1.
Arkansas
–
Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas
2.
Fort Smith, Arkansas
–
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 86,209, Fort Smith has a sister city relationship with Cisterna, Italy, site of the World War II Battle of Cisterna, fought by United States Army Rangers commanded by Fort Smith native William O. Darby. Fort Smith lies on the Arkansas-Oklahoma state border, situated at the junction of the Arkansas and Poteau Rivers, also known as Belle Point. The city began as a frontier military post in 1817 and would later become well known for its role in the settling of the Wild West. In 2007, Fort Smith was selected by the United States Department of the Interior to be the location of the new United States Marshals Service National Museum, the site that would later become Fort Smith became part of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. Soon after, the Pike Expedition explored the Arkansas River, Fort Smith was founded in 1817 as a military post. A stockade was built and occupied, from 1817 until 1822, around the fort a small settlement began forming, but the Army abandoned the first Fort Smith in 1824 and moved 80 miles further west to Fort Gibson. Fort Smiths name comes from General Thomas Adams Smith, who commanded the United States Army Rifle Regiment in 1817, General Smith had ordered Army topographical engineer Stephen H. Long to find a suitable site on the Arkansas River for a fort. General Smith never visited the town or forts that bore his name, many displaced Native Americans settled in Fort Smith and Van Buren, while Sebastian county was formed in 1851, separated from Crawford County north of the Arkansas River. The fort was occupied by the Confederate Army during the years of the U. S. Civil War. Union troops under General Steele took control of Fort Smith on September 1,1863, a small fight occurred there on July 31,1864, but the Union army maintained command in the area until the war ended in 1865. The town became a haven for runaway slaves, orphans, Southern Unionists, federal troops abandoned the post of Fort Smith for the last time in 1871. The town continued to thrive despite the absence of federal troops, two of Fort Smiths most notable historic figures were Judge Isaac Parker and William Henry Harrison Clayton, sometimes referred to as W. H. H. In 1874, William Henry Harrison Clayton was appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas by President Ulysses S. Grant, Fort Smith was a bustling community full of brothels, saloons and outlaws, just across the river from Indian Territory. William Clayton realized a strong judge would be necessary to bring law and he knew of a strong judge in Isaac Parker. But there was a problem, as Judge Parker had been appointed Chief Justice of Utah Territory, with the help of President Grant and US Senator Powell Clayton, former governor of Arkansas, William Clayton was able to undo that appointment and redirect Judge Parker to Fort Smith. Judge Isaac Parker served as U. S. District Judge 1875–1896, over the course of his career in Fort Smith, Parker sentenced 160 people to death. Of those,79 actually were executed on the gallows and his courthouse is now a National Historic Site where more men were put to death by the U. S. Government
3.
California
–
California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
4.
Sacramento, California
–
Sacramento is the capital city of the U. S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. It is at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the portion of Californias expansive Central Valley. Its estimated 2014 population of 485,199 made it the sixth-largest city in California, Sacramento is the cultural and economic core of the Sacramento metropolitan area, which includes seven counties with a 2010 population of 2,414,783. In 2002, the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University conducted for Time magazine named Sacramento Americas Most Diverse City, Sacramento became a city through the efforts of the Swiss immigrant John Sutter, Sr. his son John Augustus Sutter, Jr. and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew quickly thanks to the protection of Sutters Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839, the city was named after the Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer Gabriel Moraga for the Santísimo Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, is the largest university in the city and one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. University of the Pacific is a university with one of its three campuses in Sacramento. In addition, the University of California, Davis, located in nearby Davis, operates its UC Davis Medical Center, nisenan and Plains Miwok Native Americans had lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Native Americans left little evidence of their existence. Traditionally, their diet was dominated by acorns taken from the oak trees in the region, and by fruits, bulbs, seeds. In 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley, a Spanish writer with the Moraga expedition wrote, Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths, the air was like champagne, and drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. The valley and the river were then christened after the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, John Sutter first arrived on August 13,1839 at the divergence of the American and Sacramento Rivers with a Mexican land grant of 50,000 acres. The next year, he and his party established Sutters Fort, representing Mexico, Sutter called his colony New Helvetia, a Swiss inspired name, and was the political authority and dispenser of justice in the new settlement. Soon, the colony began to grow as more and more pioneers headed west, within just a few short years, John Sutter had become a grand success, owning a ten-acre orchard and a herd of thirteen thousand cattle. Fort Sutter became a stop for the increasing number of immigrants coming through the valley. In 1847, Sutter hired James Marshall to build a sawmill so that he could continue to expand his empire, Sutter received 2,000 fruit trees in 1847, which started the agriculture industry in the Sacramento Valley. In 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutters Mill in Coloma and he hired topographical engineer William H
5.
San Diego
–
San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,394,928 as of July 1,2015, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the US and a country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. San Diego has been called the birthplace of California, historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, the Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, in 1850, California became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union. The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diegos main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, the presence of the University of California, San Diego, with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology. The original inhabitants of the region are now known as the San Dieguito, the area of San Diego has been inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The first European to visit the region was Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sailing under the flag of Castile, sailing his flagship San Salvador from Navidad, New Spain, Cabrillo claimed the bay for the Spanish Empire in 1542, and named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno was sent to map the California coast, in May 1769, Gaspar de Portolà established the Fort Presidio of San Diego on a hill near the San Diego River. It was the first settlement by Europeans in what is now the state of California, in July of the same year, Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded by Franciscan friars under Junípero Serra. By 1797, the mission boasted the largest native population in Alta California, with over 1,400 neophytes living in, Mission San Diego was the southern anchor in California of the historic mission trail El Camino Real. Both the Presidio and the Mission are National Historic Landmarks, in 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and San Diego became part of the Mexican territory of Alta California. In 1822, Mexico began attempting to extend its authority over the territory of Alta California. The fort on Presidio Hill was gradually abandoned, while the town of San Diego grew up on the land below Presidio Hill. The Mission was secularized by the Mexican government in 1833, the 432 residents of the town petitioned the governor to form a pueblo, and Juan María Osuna was elected the first alcalde, defeating Pío Pico in the vote
6.
San Francisco Bay Area
–
The San Francisco Bay Area is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco. The Bay Areas nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California, the fifth-largest in the United States, the Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay, the inner East Bay is more densely populated, with generally older buildings, and a more ethnically diverse population. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes, Lafayette, Moraga, walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Antioch, Pittsburg, Brentwood, Oakley and the areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The Tri-Valley consists of the Amador, the Livermore, and the San Ramon Valleys, dublin and Pleasanton comprise the Amador Valley, Livermore lies in the Livermore Valley, and the San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, the outer East Bays infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2–3 decades, the region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County, the city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the easternmost city of the North Bay. With few exceptions, this region is affluent, Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is relatively rural compared to the remainder of the Bay Area, with areas of undeveloped open space, farmland. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bays largest city, with a population of 167,815 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. The North Bay is the section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as The Peninsula, many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. Whereas the term peninsula technically refers to the entire geographical San Franciscan Peninsula, in local terms, San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides, the north, east, and west. The city squeezes roughly 870,000 people in under 47 square miles, on any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism
7.
Fresno, California
–
Fresno (/ˈfrɛznoʊ/ FREZ-no is a city in California, United States, and the county seat of Fresno County. It covers about 112 square miles in the center of the San Joaquin Valley, named for the abundant ash trees lining the San Joaquin River, Fresno was founded in 1872 as a railway station of the Central Pacific Railroad before it was incorporated in 1885. The population of Fresno proper soared in the half of the 20th century. It was here in Fresno in 1958 that Bank of America first launched the BankAmericard credit card, Fresno is near the geographical center of California. It lies approximately 220 miles northeast of Los Angeles,170 miles south of the capital, Sacramento. Yosemite National Park is about 60 miles to the north, Kings Canyon National Park is 60 miles to the east, the county of Fresno was formed in 1856 after the California Gold Rush. It was named for the abundant ash trees lining the San Joaquin River, Millerton, then on the banks of the free-flowing San Joaquin River and close to Fort Miller, became the county seat after becoming a focal point for settlers. Other early county settlements included Firebaughs Ferry, Scottsburg and Elkhorn Springs, the San Joaquin River flooded on December 24,1867, inundating Millerton. Flooding also destroyed the town of Scottsburg on the nearby Kings River that winter, rebuilt on higher ground, Scottsburg was renamed Centerville. In 1867, Anthony McQeen Easterby purchased land bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues, unable to grow wheat for lack of water, he hired sheep man Moses J. Church in 1871 to create an irrigation system. Building new canals and purchasing existing ditches, Church then formed the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company, in 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station near Easterbys—by now a hugely productive wheat farm—for its new Southern Pacific line. Soon there was a store around the station and the store grew the town of Fresno Station, many Millerton residents, drawn by the convenience of the railroad and worried about flooding, moved to the new community. Fresno became a city in 1885. By 1931 the Fresno Traction Company operated 47 streetcars over 49 miles of track, in 1877, William Helm made Fresno his home with a five-acre tract of land at the corner of Fresno and R streets. Helm was the largest individual sheep grower in Fresno County, in carrying his wool to market at Stockton, he used three wagons, each drawn by ten mules, and spent twelve days in making the round trip. Two years after the station was established, county residents voted to move the county seat from Millerton to Fresno, when the Friant Dam was completed in 1944, the site of Millerton became inundated by the waters of Millerton Lake. In extreme droughts, when the reservoir shrinks, ruins of the county seat can still be observed. In the nineteenth century, with so much wooden construction and in the absence of sophisticated firefighting resources, fires often ravaged American frontier towns, the greatest of Fresnos early-day fires, in 1882, destroyed an entire block of the city
8.
