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High Plains (United States)
 
 
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The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 in the central United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometre from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States....
. The High Plains are located in eastern Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
, western Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
, western Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
, central and eastern Montana
Montana

Montana is a U.S. state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains....
, eastern New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
, western Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, northwestern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, and southeastern Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
. In some definitions of the subregion, parts of western South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
 and North Dakota
North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
 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.






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The High Plains are a subregion of the Great Plains
Great Plains

The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada....
 in the central United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, generally encompassing the western part of the Great Plains before the region reaches the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains, often called the Rockies, are a mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 4,800 kilometre from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States....
. The High Plains are located in eastern Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
, western Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
, western Nebraska
Nebraska

Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
, central and eastern Montana
Montana

Montana is a U.S. state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains....
, eastern New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
, western Oklahoma
Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
, northwestern Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
, and southeastern Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
. In some definitions of the subregion, parts of western South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
 and North Dakota
North Dakota

North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
 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
Shortgrass prairie

The shortgrass prairie ecosystem of the North American Great Plains is a prairie that formerly encompassed lands from the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains east to Nebraska, including rangelands in Colorado and Kansas, and extending to the south through the High Plains of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico....
, prickly pear cacti and scrub
Scrubland

Scrubland is a plant community characterized by scrub vegetation. Scrubland consists of shrubs, mixed with grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Scrublands may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity....
 vegetation cover the region, with occasional butte
Butte

A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small relatively flat top, smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table s. In some regions the word is simply used for any hill....
s or other rocky outcrops. Agriculture in the forms of cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
 ranching and the growing of wheat
Wheat

Wheat , is a worldwide cultivated Poaceae from the Levant region of the Middle East. Globally, after maize, wheat is the second most-produced food among the cereal just above rice....
, cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....
 and sunflower
Sunflower

The sunflower is an annual plant in the family Asteraceae and native to the Americas, with a large flowering head . The stem can grow as high as 3 meters , and the flower head can reach 30 cm in diameter with the "large" seeds....
s is the primary economic activity in the region. The aridity of the region necessitates either dryland farming methods or irrigation; much water for irrigation is drawn from the underlying Ogallala Aquifer
Ogallala Aquifer

File:Ogallala changes 1980-1995.svgFile:High plains fresh groundwater usage 2000.svgThe Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, is a vast yet shallow underground water table aquifer located beneath the Great Plains in the United States....
. Some areas have significant petroleum
Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
 and natural gas
Natural gas

Natural gas is a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills....
 deposits.

The High Plains has one of the lowest population densities of any region in the continental United States; Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
, for example, has the second lowest population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 in the country before Alaska
Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
. In contrast to the rather low and stagnant population in the northern and western High Plains, cities in west Texas
West Texas

West Texas is a region in Texas that has more in common geographically with the Southwestern United States than it does with the rest of the state....
 have shown sustained growth; Amarillo and Lubbock both have populations near or above 200,000 and continue to grow. Smaller towns, on the other hand, often struggle to sustain their population.

Due to low moisture and high elevation, the High Plains commonly experiences wide ranges and extremes in temperature. The temperature range from day to night commonly exceeds 59 degrees F (33 degrees Celsius
Celsius

Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death....
), and 24-hour temperature shifts of 68-77 degrees F (38 to 43 degrees Celsius) are not unknown. The region is known for the steady, and sometimes intense, winds that prevail from the west. The winds add a considerable wind chill
Wind chill

Wind chill is the Felt air temperature felt on exposed skin due to wind. The degree of this phenomenon depends on both air temperature and wind speed....
 factor in the winter. The development of wind farms in the High Plains is one of the newest areas of economic development.

The combination of oil, natural gas, and wind energy along with plentiful underground water, has allowed some areas (such as west Texas) to sustain a range of economic activity, including occasional industry. For example, the Asarco refinery in Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo is the 14th-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the county seat of Potter County, Texas. A portion of the city extends into Randall County, Texas....
 has been in operation since 1924 due to the plentiful and inexpensive natural gas and water that are needed in metal ore refining.

External links

  • High Plains climatological resources
  • - U.S. Department of the Interior (with map)


See also

  • Llano Estacado
    Llano Estacado

    Llano Estacado is a region in the southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle....
  • Steppe
    Steppe

    In physical geography, a steppe , pronounced , is a grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with Poaceae or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude....
  • Butte
    Butte

    A butte is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small relatively flat top, smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table s. In some regions the word is simply used for any hill....
  • Ogallala Aquifer
    Ogallala Aquifer

    File:Ogallala changes 1980-1995.svgFile:High plains fresh groundwater usage 2000.svgThe Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, is a vast yet shallow underground water table aquifer located beneath the Great Plains in the United States....
    , 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
  • High Plains Drifter
    High Plains Drifter

    High Plains Drifter is a 1973 in film Western film with a hint of supernatural horror directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. The film was influenced by the work of Eastwood's two major collaborators Sergio Leone and Don Siegel ....