Southwest Region of the United States

The Southwest region of the United States is drier than the adjoining Midwest in weather; the population is less dense and, with strong Spanish-American and Native American components, more ethnically varied than neighboring areas. 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 of the Indian reservations including the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni[?], and Apache tribes. Parts of the Southwest once belonged to Mexico. The United States obtained this land following the Mexican American War of 1846-48.

The southwestern states are:

• Arizona
• New Mexico
• Oklahoma
• Western and Southern Texas

Mexican heritage continues to exert a strong influence on the region, which is a convenient place to settle for immigrants (legal or illegal) from farther south. The regional population is growing rapidly, with Arizona 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 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 one of the world's centers for gambling, while Santa Fe, New Mexico, 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.

Related topics

• Tex-Mex cuisine
• The West
• The Midwest
• Mid-Atlantic States
• New England
• The South