00:00 According to the United Nations, India became the most populous country in the world in
00:06 2023.
00:08 Can you guess where the United States of America stands in that rating?
00:11 It's number 3.
00:13 And America is the 4th largest country in terms of size.
00:17 It takes up some 6% of Earth's landmass.
00:21 Plenty of space for 335 million people who live there, right?
00:26 No need to squeeze them into one region.
00:28 Well, not quite.
00:30 The population of the US is distributed pretty unevenly.
00:34 Let's draw a line right through the middle of the country.
00:38 It'll run from North Dakota in the north to Texas in the south.
00:43 Once you input census data and do some math, astounding figures appear.
00:47 80% of the US population lives east of the imaginary line.
00:52 The remaining 20% live to the west.
00:55 That's just 1 in 5 Americans!
00:59 We're talking about large metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.
01:06 You don't believe me?
01:07 Just look at a satellite map of the US at night.
01:10 The right part is shining pretty bright, right?
01:13 But why?
01:14 Why is there such a huge imbalance in population?
01:19 Simply put, history and geography.
01:21 The East Coast is the place where the US became independent in 1776.
01:28 These are the original 13 colonies.
01:31 Soon enough, settlers started spreading westward.
01:34 One important milestone was the Louisiana Purchase.
01:36 Today, this region is mostly what we call the Midwest.
01:40 The area aligns nicely with the Mississippi watershed.
01:44 Yep, this means plenty of fertile soil ideal for agriculture.
01:49 But does this automatically mean a spike in population?
01:54 The demographics of the US reveal that a majority of its citizens live either on the east or
01:59 the west coast.
02:01 This leaves a large patch of land in the middle of the country virtually empty.
02:06 People know it as America's underpopulated belt.
02:09 The area stretches from the Canadian border in the north to Mexico in the south.
02:15 The total surface area of this strip of land is 350,000 square miles.
02:20 That's twice the size of California.
02:23 One massive piece of land.
02:25 In fact, this narrow strip accounts for 12% of the contiguous United States.
02:30 That's the US without Alaska and Hawaii.
02:33 The belt runs north to south through 7 states.
02:37 But its population makes up only 1% of the total number of people living in the United
02:42 States.
02:43 This doesn't mean that the area is completely empty.
02:46 It's still home to just over 3 million people.
02:49 That's roughly the population of the island country of Jamaica.
02:53 But there is room here for many more residents.
02:56 Let's take the example of Nigeria.
02:59 Its total land area is slightly bigger than the sparsely inhabited belt in America.
03:05 But Nigeria's population is a huge 206 million people.
03:10 This makes it the 7th most populated country on the planet.
03:14 Impressive, right?
03:16 But why isn't the American Midwest living up to its potential?
03:21 Time for one last history lesson.
03:22 I've already mentioned how the United States expanded from the East Coast to the West Coast.
03:27 This doesn't mean that the West was lagging too far behind.
03:31 Take for example the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
03:34 They were incorporated in 1850.
03:36 That's just 13 years after Chicago.
03:40 The following year, Portland, Oregon became incorporated.
03:43 You get the picture.
03:45 And then, in 1869, the United States completed building its first transcontinental railroad.
03:51 In terms of transport, the country was unified.
03:55 There is no historical reason strong enough to explain why so few people live in the center
03:59 of the country.
04:02 So now it's time for some interesting geography.
04:05 If you look at the physical map of the United States, you'll notice that this belt lies
04:10 in the Great Plains.
04:11 As the name suggests, the area is flat, which should be ideal for large settlements.
04:16 Well, not really.
04:19 East of this region, there is a huge patch of the color brown.
04:22 It's covered by mountains.
04:24 But not just any mountains.
04:26 These are the Rockies.
04:27 The range is around 76 million years old.
04:30 It has several peaks over 14,000 ft.
04:34 And most of the Rockies are national parks, a vast nature reserve.
04:38 But most importantly, the range plays a vital role in the region's climate.
