Although the United States covers so much land and the land produces far more food than the present population needs，its people are by now almost entirely an urban society Less than a tenth of the people are engaged in agriculture and forestry(林业)，and most of the rest live in or around towns，small and large.Here the traditional picture is changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical small town may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live in small towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1arge cities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each—a larger proportion than in Germany or England，let alone France.The statistics(统计)of urban and rural population should be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as rural travel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.rural areas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at what moment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives in a metropolitan rather than a small town environment.

尽管美国幅员辽阔，而且土地所产出的粮食远远超过现有人口的需求，现今的美国却几乎完全是个都市化的国家。不足十分之一的人口在从事农业和林业，而剩余的大多数人都居住在大大小小的城镇中或者城镇的周围。传统的景象在这里不断发生着变化：小的城镇之间仍然彼此十分相似，典型的小城镇还是呈现出大家心目中的乡村的风貌;但是大部分的美国人却不再住在小城镇了。现在半数的人口都在大约30几个大都市地区(包括附近郊区的大型城市)——这种大都市地区的人口都在百万以上，总的都市人口数量远远超过德国和英国，更不用说法国了。城市和乡村的人口统计需要特别对待，因为我们所谓的住在乡村的人们，每天都会开车前往附近的城镇工作。当远离城镇居住的热潮持续的情况下，城镇周围的乡村地区逐渐盖满了房屋。那么说不定什么时候，一块乡村的地区就变成了城市的郊区。不过，典型的美国人还是越来越趋向于居住在大都市而不是小城镇的环境中。