The King of Regions

Location

There are three major cities in the east region. New York City, New York has 8,363,710 people. It is located at 40° 47ʼ N Latitude and 73° 58ʼ W Longitude. The second is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with 1,540,351 people. Finally Baltimore, Maryland has 636,919 people. Land forms include the Adirondack Mountains in New York, White Mountains in New Hampshire, and Green Mountains in Vermont. These mountain ranges are part of the Appalachian Mountains. Resources in this region are stone, coal, and maple syrup. The relative location of the region to the compass is northeast.


Place

The weather depends on where you are in the region. The coastal areas average 50 inches of rainfall, while the western parts of Pennsylvania and New York get about 32 inches. Snowfall totals range from over 100 inches per year in upstate New York, to only a foot in the coastal areas of southern New Jersey. The climate is hot summers and cold winters. Major land forms in this region are Niagara Falls in New York, Central Valley in Connecticut, and Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Historically the majority of people in this region were Catholic. Today due to people from all over the world immigrating to this region, there are many cultures, and religions practiced.


Human Environmental Interactions

The geography of the east region forced those who settled there to create lives using local resources. Cities near the ocean harbor were best for fisherman. A city with river access allowed transportation of supplies to other regions. Rivers were used to create power supplies for mills. Lumber and grain were traded. Sections of the eastern region allowed farmers to grow crops. The geography and climate determined which crops to grow. The region experiences four seasons. This provides business opportunities from ski resorts to beach activities.

Movement

There are many ways to travel in the east region. You could choose to use waterways like the Hudson River or the Erie Canal or water ferries that are in Boston, New York City, and Baltimore. If you need to use a highway, there is the New Jersey Turnpike or the Interstate system. Recently the Boston Big Dig highway project was completed. It cost billions of dollars to improve this highway. The east region relies heavily on trains to move people throughout the region. The Amtrak system includes the Acela Express, a high speed train that connects Boston to Washington D.C. The major cities of the east region became very popular, because many people who immigrated to the United States have settled in this area. Many cities were built near riverways and coastal regions making transportation, and trade easier. Since the primary cities of Boston, New York and Philadelphia have access to the Atlantic Ocean, they became major shipping ports. Every December 16, Boston has a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. This tradition has gone on for 236 years. Our capital city, Washington D.C. has a large celebration on Independence Day, July 4 every year.


Regions

Major tourist attractions are the Supreme Court, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Statue of Liberty. The Liberty Bell was rung on July 8, 1776, for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. The words "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" are inscribed in the bell. The bell cracked on July 8, 1835, while tolling the death of Chief Justice John Marshall. The Arlington National Cemetery holds many famous people, such as presidents William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy. In 1921, an unknown American soldier from World War I was buried in the cemetery. The monument at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was opened to the public in 1932. During World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, other unknown soldiers were buried there as well. Recent DNA testing allowed the soldier from the Vietnam War to be identified as First Lt. Michael Blassie, an Air Force pilot from St. Louis, Missouri. This technology may prevent another “unknown” soldier from being buried without a name. The inscription carved on the Tomb of the Unknowns reads, “Here lies in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.