The USA (0)

The United States of America
(The U.S.A)
Geography
The main part of the United states extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west . It covers the middle of the North American continent . This area is called „the continental United states”. The continental United States is bounded to the North by Canada and to the South by Mexico . The border with Canada is often called „the longest unguarded border in the world”. The United States and Canada are good friends and they have very few problems in managing the border. The borded with Mexico is different . Immigrants are constantly crossing the border illegally. Every day about 2,000 of them are captured and sent back , but may others get through . There are also two states that are not connected to the continental United States. They are Alaska and Hawaii .
There are two mountain ranges in the continental Unitet States: the Appalachians in the east and the Rockies in the west. In the very middle of the continent is the Mississippi River . Almost all the rivers between the mountains flow into the Mississippi. Along the border with Canada, there are five big lakes , called „the Geat Lakes”.
Climate
Pacific Ocean moderates west coast temperatures . Mild summers , cool winters, much rain on northwest coast. Warm and dry in summer , mild with some rain rest of the year on California coast. Inland Southwest mostly dry with warm summers and cold winters. Warm summers, cold winters, moderate precipitation on northeast and north-central but warmer. Alaska is extremely cold in winter and has spetacular glaciers. Hawaii is tropical.
History
Before Columbus came to the New World in 1492, the land were inhabited by Native Americans or Indians. After 1492, there was a struggle for land and domination in the New World. England defeated the Spanish navy in 1588. In 1607, it started its first successful colony in America, called „Virginia”. That was where Captain John Smith met the beautiful Native american princess, Pocahontas . The colonies grew fast , they became the main colonies in the Americas . From 1754 to 1761, Britain fought a war against the French and drove them out of North America. After that the Americans no longer needed Britain to defend them. Britain tried to tax the colonies but the Americans resisted. Fighting began.
The colonies formed a Continental Congress in 1774 . In 1776, the Continental Congress decided to break away from England, form an alliance with France , and form a Union of the colonies. Thomas Jefferson wrote a Declaration of Independence. It was adopted on July 4. This meant war. Britain lost the war and lost America. It recognized the United States as a separate country in 1783.
When Independence was declared in 1776, the 13 colonies became 13 States. In each State, the elected Assembly became the basis for a democratic government . Throughout the 1800s, new States kept joining the Union. And America kept gaining new territories. Soon it stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
While America expanded to the west, the Northern and Southern States argued over whether slavery should be allowed in the new western States. In 1860, Abraham Lincon was elected President . He was against slavery and promised to stop it from spreading any further . 11 Southern States decided to break away from the Union. The Federal Government did not allow this and a bloody Civil War began. In 1865, the North won the war. The Constitution was amended to abolish slavery and solidify the Union.
When World War I began in 1914, America tried to stay out of the fighting, but it did not want Germany to win. In 1917 it entered the war as an ally of Britian and France. The allies won in 1918. In 1933, a Nazi dictatorship came to power in Germany. World War II began in 1939. again most Americans wanted to stay out of the war. They were called isolationists. America stayed out of the war until 1941, when its own territoy was attacked. After that, Americans were again fighting alongside the British in a common cause and they won.
When the war ended in 1945, only two great powers were left : the USA and the Soviet Union. While Soviet forces helped Communists take power, America formed NATO in 1949. Its idea was to stop the growth of Soviet Communism and wait for it to collapse. Forty years later , in 1991, the Soviet Union did collapse. Now America was the only superpower left.
Population
The current U.S.A. population is over 300 million people (303,500,000 in early 2008) so the United States has the world's third largest population ( following China and India).
States and cities
The United States is made up of 50 States. Each state has its own government, with a constitution of its own making , and a legistlature and governor elected by people of the State. A State is free to conduct, as internal affairs by its own decisions , as long as it does not interfere with other States and stays within the limits set in the United States Constitution. Each State has a capital city for its State government (often it is not the biggest in the State). Capital cities in America are less important then in Europe . They are created to serve limited political functions , not to be the center of social life.
New York City. It is the biggest city in America, with 7 million people. Although it is not the capital it has always been the cultural center of the whole country. America’s largest publishing houses and TV networks have their headquarters in New York. Maddison Avenue is the advertising center and Fifth Avenue is the fashion center of America. Broadway is where theater plays are tried out and made a success or faliure. The New York Stock Exchange , located on Wall Street , is the financial center of America.
The heart of New York is Mannhattan Island . Since the fall of the Twin Towers which were part of the World Trading Center, the Empire State Building is once again the highest building in the city.
The Statue of Liberty stands in the harbor of New York, it was a gift from France. Immigrants used to pass her on the way to Ellis Island, where they were registered for entering the country. Today tourists can approach her by ferry.
Washington, DC. It is the capital of the USA. Its streets are laid out in a classical geometric pattern. „DC” stands for „ District of Columbia”, in honor of Christopher Columbus. The Location for the capital was chosen in the middle of the east-coast States, as part of a compromise between the Northern and Southern States.
Tourists in Washington like to visit the Mall . In the middle of the Mall, you can go up the Washington Monument. To the west you can see memorials for President Abraham Lincon and for the soldiers who died in the Vietnam and Korean wars.
A few blocks north is the White House. The President of the United States lives and works there. To the east is the Capitol Building, where Congress meets. Across the street are the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress with the world’s greatest library collection available for visiting students and teachers.
Los Angeles , California, on the west coast, is the second largest city in America. It has the original Disneyland, which it calls „the happiest place on earth”.
Hollywood. It is the place where America’s movies are made. It is a suburb of Los Angeles. It is the ideal place for making movies, with lots of sunshine, and every kind of landscape nearby: cities, mountains, ocean and desert .
Chicago. It is in the north-center of America. It gained fame a hundred years ago as a center for processing agricultural products and packing meat. Today it is also a center for the „commodities exchange” and „futures” market. These are innovative markets.
Boston . It has a European look . It is the largest city in New England, the group of States along the northern part of the Atlantic coast. These States were among the first colonies in the 1600s. New Englanders think of themselves as the most moral and intelligent Americans. Boston is their cultural capital.
Salt Lake City. It is the capital of the Beehive State, as Utah is called. Utah is mostly in fertile desert, rock and a lake that is too salty to support even fish. Yet the population is growing and it has the highest birthrate on the USA. There are 5 national parks and 14 Rocky Mountain ski resorts.
Economy
America has the largest economy of any single country in the world. Its people have the highest standard of living of any large country in the world; only a few small countries have higher standards of living. Its economy is still growing.
Political system
The United States of America is a federation and a democracy . It is a federation because it is made up of 50 States. Each State has its own government. At the same time, there is a Federal Government for the whole country.