Minnesota
–
Minnesota is a state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U. S. state on May 11,1858, the state has a large number of lakes, and is known by the slogan Land of 10,000 Lakes. Its official motto is LÉtoile du Nord, Minnesota is the 12th largest in area and the 21st most populous of the U. S. Minnesota is known for its progressive political orientation and its high rate of civic participation and voter turnout. Until European settlement, Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe, in recent decades, immigration from Asia, the Horn of Africa, and Latin America has broadened its historic demographic and cultural composition. Minnesotas standard of living index is among the highest in the United States, Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many places in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls, Minneiska, Minneota, Minnetonka, Minnetrista, and Minneapolis, a combination of mni and polis, Minnesota is the second northernmost U. S. state. Its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods county is the part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th parallel. The state is part of the U. S. region known as the Upper Midwest and it shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and a land and water border with Wisconsin to the east. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota are to the west, with 86,943 square miles, or approximately 2.25 percent of the United States, Minnesota is the 12th-largest state. Minnesota has some of the Earths oldest rocks, gneisses that are about 3.6 billion years old. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean, the roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1, in more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago and these glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift, much of the remainder of the state outside the northeast has 50 feet or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. Gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest 13,000 years ago and its bed created the fertile Red River valley, and its outflow, glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River and the Upper Mississippi downstream from Fort Snelling. Minnesota is geologically quiet today, it experiences earthquakes infrequently, the states high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet, which is only 13 miles away from the low of 601 feet at the shore of Lake Superior. Notwithstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a rolling peneplain. Two major drainage divides meet in Minnesotas northeast in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed, precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Saint Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean
9.
Illinois
–
Illinois is a state in the midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1818. It is the 6th most populous state and 25th largest state in terms of land area, the word Illinois comes from a French rendering of a native Algonquin word. For decades, OHare International Airport has been ranked as one of the worlds busiest airports, Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics. With the War of 1812 Illinois growth slowed as both Native Americans and Canadian forces often raided the American Frontier, mineral finds and timber stands also had spurred immigration—by the 1810s, the Eastern U. S. Railroads arose and matured in the 1840s, and soon carried immigrants to new homes in Illinois, as well as being a resource to ship their commodity crops out to markets. Railroads freed most of the land of Illinois and other states from the tyranny of water transport. By 1900, the growth of jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted a new group of immigrants. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars, the Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans in Chicago, who created the citys famous jazz and blues cultures. Three U. S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was the only U. S. president born and raised in Illinois. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official slogan, Land of Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is located in the capital of Springfield. Illinois is the spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers name for the Illinois Native Americans. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant man or men in the Miami-Illinois language and this etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for man is ireniwa and plural men is ireniwaki. The name Illiniwek has also said to mean tribe of superior men. The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa he speaks the regular way and this was taken into the Ojibwe language, perhaps in the Ottawa dialect, and modified into ilinwe·. The French borrowed these forms, changing the ending to spell it as -ois. The current spelling form, Illinois, began to appear in the early 1670s, the Illinois name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka, of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along the waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, the Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation
10.
Elgin, Illinois
–
Elgin is a city in Cook and Kane counties in the northern part of the U. S. state of Illinois. Located roughly 35 mi northwest of Chicago, it lies along the Fox River, as of 2013, the city had a total population of 110,145, making it the eighth-largest city in Illinois. Thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. Winfield Scotts army marched through the Fox River valley during the war, in New York, James T. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, and travelled west. Looking for a site on the route from Chicago to Galena, Illinois. In April 1835, they established the city, naming it after the Scottish tune Elgin, early Elgin achieved fame for the butter and dairy goods it sold to the city of Chicago. Gail Borden established a milk factory here in 1866. The dairy industry became important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company. Today, the clocks at Chicagos Union Station still bear the Elgin name, Elgin has a long tradition of education and invention. Elgin is home to the Elgin Academy, the oldest coeducational, Elgin resident John Murphy invented the motorized streetsweeper in 1914 and later formed the Elgin Sweeper Corporation. Alft has written books and an ongoing newspaper column about Elgins history. Elgin is located at 42°2′18″N 88°19′22″W, according to the 2010 census, Elgin has a total area of 37.704 square miles, of which 37.16 square miles is land and 0.544 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 108,188 people, the population density was 2,911.2 people per square mile. There were 37,848 housing units at a density of 1,306.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 65. 9% White,7. 4% African American,1. 40% Native American,5. 4% Asian,16. 3% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 43. 6% of the population. A significant portion of Elgins Asian population is of Laotian origin,19. 4% of all households were made up of individuals 65 years and older, and 7. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the family size was 3.56. In the city, the population was out with 23. 4% under the age of 18,10. 7% from 18 to 24,33. 6% from 25 to 44,18. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 32.5 years,50. 2% of the population was female
11.
Washington (state)
–
It was admitted to the Union as the 42nd state in 1889. Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State or the State of Washington to distinguish it from Washington, Washington is the 18th largest state with an area of 71,362 square miles, and the 13th most populous state with over 7 million people. Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States, Mount Rainier, an active stratovolcano, is the states highest elevation at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. Washington is a leading lumber producer and its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir, hemlock, ponderosa pine, white pine, spruce, larch, and cedar. Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, shipbuilding and other equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals. Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam, built for a variety of purposes including irrigation, power, flood control, the Washington Territory was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The area was part of a region called the Columbia District after the Columbia River. The area was renamed Washington in order to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia, Washington is the only U. S. state named after a president. To distinguish it from the U. S. capital, which is named for George Washington, Washington is sometimes referred to as Washington State, or, in more formal contexts. Washingtonians and other residents of the Pacific Northwest refer to the state simply as Washington, calling the nations capital Washington, D. C. or, often, Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. Washington is bordered by Oregon to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part, to the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean. The high mountains of the Cascade Range run north-south, bisecting the state, from the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly marine west coast climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range contains several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains, from the north to the south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle and it is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states. Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains, far west on the Olympic Peninsula and these deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States. Eastern Washington – the part of the state east of the Cascades – has a dry climate. It includes large areas of steppe and a few truly arid deserts lying in the rain shadow of the Cascades. Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east to 21.2 inches in Pullman, the Okanogan Highlands and the rugged Kettle River Range and Selkirk Mountains cover much of the northeastern quadrant of the state
12.
Rhode Island
–
Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Rhode Island is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, and its official name is also the longest of any state in the Union. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, the state also shares a short maritime border with New York. It boycotted the 1787 convention that drew up the United States Constitution, on May 29,1790, Rhode Island became the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution. Rhode Islands official nickname is The Ocean State, a reference to the fact that the state has several large bays, Rhode Island covers 1,214 square miles, of which 1,045 square miles are land. Despite its name, most of Rhode Island is located on the mainland of the United States, the official name of the state is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which is derived from the merger of four settlements. Rhode Island is now commonly called Aquidneck Island, the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay, Providence Plantation was the name of the colony founded by Roger Williams in the area now known as the city of Providence. This was adjoined by the settlement of Warwick, hence the plural Providence Plantations and it is unclear how Aquidneck Island came to be known as Rhode Island, although there are two popular theories. Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524, subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later colonized the area assumed that it was Aquidneck. A second theory concerns the fact that Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, historians have theorized that this reddish appearance resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore. The earliest documented use of the name Rhode Island for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams, the name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words, Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island. The name Isle of Rodes is used in a document as late as 1646. Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island Red Island, Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeking religious and political tolerance, he and others founded Providence Plantation as a proprietary colony. Providence referred to the concept of providence, and plantation was an English term for a colony. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the longest official name of any state in the Union, advocates for excising plantation asserted that the word specifically referred to the British colonial practice of establishing settlements which disenfranchised native people. Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic English synonym for colony, the referendum election was held on November 2,2010, and the people voted overwhelmingly to retain the entire original name. It shares a maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island
13.