04:44 Ever heard of the rain shadow effect?
04:46 Let me explain.
04:48 Wet weather systems form over the Pacific Ocean.
04:51 Then they travel east, where they meet the Rockies.
04:53 Now the air has to go up over the mountains.
04:56 This is where it cools down and condenses.
04:59 The final result?
05:00 A lot of rain and snow for the people living on or west of the range.
05:06 With just a few drops east of it.
05:09 When air from the Pacific finally reaches the Great Plains, it doesn't contain much
05:13 moisture anymore.
05:15 In fact, the weather system starts taking up moisture from the surrounding landscape.
05:20 This creates an arid climate east of the Rocky Mountains.
05:23 That's the exact location of the belt where so few Americans live.
05:28 It's one of the driest parts of the country.
05:30 So when settlers came in the 19th century, they were like, "Nah, I'll just continue
05:35 west."
05:36 Plus, there was the gold rush in California they were heading for.
05:40 The climate in this part of the plains isn't great for agriculture, and huge fluctuations
05:45 in air temperature don't help either.
05:48 In a single day, temperatures can drop from 70 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
05:53 These sudden changes in outside temperature are harmful to human health.
05:56 It's like stepping inside an air-conditioned room on a sizzling summer day.
06:01 Not a pleasant feeling.
06:03 Southern California has a similarly dry climate.
06:05 Yet, close to 40 million people live there.
06:09 This makes California the most populous US state.
06:11 Their secret?
06:13 A vast network of irrigation canals and aqueducts, plus a share of water from the Colorado River.
06:20 Summers in the Great Plains get very hot, while winters are extremely cold.
06:25 The reason behind these wild weather patterns are polar winds.
06:29 They get a piggyback ride along the ridges of the Rockies and then rapidly descend into
06:34 the plains.
06:36 A winter day in Wyoming, for example, can start pleasantly warm.
06:40 But later in the afternoon, the temperature can easily drop below zero.
06:45 You just wouldn't know how to dress, and you probably wouldn't want to relocate here.
06:50 That's what 99% of Americans think too.
06:54 Humans like to feel comfortable, so we choose to live in temperate climate zones.
06:59 Those that are either too cold or too hot don't have a large population.
07:04 Just look at the driest inhabited continent.
07:07 You've guessed it correctly – it's Australia.
07:10 Nearly 70% of the country is either arid or semi-arid.
07:13 That's a subtle way of saying that it's a desert.
07:18 That's why Australians are huddled in coastal areas.
07:21 90% of them live in big cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth.
07:28 The only exception is the capital, Canberra.
07:30 They build it inland close to a water source.
07:33 But Australia's interior is sparsely populated.
07:37 Just like in the States.
07:38 There is only one major town in an area the size of 12 Lake Michigans.
07:43 A huge shout-out to the residents of Alice Springs – they truly live in an oasis!
07:49 And what about places with a temperate climate, like Europe?
07:53 The population is evenly distributed here, right?
07:56 Well, yes and no, depending on the country.
08:00 In Germany, 77% of people live in urban areas.
08:04 They have plenty of major cities to choose from.
08:06 Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Köln all have over a million residents.
08:12 But let's look at neighboring France.
08:14 How many cities with a population over a million can you name?
08:18 Okay, Paris, definitely.
08:21 It has over 12 million residents in the metropolitan area.
08:25 But now comes the staggering fact.
08:28 The next two cities on the list have a population of barely 2 million, respectively.
08:34 Can you notice the huge imbalance?
08:36 This is the case in most large European countries.
08:40 In Greece, for example, 35% of the population lives in the capital, Athens.
08:45 So the largely underpopulated center of the United States is not a unique example.
08:52 America is the land of opportunities, but chances of finding a better life are greater
08:57 in large cities.
08:58 The country's top 100 metropolitan areas account for at least three-quarters of the
09:04 nation's GDP, and most of them are located on the East and the West Coast.
09:09 There are no cities with over a million residents in America's underpopulated belt.
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