United States of America

The population of the USA is over 250 million inhabitants (80% white, 12% Afro–American). The capital of USA is Washington. The currency is American Dollar, which equals 100 cents. Official language is English. Head of the State is the president (George W. Bush).  As the name of this state says it is consisted of 50 states (on the north above Canada is Alaska, on the northwest from California is Hawaii).

Geography:

The USA covers more than one third of the North American continent. It is the fourth largest country of the world. It borders on Mexico in the south, Canada in the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west.

The USA is divided into 5 regions: Pacific coast (Washington, Oregon, California,…), The Midwest (Minnesota, Iowa,…), The South (Texas), New England (Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut), The Northeast + Great lake region.

The largest mountain range are the Rocky Mountains. The highest mountain is Mt. McKinley in the Alaska Range. There is also the deepest valley – the Death Valley lying 85 m below the sea level. Other highlands are the Appalachian Highlands and Sierra Nevadas.

The biggest river system is the system of the Mississippi and the Missouri. The Missouri is the longest river of the USA. Other important rivers are the Hudson, connected with the Great Lakes, the Colorado, the Rio Grande. The biggest river in Alaska is the Yukon.

The Great Lakes: The Great Lakes on the US-Canada border create the biggest reservoir of the fresh water in the world. They are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan (the biggest only American lake), Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario. The Niagara Falls connect Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

History:

History of the USA started in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered America. America was a colonial land (till 4. 7. 1776) for the British, the French, the Dutch, the Spanish and the Swedish.

The Boston tea Party started the struggle for independence of 13 American colonies.  4. 7. 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed.  It declared independent United States. The first president was George Washington. In 1786 the Constitution was written by the Founding Fathers.

In 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln became the president, who took a strong anti– slavery stand.  Then the Civil War began, which lasted to 1865. In 1865 the war was ended by the victory of the North and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in the theatre. The blacks were declared free and were given the right to vote.

At the end of 19^th century the United States were becoming a strong power.

In 1971 the USA entered WWI on the Allies’ side and was victorious. The Great Depression of the whole world was started by the stock market crash on Wall Street in 1929.

The USA was also involved in WWII because they were attacked by Japan in Pearl Harbor. They ended the war by two nuclear bombs, which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They got involved in Korean War (1950-53) where they fought with the South Korea against the communistic North Korea.

Their non-success was Vietnam War (1965-75). They wanted to prevent Vietcong troops to take the South. But they scored big success in the space program when Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon in 1969. And again war. The US troops helped Kuwait and defeated Iraq, which violently occupied this state. After the attack on the WTC the USA started big antiterrorist campaign and so they last year took power in Iraq, they thought that it had nuclear and biochemical weapons.

Places of interest:

The USA has many national Parks. The most known is Grand Canyon in Arizona. Another is Yellowstone in Wyoming. It is the oldest one and there is a geyser called Old Faithful. The next is Yosemite in California. It has the mountain Half Dome (cut in the middle so it has only one half). And Utah is very rich on NP – Bryce Canyon, Arches and Lake Powell.

Chicago – skyscrapers  – the Sears Tower

Huston – the base of NASA

Niagara Falls, lakes

Las Vegas – casinos, the city which never sleeps

Disneyland – LA

Harvard – Cambridge, across the Charles River is Boston

Political system:

The executive power is represented by the President with the Executive office. He is the head of the state. He is Commander-in-chief. Presidential elections takes place every 4 years and President may serve only two terms.

The legislative power is represented by the Congress. It has two branches. The House of Representatives has 435 members. The elections are held every 2 years. The speaker is a member of the majority party. The Senate has 100 members (2 from each state) for 6 year’s term.

The judicial power is represented by the Supreme Court and Federal courts.