San Joaquin Valley
| San Joaquin Valley | |
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 Agricultural landscape in the San Joaquin Valley |
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| location | California (USA) |
| Waters | San Joaquin River |
| Geographical location | 37 ° 0 ′ 0 ″ N , 120 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ W |
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The San Joaquin Valley ("Valley of the San Joaquin River ") is the southern part of the California Long Valley (Central Valley) in the state of California in the United States . In American usage, it means the rural areas south of the metropolises of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles in the weather-protected valley break.
geography
The California long valley has a large inland delta of the Sacramento River in its middle . From the southeast side of the San Joaquin River flows towards the Sacramento River, which goes all the way north near Stockton and rises in the inland delta. This river gave its name to the southern area - however, it has largely been diverted for agricultural irrigation purposes, along with its tributaries, the Kings River and Kern River . Until the expansion of agricultural irrigation in the 1920s, the area was a semi-desert , not unlike the desert regions of Nevada , which adjoin just to the east.
ecology
Although largely rural, there are several large cities in the San Joaquin Valley, including Stockton , Fresno , Modesto , Bakersfield and Visalia . Unlike most other areas in the US, settlement didn't begin until the automobile was already the main mode of transportation. This is reflected in the transport infrastructure - together with the sheltered location in the valley basin with little wind and rain, however, it leads to a permanent and particularly pronounced smog situation - the San Joaquin Valley is the area with the highest air pollution in the USA. In addition, agriculture also contaminates river waters with erosion.
Economy
On the economic and social side, the San Joaquin Valley faces numerous problems. On the one hand, most of the US's foodstuffs are produced in the Valley - in terms of dollar value, California is home to 25% of US agriculture. On the other hand, there are hardly any other job opportunities - a large part of the population today is of Mexican descent, particularly supported by the Bracero program during World War II. Even today, many illegal immigrants work as farm laborers and day laborers on the extensive lands in the San Joaquin Valley. The officially recorded per capita income is well below the American average.
ethnicities
In addition, there are a number of settlement projects of the most diverse ethnic groups from all over the world, both of European, Far Eastern and Middle Eastern origin. In many cities, certain ethnic groups still make up the majority of the population while they are hardly to be found in other cities in the valley - the majority are Syrians in Turlock , Dutch in Ripon , Sikh in Stockton , Yugoslavs in Delano , Sweden in Kingsburg and throughout the valley there are more Portuguese people of Azores than there are today in the Azores themselves.
development
Settlement experienced a renewed boom in the 1990s, as more and more families settled outside of the expensive areas around San Francisco. In this way, more and more local means of transport were created that run between the San Joaquin Valley and the metropolises in California's long valley. At the same time, the strong efforts of the California Emissions Protection Agency improved living conditions in the suburbs.
The United States' first high-speed rail line is built in the San Joaquin Valley. The final expansion of the California High-Speed Rail will run from San Francisco to Los Angeles, with branches to San Diego and Sacramento. The first construction phase leads from Merced to Fresno and has been under construction since 2014. The opening was planned for 2017, but has been delayed. At the same time, preliminary work is already underway for other sections.
Web links
- San Joaquin Valley in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- The San Joaquin Valley Bioregion
- further information (in English; PDF; 5.6 MB)
- California Sunday Magazine: Disappearing Water at Fairmead , January 4, 2015 - Portrait of the region under the influence of the drought since 2012