Providence, Rhode Island
–
Providence is the capital of and most populous city in the U. S. state of Rhode Island, founded in 1636, and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is located in Providence County and is the third most populous city in New England, after Boston, Providence has a city population of 179,154, it is also part of the Providence metropolitan area which extends into southern Massachusetts. The Providence metropolitan area has an population of 1,604,291. This can be considered, in turn, to be part of the Greater Boston commuting area, Providence was founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of Gods merciful Providence, which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him, the city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay. Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its tool, jewelry. The city was nicknamed the Beehive of Industry, it began rebranding itself as the Creative Capital in 2009 to emphasize its educational resources. The area that is now Providence was first settled in June 1636 by Roger Williams and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United States, Williams and his company felt compelled to withdraw from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Providence quickly became a refuge for persecuted religious dissenters, as Williams himself had been exiled from Massachusetts, Providence residents were among the first Patriots to spill blood in the leadup to the American Revolution during the Gaspée Affair of 1772. Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4,1776. It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29,1790, following the war, Providence was the countrys ninth-largest city with 7,614 people. The economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, in particular machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry, by the start of the 20th century, Providence boasted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware. Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831 as the population passed 17,000. From its incorporation as a city in 1832 until 1878, the seat of city government was located in the Market House, located in Market Square, the city offices quickly outgrew this building, and the City Council resolved to create a permanent municipal building in 1845. The city offices moved into the City Hall in 1878, during the Civil War, local politics split over slavery as many had ties to Southern cotton. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, by the early 1900s, Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Immigrant labor powered one of the nations largest industrial manufacturing centers, Providence was a major manufacturer of industrial products from steam engines to precision tools to silverware, screws, and textiles. From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of local and national Community Development funds were invested throughout the city.4 million ft² Providence Place Mall, despite new investment, poverty remains an entrenched problem as it does in most post-industrial New England cities
14.
Texas
–
Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
15.
Colorado
–
Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
16.
Denver
–
Denver, officially the City and County of Denver, is the capital and most populous municipality of the U. S. state of Colorado. Denver is in the South Platte River Valley on the edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level, making it the highest major city in the United States. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich, the reference for the Mountain Time Zone. Denver is ranked as a Beta- world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. With a 2015 estimated population of 682,545, Denver ranks as the 19th-most populous U. S. city, and with a 2. 8% increase in 2015, the city is also the fastest-growing major city in the United States. The 10-county Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 2,814,330 and ranked as the 19th most populous U. S. metropolitan statistical area. The 12-city Denver-Aurora, CO Combined Statistical Area had an estimated 2015 population of 3,418,876, which ranks as the 16th most populous U. S. metropolitan area. Denver is the most populous city of the 18-county Front Range Urban Corridor, Denver is the most populous city within a 500-mile radius and the second-most populous city in the Mountain West after Phoenix, Arizona. In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the USA by U. S. News & World Report and this was the first historical settlement in what was later to become the city of Denver. The site faded quickly, however, and by the summer of 1859 it was abandoned in favor of Auraria, Larimer named the townsite Denver City to curry favor with Kansas Territorial Governor James W. Denver. Larimer hoped the name would help make it the county seat of Arapaho County but, unbeknownst to him. The location was accessible to existing trails and was across the South Platte River from the site of seasonal encampments of the Cheyenne, the site of these first towns is now the site of Confluence Park near downtown Denver. Larimer, along with associates in the St. Charles City Land Company, sold parcels in the town to merchants and miners, Denver City was a frontier town, with an economy based on servicing local miners with gambling, saloons, livestock and goods trading. In the early years, land parcels were often traded for grubstakes or gambled away by miners in Auraria, in May 1859, Denver City residents donated 53 lots to the Leavenworth & Pikes Peak Express in order to secure the regions first overland wagon route. Offering daily service for passengers, mail, freight, and gold, in 1863, Western Union furthered Denvers dominance of the region by choosing the city for its regional terminus. The Colorado Territory was created on February 28,1861, Arapahoe County was formed on November 1,1861, Denver City served as the Arapahoe County Seat from 1861 until consolidation in 1902. In 1867, Denver City became the territorial capital, with its newfound importance, Denver City shortened its name to Denver
17.
New York (state)
–
New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
18.
Johnson City, New York
–
Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,174 at the 2010 census and it is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Johnson City is in the town of Union, New York, Johnson City lies to the west of Binghamton on the eastern side of the town of Union. Johnson, who led the company that was by then known as Endicott Johnson, in January 2007, a group of residents organized a petition supporting dissolution of the village for tax reasons. A vote was held on November 3,2009, on November 12,2009, the results came back no for dissolution by just 42 votes. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 4.6 square miles, of which 4.5 square miles is land and 0.12 square miles. Johnson City is on the side of the Susquehanna River. The junction of New York State Route 17 and New York State Route 201, New York State Route 17C parallels NY-17. As of the census of 2000, there were 15,535 people,6,981 households, the population density was 3,497.0 people per square mile. There were 7,650 housing units at a density of 1,722.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 88. 86% White,3. 09% African American,0. 19% Native American,4. 93% Asian,0. 05% Pacific Islander,0. 84% from other races, and 2. 03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 23% of the population,40. 3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16. 5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the family size was 2.88. In the village, the population was out with 20. 0% under the age of 18,11. 0% from 18 to 24,27. 2% from 25 to 44,20. 2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 39 years, for every 100 females there were 85.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males, the median income for a household in the village was $27,438, and the median income for a family was $39,241. Males had an income of $31,980 versus $24,656 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,511, about 11. 6% of families and 16. 0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26. 5% of those under age 18 and 6. 1% of those age 65 or over
19.
Lao language
–
Lao, also referred to as Laotian, Thai Noi, is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand. The Lao language serves as an important lingua franca as the country of Laos consists of ethnic groups. Spoken Lao is mutually intelligible with the Thai language, Lao, like many languages in Laos, is written in the Lao script, an abugida. Although there is no standard, the Vientiane dialect has become the de facto standard. Oral history of the migrations is preserved in the legends of Khun Borom, Tai speakers in what is now Laos pushed out or absorbed earlier groups of Mon–Khmer and Austronesian languages. These Tai peoples are classified by the Lao government as Lao Loum or lowland Lao, Lao and Thai are also very similar and share most of their basic vocabulary, but differences in many basic words limit inter-comprehension. The Lao language consists primarily of native Lao words, because of Buddhism, however, Pali has contributed numerous terms, especially relating to religion and in conversation with members of the Sangha. Due to their proximity, Lao has influenced the Khmer and Thai languages. Formal writing has an amount of foreign loanwords, especially Pali and Sanskrit terms, much as Latin. For politeness, pronouns are used, plus ending statements with ແດ່ or ເດີ້, negative statements are made more polite by ending with ດອກ. The following are formal register examples, many consonants in Lao make a phonemic contrast between labialized and plain versions. The complete inventory of Lao consonants is as shown in the table below, hence, final /p/, /t/, and /k/ sounds are pronounced as, and respectively. * The glottal stop appears at the end when no final follows a short vowel, All vowels make a phonemic length distinction. The vowels are as shown in the table, Diphthongs are all centering diphthongs with falling sonority. There are six tones in unchecked syllables, that is. The number of tones is reduced to four in checked syllables. The only consonant clusters allowed are syllable initial clusters /kw/ or /kʰw/, any consonant may appear in the onset, but the labialized consonants do not occur before rounded vowels
20.
French language
–
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
21.
Isan language
–
Isan is a group of Lao varieties spoken in the northern two-thirds of Isan in northeastern Thailand, as well as in adjacent portions of Northern and Eastern Thailand. It is the language of the Isan people, spoken by 20 million or so people in Thailand. The language remains the language in 88% of households in Isan. The Isan language has unofficial status in Thailand and can be differentiated as a whole from the Lao language of Laos by the use of Thai grammar, vocabulary. Code-switching is common, depending on the context or situation, adoption of Thai neologisms has also further differentiated Isan from standard Lao. The Tai languages originated in what is known as central and southern China in an area stretching from Yunnan to Guangdong as well as Hainan. Tai speakers arrived in South-East Asia around 1000 CE, displacing or absorbing earlier peoples and setting up mueang on the peripheries of the Indianised kingdoms of the Mon, the Tai kingdoms of the Mekong Valley became tributaries of the Lan Xang mandala from 1354-1707. Lan Xang split into the Kingdom of Vientiane, the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang and the Kingdom of Champasak and this weakened the Lao kingdoms as the population was shifted to the kingdoms in Isan and small pockets of western and north-central Thailand, under greater Thai control. In 1904, Sainyabuli and Champasak were ceded to France, leading to the current borders between Thailand and Laos today, a 25 km demilitarised zone west of the river banks allowed for easy crossing, and Isan remained largely neglected for sometime. Rebellions against Siamese and French incursions into the region included the Holy Mans Rebellion, the Lao people also joined in the rebellion, but was crushed by Thai troops in Isan. Heavy-handed nationalist policies were adopted in 1933 with the end of the monarchy in Thailand. Many were instituted during the premiership of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, although Lao languages were banned from education in 1871, a new public education and new schools were built throughout Isan, and only Thai was to be used by government and media. References to Lao people were erased and propagation of Thai nationalism was instilled in the populace, the language was renamed Northeastern Thai. Although this blatant discrimination is rarer these days, most of these nationalistic Thaification policies remain in effect, during the course of World War II and afterwards, the Free Thai Movement bases in Isan made links with the Lao Issara movement. After the implementation of Thaification policies, many prominent Isan politicians were assassinated, the Communist Party of Thailand led insurrections during the 1960s and 1980s, supported by the communist Pathet Lao and some factions of the Isan populace. Integration continued, as highways and other infrastructure were built to link Isan with the rest of Thailand, due to population pressures and unreliable monsoons of the region, Isan people began migrating to Bangkok for employment. Isan speakers began to shift to the Thai language, and the language itself is absorbing larger amounts of Thai vocabulary, universities such as Mahasarakham and Khon Kaen are now offering classes on Isan language, culture, and literature. Attitudes towards regional cultures have relaxed and the continues to be spoken
22.
