1.1.

General Characteristics of the Geographical Situation of the Country

The United States of America is the third largest country in the world in
population, and the fourth largest country in area. It is situated in central North
America with Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east
and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The term "United States", when used in the
geographical sense, is the contiguous United States, the state of Alaska, the island
state of Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands,
U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. The total area of the United States
is about 9,4 million square kilometres, and the population – about 306 mln people. Its
capital is in Washington, D.C. formally the District of Columbia and it does not
belong to any state.English is spoken throughout the country, but does not have
official status. Spanish is the second most common language in the United States.

The country occupies a favourable geographical position. The Atlantic Ocean

is of great importance for the country’s sea communications with Europe, Africa and
South America, and the Pacific Ocean — with Asia and Australia. The two oceans
are connected by the Panama Canal.

The territory of the USA stretches 2,600 km from north to south, and 4,500 km
from east to west. There are high mountains and vast prairies, tropical heat and arctic
cold, fertile valleys and bare desert areas.

There is also a variety of natural resources. All sorts of products are raised, and
there are industries of every kind. Some of the most densely and most sparsely
populated areas of the world are found in the United States. The physical features of
the United States are also greatly diverse.

There are dozens of ways that organizations split up the United States into
specific regions. Sports teams do it one way, the government does it about ten
different ways, and some Americans don’t even know what region they live in. A
region is an area of land that has common features. A region can be defined by
natural or artificial features. A common way of referring to regions in the United
States is grouping them into regions according to their geographic position on the
continent: New England Mid-Atlantic Region Midwest The South The Southwest
The Rocky Mountain Region Pacific Northwest and Alaska California and Hawaii

1.2. The Relief of the Country. Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains run along the Atlantic coast of the country. They
are ancient, strongly destroyed mountains of no great height (2,000 m). The
Appalachian Mountains consist mainly of the numerous mountain ranges which are
nearly parallel with the Atlantic coastline and extend from near the Gulf of Mexico
north into Canada.
 Nearly all the Western part of the United States is occupied by the Cordillera
Mountain System. The Cordillera Mountains extend from Mexico to Canada and
Alaska. The highest mountain in the U.S., designated Mount McKinley in the late
1800s, regained its original Athabascan Indian name in 2015 and is now called
Denali, is 6,194 m high.

The Rocky Mountains are part of the Cordillera mountain system. They extend
from northern Alaska, through Canada and the western United States to northern New
Mexico. They form the eastern chain of the Cordilleras. Many peaks of the Rockies
are more than 4,250 metres high. As compared with the Appalachians, they are young
and their peaks are capped with snow. The Continental Divide, or Great Divide,
passes through the mountains. It is an imaginary line that separates streams that flow
into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow into the Atlantic.

Another subdivision of the Cordilleras — the Sierra Nevada (to the south) and
Cascade Range (to the north) — extends from the Canadian border to the Mexican
boundary. It forms an almost unbroken mountain wall between inland United States
and the Pacific coast land.

Close to the western edge of the Sierra Nevada, in California, there is a

particularly lonely stretch of desert named Death Valley by pioneers who tried to
cross it in their rush to the goldfields. The valley received its English name in 1849
during the California Gold Rush. It was called Death Valley by prospectors and
others who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields. For 225
kilometres hardly a bush can be seen in this ancient lakebed 85 metres below sea
level. This area is called the Bottom of the United States.

The mountain ranges of the United States stretch longitudinally and afford no
protection against the cold northerly winds. This accounts for the country’s climate,
which is notably colder than that of Western Europe or North Africa in the same
latitudes.

1.3. Rivers

The rivers of the United States belong to the Atlantic and the Pacific basins.
The chief and the longest river of the country is the Mississippi.

It originates in the Interior Plains. Together with its west tributary the Missouri
the Mississippi flows some 7,300 km from its northern source in the Rocky
Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Other important tributaries of the
Mississippi are the Ohio River, Red, and the Arkansas River.

The two largest rivers of the Pacific side are the Colorado in the south and the
Columbia in the north. These rivers are navigable only in their lower reaches because
they flow through deep canyons and are cut by numerous rapids, which makes them a
good source of electric power. These rivers start in the Cordilleras and empty into the
Pacific Ocean.

The Rio Grande (about 3,200 km long) is the most important river of the
southwest. It forms a natural boundary between Mexico and the USA.

