Guard says the Western Rivers System includes the Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Cumberland, Arkansas, and White Rivers, their tributaries, and other Gulf of Mexico-bound rivers. The Ohio River part of this system reaches several Atlantic coastal states, from Georgia to New York.
Climate of Western United States
The U.S. National Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management manage most of the public land in the Western states. These public lands make up 25 to 75 percent of the land in these states.
The West has a semi-arid climate, but some areas get a lot of rain or snow. Others are real deserts, getting less than 5 inches (130 mm) of rain a year. The climate is not stable and often has severe droughts.
In the West, the weather changes a lot during the year. The West Coast has warm summers and mild winters with little snow. The desert southwest is very hot in the summer and mild in the winter, and the mountains there get a lot of snow. The Inland Northwest has hot summers and very cold winters.
The eastern parts of the West get more rain, and it gets less towards the Pacific Coast, where it starts to rain more again. The Pacific Northwest gets the most rain in the U.S. Droughts are more common in the West than other parts of the U.S. The driest place in the U.S. is Death Valley, California. In the West, droughts often lead to wildfires, which can damage homes and nature. Experts think the West will face droughts for most of the 21st century.
East of the Rockies, there are violent thunderstorms. In the spring, tornadoes happen on the southern plains. The worst tornadoes happen in Tornado Alley, which goes from Texas to North Dakota and includes states to the east.
Geology of Western United States
The eastern part of the West is mostly plains, with layers of sedimentary rock from different time periods: the Upper Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. The Rocky Mountains show both igneous and metamorphic rocks from very old times (Precambrian) and the more recent Phanerozoic eon. The states in between the mountains and the Pacific Northwest have a lot of volcanic rock from the Cenozoic era. Places with salt flats and lakes show where there used to be big inland seas in what's now the West.
The states along the Pacific Ocean have the most geological activity in the U.S. In California, earthquakes cause damage every few years. While these Pacific states are where most of the active volcanoes are, you can find extinct volcanoes and old lava flows in most of the West.
Demographics of Western US
In 2010, the Western United States had this racial makeup:
66.4% White
28.6% Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
9.3% Asian
4.8% Black or African-American
1.9% American Indian or Alaska Native
0.6% Pacific Islander
12.4% Some other race
4.6% Two or more races
The U.S. Census Bureau says there are 13 states in the Western region. In 2020, these states had 78,588,572 people.
The West is one of the least crowded parts of the U.S. with 49.5 people per square mile. Texas, Washington, and California have more people per square mile than the national average of 77.98.
The West has a lot of people from different backgrounds, including European, Hispanic or Latino, Asian, and Native American. It has the most diverse population in the U.S. Studies often focus on white and Black Americans, but in many Western cities, these groups are less than half of the population, with more Hispanics and Asians. However, whites and Blacks often have more political power due to higher citizenship and voting rates among them.
The West has a lot of the U.S.'s Native American population, especially in big reservations in the Mountain and Desert States.
Cities like San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, Fresno, San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, and Colorado Springs have large Black American populations.
The Western U.S. has more men than women, more than any other region.
The West has lots of land owned by the federal government, managed by agencies like the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. National parks are for fun activities like fishing and hiking, but other lands are used for ranching, logging, and mining. Sometimes, locals who work on these lands clash with the managers who need to keep the land use environmentally safe.
The biggest city in the West is Los Angeles on the West Coast. Other important cities on the West Coast include San Diego, San Bernardino, San Jose, San Francisco, and more. Inland, cities like Denver, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, and others are key in the Mountain States.
History of Western USA
Native Americans have lived in the Western United States for at least 11,000 years since the arrival of the first Paleo-Indians. Around 1000 AD, there were trade routes to kingdoms like the Mound Builders, especially around places like Yellowstone National Park. In the 1840s, the western territories saw rapid settlement, mainly due to the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush in 1849. California grew so fast that it became a state in 1850 without being a territory first.
In the 1840s, one of the biggest migrations in American history happened as the Latter Day Saints moved to Utah to create a theocracy.
During this time, both Omaha, Nebraska and St. Louis, Missouri were known as the "Gateway to the West". Omaha, home to the Union Pacific Railroad and the Mormon Trail, prospered by equipping settlers. St. Louis thrived on the extensive fur trade before the area was settled.
The 1850s saw political fights over spreading slavery into the western territories, leading to the Civil War.
From 1863 to 1869, the first transcontinental railroad in North America was built, linking the eastern U.S. with the Pacific coast. This railroad changed how people and goods moved, making it faster, safer, and cheaper.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries in the American West have become part of cultural myths in U.S. literature and cinema. The image of the cowboy and westward expansion became myths that have influenced American culture since then.
Writers like Bret Harte and Zane Grey wrote about cowboy culture. Artists like Frederic Remington painted western art to document this expansion. American movies often used the West as a symbol for self-reliance and American values. This contrast between the romanticized West and its real history has been a focus in recent studies. Cowboy culture is a big part of American culture, inspiring things like country music.
In the 20th century, cars let more Americans explore the West. Route 66 was promoted to bring tourism and business to the West. In the 1950s, western states built the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center to celebrate western culture and welcome Eastern travelers. Interstate highways brought more trade and tourists from the East. Oil boom towns in Texas and Oklahoma were as wild as the old mining camps. The Dust Bowl made many homesteaders move further west.
Movies became a major entertainment source, focusing on western stories. Hollywood in Los Angeles became the center of radio and TV.
California became the most populous state and one of the world's biggest economies. Late 19th-20th century growth led to big urban areas like Los Angeles/Southern California and San Francisco/Northern California. Other big cities like San Bernardino-Riverside, San Diego, Denver, Phoenix, and Seattle have over a million people. The fastest growing areas were Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Portland.
Since the mid-1970s, historians see World War II as a big change for the West. The population grew, especially in cities, because of airplane, ship, and munitions manufacturing and military training. California improved its universities, research, and infrastructure. After the war, many people moved to suburban homes, remembering their positive wartime experiences. The West continued to lead in democracy, racial and gender equality, and modernization. New challenges like environmental issues emerged, with the West leading in water management and tackling air pollution. Recent studies show some of these trends started before World War II.
Los Angeles has the largest Mexican population outside Mexico. San Francisco has North America's biggest Chinese community and a large LGBT community. Oakland and Long Beach in California have significant Black communities. Utah has a Mormon majority. Cities like Albuquerque, Billings, Spokane, and Tucson are near Indian reservations. Remote areas have Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian settlements.