Thai language
–
Thai, also known as Siamese or Central Thai, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people and the vast majority of Thai Chinese. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family, over half of the words in Thai are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, Thai also has a complex orthography and relational markers. Spoken Thai is mutually intelligible with Laotian, Thai is the official language of Thailand, natively spoken by over 20 million people. Standard Thai is based on the register of the classes of Bangkok. In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages, Isan, the language of the Isan region of Thailand, a collective term for the various Lao dialects spoken in Thailand that show some Siamese Thai influences, which is written with the Thai script. It is spoken by about 20 million people, Thais from both inside and outside the Isan region often simply call this variant Lao when speaking informally. Northern Thai, spoken by about 6 million in the independent kingdom of Lanna. Shares strong similarities with Lao to the point that in the past the Siamese Thais referred to it as Lao. Southern Thai, spoken by about 4.5 million Phu Thai, spoken by half a million around Nakhon Phanom Province. Phuan, spoken by 200,000 in central Thailand and Isan, Shan, spoken by about 100,000 in north-west Thailand along the border with the Shan States of Burma, and by 3.2 million in Burma. Lü, spoken by about 1,000,000 in northern Thailand, and 600,000 more in Sipsong Panna, Burma, nyaw language, spoken by 50,000 in Nakhon Phanom Province, Sakhon Nakhon Province, Udon Thani Province of Northeast Thailand. Song, spoken by about 30,000 in central and northern Thailand, Elegant or Formal Thai, official and written version, includes respectful terms of address, used in simplified form in newspapers. Rhetorical Thai, used for public speaking, religious Thai, used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks. Royal Thai, influenced by Khmer, this is used when addressing members of the family or describing their activities. Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts, street and Elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations. Rhetorical, religious, and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum, many scholars believe that the Thai script is derived from the Khmer script, which is modeled after the Brahmic script from the Indic family. However, in appearance, Thai is closer to Thai Dam script, the language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script
23.
Theravada Buddhism
–
Theravāda is a branch of Buddhism that uses the Buddhas teaching preserved in the Pāli Canon as its doctrinal core. The Pali canon is the only complete Buddhist canon which survives in a classical Indic Language, Pali, another feature of Theravada is that it tends to be very conservative about matters of doctrine and monastic discipline. As a distinct sect, Theravada Buddhism developed in Sri Lanka, Theravada also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions with varying cultures and religious communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is practiced by minority groups in Bangladesh, China, Nepal, and Vietnam. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravāda Buddhism, contemporary expressions include Buddhist modernism, the Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest Tradition. The name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthāvirīya, one of the early Buddhist schools, according to its own accounts, the Theravāda school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjavāda doctrine of analysis grouping, which was a division of the Sthāvirīya. Significantly, the Sthāviras in turn comprise three sub-nikāyas, the Jetavanīyas, the Abhayagirivāsins, and the Mahāvihāravāsins, according to Damien Keown, there is no historical evidence that the Theravāda school arose until around two centuries after the Great Schism which occurred at the Third Council. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada, emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council. The elder monk Moggaliputta-Tissa was at the head of the Third council and compiled the Kathavatthu, later, the Vibhajjavādins in turn is said to have split into four groups, the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya. The Theravāda is said to be descended from the Tāmraparṇīya sect, the most distinctive features of this phase and virtually the only contemporary historical material, are the numerous Brahmi inscriptions associated with these caves. They record gifts to the sangha, significantly by householders and chiefs rather than by kings, the Buddhist religion itself does not seem to have established undisputed authority until the reigns of Dutthagamani and Vattagamani. The first records of Buddha images come from the reign of king Vasabha, in the 7th century, the Chinese pilgrim monks Xuanzang and Yijing refer to the Buddhist schools in Sri Lanka as Shàngzuòbù, corresponding to the Sanskrit Sthavira nikāya and Pali Thera Nikāya. Yijing writes, In Sri Lanka the Sthavira school alone flourishes, the school has been using the name Theravāda for itself in a written form since at least the 4th century, about one thousand years after the Buddhas death, when the term appears in the Dīpavaṁsa. According to Buddhist scholar A. K. Warder, the Theravāda, spread rapidly south from Avanti into Maharashtra and Andhra and down to the Chola country, as well as Sri Lanka. According to Richard Gombrich this is the earliest record we have of Buddhist scriptures being committed to writing anywhere, the Theravada Pali texts which have survived are derived from the Mahavihara of Anuradhapura, the ancient Sri Lankan capital. Later developments included the formation and recording of the Theravada commentary literature, the Theravada tradition records that even during the early days of Mahinda, there was already a tradition of Indian commentaries on the scriptures. Of great importance to the tradition is the work of the great Theravada scholastic Buddhaghosa. Buddhaghosa wrote in Pali, and after him, most Sri Lankan Buddhist scholastics did as well and this allowed the Sri Lankan tradition to become more international through a lingua franca so as to converse with monks in India and later Southeast Asia
24.
Lao people
–
The Lao are an ethnic group native to Laos and northeastern Thailand. The Lao are the majority group of Laos at 53. 2%. Today, significant Lao populations can be found in the United States, France, Cambodia, Canada, Myanmar, Thailand and they belong to the family of Tai-Kadai peoples. The etymology of the word Lao is uncertain, although it may be related to known as the Ai Lao who appear in Han Dynasty records in China. Tribes descended from the Ai Lao included the Tai tribes that migrated to Southeast Asia, according to Michel Ferlus, ethnonym and autonym of the Lao people, nationality of the inhabitants of Laos is formed by the monosyllabization of the Austroasiatic etymon for human being *k. raw. The peoples named Lao, supposed to be the ancestors of Lao and some other Tai-Kadai populations, settled in the upper Tonkin and in parts of Yúnnán and this reconstruction of the pronunciation for the phonogram 獠 confirms that ‘Lao’ originates in the etymon *k. raːw. The English word Laotian, used interchangeably with Lao in most contexts, in Laos, little distinction is made between the Lao and other closely related Tai peoples with mutually intelligible languages who are grouped together as Lao Loum or Lowland Lao. The possible reasons for Tai migration include pressures from Han Chinese expansion, Mongol invasions, suitable land for wet rice cultivation, the Tai assimilated or pushed out indigenonus Austroasiatic Mon–Khmer peoples, and settled on the fringes of the Indianised kingdoms of the Mon and Khmer Empire. The Tai states took advantage of the waning Khmer Empire and emerged independent, the Lao reckon the beginnings of their national history to this time, as many important monuments, temples, artwork, and other aspects of classical Lao culture harken back to this time period. From this point, one can refer to the Tai states of the Chao Phraya River valley as Siam and, albeit quite anachronistically, Lan Xang as Laos. The Kingdom of Lanxang, the Land of One Million Elephants, began in 1354 AD, the powerful Kingdom of Lan Xang had wealth and influence due to the location of its capital along the Silk Route and also serving as the center of Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Numerous temples, especially in Xieng Thong and Vientiane, attest this, during this time, the legends of Khun Borom were recorded on palm-leaf manuscripts and the Lao classical epic Sin Xay was composed. Therevada Buddhism was the religion, and Vientiane was an important city of Buddhist learning. Cultural influences, besides Buddhism, included the Mon outposts later assimilated into the kingdom, the libraries of Lannathai were copied, including much religious literature. This may have led to the adoption, or possibly re-adoption, of the Mon-based Tua Tham, the kingdom split into three rival factions, ruling from Luang Phra Bang, Vientiane, and Champasak. The kingdoms quickly fell under Siamese rule, during both these periods, Vientiane and other cities were looted and their Buddha images and artwork moved to Thailand. By the time the French reached Laos in 1868, they had found a depopulated region with even the great city of Vientiane disappearing into the forest. The area of Laos, then annexed by Siam, was explored by the French and, under Auguste Pavie, the French, as overlords of Vietnam, wanted all the tributaries of Vietnam, including the remnant territories of Lanxang
25.
