Over the map the USA

• Location
• North american continent, in southern part
• 4^th biggest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, China
• borders on Mexico in the south, on Canada in the north, on the Pacific Ocean in the west, on the Atlantic Ocean in the east
• a part of America is Alaska (borders on Canada), the Hawaiian Island à in the Pacific Ocean

• Mountains
• in the east: mountains called the Appalachian Mountains with Mount Mitchell
• in the west: the Rocky Mountains, Colorado Plateau, the Great Basin, the Sierra Nevada

(Mt Whitney), the Cascade Range, the Coast Ranges

• Alaska – Mt McKinley – the highest peak

• Rivers
• the longest and most important are the Mississippi and the Missouri system
• east – the Hudson, west – the Rio Grande, the Colorado, the Columbia, Alaska – the Yukon

• Lakes
• the Great Lakes à Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario
• connected, forms border between Canada and the USA
• Michigan belongs to America
• on Canada side à Lawrence River, the USA à the Hudson
• Erie * Ontario à Niagara Falls, Horseshoe Falls à on the Canadian Side

• Climate
• variable from arctic in Alaska to tropical climate in California, Florida
• the Pacific Coast – is quite warm, hot summers, mild winters
• the Atlantic Coast – mild summers, cold winters with snow
• great weather à the Hawaiian Islands

• Population
• about 290 million inhabitants
• the nation of immigrants, about 14% – non-white population, 0,3% – native inhabitants

• The Economy
• the natural resources – mica (slída)(in mountains – east, west) à 1^st in the world, oil, gas, gold
• gold – west
• oil, gas – Texas, Gulf of Mexico
• industrial towns – Detroit, Chicago à car industry (Ford, General Motors, Chrysler)
• Seattle à Microsoft, Boeing Airplane Company
• Silicon Valley à computers and technology
• Houston à space center + NASA base
• Florida àF. Kennedy Space Center

• Agriculture
• in the south à cotton, tobacco, maize, potatoes, soya, beans
• plains à in the middle à Great Plain, Central Plain, around the Mississippi and Missouri River, Gulf of mexico, Great Lakes
• animal à breeding + horse breeding
• fishing industry – Pacific (tuna, salmon, sardines), Atlantic (cod – treska, herring – slaneček)

• Political system
• republic with the President as the head of state
• it is a federation of 50 states with 48 on the continent, Alaska in the north and Hawaii in the Mid-Pacific some 3800 km south-west from San Francisco
• there is also one district, D.C. – District of Columbia – it means the land of Columbus – this territory is not a state, the state capitol is situated here
• the largest state is Texas, the smallest is Rhode Island
• the capital is Washington D.C.
• The Republican and Democratic Parties are national parties along with other minor groups and parties
• when members of a political party form a majority in the Congress, they have great power to decide what kinds of laws will be passed
• The Democratic Party is more liberal – they think that the government should provide social and economic programmes for those who need them (the poor, students, unemployed…)
• The Republican Party puts more emphasis on private enterprise and individual initiative
• each state is different from others – it has its own state government, laws, customs, taxes, education and traffic regulations
• the Federal Government is responsible for foreign affairs, defense, and finance
• system is based on Constitution, adopted in 1788 by the original 13 states; the Bill of Rights was added in 1791 and 27 Amendments over the years
• it guarantees: freedom of religion, free speech, free press, the right to bear arms, the right to a fair trial, protection against cruel or unjust punishment
• the Federal Government is composed of 3 branches: legislative – both houses of Congress, executive – the President and the Executive office, judical – the Supreme Court and all other Federal courts
• Congress is a supreme law making body, it consists of the Senate (100 Senators, 2 form each state, elected for 6 years) and the House of Representatives (435 members-based on population of each state)
• the President is the head of the Federal Government, he is elected every 4 years in November for only 2 terms in a row and he is chosen by direct election of the voters
• the President must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, must be at least 35 years old and have lived in the US for 14 years
• the president serves as Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, he can be veto a bill, appoints ambassadors, federal judges, ministers, consuls, he makes treaties (2/3 of the Senate agrees) in foreign relations
• in January he informs Congress about events and work of the Government in the past year
• the President has control over 14 executive departments, appointed by him
• the Vice –President presides over the Senate, in the absence of the president presides over the cabinet meetings, succeeds to the presidency if the president isn´t able to carry his function

• Flag
• the American flag consists of two parts – one smaller blue oblong with 50 white stars symbolizing 50 American states and one longer oblong consisting of 6 white and 7 red stripes symbolizing the original 13 states which used to be the British colonies
• the flag is sometimes called „Old Glory“ or „Stars and Stripes“
• the first US flag was created in 1776
• the American national anthem is called „The Star-Spangled Banner“