THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

1. The USA - Basic Information

GEOGRAPHY

The USA are situated in southern part of North America. Its neighbours are Canada on north, Mexico on south and the Confederation of Independent States in Alaska.

Central plains are bounded by the Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains to west, the Appalachian Mountains to east and alluvial plains around the Gulf of Mexico. The highest mountain in the USA is Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range which is about 6,000 m high.

The largest rivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. It is the third longest river system in the world.

The border with Canada is in its central part made by the Great Lakes Region. Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario share the USA with Canada. Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world. Lake Michigan is only in USA.

There are many national parks in the USA, especially in the Rocky Mountains Region, with beautiful and preserved nature e.g. Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP, Grand Canyon NP.

PEOPLE

The USA population is about 250,000,000.

America is sometimes called the "melting pot" or the "salad bowl" or the "Pizza" because people living here are of all possible origins and all the races can mix here together.

The main language spoken here is American English but various ethnic minorities speak their original languages. American English differs from British English in vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling.

Some vocabulary differences:

lift X elevator

chips X french fries

pub X saloon, bar, club

ill X sick

autumn X fall

Differences in big numbers:

thousand million = miliarda = billion

billion = bilion = trillion

NATIONAL ECONOMY

The main industrial items are manufacturing steel, car industry, electronics, machinery, clothing.

The main agriculture products are corn soybeans, wheat, cotton, tobacco, cattle breeding, fruit and vegetables.

The USA is rich in the following mineral resources: coal, copper, lead, uranium, gold, iron, mercury, oil.

The main trading partners are Canada, Japan, Mexico and Great Britain.

INTERESTING PLACES

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).