Laotian diaspora
–
The overwhelming majority of overseas Laotians live in just three countries, Thailand, the United States, and France. The Laotian diaspora can be categorized into three different categories based on time periods, the first consists of Laotians who have lived outside Laos prior to the French colonization of the country. Members of this group live almost exclusively in Thailand as a result of the Siamese annexation of the Isan region following the decline of the kingdom of Lan Xang in the early 1700s. The second category consists of Laotians who studied or worked in France and Vietnam during Laos colonial period and this group was primarily made up of the countrys elite class. The third category consists of the largest number of overseas Laotians and this group of the Laotian diaspora primarily live in North America, France and Australia, with a smaller number in Thailand. Recently, there has been a new group of Laotians living overseas, members of this group primarily consist of newer emigrants or expatriates who live in industrialized nations for a few years before returning home. A Laotian population has been present in the Isan region of Thailand since the 13th century, Laotian refugees who settled in Thailand live predominately in the Isan region and in major cities such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai and still maintain their traditional culture. There are an estimated 21,600 people of ethnic Lao descent living in Cambodia, Laotians first arrived in Cambodia during the countrys French colonial period as laborers for plantations and fishermen. However, a number of Laotians later arrived following the collapse of Pol Pots regime to escape communism in their own homeland. Recently, there has been a number of Laotian expatriates in Cambodia due to increased cooperation between the two countries. There are an estimated 14,900 ethnic Lao living in Vietnam, Laotian presence in the country began during the French colonization of Indochina, when Laotian students were able to move to Hanoi and receive higher education at the citys French institutions. High-ranking Laotian government workers were trained by the colonial government in Hanoi. A number of Laotian laborers were recruited to work in the rice fields and mines of northern Vietnam. In the 2010 United States Census, there were about 200,000 Americans of Laotian descent living the United States and they tend to live in metropolitan areas on the West Coast and Upper Midwest. Areas with a significant Laotian population include the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and the Seattle metropolitan area. As of the 2011 Canada Census, there were about 22,000 Canadians of Laotian descent in the country, with nearly three-quarters of the living in Ontario. Refugees consist of more than half of all Laotian Canadians, the population tends to be younger on average than the general Canadian population. Theravada Buddhist temples serve as the community and cultural centers
26.
Asian Americans
–
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The term refers to a group that includes diverse populations who have ancestral origins in East Asia, Southeast Asia, or South Asia. This includes people who indicate their race on the census as Asian or reported entries such as Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Other Asian. Asian Americans with no other ancestry comprise 4. 8% of the U. S. population, although migrants from Asia have been in parts of the contemporary United States since the 17th century, large-scale immigration did not begin until the mid-18th century. Nativist immigration laws during the 1880s-1920s excluded various Asian groups, eventually prohibiting almost all Asian immigration to the continental United States, after immigration laws were reformed during the 1940s-60s, abolishing national origins quotas, Asian immigration increased rapidly. Analyses of the 2010 census have shown that Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial or ethnic minority in the United States, starting in the first few years of the 2000 decade, Asian American earnings began exceeding all other racial groups for both men and women. For example, in 2008 Asian Americans had the highest median household income overall of any racial demographic, in 2012, Asian Americans had the highest educational attainment level and median household income of any racial demographic in the country. In 2015, Asian American men were the highest earning racial group as they earned 117% as much as white American men, once country of birth and other demographic factors are taken into account, Asian Americans are no more likely than non-Hispanic whites to live in poverty. As with other racial and ethnicity based terms, formal and common usage have changed markedly through the history of this term. Prior to the late 1960s, people of Asian ancestry were referred to as Oriental, Asiatic. Today, Asian American is the term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research. The most commonly used definition of Asian American is the US Census Bureau definition, which all people with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia. This is chiefly because the census definitions determine many government classifications, notably for equal opportunity programs, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Asian person in the United States is sometimes thought of as a person of East Asian descent. In vernacular usage, Asian is often used to refer to those of East Asian descent or anyone else of Asian descent with epicanthic eyefolds. This differs from the U. S. Census definition and the Asian American Studies departments in many universities consider all those of East, before 1980, Census forms listed particular Asian ancestries as separate groups, along with white and black or negro. Asian Americans had also been classified as other, in 1977, the federal Office of Management and Budget issued a directive requiring government agencies to maintain statistics on racial groups, including on Asian or Pacific Islander. The 1980 census marked the first classification of Asians as a large group, by the 1990 census, Asian or Pacific Islander was included as an explicit category, although respondents had to select one particular ancestry as a subcategory. The 2000 census onwards separated the category into two separate ones, Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, the definition of Asian American has variations that derive from the use of the word American in different contexts
27.
Americans
–
Americans are citizens of the United States of America. The country is home to people of different national origins. As a result, Americans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, although citizens make up the majority of Americans, non-citizen residents, dual citizens, and expatriates may also claim an American identity. See Names for United States citizens. S, virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century. It also includes influences of African-American culture, westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements, immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics, in addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, the United States of America is a diverse country, racially, and ethnically. Some other race is also an option in the census and other surveys, people of European descent, or White Americans, constitute the majority of the 308 million people living in the United States, with 72. 4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census. They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the peoples of Europe, the Middle East. Of those reporting to be White American,7,487,133 reported to be Multiracial, with largest combination being white, additionally, there are 29,184,290 White Hispanics or Latinos. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states, there are four minority-majority states, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. In addition, the District of Columbia has a non-white majority, the state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine. The largest continental ancestral group of Americans are that of Europeans who have origins in any of the peoples of Europe. This includes people via African, North American, Caribbean, Central American or South American and Oceanian nations that have a large European diaspora, the Spanish were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the United States. Martín de Argüelles born 1566, San Agustín, La Florida, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years later, Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the Thirteen Colonies to English parents. 8% of the total population, Hispanic or Latino Americans constitute the largest ethnic minority in the United States. They form the second largest group after non-Hispanic Whites in the United States, hispanic/Latino Americans are very racially diverse, and as a result form an ethnic category, rather than a race
28.
Laos
–
Present day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao, which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Due to Lan Xangs central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a hub for overland trade. After a period of conflict, Lan Xang broke off into three separate kingdoms— Luang Phabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three territories uniting to form what is now known as the country of Laos and it briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a civil war ended the monarchy. Laos is a one-party socialist republic and it espouses Marxism and is governed by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, in which the party leadership is dominated by military figures. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam Peoples Army continue to have significant influence in Laos, other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. Laos is a country with the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up approximately 60 percent of the population. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other hill tribes, accounting for 40 percent of the population, live in the foothills. It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997, on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. According to the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Laos remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world and this has deterred foreign investment and created major problems with the rule of law, including the nations ability to enforce contract and business regulation. This has contributed to a third of the population of Laos currently living below the poverty line. Laos has an economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2014, the country ranked 141st on the Human Development Index, according to the Global Hunger Index, Laos ranks as the 29th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation. Laos has also had a human rights record. In the Lao language, the name is Muang Lao or Pathet Lao. Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos, archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC
29.
Mekong
–
The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the worlds 12th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia and its estimated length is 4,350 km, and it drains an area of 795,000 km2, discharging 475 km3 of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through Chinas Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, in 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission to assist in the management and coordinated use of the Mekongs resources. In 1996 China and Myanmar became dialogue partners of the MRC, the extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in the Mekong make navigation difficult. Even so, the river is a trade route between western China and Southeast Asia. The English name Mekong derives from a form of Thai. In Thai and Lao, mae nam is used for any major river, as such, Thai and Lao locals often refer to it in English as the River Khong. In Khmer, Mékôngk is itself glossed as mother of water, from mé and taking kôngk as a form of kôngkea. The local names for the river include, Burmese, မဲခေါင်မြစ်, IPA, Chinese, 加果空桑贡玛曲, 扎那曲 and 扎曲 Zā Qū, upper reaches, 澜沧江, 瀾滄江 Láncāng Jiāng, middle and lower reaches, Khmer, មេគង្គ Mékôngk, ទន្លេមេគង្គ Tônlé Mékôngk, ទន្លេធំ Tônlé Thum. Tai of Sipsong Panna, น้ำแม่ของ, น้ำของ, the Mekong Basin has one of the worlds largest and most productive inland fisheries. An estimated two million tonnes of fish are landed a year, in addition to almost 500,000 tonnes of aquatic animals. Aquaculture yields about two tonnes of fish a year. Hence, the lower Mekong basin yields about 4.5 million tonnes of fish, the total economic value of the fishery is between US$3.9 and US$7 billion a year. Wild capture fisheries alone have been valued at US$2 billion a year and this value increases considerably when the multiplier effect is included, but estimates vary widely. An estimated 2.56 million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals are consumed in the lower Mekong every year. Aquatic resources make up between 47 and 80 percent of protein in rural diets for people who live in the Lower Mekong Basin. Fish are the cheapest source of protein in the region and any decline in the fishery is likely to significantly impact nutrition. Fisheries contribute significantly to a diversified livelihood strategy for many people, particularly the poor and they provide a principal form of income for numerous people and act as a safety net and coping strategy in times of poor agricultural harvests or other difficulties
30.
