In North America, industry was originally concentrated near the Great Lakes region on the border of the United States and Canada. The Appalachian mountains produced coal, which was used as the energy source to refine iron ore mined near the Great Lakes. This region grew to the shores of the Atlantic and into Canada, becoming one of the global centers of heavy industry.

Nowadays, the significance of heavy industry has declined in North America. It has recently begun to be replaced by forms of industry that are reliant on high technology. The Silicon Valley of California is well known for its solid-state industry. The headquarters of many important technological businesses, such as Apple and Facebook, are located in Silicon Valley.


The Californian Silicon Valley is the home of many globally significant technology companies.