THE USA

4. ročník
Šárka Flachsová
Veronika Krásová
General characteristics
● The United States contains a highly diverse population. The United States
has a diversity that to a great degree has come from an immense and
sustained global immigration. Probably no other country has a wider range of
racial, ethnic, and cultural types than does the United States. In addition to
the presence of surviving Native Americans (including American Indians,
Aleuts, and Eskimos) and the descendants of Africans taken as enslaved
persons to the New World, the national character has been enriched, tested,
and constantly redefined by the tens of millions of immigrants who by and
large have come to America hoping for greater social, political, and economic
opportunities than they had in the places they left.
History
● It has been generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America
migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least
12,000 years ago.
Location

● The USA occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States
includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North
America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific Ocean.
● The conterminous states are bounded on the north by Canada, on the
east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and
Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States is the
fourth largest country in the world.
Political division
● The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a
federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five
major territories, and various minor islands.
● The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in North America
between Canada and Mexico.
● Alaska is in the far northwestern part of North America, connected only to
Canada, and Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific.
● Territories of the United States are scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean
and the Caribbean Sea.
Waters
- Most of the USA belongs to the Atlantic. The Mississippi, Missouri, the river of
St. Lawrence and the Rio Grande flow into the Atlantic.
- The river Missouri is the longest river in America (6212 km).
- The Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean wash the USA.
- The river Columbia and the river Colorado are the most important rivers flow
into the Pacific. Mackenzie and Yukon rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean.
- The Great Lakes are of glacial origin (there are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan,
Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario).
- The USA has a lot of waterfalls. The most famous waterfall is Niagara.
Niagara falls lies between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
Niagara falls
Colorado river
Climate
- Because America is big, lies on several climatic zones.
- The northern part lies in the temperate zone, but it is colder and wetter than in
Europe. This creates the Labrador Stream which washes the northeast and east
coasts.
- The southern part lies in the subtropical climate zone.
- The Gulf of Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands and the Florida lie in the tropical climate
zone.
- Alaska lies in a cold climate zone.
- Temperatures drop to -62,2ºC in northern Alaska.
- On the other hand, in Death Valley in California, the temperatures rose to 56,7
degrees of C.
Death Valley, California
Natural disasters
- In the USA there is unfortunately a lot of natural disasters. For example there
are tornadoes in the central parts.
- Deadly hurricanes occur along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
- West America is hit by major fires every year.
Political system
- The U.S. Constitution defines a federal system of government in which certain
powers are delegated to the national government - other power falls to the
states.
- The national government consist of executive, legislative and judicial
branches.
- The respective government institutions are The Presidency, Congress and
The Courts.
Political system - The executive
- The executive branch of the government is headed by the president, currently
Donald Trump. Conditions are that he must be an American, born in the United
States and at least 35 years old, in addition, he must be a resident of country
for at least 14 years.
- The president is a treaty maker, commander in chief of the army and mainly
head of state.
- The president is indirectly elected through Electoral College for four-year terms
by democratically chosen electors from each of the 50 states and the District of
Columbia.
- They also have Vice-President. The role of him is to become a president upon
the death, resignation or medical impairment of the President. He is elected the
same way as the President.
Political system
- The legislative branch of the government is the Congress, which has two
houses: the Senate which has 100 members and House of Representatives
with 435 members.
- In the United States, there are two major political parties, the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party.
- Judicial branch is headed by the U.S. Supreme Court. It consist of nine
judges appointed by the president with the agreement of the Senate.
Population
- The number of inhabitants is about 315,000,000.
- There are many ethnic groups, five major ethnic groups are: White, Black,
Amerindian and Alaska native, Asian, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islanders.
- Official language of the US is American English. American English differs from British
English in vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling.
- In states with a high percentage of Hispanics a growing number of people speak
Spanish. In these states (such as California, Texas and New York), many schools
taught in both Spanish and English.
- Religion is also various. There are Christians, they are divided into two groups.
There are Protestants and Catholics. Next are Atheists, which are without faith. And
finally there are Jews and Muslims.