EXPLORING THE USA

LECTURE 1: AN OVERVIEW
Dr. Nguyễn Hữu Quý
 FAST FACTS
Official name: The United States of America (The USA)
Form of government: Constitution-based federal republic
Capital: Washington, D.C.

Population: 329,5 million (2020)

Languages: English, Spanish (no official national language)
Money: U.S. dollar
Area: 3,794,083 square miles (9,826,630 square kilometers)
 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES
 TheUnited States of America is the world's third largest country in size (after
Russia and Canada) and the third largest in terms of population (after China
and India). It occupies slightly less than 40% of the North American
continent.
 Locatedin North America, the country is bordered on the west by the Pacific
Ocean and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Along the northern border
is Canada and the southern border is Mexico.
 There are 50 states and the District of Columbia. 48 states are in the central
part of the continent, Alaska occupies the peninsula-like northwestern part of
North America, and Hawaii, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean.
 Morethan twice the size of the European Union, the United States has high
mountains in the West and a vast central plain.
Throughout its history, the United States has been a nation of
immigrants. The population is diverse with people from all over
the world seeking refuge and a better way of life.

The country is divided into six regions: New England, the mid-
Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West.
European settlers came to New England in search of religious
freedom.
For centuries native people lived across the vast expanse that would
become the United States. In the early 17th century, settlers moved
from Europe to the New World, established colonies, and displaced
the native people.
The settlers fought for their independence from Britain in the late
18th century and formed a union of states based on a new
constitution. The nation continued to expand westward and although
the country is a relatively young nation, it has become a global
power since declaring independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE USA

04 JULY 1776
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress adopts
the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims the
independence of the United States of America from Great Britain
and its King.
The Declaration of Independence is without a doubt one of the
most important documents ever to be written in American history.
The Declaration of Independence was signed by fifty-six different
men, all representatives from different states. But who wrote the
Declaration of Independence? Most of us know today the author of
the Declaration of Independence as Thomas Jefferson.
 04 JULY 1776
Why was the Declaration written?
During the 1700s, the British Parliament passed several laws that
limited the freedoms of many English colonists in America. These
limitations resulted in the forming of the first Continental
Congress in 1774. A list of complaints was sent to King George III
but was ignored and after the second meeting of the Continental
Congress and another ignored letter, the colonists felt that they
needed something to declare their independence. Rebellion was
the only choice the colonists felt they had left due to the King
ignoring their letters.
When the United States was a brand-new country, people began
to talk about where the president should live. Should the
president live in the North or the South? Should the president's
house be a palace, like kings live in, or a simpler house?
While Congress debated what to build and where to build it, our
first president, George Washington, lived in three houses. The
first two were in New York City. The third was in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Finally, Washington decided to compromise. He
picked a patch of land on the Potomac River.

WASHINGTON D.C
 Washington, D.C., is the capital city of the United States, located between
Virginia and Maryland on the north bank of the Potomac River. The city is home
to all three branches of the federal government, as well as the White House, the
Supreme Court and the Capitol Building. More than 500,000 people live in
Washington, D.C.
 The city of Washington was named for George Washington (who picked the
location), while the District of Columbia was named for explorer Christopher
Columbus.
 On July 16, 1790, a compromise between Thomas Jefferson, Alexander
Hamilton and James Madison—known as the Residence Act—was passed,
declaring George Washington’s selection of a site on the Potomac River as the
nation’s new permanent capital. As part of the agreement, the federal
government assumed the states’ debts.

WASHINGTON D.C
The first stone was laid on October 13, 1792. It took eight years to
finish enough of the house to make it livable.
George Washington oversaw construction of the White House, but
never lived in it.
While still under construction, the United States Capitol held its first
session of Congress on November 17, 1800. On March 4, 1801,
Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be inaugurated in
Washington within the Senate chamber of the Capitol.
The National Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular
museums in the world, attracting, on average, more than nine million
visitors each year.
WASHINGTON D.C
 ECONOMY OVERVIEW
 The U.S. economy is the largest and most important in the world.
 The U.S. economy represents about 20% of total global output.
 TheU.S. economy features a highly-developed and technologically-advanced
services sector, which accounts for about 80% of its output.
 The U.S. economy is dominated by services-oriented companies in areas such
as technology, financial services, healthcare and retail.
 Large U.S. corporations also play a major role on the global stage, with more
than a fifth of companies on the Fortune Global 500 coming from the United
States.
 The U.S. is the second largest manufacturer in the world and a leader in higher-
value industries such as automobiles, aerospace, machinery,
telecommunications and chemicals.