NEW YORK, WASHINGTON AND OTHER CITIES IN THE USA

New York is the biggest city in the USA. It belongs to the largest in the world. The number of inhabitants is 7,000,000 or 17,000,000. It is sometimes called "The Big Apple".
New York has five major parts: Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and Brooklyn. The black quarter - Harlem is in northern part of Manhattan.

The original inhabitants were Indian. The Manhattan Island was bought from the Indians by the Dutch for goods worth 25 USD. The original name was New Amsterdam. In 1644 the British captured the city and renamed it New York. In southern part of Manhattan there used to be a wall against Indians, now there is a Wall Street.

The city was built on a modern plan of streets and avenues. Streets run east-west and avenues north-south. Only the oldest have got their names - Wall Street or Broadway.
The city is notorious for its crime.
New York is famous for its Manhattan skyline. They started to build skyscrapers here because of the lack of space and the high price of land on the island.
The World Trade Centre is the highest skyscraper in NY. Other interesting and beautiful ones are the Empire State Building, Chrysler Bldg., PanAm Bldg.
The only quiet place in NY is Central Park.
One of the most interesting island is the Liberty Island with the Statue of Liberty.
NY is an important industrial city and business centre. It is also the biggest port in USA. There are 4 airports, NY has the largest subway system in the world.

WASHINGTON D.C.
The capital of USA is called after first American president George Washington. It lies on the Potomac River - its an old Indian name. It was established in 1790. It is seat of the Federal Government. It was chosen by P. Washington himself.


The Capitol is in the centre of Washington. It is the seat of Congress. No building in Washington can be higher than the Capitol that is why there are no skyscrapers in Washington.
Opposite the Capitol there is Supreme Court Building.
White House is seat of American President for almost 200 years.
Pentagon is the centre of military forces, it is the seat of Department of Defuse. It is called after its shape - pentagonal building.
In Washington there are also many monuments, for example

Washington Monument is white marble obelisk dedicated the 1st President George Washington. Jefferson Memorial commemorates 3rd American President. He is holding the Declaration of Independence from 4 July 1776. Lincoln Memorial - Abraham Lincoln was 16th President of America. He sits in armchair and looking at Capitol.
Arlington National Cemetery - it contains the graves of those who died in every armed conflict of the USA. JFK and his brother Robert are also buried here. JFK died in 1963 by assassination in Dallas.

Wietnam Veterans Memorial - established in 1982, there are written names there of wictims of the Vietnam War (1969-1973).
Washington is also the seat of many science institutes and museums:
The Smithsonian Institution - one of the largest museums and researche complexes in the world. It is called after its founder James Smithson.
The National Air and Space Museum is dedicated to air and space research.
Universities in Washington: George Washington University, Georgetown University.


OTHER CITIES IN THE USA
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the USA. Here we can find the famous film centre Hollywood and luxurious quarters. It is also the centre of crime. The biggest ZOO in the world is here.

San Francisco, one of the cleanest and most picturesque cities is the victim of frequent earthquakes. SF is famous for
its hilly relief. Berkeley University is here.

In the south there are following important centres: New Orleans is the city where jazz was born and where the Mississippi flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Houston with the NASA centre and Johnson Space Centre. Florida is a tourist area with long beaches on Miami. North to Miami there is Cape Canaveral where spaceships are launched off.

The biggest centres in the East are Philadelphia - one of the oldest cities. It used to be the first US capital.

Chicago lies on the banks of Lake Michigan. There was the first skyscraper built - in 1882 - Montank Block. The highest skyscraper is also here - Sears Tower which is 438 m high. Chicago is the centre of steel and iron industry.

Detroit is the centre of US car industry (Pontiac, Ford, Chrysler, Cadillac)