Another important river of the USA is the Hudson River which flows across
the north-eastern part of the country and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at New
York.

1.4. Lakes

The United States has thousands of lakes of all kinds and sizes. The Great
Lakes make up the largest group of lakes in the country. It is also the greatest
collection of fresh-water lakes in the world. The total area of the Great Lakes (over
245,000 km2) is equal to that of Great Britain. Only Lake Michigan lies entirely
inside the US. The other four lakes – the Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario – form a
border between north-eastern United States and Canada. The lakes are interconnected
by short rivers and channels. Between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, on the Niagara
River, which links the two lakes, there are the powerful Niagara Falls, precipitating
from the height of almost 50 meters.

Another group of lakes is to the west of the Rocky Mountains. The most famous of
these salty lakes are Great Salt Lake in Utah. Bathers cannot sink in Great Salt Lake
because the high salt content enables swimmers to float with ease.

National symbols of the USA

Symbols of the United States include the American flag, the Great Seal and the
national anthem.

The flag of the United States of America consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes
of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle bearing 50 small,
white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and
bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The creator of the US Flag is popularly
considered to be Betsy Ross. Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes,
Old Glory and the Star-Spangled Banner (also the name of the country’s official
national anthem).

The flag of the United States is one of the nation’s widely recognized and used
symbols. Within the US it is frequently displayed, not only on public buildings, but
on private residences, as well as decals for car windows, and clothing ornaments such
as badges and lapel pins. Many understand the flag to represent the freedoms and
rights guaranteed in the US Constitution, and personal liberty as set forth in the
Declaration of Independence.

The three main colours of the flag are Red, White, and Blue. Red represents
courage and valour; White proclaims liberty; while Blue stands for loyalty and
justice. The 13 stripes are representative of the 13 original colonies that signed the
Declaration of Independence. The 50 stars that lie on a blue background represent the
50 states that are part of present day America. The Stripes are also representative of
the rays that emanated from the sun while the stars are also seen as being symbolic of
the heavens; the highest place that a person could aim to reach.

The flag has been changed 26 times since it was raised in its first unified form
on January 2, 1776 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution. Flag
Day is now observed on June 14 of each year.

The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents
issued by the United States government. The phrase is used both for the physical seal
itself (which is kept by the US Secretary of State), and more generally for the design
impressed upon it. The first Great Seal appeared in 1782 after 6 years of efforts to
design it. It is used to certify signatures and documents of the highest importance.
The obverse (front) of the Great Seal represents the coat-of-arms of the USA.

Since 1935, both sides of the Great Seal appear on the reverse (or back) of the
One-Dollar Bill of the United States.

The main figure of the coat of arms of the United States is a bald eagle with its
wings outstretched. It holds a bundle of thirteen arrows in its left talon, (the symbol
of administering) and an olive branch (the emblem of love), in its right talon, both of
which symbolize that the United States of America has ‘a strong desire for peace, but
will always be ready for war’. Although not specified by law, the olive branch is
usually depicted with thirteen leaves and thirteen olives, again representing the
thirteen original states. The eagle has its head turned towards the olive branch: it is
said to symbolize a preference for peace. The eagle clutches the motto ‘E Pluribus
Unum’ (‘Out of Many, One’) in its beak; over its head there appears a ‘glory’ with
thirteen stars on a blue field. In the current (and several previous) dies of the great
seal, the thirteen stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1, forming a
six-pointed star.

On the reverse side two mottos appear: Annuit cœptis signifies that Providence
has "approved of (our) undertakings." Novus ordo seclorum, freely taken from
Virgil,is Latin for "a new order of the ages. The year is 1776.
 National anthem ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ is the national anthem of the
United States. The lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, a
35-year-old amateur poet who wrote ‘Defence of Fort McHenry’ after seeing the
bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships during
theWar of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by
John Stafford Smith for a London social club. This song (called ‘The Anacreontic
Song’) was already popular in the United States and set to various lyrics. Set to Key’s
poem and renamed, ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ soon became a well-known
American patriotic song. It is known for being difficult to sing because it has a range
of one and a half octaves. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is
commonly sung today, with the fourth (‘O thus be it ever when free men shall stand
...’) added on more formal occasions.

‘The Star Spangled Banner’ was recognized for official use by the Navy in
1889, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3,
1931.

