United States of America

Geography
The USA is situated in the middle of North America. It has two neighbours: Canada in the north and
Mexico in the south. It is surrounded by the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. The USA is the third biggest
country in the world (after Russia and Canada). Its capital is Washington DC. The longest river is the
Mississippi River. The USA has 4 big lakes called the Great Lakes (Eerie, Michigan, Superior, Ontario),
3 of them are on the Canada-United States border. The highest mountain is Mount McKinley in
Alaska. The biggest mountain range is the Rocky Mountains.

Population
The USA population is between 315 - 340 million people, because some of them live in the US
illegally. The major ethnic groups: White (73%), Black (13%), Asian (5%) and Indian and Alaskan
Natives (1%). The official language is English. In comparison to Britain, Americans have different
accent, they sometimes use different words or at least different spellings or pronunciation.

History
The United States’ history starts in 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered America. In 1620,
English separatists “the Pilgrims” sailed there on the ship “the Mayflower” and they established a
colony on the northeast coast. One year later (1621) they celebrated a good harvest. Today that day
is better known as Thanksgiving. On July 4 th, 1776, 13 British colonies declared their independence.
The United States were born. The first President was former general George Washington. Because of
economic conflict, the North (“Union”) and the South (“Confederacy”) started “the Civil War” (1861-
1865). The North won, but the President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Political system
The United States is a federal constitutional republic
consisting of 50 states and a federal district
(Washington D.C. (District of Columbia)). There are 2
main political parties: Republicans (which are
conservative) and Democrats (which are liberal). The
President is Barack Obama but on November 9th,
Donald Trump was elected to become the next
President.

The American federal government consists of three

branches. The legislative power is concentrated in Congress which has two houses: the Senate (100
members) and the House of Representatives (435 members). The president is the head of the
executive power. The judicial branch of the government is the Supreme Court.

The American Flag (also called “Stars and Stripes” or

“Old Glory”) consists of thirteen horizontal red and
white stripes that represent the original thirteen
British Colonies and in the upper-left-hand corner
there is blue rectangle with 50 white stars that
represent 50 states of the USA.

The Nation Anthem of the United States is called “The

Star-Spangled Banner.”

Economy
The USA is currently known as a world’s superpower. The main parts of its industry are
manufacturing, automobiles, clothing and electronics (Silicon Valley). The main agricultural products
are corn, fruits, cotton and tobacco and the USA is rich in coal, gold, oil and copper.

Interesting places
The biggest cities in America are San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge), Los Angeles (Hollywood, movie
production), Miami, Washington DC and New York. The famous sightseeing places in NY:

Statue of Liberty. It stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It was built by Gustave Eiffel and it
was given to Americans by French as a gift of the 100 th anniversary of American Independence.

Empire State Building was built in 1931 and it’s 443 m high (with antenna).

The United States has 59 national parks. Some of them are the Death Valley (the hottest and driest
place in the USA), the Grand Canyon, the Great Smoky Mountains, the Hawaii volcanoes, the Rocky
Mountains, Sequoia (General Sherman) and Yellowstone National Parks.

The national sports are American Football, Baseball, Basketball and, in some places, Hockey.