Silicon Forest
Topic: Secondary Activities: Manufacturing and Industrial Location · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 5 "Secondary Activities"
Meaning
Silicon Forest is a cluster of high-tech industries in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. NCERT places it near Seattle. The name usually refers to the Portland area of Oregon, where Intel has large plants at Hillsboro. Microsoft and Amazon are based in the Seattle area nearby. NCERT gives it, along with Silicon Valley, as an example of a technopolis. A technopolis is a high-tech cluster that is concentrated in one region, highly specialised and self-sustaining.
Example
At Hillsboro, near Portland in Oregon, Intel runs chip research and manufacturing plants. Many smaller technology firms have grown up around them. The region's thick forests gave the cluster its name.
Don't confuse with
- Silicon Valley: this is the Santa Clara Valley, south of San Francisco in California. It lies far to the south of Silicon Forest.
Related concepts
- High-tech industry
- White-collar and blue-collar workers
- Computer-aided design
- Technopolis
- Silicon Valley
- Global semiconductor hubs