High Plains (United States)

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A gravel road in the Colorado High Plains

The High Plains are a sub-region of the American Great Plains , the western part of which they include and which extends roughly from the west of the states of Nebraska , Kansas and Oklahoma to the foot of the Rocky Mountains . The high plains also include eastern Colorado , eastern New Mexico , northwest Texas and southeast Wyoming . Sometimes parts of South Dakota and North Dakota are also included. From east to west, the high plains elevations gradually rise from about 750 m (2500 ft) to over 1800 m (6000 ft).

The High Plains are a semi-arid region with only between 250 and 500 mm (10–20 in) of rainfall annually. As a result of such low humidity and its altitude, most of the region experiences extreme temperature fluctuations that can be 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees F) between day and night . In addition, constant, sometimes intense winds, mainly coming from the west, are frequent. As a result of these conditions, the high plains, especially in the northern and western areas, have one of the lowest population densities in the continental United States . The US state Wyoming has the second lowest population density in the country after Alaska . Exceptions are cities like Amarillo and Lubbock in western Texas, which already have more than 200,000 inhabitants.

The short grass prairies of the High Plains are mostly covered with prickly pear cacti and bushland. Agricultural use mainly includes cattle breeding and, thanks to the extensive use of artificial irrigation from the Ogallala aquifer , the cultivation of maize, wheat and sunflowers. Other economic activities include the extraction of natural gas, oil and the use of wind energy .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NM Fenneman: Physiographic Subdivision of the United States. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 3, Number 1, January 1917, pp. 17-22, PMID 16586678 , PMC 1091163 (free full text).