America's primary natural resources are water, natural gas, oil, arable land, and materials such as copper, lead, gold, iron, or coal.
Natural resources refer to all those materials obtained from planet earth, which are used later to satisfy the needs of living beings.
Oil reserves in California
The United States occupies exactly 9,833,517 square kilometers, thus being one of the countries with the largest geographical extension in the world, it also has a favorable location for all types of weather.
Overall, this allows it to be a country rich in varied natural resources, which have boosted its economy and development.
Some of the materials, minerals that it possesses are copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, precious stones, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc and wood.
Its main natural resources are:
Water
Water is a valuable renewable resource, used for human consumption, irrigation of crops and creation of electrical energy.
In the United States, 80% of the consumption of this resource comes from lakes and rivers, the rest from salt water or underground deposits.
Land extension
Other countries have similar tracts of land, but the United States enjoys certain privileges that give it an advantage over others.
For example, Australia's climate is arid and desert, Canada's cold and not very tolerable. None are suitable for cultivation.
On the other hand, Brazil, Russia and China are surrounded by a large number of countries, which leaves them exposed to possible military attacks.
Instead, the United States maintains a stable 4-season climate, with large tracts of arable land, its sides are surrounded by sea, and it only has two countries on a direct border.
Oil and Natural Gas
The large oil reserves of the United States are easily exploited thanks to the relatively soft conditions of the land.
From the beginning this resource allowed them to develop the civil and military transport industry, both land, air and sea.
During the last decade, the United States has positioned itself as one of the main producers of hydrocarbons, thanks to the development of shale rock drilling.
Natural Gas is its main export product, followed by crude oil and NGL.
Coal
The country with the largest coal reserves in the world is the United States, with about 27% of total production, about 491,000 tons.
This natural resource is used in the electricity sector, in the production of steel and cement, in the refining of alumina and in the manufacture of paper and textiles.
People
Humans are both exploiters and natural resources themselves. Taking this into account, today some sparsely populated countries promote immigration programs, so that they can favor their economy and ensure their future.
In contrast, without the need for any promotion, the United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world (43 million people).
This human resource has allowed the country's development in cultural, scientific, military, political and economic matters.
References
- Kimberly Amadeco. (2017). How Natural Resources Boost the US Economy. The Balance website. Taken from thebalance.com
- (Updated July 2017) The World Factbook. Retrieved from Central Intelligence Agency Library. Taken from cia.gov
- Joseph Ramos. (1998). A development strategy based on the production complexes around natural resources. CEPAL Review No.66 p. 105-125
- * -9 + 9 Ariela Ruiz-Caro. (2005). Natural resources in the free trade agreements of the United States. Santiago de Chile: ECLAC.
- Agriculture of the United States. Recovered from Wikipedia.com