Almost 84 percent of U.S. trade within the region is covered by Free Trade Agreements.

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Today, the region is covered in reminders of French gratitude: statues of General Eisenhower, American flags fluttering outside hotels, memorials to soldiers.

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Only 17 % of the region is covered by forest.

UNESCO: Natural Sciences

"If we don't remove the dams, the region will be covered by the dark cloud of uncertainty, " Masonis said.

CNN: Salmon Swimming

Elsewhere, flights have been suspended at Leeds Bradford Airport as a fresh blanket of snow covered most of the Yorkshire region.

BBC: Snow brings M6 near Wigan to a standstill

Nonetheless, at this time, the polar region would have been covered in forest.

BBC: Giant camel fossil found in Arctic

The north-eastern region of the country is covered by Tepco, Asia's biggest utility firm, and Tohoku Electric Power.

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Fishing in the region is supposed to be covered by the 23-member Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

ECONOMIST: New Zealand v the toothfish pirates

The absence of the Caribbean early warning system does not mean the region is unprotected, as it is covered on an interim bases by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

UNESCO: EDUCATION

Being so far north, much of region - some 146, 000 square km - is covered by glaciers and ice caps (a type of ice field where glaciers flow off in many directions).

BBC: Canadian glaciers face 'big losses'