Rural and Urban Population differences in New York Essay Example
New York is a State in the United States of America which was first settled in 1625 and the population has continued to grow very fast and it is now the most populous city in the United States. Going by 2006 estimates, the state has a population capacity of approximately 19 million. Of these, the rural population is 3. 5 million while the urban population is 15. 5 million and it is third largest state in the United States of America after Texas and California . It is a metropolitan city which ranks among the largest urban areas.
It is a state in mid-Atlantic and Northeastern region of the U. S. The five largest cities in the state are New York City, Rochester, Yonkers, Buffalo and Syracuse but there are other 57 counties. Location New York is located by the coordinates; longitude,
...71°47'25"W to 79°45'54"W and latitude, 40°29'40"N to 45°0'42"N in North America. With an area of 141,205 km2 of which the urban part covers an area of 23,800 km2 and the rural area is 117,405 km2. The rural part of the state mostly borders Canada while the other urban part borders the Atlantic Ocean and New Jersey. Place
According to a geological survey carried out in 2004, the distinctive physical characteristics of New York State are the skyscrapers of Manhattan while in the rural populated area are the Hudson River and the Adirondack Park and other forest reserves. Rivers, forests, mountains and lakes form a majority portion of the rural areas of New York State while the urban portion is clearly composed of business premises and other buildings in the towns. On a cultural point of
view, the rural part of New York State consists of a majority African-American population which is known for their unique culture .
Most of this African-American population has perfected the hip hop and rap music and most of them have most to the urban areas. Those who have not developed well economically are still in the rural areas trying other opportunities such as farming while in the urban cities such as New York City, the population is mainly Asian-American who is mainly involved in business. Most of the population in the rural areas is a majority Catholics (89%), Protestants (10%) and others (Muslims, Buddhists, etc) at only (1%).
While in the urban setting, the population is very much mixed with Catholics and Protestants forming a large percentage (70%), Jews (5%), Muslims (3. 5%), Buddhists (1%) and those who claim no religion are (13%). (Barry and Keysar, 2004) Human –environmental interaction Most activities in the rural part of New York State is dominated by; dairy farming, cattle rearing, production of vegetables, onions, potatoes cherries, nursery stock and apples. Tourism also thrives well in the rural population because of the natural forest and game preservations in those areas.
Among the rural population however, the following economic activities are practiced. Publishing, production of chemicals, scientific instruments, communication equipments and others New York State hosts the New York City that has all the world’s largest corporations such as Fortune 500 companies making the city a leading centre in banking, communications going by the volume capitalization of dollars in the New York Stock Exchange. Other industrial operations are the manufacture of furs, railroad equipment and bus line vehicles.
All these economic activities are concentrated
on the urban centers where a considerable number of employees come from the urban population. With such activities being carried out, there is a likelihood of environmental pollution. Most of the industrial wastes are not properly disposed although they are normally treated or recycled. Environmentalists have raised concern on the rise in greenhouse gases being emitted by the industries both in the rural and urban areas of New York State.
Global warming has been seen as a possible result of these industrial activity and environmental pollution crusaders think that this is one of the reasons the American government failed to honor the Kyoto protocol. The rural people of the New York State benefit by working in most of the companies operating in the urban areas and on the other hand, the urban population utilizes the resources in the rural areas of the state to improve their activities such the transport system in the Hudson River.
Other effects of the concentrated activities in the towns is that there is increased crime rate(terrorism), overpopulation, congestion among others which come as a result of immigrants coming to the cities to look for jobs especially Africans and Asians (Rodger L, 2004). The rural areas also gets a fair share of its effects from activities such as tourism, there is influx of tourists and hence the threat of terrorism agricultural production involves the use of chemicals during pesticide and disease control hence there will be significant pollution of river waters, ocean waters and emission of greenhouse gases leading to global warming.
Movement Most of the urban cities have a fluctuating pattern of emigration and immigration of individuals not only from the cities within
New York State but also from elsewhere around the world. The rural population is however considered to be stable in some way in that the families here are immigrants who came to the United States as early as 1699 and settled there and majority of them are the Dominican population.
The cities on the other hand are a cosmopolitan society with a mixture of Italian-American, German-American and Irish, Spanish populations dominating. Movement of people, goods are services are more advances in the urban areas especially New York City which has 12,000 iconic yellow cabs, daily bicyclists and massive subway, bus and rail systems, airports, tunnels, ferry services and an elaborate aerial commuter ways. This makes transport and communication among the urban population more elaborate and efficient.
Although the rural population still enjoys the rail and road systems, they are not as sophisticated and efficient as it is in the urban areas. For example, the rail transport system in the rural parts of New York State has fixed departure and arrival times that limit individuals in their movements because they are not as frequent as it is in the urban areas. Regions Politically, socially and economically speaking, New York State is part of a region and this region is the whole part of the North American continent.
The rural part of the New York State having a different climatic and geographical features (mountains, rivers, forests, large farms and some lakes) from the urban areas which is conventionally flat with tall buildings, and surrounded by water bodies making it a region by itself. In political considerations, every city, town and village (the lowest rural administrative organ) in the New York
State is governed under a governor of the state who is answerable to the federal government in Washington. New York State is there a region with rural and urban regions.
