MapMaster 3

In North America, most of Canada and Alaska are wildlands or (in smaller patches) semi-natural lands. The exceptions are the northern Great Plains in Canada’s Prairie Provinces, which are populated or remote croplands and southern Ontario near the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, which are residential rain-fed croplands. In the eastern United States, a large area extending along the Appalachian mountains is semi-natural lands, with dense settlements between Virginia and Massachusetts, in Florida, and around major cities; much of the Midwest and South are residential rain-fed croplands. Farther west, populated and remote croplands occupy much of the Great Plains, but on the western Plains there is a transition to remote rangelands, with smaller patches of populated rangelands. The Rocky Mountains and Great Basin are largely wildlands, as are the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges near the west coast. Dense settlements surround Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles–San Diego, with areas of populated croplands in eastern Washington, southern Idaho, and California’s Central Valley. Much of northern Mexico is populated or residential rangelands, with areas of semi-natural lands in the mountains. In southern Mexico and Central America (and on the large Caribbean islands), much of the land is residential rain-fed croplands or rain-fed villages, with semi-natural lands along the Caribbean coast. In South America, much of the northern Andes mountains is residential or populated rangelands. The Amazon basin is a patchwork of wildlands and semi-natural lands. Farther south the Andes become wildlands or semi-natural lands, with an area of residential irrigated croplands on Chile’s central coast. Much of eastern Brazil is rangeland, with large areas of populated (or remote) croplands in southern Brazil, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Southern Bolivia and Paraguay are remote rangelands, as is much of Patagonia in southern Argentina. Much of Europe is residential rain-fed croplands with smaller areas of dense settlements, rain-fed or irrigated villages, and semi-natural lands in mountainous areas. Spain, Ukraine, and Russia have significant areas of populated croplands; Ireland has populated rangelands; and Scandinavia is mostly wildlands and semi-natural lands. In north Africa, Morocco, northern Algeria, and Tunisia are mostly residential rain-fed croplands along the coast, with (moving inland) bands of residential and remote rangelands. Egypt has irrigated villages in the Nile River delta. Most of the Sahara desert is wildlands, with smaller patches of semi-natural lands and rangeland. In sub-Saharan Africa, the Sahel region forms a broad band across the continent of populated and residential rangelands (continuing into much of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya). Much of Nigeria and coastal West Africa are residential rain-fed croplands or rain-fed villages. Much of central Africa, including Democratic Republic of Congo, is semi-natural lands with areas of wildland and rangeland. The area around Lake Victoria in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi is rain-fed villages and residential rain-fed croplands. On the eastern side of southern Africa (including Madagascar), much of the land is residential or populated rangeland, with areas of semi-natural land. On the western side of southern Africa, much of the land is remote rangeland, with wildlands along the coast of Namibia. Small areas of pastoral villages are scattered in different parts of Africa, including Guinea, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, and central Madagascar. In Southwest Asia, most of the Arabian peninsula is wildlands or remote rangelands, except for Yemen, which are areas of pastoral villages and residential rangelands. Turkey is mostly residential rain-fed, or populated, croplands. Iran and Iraq have irrigated villages scattered among rangelands, wildlands, and semi-natural lands. Small areas of rain-fed villages are found in several areas including coastal Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey. Most of Central Asia is remote rangelands, with smaller areas of populated rangelands and wildlands. The southeastern part of this region, near the mountains, has fairly large areas of irrigated villages and populated croplands and rangelands. In South Asia, Pakistan has rain-fed villages in the mountainous north, irrigated villages throughout the Indus Valley and semi-natural lands to the east and west. India has irrigated villages in the northwest, rice villages in much of the eastern half of the country, and rain-fed villages in the western and central parts. In Southeast Asia, much of the interior of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, are semi-natural lands, with rice villages in coastal areas and river deltas, and residential rain-fed croplands in between. Malaysia and Indonesia both have large areas of residential rain-fed croplands and semi-natural lands on the Malay peninsula and islands such as Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi. Java, however, is mostly rice villages, whereas Borneo and Irian Jaya include large areas of wildlands, and (in the latter) residential rangelands. Philippines is a complex mosaic of residential rain-fed croplands and irrigated villages and scattered patches of semi-natural lands. In East Asia, western China and Mongolia are covered by vast areas of remote rangelands, wildlands, and semi-natural lands. Eastern China has large areas of rice villages in the south and of irrigated villages in the north (both intermingled with semi-natural lands); to the west, these areas are bounded by patches of rain-fed villages, residential rain-fed croplands, and residential rangelands, and a similar pattern prevails in the northeast. Central China also areas of dense settlements, which are also scattered along the coast. Much of the Korean peninsula is semi-natural lands. In North Korea, there are irrigated and rain-fed villages along the western coast, whereas South Korea has dense settlements, rice villages, rain-fed villages, and residential rain-fed croplands. Japan has mainly semi-natural lands interspersed with dense settlements, residential irrigated croplands, irrigated villages, residential rain-fed croplands, and remote croplands. Taiwan’s landscape features rice villages, dense settlements, remote rangelands, and semi-natural lands. Most of Australia is remote rangelands, with remote croplands in the southwest, south, and scattered through the northeast, and a few areas of dense settlement along the eastern, southern, and western coasts. Eastern and southeastern Australia and Tasmania have populated croplands and populated rangelands as well as a north-south strip of wildlands and semi-natural lands parallel with the coast. New Zealand has populated croplands and rangelands on both North and South islands, as well as small areas of wildlands. Papua New Guinea is mostly semi-natural lands with an area of wildlands in the southeast. The larger islands in the western Pacific are mostly semi-natural lands.