Hmong people
–
The Hmong/Mong is an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. The Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in China, the Hmong began a gradual southward migration in China in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land. This CIA operation is known as the Secret War, which occurred during the Vietnam War, following the war, hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees fled to Thailand to seek political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries in two separate waves, the first wave resettled in the late 1970s, mostly in the United States, but also in Australia, France, French Guiana, Canada, and Argentina. Others have returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs and those who resisted resettlement in the West actively fought against government officials to be left alone in Thailand. The remnant from the first wave managed to ask for protection from Wat Thamkrabok and this second wave, an approximation of 15,000 Hmong refugees including children at Wat Thamkrabok, resettled mainly in the U. S. since Summer 2004. Hmong people have their own terms for their subcultural divisions, Hmong Der and Hmong Leng are the terms for two of the largest groups in the United States and Southeast Asia. In the Romanized Popular Alphabet, developed in the 1950s in Laos, the final consonants indicate with which of the eight lexical tones the word is pronounced. White Hmong and Leng Hmong speak mutually intelligible dialects of the Hmong language, with differences in pronunciation. One of the most characteristic differences is the use of the voiceless /m̥/ in White Hmong, voiceless nasals are not found in the Leng Hmong dialect. Hmong groups are named after the dominant colors or patterns of their traditional clothing, style of head-dress. The Hmong groups in Laos, from the 18th century to the present day, are known as Black Hmong, Striped Hmong, White Hmong, Leng Hmong and Green Hmong. In other places in Asia, groups are known as Black Hmong, Striped Hmong, Hmong Shi, Hmong Pe, Hmong Pua. These include the Flower Hmong or the Variegated Hmong, so named because of the bright colorful embroidery, many Hmong people migrated from Laos to Thailand following the victory of the Pathet Lao in 1975. While some ended up in camps, others settled in mountainous areas becoming one of the ethnic groups in Thailand referred to as Hill Tribes in that country. Since 1949, Miao has been a term for one of the 55 official minority groups recognized by the government of the Peoples Republic of China. The Miao live mainly in southern China, in the provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong, according to the 2000 censuses, the number of Miao in China was estimated to be about 9.6 million. The Miao nationality includes Hmong people as well as culturally and linguistically related ethnic groups who do not call themselves Hmong
31.
Han Chinese
–
The Han Chinese, Han people or simply Han are an ethnic group native to East Asia. They constitute approximately 92% of the population of China, 95% of Taiwan, 76% of Singapore, 23% of Malaysia, Han Chinese are the worlds largest ethnic group with over 1.3 billion people. Similarly, the Chinese language also came to be named the Han language ever since, in the Oxford Dictionary, the Han are defined as The dominant ethnic group in China. In the Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, the Han are called the dominant population in China, as well as in Taiwan, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Han are the Chinese peoples especially as distinguished from non-Chinese elements in the population. The name Hanzhong, in turn, was derived from the Han River, which flows through the regions plains. The river, in turn, derives its name from such as Tianhan, Yinhan, Xinghan or Yunhan, all ancient Chinese poetic nicknames for the Milky Way. This gave rise to a commonly used nowadays by overseas Chinese for ethnic identity – Huaren. The term is used in conversation and is also an element in the Cantonese word for Chinatown. The vast majority of Han Chinese – over 1.2 billion of them – live in areas under the jurisdiction of the Peoples Republic of China, where they constitute about 92% of its population. Han Chinese also constitute the majority in both of the administrative regions of the PRC—about 95% and 96% of the population of Hong Kong and Macau. There are over 22 million Han Chinese in Taiwan, they began migrating from the coastal provinces of mainland China to Taiwan during the 13th to 17th century. At first, these migrants chose to settle in locations that bore a resemblance to the areas they had left behind in mainland China, hoklo immigrants from Quanzhou settled in coastal regions, and those from Zhangzhou tended to gather on inland plains, while the Hakka inhabited hilly areas. Clashes between these groups over land, water, and cultural differences led to the relocation of some communities, of about 40 million overseas Chinese worldwide, nearly 30 million live in Southeast Asia. They are collectively called Nanyang Chinese, according to a population genetic study, Singapore is the country with the biggest proportion of Hans in Southeast Asia. Up until the past few decades, overseas Han communities originated predominantly from areas in southern China, christmas Island has a Chinese majority at 70%, large Chinese populations also live in Malaysia and Thailand. Prior to the 1965 split, Malaysia and Singapore used to have the largest overseas Chinese population in the world and this position has since been taken by Thailand. The prehistory of the Han ethnic group is closely intertwined with both records and mythology. Han Chinese trace their ancestry from a confederation of late neolithic/early bronze-age agricultural tribes that lived along the Guanzhong, the Yellow Emperor is traditionally credited to have united with the neighbouring Shennong tribes after defeating their leader, Flame Emperor, at the Battle of Banquan
32.
Overseas Vietnamese
–
Overseas Vietnamese refers to Vietnamese people living outside Vietnam in a diaspora. Of the about 3 million Overseas Vietnamese, a majority left Vietnam as refugees after 1975 as a result of the Fall of Saigon and the resulting takeover by the Marxist-Leninist North. The term Việt Kiều is used by people in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to refer to ethnic Vietnamese living outside the country, and is not a term of self-identification. The Overseas Vietnamese community itself rarely use this for self-identification, instead, most prefer the technically correct term of Người Việt hải ngoại, during French colonialism, many Vietnamese also migrated to France as students or workers. These people are not usually considered Việt Kiều by people residing in Vietnam, the second category, consisting of the vast majority of overseas Vietnamese, are Vietnamese who fled Vietnam as refugees, after the end of the Vietnam War, along with their descendants. They usually reside in industrialized countries such as those in North America, the European Union, Hong Kong, the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, the third category consists of Vietnamese working and studying in the former Soviet bloc who opted to stay there after the Soviet collapse. This group is mainly in the European Union and the Russian Federation. The last category consists of recent economic migrants who work in regional Asian countries such as Taiwan and Japan and they also include Vietnamese brides who married men from Taiwan and South Korea through marriage agencies. These brides usually follow their husbands to live in those countries, in Taiwan, Vietnamese economic migrants constitute most of the overseas Vietnamese there, according to a 2011 report, there are 40000 Vietnamese brides in Taiwan. There is much social tensions, controversy and criticism about the group in Vietnam, saying they were blinded by money by their foreign husbands. A2014 report says that women make up at least two-thirds of workers who leave the country and it asserted that The total amount of remittances sent back from all Vietnamese workers overseas now exceeds $2 billion a year. Recently a new group of Vietnamese have been emerging and these naturally born Vietnamese who attended high school and college overseas, are called by natives as du học sinh, they stay in those countries and work and live as permanent residents. According to the 2010 census, near 1.8 million people who are of Vietnamese origin live in the United States and they tend to live in metropolitan areas in the West, especially in California and Texas. Significant areas where they are represented include Orange County, California, San Jose, California, Houston, Texas. As almost all of them left Vietnam after 1975 to escape the communist Vietnamese government, as of 2010, the Vietnamese American population has grown to near 1.8 million. Vietnamese constitute about 5% of the population of Cambodia, making them the largest ethnic minority, Vietnamese people began migrating to Cambodia as early as the 17th century. In 1863, when Cambodia became a French colony, many Vietnamese were brought to Cambodia by the French to work on plantations, during the Lon Nol Regime and Pol Pot regime, many of the Vietnamese living in Cambodia were killed. Others were either repatriated or escaped to Vietnam or Thailand, during the ten-year Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia from 1979 until 1989 many of the Vietnamese who had previously lived in Cambodia returned
33.
Vietnamese people
–
The Vietnamese people or the Kinh people, are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population at the 1999 census. The earliest recorded name for the ancient Vietnamese people appears as Lạc, the word Việt is shortened from Bách Việt, a name used in ancient times. Written history knows the ancient Vietnamese people first simply as the Lạc or Lạc Việt, archaeological evidence of the Đông Sơn culture suggests that Bronze Age Vietnamese people were among the first to practice agriculture. DNA research shows that Vietnamese people are the oldest population in Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese show a close genetic relationship with other East Asians with the exception of seven unique markers. The Genographic Project by the National Geographic Society shows that the Vietnamese are intermediate between East and Southeast Asians, during another recent study the test subjects specifically showed more genetic variants in common with the Chinese than with the Japanese. The anonymous subjects of the study belong to the Vietnamese ethnic group, according to legend, the first Vietnamese descended from the dragon lord Lạc Long Quân and the female heavenly angel Âu Cơ. They married and had one hundred eggs, from which hatched one hundred children and their eldest son ruled as the Hùng king. Archaeologists follow a path of stone tools from the Late Pleistocene across Java, Malaysia, Thailand and these stone tools are thought to be the first human tools used in Southeast Asia. Archaeologists believe that at time the Himalayas, a chain of mountains in northern Burma and China. During the Last Glacial Maximum, ocean levels dropped significantly and this resulted in the exposure of the shallow areas surrounding the coasts and islands of Southeast Asia - today known as the Sunda Shelf. It is generally thought that the exposed Sunda Shelf looked like a giant salt plain, later, when the glaciers melted, the Sunda Shelf again disappeared under water. Because it is a shallow body of water, it has always provided a safe area for traders and travelers in small boats to pass safely without the threat of high or choppy seas. In this way, the geography of the area has had a lot to do with the way in which cultures developed. As the map indicates, outside the Sunda Shelf are deep ocean basins which were not often crossed until heavier and wider Chinese vessels could traverse these deep and sometimes dangerous seas. As the glaciers melted and the seas near these coasts rose, traders and other travelers who wanted to migrate to areas, or perhaps to proselytize religion. For the next 4,000 years, until 8000 BCE, people moved across the mainland of Southeast Asia towards the Tonkin Delta. Eventually, the descendants of these migratory peoples entered the Neolithic Age, remains of these people and the Hoabinhian culture have been found in the Hòa Bình Caves along the Red River and in the Tonkin Delta
34.