Uncle Sam is a popular U.S. symbol. He was probably named after “Uncle”
Sam Wilson who examined army supplies for the U.S. government during the War of
1812. This fact is said to have led to the use of the nickname Uncle Sam for the
United States.

1.8. The population

Today, the US total resident population of over 305 million is a rich mosaic of
national origins. Whites make up about 80 per cent of the country’s population.
African American form the largest minority group. They account for about 12 per
cent of the population. About 4 per cent of the population is of Asian descent.
American Indians make up almost 1 per cent of the population. Other groups
combine to make up the remaining 4 per cent.

The population of the United States includes many Hispanic people, such as
people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban descent. Hispanics consist mainly of
whites, but they also include some blacks and American Indians. Hispanics make up
8 per cent of the U.S. population.

The ratio of females and males is 51 to 49 per cent. The expectation of life for
the white man is 71 and for a black man 65 years, for a white woman — 78 and for a
black woman — 74 years.

The United States has seen a rapid growth in its elderly population during the
20th century. The number of Americans aged 65 and older climbed to 35 million in
2000, compared with 3.1 million in 1900. Improvements in medical care have been
the main reason for the increase. The over-65 population of the United States will
continue to grow at a rapid rate as advances in medicine continue and as the large
numbers of people born during the “baby boom” grow older. The baby boom was a
period of high birth rate that occurred in the United States from 1946 to 1964.

Some parts of the nation are growing much faster than others. The fastest
growth, as usual, was concentrated in the West. Growing more slowly were the
Midwest and the Northeast.

A vital role in the formation of the population of the United States was played
by the immigration. Immigrants from different countries very often live by solid
communities – Franco-Canadians in the north of New England, Germans in
Pennsylvania, Swedes in Minnesota, the French in Louisiana, the Slavs in the
northeast and the Lake District.

More than half of the population is concentrated in the industrial Northeast.

However, California is the most populated state – 27 million people.

Approximately 94 per cent of the present-day Americans were born in the USA
and nearly all have been assimilated into the American way of life. The largest
foreign-born groups are, in order of size, Mexicans, Germans, Canadians, Italians,
British, and Cubans.

Ancestry The United States has one of the world’s most varied populations in
terms of ancestry. The population includes descendants of people from almost every
part of the world.

The country was first inhabited by Native Americans who lived in tribes: Sioux
сіу, Apache, Pueblo, Cherokee, Navaho, Iroquois, etc. The Native American
population had been exterminated for centuries by the European settlers. Today it has
risen from its low point of 235,000 in 1900 to 2.5 million at the turn of the 21st
century. There are 310 reservations in the U.S.A. inhabited by about one third of
Native Americans. The remaining two thirds live in cities. The problems they face are
poverty, unemployment and alcoholism. These problems are caused by the
incapability of Native Americans to adapt to modern American values. Presently, the
majority of Native Americans live in such states as California, Oklahoma, Arizona
and New Mexico.

The Indians and Eskimos are descended from peoples who migrated to North
America from Asia thousands of years ago. The ancestors of the Hawaiians were
Polynesians who sailed to what is now Hawaii from other Pacific islands about 2,000
years ago.
 Most white Americans trace their ancestry to Europe. Most Hispanic
Americans are people who immigrated — or whose ancestors immigrated — to the
United States from Latin America. A small percentage of them trace their ancestry
directly back to Spain. Some have mainly Spanish ancestry. Others have mixed
Spanish and Latin-American Indian or black ancestry.

Most black Americans are descendants of Africans who were brought to the
United States as slaves during the 1600’s – 1800’s and forced to work on plantations.

Since the 1800’s, the United States has attracted immigrants from Asia. Most
Asian Americans trace their ancestry to China, India, Indochina, Japan, Korea, or the
Philippines.

The United States has often been called a melting pot. This term refers to the
idea that the country is a place where people from many lands have come together
and formed a unified culture. But in other ways, US society is an example of cultural
pluralism. That is, large numbers of its people have retained features of the cultures
of their ancestors.

For census purposes, the United States is divided into urban areas and rural
areas. An urban area, as defined by the US Census Bureau, is a community with
2,500 or more people. A rural area is a community with fewer than 2,500 people.

In 1790, the year of the first census, about 95 per cent of the nation’s people
lived in rural areas, and only about 5 per cent were urban dwellers. Through the
years, these percentages changed steadily and dramatically as a result of the reduction
of employment in agriculture and the increase of those employed in industry, trade,
finance, and service. Today, about 74 per cent of all the people live in urban areas.
Only about 26 per cent live in rural areas.

