Download Are We Lucky - rs1314

Warmup
• Take out your notes.
• Why is the United
States so great?
• Why are we one of
the top 13 places to
live?
• Is it luck or is it
something else?
Are We Lucky?
“We are the only country born of an idea.
We are not here because of geography or
religion or race or even economics.
We are here because everybody
agrees on an idea.
Freedom.
It’s that idea that is imperishable.”
Ken Burns
Infant Mortality Rate
# of infant deaths for every 1,000 live births
Western Europe
Western & Central Africa
World Average
Life Expectancy
Average length (in years) a person lives
Western Europe
Western & Central Africa
World Average
Literacy Rate
Age 15 and older can read and write
Western Europe
Western & Central Africa
World Average
GDP Per Capita
The value of all goods and services produced within a country in a given year,
divided by total population
Western Europe
Western & Central Africa
World Average
Arable Farmland
Land that can be used for growing crops (in hectares)1 hectare=2.4 acres
Germany
Burkina Faso
World Total
Intentional Homicide Rate
The number of intentional deaths per 100,000 people in a given area
Western Europe
Southern Africa
World Average
Are We Lucky?
• The United States and Canada are
unique in the world “geographically
speaking”.
Are We Lucky?
• Both are physically large, but not
overpopulated.
• Both are affluent (wealthy).
Economics
• Both are productive economically and
industrialized in most regions.
– Canada = mixed economy
– U.S.
= capitalist economy
• What economic activities do these
countries likely do? P,S,T,Q
All four
Governments
• United States
• Canada
• Federal republic
• Parliamentary
democracy
• Both
guarantee
many
individual
rights to their
people.
– Bill of Rights
Government
• Both are democratic
countries.
• U.S. = president
(Barack Obama)
• Canada = prime
minister
(Stephen Harper)
U.S. Congress
• Citizens have a large
say in government
processes.
Canadian Parliament
Political Stability
• Both the U.S. and
Canada have a history
of peaceful
coexistence.
• (though we are 0-2
against them)
• The longest
unguarded border in
the world is the U.S. /
Canada border.
• Why don’t we have an
illegal immigration
issue with Canada?
Resources
Both countries are blessed with a wide variety of
natural resources.
Geographic Advantages
• Good water
resources.
– Great Lakes
– St. Lawrence Seaway
– Mississippi and
Colorado River
systems
– Etc.
– isolated
Geographic Advantages
• Productive soils.
– Especially in the Great
Plains region.
• Top soil – what is
needed to grow crops is
deep in most areas.
• Glaciation – pushed
most of Eastern
Canadian top soil down
into the U.S.
Geographic Advantages
• A variety of latitudes
provides several
climatic regions and
growing climates.
Disadvantages!
• Distance.
• It is hard to get goods
to the markets.
• Canada and the U.S.
built trans-continental
railroads in the 1800s.
• We later built highways.
We benefit one another
• Who do you think
the U.S. exports the
most goods to?
• Answer: Canada
• Canada ranks 2nd to
Japan in U.S.
imports.
We benefit one another
• Canadian firms do
more business with
U.S. companies than
with each other!
We benefit one another
• Culture
• U.S. culture
influences Canada
and vice-versa.
• Food, clothing,
music, film, etc.
Canadian ‘imports’ to the US
We are like brothers (or sisters)
• We may quarrel, but when the fight is
on, we stick together.
Canada is
Really Big
I Am Canadian
Are We Lucky?