An ancient lake reflects snow-capped mountains in the Grand Tetons National Park in the state of Wyoming.
The West is made up of the states of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
For a long time, Americans have viewed the West as the final frontier. However, the history of European settlement in California is older than in most Midwestern states. Spanish clerics founded missions along the California coast years before the start of the American War of Independence. California and Oregon joined the Union in the 19th century, before many states further east.
The West is a region possessing beautiful landscapes on a grandiose scale. Part of its eleven states is mountainous and its grasslands give rise to disturbing contrasts. To the west of the mountains, winds carry enough moisture from the Pacific Ocean to keep the land well watered. However, the land is very arid towards the east. For example, some regions of western Washington state receive 20 times more rain than the eastern slopes of the Sierra Cascade in the same state.
Population is sparse in much of the West, and the federal government owns and manages millions of acres of undeveloped land. Americans use these areas for recreational and commercial activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, boating, grazing, lumber production, and mining. In recent years, some local residents who make a living on federal land have run afoul of land managers who demand that the land be used within environmentally acceptable limits.
Alaska, the northernmost state in the Union, is a vast expanse with a sparse but intrepid population and vast wildernesses, protected in the form of national parks and wildlife refuges. Hawaii is the only state in the Union where Asian-Americans outnumber residents of European origin. Beginning in the 1980s, large numbers of Asians have also settled in California, especially around Los Angeles.
Los Angeles (and Southern California as a whole) bears the hallmark of its large Mexican-American population. As the second largest city in the nation, Los Angeles is best known as the home of the Hollywood film industry. Due to the growth of Los Angeles and the neighboring San Jose area known as “Silicon Valley,” California has become the most populous of all the states.
Western cities are known for their tolerance. Perhaps because so many of its people come here from other regions to start a new life, personal relationships are invariably characterized by a “live and let live” attitude. The economy of the West is varied. California, for example, is an agricultural state as well as a high-tech manufacturing emporium.