Europe and North America also differ at the level of functional division of freight
flows. The degree of specialization of European gateways in specific foreland regions
is typically lower than in North America. Asian cargo is mainly being handled in the
Mediterranean and the Le Havre-Hamburg range. Cargo flows on secondary routes
such as Africa and South America also find their way throughout the vast European
container port system. The geography of North America has led to route specialization
among gateways. The bulk of Asian cargo flows is handled in the West Coast
234 J.-P. Rodrigue and T. Notteboomports, in particular Long Beach and Los Angeles, but the use of the all-water route
through the Panama Canal has accounted for a growing share in recent years.