USA Geography, places

USA - GEOGRAPHY, PLACES OF INTEREST
-the official title: The United States of America
-50 states+territory of the capital+Alaska+Hawaiian Islads

The USA occupies more than one third of the North America(n?) continent. It borders on
Canada in the noth and on Mexico in the south. The USA is washed by the Atlantic Ocean in the
east and by the Pacific Ocean in the west. The USA with its population over 260 000 000
inhabitants is the third state in theworld.
Generally the western part of the USA is mountaneous and in the eastern coast there are
lowlands. Central plains are surrounded by the Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains in the
west and by the Appalachian Mountains in the east. mt. Whitney (4 418 m) is the highest
mountain of the continental USA but Mt, McKinley in Alaska (6 194 m) is the highest peak of
the whole States.
The Death Valley
The largest rivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. The Mississippi is the third longest
river in the world being over 6000 km long. It's propably the most famous American river
thanks to Mark Twain and his book about Huckleberry Finn.
The Great Lakes on the USA-Canada border make up the biggest reservoir of fresh water in
the world. They are Lake Superior (Hořejší), Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario. Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world (after the Caspian Sea?).
The Niagara River - part of the St.Lawrence River - connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario
forming the world-famous Niagara Falls.
The United States has many different kinds of landscape and climate. Temperatures change
from the arctic cold in nothern Alaska to subtropical heat of Hawaii and the Gulf Coasts States.
The Pacific Coast has pleasantly warm summers and mild winters, except in the south, where
summers are hot and dry. The Atlantic Coast is relatively cold, occasionally with heavy snowfalls
in winter. The weather in the north often differes from that in the south. Death Valley in
California is about the hottest place on the Earth in summer. The most agreeable climate is on
the Hawaiian Islands.
There are many national parks in the USA. The oldest one is Yellowstone. ...

The places of interest
(I would like to mention..)
The capital Washington
Washington is situated on the eastern coast of the USA on the Potomac River. The US Capitol
is the seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The White House has been the
residence of every American president except George Washington.

New York City
NYC is the largest city in the USA and it's the largest seaport. The city of NY is made up of
five boroughs: the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan. Manhattan is the
heart of NY, there are many famous places there - e.g. Wall Street (the world financial centre),
Soho (bohemian part - the films of Woody Allen have been shot there), Strawberry Field (a
little green hill founded by Yoko Ono) and many scyscrapers. The main domain is the Statue of
Liberty holding a torch and a book.
Many books, poems and movies have been inspired by NY - e.g. musical Hair was shot in the
Central Park. Many writers lived in NY too - E.A.Poe, E. Hemingway and the writers of beat
generation.

San Francisco
SF is "Mekka" of the beat generation. The domain of the city is the Golden Gate Bridge which
we could see in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire.
Las Vegas
Many people go there because they want to win great amounts of money. There are many
casinos, games and shows. I saw a movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. it didn't impressed me
because of too many neons, rush and crazy people.

THE FLAG
The flag of the USA, the Stars and Stripes, consists of the 50 stars on a blue field which
represent the 50 states in the Union, and the 13 red and white stripes which symbolize the 13
original colonies. Each state has also its own flag.

THE ANTHEM
The American national anthem is "The Star-Spangled Banner"

THE LANGUAGE
The official language is English but various ethnic minorities speak their original languages, such
as Spanish and Chinese.

CURRENCY
The official currency id US dollar (informally a buck) which is 100 cents. The smaller amounts
have also their nicknames as "a penny" for one cent or "a dime" for 10 cents.

RELIGION
-mainly protestants (baptists...)