Population of the USA 🇺🇸 Why 80% of Americans Live East of This Line?

why do 80% of all Americans live east of this line while only 20% occupy the western part of the United States even more the majority in the west live in California Oregon and Washington within this line accounting for 11% of all those living in the west thus only 9% of Americans live in half of the Mainland

of the US which is equivalent to the population of New York City alone why is that the main reason for this is geography especially the Rocky Mountains that stretch across the entire country and act as a natural barrier to the rains coming from the Pacific Ocean they are so high that they prevent the clouds

from passing into the center of the country and this effect is called rain shadow at the same time precipitation from the East can easily penetrate into the depths of the country but due to winds from the Gulf of Mexico cannot cross this line as it changes its direction because of the lack of

precipitation it creates an area of dry land that is not suitable for agricultural production and this is reflected in the population density