The West

The West is the largest of the four U.S. Census regions by area - thirteen states covering the entire western third of the country from the Great Plains to the Pacific, and including Alaska and Hawaii. The Census Bureau divides it into the Mountain states of the interior and the Pacific states of the coast. It is a region of vast public lands, dramatic terrain, and, across much of the interior, very low population density.

The West holds the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, the deserts of the Southwest, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges, and the Pacific coast - along with most of the nation's national parks. Across the arid interior, water is the defining constraint. Its population concentrates on the Pacific coast and in fast-growing desert metros like Phoenix and Las Vegas, with California alone holding more people than any other state.

• The Basin and Range
  The stretched crust of parallel desert ranges and valleys related
• The Pacific Northwest
  The mild, green, forested upper-left corner related
• The Rocky Mountains
  The backbone of western North America related
• The Southwest
  The desert borderlands of red rock and shared cultures related