Vietnam War
–
It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
35.
Tennessee
–
Tennessee is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States, Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, Tennessees capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 654,610. Memphis is the states largest city, with a population of 655,770, the state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1,1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, occupied by Union forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war. Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia and this sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century. This city was established to house the Manhattan Projects uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the worlds first atomic bomb, Tennessees major industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. Poultry, soybeans, and cattle are the primary agricultural products, and major manufacturing exports include chemicals, transportation equipment. In the early 18th century, British traders encountered a Cherokee town named Tanasi in present-day Monroe County, the town was located on a river of the same name, and appears on maps as early as 1725. The meaning and origin of the word are uncertain, some accounts suggest it is a Cherokee modification of an earlier Yuchi word. It has been said to mean meeting place, winding river, according to ethnographer James Mooney, the name can not be analyzed and its meaning is lost. The modern spelling, Tennessee, is attributed to James Glen, the governor of South Carolina, the spelling was popularized by the publication of Henry Timberlakes Draught of the Cherokee Country in 1765. In 1788, North Carolina created Tennessee County, the county to be established in what is now Middle Tennessee. When a constitutional convention met in 1796 to organize a new out of the Southwest Territory. Other sources differ on the origin of the nickname, according to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Tennessee ties Missouri as the state bordering the most other states, the state is trisected by the Tennessee River. The highest point in the state is Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome, which lies on Tennessees eastern border, is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail, and is the third highest peak in the United States east of the Mississippi River
36.
North Carolina
–
North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
37.
Georgia (U.S. state)
–
Georgia is a state in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1733, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies, named after King George II of Great Britain, Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2,1788. It declared its secession from the Union on January 19,1861 and it was the last state to be restored to the Union, on July 15,1870. Georgia is the 24th largest and the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, from 2007 to 2008,14 of Georgias counties ranked among the nations 100 fastest-growing, second only to Texas. Georgia is known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South, Atlanta is the states capital, its most populous city and has been named a global city. Georgia is bordered to the south by Florida, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina, to the west by Alabama, the states northern part is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountains system. Georgias highest point is Brasstown Bald at 4,784 feet above sea level, Georgia is the largest state entirely east of the Mississippi River in land area. Before settlement by Europeans, Georgia was inhabited by the mound building cultures, the British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12,1733. The colony was administered by the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America under a charter issued by King George II. The Trustees implemented a plan for the colonys settlement, known as the Oglethorpe Plan. In 1742 the colony was invaded by the Spanish during the War of Jenkins Ear, in 1752, after the government failed to renew subsidies that had helped support the colony, the Trustees turned over control to the crown. Georgia became a colony, with a governor appointed by the king. The Province of Georgia was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution by signing the 1776 Declaration of Independence, the State of Georgias first constitution was ratified in February 1777. Georgia was the 10th state to ratify the Articles of Confederation on July 24,1778, in 1829, gold was discovered in the North Georgia mountains, which led to the Georgia Gold Rush and an established federal mint in Dahlonega, which continued its operation until 1861. The subsequent influx of white settlers put pressure on the government to land from the Cherokee Nation. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, sending many eastern Native American nations to reservations in present-day Oklahoma, including all of Georgias tribes. Despite the Supreme Courts ruling in Worcester v. Georgia that ruled U. S. states were not permitted to redraw the Indian boundaries, President Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling. In 1838, his successor, Martin Van Buren, dispatched troops to gather the Cherokee
38.
Florida
–
Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
39.
Oregon
–
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Oregon is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Washington, on the south by California, on the east by Idaho, the Columbia River delineates much of Oregons northern boundary, and the Snake River delineates much of the eastern boundary. The parallel 42° north delineates the boundary with California and Nevada. Oregon was inhabited by indigenous tribes before Western traders, explorers. An autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country in 1843 before the Oregon Territory was created in 1848, Oregon became the 33rd state on February 14,1859. Today, at 98,000 square miles, Oregon is the ninth largest and, with a population of 4 million, the capital of Oregon is Salem, the second most populous of its cities, with 164,549 residents. Portland is Oregons most populous city, with 632,309 residents, Portlands metro population of 2,389,228 ranks the 23rd largest metro in the nation. The Willamette Valley in western Oregon is the states most densely populated area, the tall conifers, mainly Douglas fir, along Oregons rainy west coast contrast with the lighter-timbered and fire-prone pine and juniper forests covering portions to the east. Abundant alders in the west fix nitrogen for the conifers, stretching east from central Oregon are semi-arid shrublands, prairies, deserts, steppes, and meadows. At 11,249 feet, Mount Hood is the states highest point, Oregons only national park, Crater Lake National Park, comprises the caldera surrounding Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. The state is home to the single largest organism in the world, Armillaria ostoyae. Because of its landscapes and waterways, Oregons economy is largely powered by various forms of agriculture, fishing. It is also the top timber-producer of the lower 48 states, Technology is another one of the states major economic forces, which began in the 1970s with the establishment of the Silicon Forest and the expansion of Tektronix and Intel. Sportswear company Nike, Inc. headquartered in Beaverton, is the states largest public corporation with a revenue of $30.6 billion. The earliest evidence of the name Oregon has Spanish origins and this chronicle is the first topographical and linguistic source with respect to the place name Oregon. There are also two other sources with Spanish origins such as the name Oregano which grows in the part of the region. Another early use of the name, spelled Ouragon, was in a 1765 petition by Major Robert Rogers to the Kingdom of Great Britain, the term referred to the then-mythical River of the West. By 1778 the spelling had shifted to Oregon, in his 1765 petition, Rogers wrote, The rout. is from the Great Lakes towards the Head of the Mississippi, and from thence to the River called by the Indians Ouragon
40.
Hmong Americans
–
Hmong Americans are Americans of Hmong descent from Southeast Asia, most notably from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Hmong Americans are one group of Asian Americans, many Lao Hmong war refugees resettled in the US following the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and Laotian Civil War during the Vietnam War. Initially only 1,000 Hmong people were evacuated to the US, in May 1976, another 11,000 Hmong were allowed to enter the United States. Four years later, with the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, families of the Secret Army were also permitted to immigrate to the US, following the 1980 immigration wave, a heated global political debate developed over how to deal with the remaining Hmong refugees in Thailand. Many had been held in squalid Thailand-based refugee camps, and the United Nations, one of the more prominent examples of apparent Laotian abuse of the Hmong was the fate of Vue Mai, a former soldier. The US Embassy in Bangkok recruited him to return to Laos under the repatriation program, the US Commission for Refugees later reported that he was arrested by Lao security forces and never seen again. Especially following the Vue Mai incident, the Clinton and UN policy of returning the Hmong to Laos began to meet with political opposition by US conservatives. Clinton vowed to veto the legislation, in a significant and unforeseen political victory for the Hmong and their US Republican advocates, tens of thousands of Thai-based Hmong refugees were ultimately granted US immigration rights. The majority were1 resettled in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, the defeat of the repatriation initiative resulted in the reunifications in the US of many long-separated Hmong families. In 2006, as a reflection of the growth of the minority in the state and it persuaded the US government to acknowledge the Secret War and to honor the Hmong and American veterans from the war. That day it dedicated the Laos Memorial on the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery in honor of the Hmong, in 1999 there were about 250,000 Hmong people living in the United States, living in numerous medium and large cities. Some Hmong remained in refugee camps Thailand at the time of the September 11,2001 attacks and this resulted in the tightening of US immigration laws, especially under the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act, and the immigration of Hmong refugees to the US has significantly slowed. Most Hmong refugees in Thailand had been engaged in documented armed conflict during, the anti-terrorism legislation created barriers to such people being accepted as immigrants. States with the largest Hmong population include, California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, Michigan, Colorado, Georgia, Alaska, Oklahoma, the metropolitan areas of Fresno and Minneapolis-St. Paul have especially large Hmong communities. St. Paul, Minnesota has the largest Hmong population per capita in the United States,3,569 Hmong people live in Wausau. Today, according to the 2010 US Census,260,073 people of Hmong descent reside in the United States up from 186,310 in 2000. The vast majority of the growth since 2000 was from natural increase, of the 260,073 Hmong-Americans,247,595 or 95. 2% are Hmong alone, and the remaining 12,478 are mixed Hmong with some other ethnicity or race. The Hmong-American population is among the youngest of all groups in the United States, with the majority being under 30 years old, born after 1980, with most part-Hmong are under 10 years old
41.