Urban life Although the urban areas cover less than 2 per cent of the land, they
are the home of about three-fourths of the people.

Washington D.C. is located on the north bank of the Potomac River. It is home
of the federal government. Most important government institutions are situated in the
District: 1. Capitol (where Congress meets, legislative branch). 2. White House. 3.
Supreme Court.

New York City, with about 8 million people, is the largest US city by far.
New York City or “The Big Apple” or “The city that never sleeps” is the most
populous U.S. city situated at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York State. is
best known for the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, The
Empire State Building, the United Nations building and Brooklyn Bridge. The city
consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten
Island. It is also famous for its ethnic centers, e.g. Harlem (African-American), Little
Italy, Chinatown, Brighton Beach and Lower East Side (Jewish), etc.

Los Angeles or “L.A.” or “The City of Angels” is the second largest U.S. city
situated on the Pacific Coast in California. Its population is about 4 mln people. Its
main landmarks are Hollywood sign, Hollywood Bowl, Beverly Hills, Little Tokyo,
etc.

Chicago or “The Windy City” or “The City of Big Shoulders” is the third
largest U.S. city located in Illinois on the shore of Lake Michigan. Its population is
about 3 mln people. It is the financial and industrial center of the Midwest. Willis
Tower , also known as Sears Tower is a skyscraper office building. Its height is 527.3
m. It is the 2nd tallest freestanding structure in the U.S.A.

Networks of suburbs surround many US cities. There are about 335

metropolitan areas in the United States. The four largest are, in order of size, the Los
Angeles, Long Beach, New York City, and Chicago areas.

Urban economies provide jobs for a great variety of workers. Urban life also
has many other positive features. Because of their large populations, urban areas
generally offer a wide variety of specialized services and shops. Urban dwellers can
take advantage of an assortment of restaurants, recreation facilities, and places of
entertainment. These and other features make urban areas exciting and interesting
places to live for many people.

The people of most US urban areas represent a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

Most cities include neighbourhoods in which almost all the people belong to the same
ethnic or nationality group. The people of large urban areas are also divided
economically. Urban society includes extremely wealthy and extremely poor people,
and a huge middle class. The wealthy live in luxurious flats or condominiums
(apartment buildings), or in large, comfortable single-family houses. Middle-class
housing also includes flats, condominiums, and single-family houses. In contrast,
large numbers of urban poor people live in substandard housing. They rent crowded,
small flats or run-down single-family houses.

Rural life More than 98 per cent of all the land of the United States is classified
as rural. But much of the rural land is uninhabited or only lightly inhabited.

Farms provide the economic basis of the nation’s rural areas. But only about 5
per cent of the country’s rural people work on farms. Many other rural people own or
work in businesses related to agriculture, such as grain and feed stores and
warehouses. Mining and related activities and light industries also employ many rural
people. Still other rural Americans work as teachers, police officers, salesclerks, or in
other occupations. Many farmers hold other jobs for part of the year to add to their
incomes. American farmers of today lead vastly different lives from those of their
grandparents. In the home, farm families may have all the comforts and conveniences
of people who live in cities. During the 1900’s, the car, telephone, radio, and
television have brought American farm families into close contact with the rest of the
world.

Because of their small populations, rural communities collect less tax revenues
than urban communities do, and they generally cannot provide the variety of services
that urban areas can. For many rural Americans, social life centres around family
gatherings, church and school activities, special interest clubs, and such events as
state and county fairs.

The gaps between economic classes are not as large in rural areas as in urban
areas. Most rural Americans live in single-family houses. The majority of the houses
are comfortable and in good condition. But some people, including many who live in
parts of Appalachia have run-down houses and enjoy few luxuries.

Religion About 60 per cent of all the American people are members of an
organized religious group. Among them, about 52 per cent are Protestants, 37 per
cent Roman Catholics, 4 per cent Jews, 3 per cent Mormons, and 3 per cent are
members of Eastern Orthodox Churches. Relatively small numbers of Americans
belong to other faiths, such as Islam and Buddhism. Roman Catholics make up the
largest single religious denomination in the United States. About 53 million
Americans are Roman Catholics. The country’s largest Protestant groups are, in order
of size, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, and Presbyterians.