prairies

prairies generally level, originally grass-covered and treeless plains of North America, stretching from W Ohio through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa to the Great Plains region. The prairie belt also extends into N Missouri, S Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, E North and South Dakota, and S Canada. Many of the prairies of the world were formerly used for grazing purposes, but more and more are now coming under cultivation; hence they are often referred to today as the "vanishing grasslands." The soil of the prairies is basically a black chernozem , which is extremely fertile. The prairies correspond to the Pampa of Argentina, the llanos in northern South America, the steppe of Eurasia, and the high veld of South Africa. Because they have the favorable climate and soil fertility characteristic of prairies, the wheat belts in the United States, Ukraine, and the Pampa of Argentina are among the world's most productive agricultural regions.

Bibliography: See R. Manning, Grassland (1995); S. R. Jones and R. C. Cushman, The North American Prairie (2004).

prairie a large open area of grassland, especially in North America; the word comes (in the late 18th century) via French from Latin pratum ‘meadow’.
Prairie Province in Canada, the province of Manitoba, and the Prairie Provinces are the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
prairie schooner a covered wagon used by the 19th-century pioneers in crossing the North American prairies.
Prairie State in the US, an informal name for the state of Illinois; the Prairie States are the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and others to the south.