HIGH PLAINS (UNITED STATES)

:''This article is about a geographic region in the United States. For the High Plains of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia, see High Plains (Australia).''
The 'High Plains' are a subregion of the Great Plains in the central United States, located in eastern Colorado, western Kansas, western Nebraska, central and eastern Montana, eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma, northwestern Texas, and southeastern Wyoming. In some definitions of the subregion, parts of western South Dakota and North Dakota are included. From east to west, the High Plains rise in elevation from around 750 m (2500 ft) to over 1800 m (6000 ft).
The High Plains are semiarid, receiving between 250-500 mm (10-20 in.) of precipitation annually. Shortgrass prairie and scrub vegetation cover the region, with occasional buttes or other rocky outcrops scattered throughout the region. Agriculture (in the forms of cattle ranching and the growing of wheat, cotton and sunflowers) is the primary economic activity in the region; some areas have significant petroleum and natural gas deposits.
The High Plains has one of the lowest population densities of any region in the continental United States.

Contents

External links

See also

External links

★ High Plains Regional Climate Center The high plains is 2/3 farming area

★ High Plains information - U.S. Department of the Interior (with map)

See also

★ Llano Estacado

★ Steppe

★ Butte

★ Ogallala Aquifer, a large aquifer underlying a significant part of this region, which has made it possible to grow many water-intensive crops (most notably cotton) that the region's aridity would otherwise not support