The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-30
OUR COUNTRY.
HOW IT IS DIVIDED.
A Delightsome Land

CenSuS OI lo5U, UO kdiu on luo" "a
the way in which the population OF
tue great United States Of the future,
which is certain to be the most
populous and powerful nation In
the world, is to be distributed over
the vast area which it Includes.
The Distribution is not yet complete,
bat the population of the country
NAV be said to have laid itself out
in a general way. We may Judge
approximately where the great
masses of population are to be, and
see what sort of country, physi-
caIly speaking, the people flock to.
I be geographers in the service OF
the government nave divided the
country into twenty-one different
sections according to topograp:c or
surface feautures-that is, according
to the 'iay of the land" and not at
all with regard to State lines, means
of communication or other art fic'al
features.
The first slice Of country which
the geographers set off by itself is
made up of the Coast Swamps of
the Atlantic. Almost two million
people live IN this region, but they
are mainly coIored people, the coun-
try beng unhealthy for the white
race in general. Its population is
increasing at good rate.
Then comes the great Atlantic
plain, with almost nine millions of
people, now the most densely popu-
lated region, to the square mile, in
the country; and then the delightft
Piedmont or foot t-ot-the- mountains
reg ion, which goes from Maine to
Alabama, and is second in density
of population.
The New England Hills-the
Adirondacks of New York being
ircluded with them-are a section
by themselves. The population is
an important one, for though it is
increasing at a slower rate than
that of any other topographic djvis-
ion OF the country, it has been a
fraitfnl nursery tor many sections
| more highly favored by nature.
Passing the long Appalachian
mountain region, and the richly
fosested and mineral region of the
umherland Alleg bauy plateau, VT
come to very popu!ous district
called the Interior Timbered Region,
along the centre of which flows the
OHIO River. There are more than
eleven million people in this region,
apd it will always be well settled.
The imperial region of all adjoins
this It is called simply the Prairie
Region; it sweeps from Western
Ind,ana TO the indefinite line Of the
at Plains, and already has more
le than any other topographic
,,.,zion of the countIy-more than
no teen millions.
~ dahis section is salubrious, highly
t'odnctiye, and has very little
waste land; and it must always, il
would seem, remain the most popu
lous region of the country.
With less than one third as many
people to the square mile as tht
Atlantic Plain possesses, the Prairie
Region already has one-half more
people. What the relative impoI
tance Of the two sections NAV be
when the Pralries arc as we'll pop
ulated as the Atlantic Plain, woul(
make an interesting computation.
The Alluvlal Region of tn,
Mississippi, lying below the mouth
OF the Ohio, Is Ike the Atlanti,
Coast Swamps in two impOrtan
respects. Its climate is unhealthy
for most white people, and by fal
the larger proportion OF its inhabi
tants are OF the colOred race. 1t,
soil is the richest 10 the world.
The Great Plains, extending alon.
The base Of the Rocky Mountains Il
ue Rio Grdnde, gained in popula
tion between the years 1889 anC
, and 1890, moIe rapidly than any
other part of the namely
two hundred and thlrty.two PEI
cent.
Though this section aud othel
dry regions to the westward still
have a small and sparse population
no one section of them as yet lisins
to a million of habitants, the very
ra pid proportion Of increase, due t.
tbe irrigation of llch soil, point
20 future dense population.
There are west of the Great Plains
all these geographical! divisions: Th'
North Rocky Mountains, the Sontl
Rocky Mountains, the Plateau RI
t gion, the Basin Region, the C1lnm
blan Mesas, the Sierra Nevada, th
Pacific Valley, the Cascade Kang
and the Coast Range,