Sacramento metropolitan area
–
The metropolitan area experienced a growth of nearly 20% in the last decade. In the 2000 census, the Sacramento MSA had a population of 1,930,857 and it lies in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada regions of California as well as a small region of Western Nevada. Greater Sacramento also contains sites of natural beauty including Lake Tahoe and it is also located in one of the worlds most important agricultural areas. The regions eastern counties are located in Gold Country, site of the California Gold Rush, the Greater Sacramento area is composed of eight counties, two metropolitan areas and two micropolitan areas. Sutter and Yuba counties comprise the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, Nevada County comprises the Truckee-Grass Valley Micropolitan Area, and Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos micropolitan area. An increasing phenomenon taking shape in Greater Sacramento is growth of urban sprawl as Sacramento, local and state governments are trying to prevent destruction of forests and open land and curbing the spread before Sacramento faces an urban sprawl crisis as the Greater Los Angeles Area has. It is the only interstate MSA/CSA in California, Sacramento is the largest city in the metropolitan area, home to nearly 470,000, making it the sixth largest city in California and the 35th largest in the United States. It has been the capital of California since 1851 and has played an important role in the history of California. When gold was discovered in nearby Sutters Mill in Coloma, Sacramento became a boom town luring in migrants making their way from San Francisco to the fields of the Sierras. Sacramento today continues to be one of the largest rail hubs in North America, in 2002, Time Magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America. Government jobs are still the largest sector of employment in the city, the remainder of Sacramento County is suburban in general with most of the working population commuting to Downtown Sacramento and with a smaller proportion commuting all the way to the Bay Area. El Dorado and Placer Counties form the remainder of the core of Greater Sacramento and are composed of the Sierra foothills. Placer County has been an important mining area not only for gold, the Yuba-Sutter Area consists of Yuba and Sutter counties and is a primarily agricultural area, although the southern area is more suburban in character. It is home to Sunsweet Growers, which owns the worlds largest dried fruit plant in Yuba City. The Donner Memorial State Park is located in the county, where the ill-fated Donner Party was trapped in winter storms in 1846–47 while attempting to make it to California on an organized trip. Douglas County, is the county in Nevada in the Greater Sacramento area and is the only non-Californian county to be located in a California metropolitan region. The addition of Douglas County is recent, as Greater Sacramento continues to grow beyond its region, Western Nevada continues to be influenced by Sacramento and California. Douglas County is home of Tahoe resorts and casinos as well as suburban outskirts of Sacramento, the western half of Greater Sacramento is centered on the Central Valley, one of the most vital agricultural areas in the country
42.
San Diego County, California
–
San Diego County is a county in the southwestern corner of the state of California, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,095,313, making it Californias second-most populous county and the fifth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is San Diego, the eighth-most populous city in the United States and it is the south-westernmost county in the 48 contiguous United States. San Diego County comprises the San Diego-Carlsbad Metropolitan Statistical Area, San Diego is also part of the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area shared between the United States and Mexico. Greater San Diego ranks as the 38th largest metropolitan area in the Americas, San Diego County has 70 miles of coastline. Most of the county has a mild Mediterranean climate to climate, though there are mountains that receive frost. There are also 16 naval and military installations of the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps, and these include the Naval Base San Diego, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and Naval Air Station North Island. From north to south, San Diego County extends from the borders of Orange County and Riverside County to the Mexico–United States border. From west to east, San Diego County stretches from the Pacific Ocean to its boundary with Imperial County, the area which is now San Diego County has been inhabited for more than 10,000 years by Kumeyaay, Luiseño, Cupeño and Cahuilla Indians. In 1542, the Portuguese-born explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for Spain, claimed San Diego Bay for the Spanish Empire, and he named the site San Miguel. In November 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno surveyed the harbor and what are now Mission Bay and Point Loma and named the area for Saint Didacus, a Spaniard more commonly known as San Diego. European settlement in what is now San Diego County began with the founding of the San Diego Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá by Spanish soldiers and this county was part of Alta California under the Viceroyalty of New Spain until the Mexican declaration of independence. From 1821 through 1848 this area was part of Mexico, San Diego County became part of the United States as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, ending the U. S. -Mexican War. San Diego County was one of the counties of California. At the time of its establishment in 1850, San Diego County was relatively large, as such it included areas of what are now Inyo County and San Bernardino County, as well as all of what is now Riverside County and Imperial County. During the later part of the 19th century, there were changes in the boundaries of San Diego County. The most recent changes were the establishments of Riverside County in 1893, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 4,526 square miles, of which 4,207 square miles is land and 319 square miles is water. The county is larger in area than the states of Rhode Island
43.
Fresno County, California
–
Fresno County, officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the northern portion of the U. S. state, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 930,450, the county seat is Fresno, the fifth-largest city in California. Fresno County comprises the Fresno, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of the Fresno-Madera and it is located in the Central Valley, south of Stockton and north of Bakersfield. The area now known as Fresno County is the homeland of Yokuts and Mono peoples. In 1846, this became part of the United States as a result of the Mexican War. Fresno County was formed in 1856 from parts of Mariposa, Merced, Fresno is Spanish for ash tree and it was in recognition of the abundance of the shrubby local Ash, Fraxinus dipetala, growing along the San Joaquin River that it received its name. Parts of Fresno Countys territory were given to Mono County in 1861, the settling of Fresno County was not without its conflicts, land disputes, and other natural disasters. Floods caused immeasurable damage elsewhere and fires also plagued the settlers of Fresno County, in 1882, the greatest of the early day fires wiped out an entire block of the city of Fresno, and was followed by another devastating blaze in 1883. At the same time residents brought irrigation, electricity, and extensive agriculture to the area, moses Church developed the first canals, called Church Ditches, for irrigation. These canals allowed extensive cultivation of wheat, francis Eisen, leader of the wine industry in Fresno County, also began the raisin industry in 1875, when he accidentally let some of his grapes dry on the vine. Easterby and Clovis Cole developed extensive grain and cattle ranches and these and other citizens laid the groundwork for the cultivation of Fresno County – now one of the nations leading agricultural regions. In more recent times became a major crop in Fresno and the southern San Joaquin Valley. The Coalinga field continues to produce oil, and is currently the eighth-largest field in the state. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 6,011 square miles. Major watercourses are the San Joaquin, Kings River, Delta-Mendota Canal, Big Creek, Friant Kern Canal, Helm Canal and it is bordered on the west by the Coast Range and on the east by the Sierra Nevada. It is the center of an agricultural area, known as the most agriculturally rich county in the United States. The county withdrew 3.7 billion US gallons of water per day in 2000. Fresno County is part of the Madera AVA wine region, Fresno was actually named after two particular ash trees that grew near the town of Minkler on the Kings River, one of which is still alive and standing
44.
Greater Los Angeles Area
–
Throughout the 20th century, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, although growth has slowed since 2000. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of nearly 13 million residents. Meanwhile, the metropolitan regions population at the 2010 census was estimated to be over 17.8 million residents. Either definition makes it the second largest metropolitan region in the country, behind the New York metropolitan area, the agglomeration of the urbanized Greater Los Angeles area surrounds the urban core of Los Angeles County. However, this Census definition includes large, sparsely populated and primarily desert swaths of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, according to the U. S. However, more than half of this area lies in the sparsely populated eastern areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Los Angeles has a reputation for sprawl. For comparison, the New York–Newark Urbanized Area as a whole had a density of 5,309 per square mile. Los Angeles sprawl may originate in the decentralized structure. Its major commercial, financial, and cultural institutions are geographically dispersed rather than being concentrated in a single downtown or central area. Also, the density of Los Angeles proper is low when compared to some other large American cities such as New York, San Francisco, Boston. This is misleading though, since unlike other cities the boundary of Los Angeles incorporates mountain areas with almost no people, when the actually built up area is considered, urban Los Angeles has density in excess of 10,000 people per square mile. Densities are particularly high within a 5-mile radius of downtown, where some neighborhoods exceed 20,000 people per square mile. Also, what gives the entire Los Angeles metro region a high density is the fact many of the citys suburbs. Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for having small lot sizes, buildings in the area are low when compared to other large cities, mainly due to zoning regulations. Los Angeles became a city just as the Pacific Electric Railway spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense. The ascendance of the automobile helped fill in the gaps between these towns with lower-density settlements. Many working class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East, as a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US101 corridor
