THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Official name — the United States of America (the USA
Status — A Federal Republic, a union of 50 states
Area — 9,372,614 square kilometres
Population — 290,342,550 (2003)
Capital — Washington D.C.
Languages — English is the official and predominant language. Spanish, Italian, German, Polish, Yiddish, Russian and others are also spoken in the USA.
Money – dollars and cents, e.g. $7.50 is 7 dollars fifty cents.
The United States is one of the largest and most powerful countries in the world.
The whole name of the United States is United States of America. For short, the country is often called the USA. There are fifty states and district of Columbia
The United States of America lies in the central part of the North American continent between the two oceans: the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders on Canada in the north and Mexico in the south. The total area of the country is about 9 million square kilometers.
In area, it is the third largest country in the world. The population of the USA is nearly 290 million inhabitants.
The USA is a country of great diversity. It is due to its geography, the weather, the landscape and the way of living.
Now, let’s speak about America’s climate. The southern parts of Florida, Texas, California, and the entire state of Hawaii, have warm temperatures year round. Most of the United States is in the temperate zone, with four distinct seasons, while the northern part of states and Alaska have extremely cold winters.
The land varies from heavy forests, to barren deserts, from high-peaked mountains (McKinley in Alaska rises to 6193,5 metres) to deep canyons (Death Valley in California is 1,064 metres below sea level).
The United States is also a land of plentiful rivers and lakes. The northern state of Minnesota, for example, is known as the landl of 10,000 lakes. The broad Mississippi River system runs from Canada into the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the world's third longest river after the Nile and the Amazon.
The Great Lakes a group of five connected freshwater lakes are situated in the north of the USA. Lake Michigan is the only one of the lakes that is located entirely in the United States. The other four lakes lie on the border between the United States and Canada.
There are many mountains in the USA. For example, the highest peak of the Cordilleras in the USA is 4,418 metres. The Great Rocky Mountains run north and south.
The USA is made up of 50 states and the district of Columbia. The capital of the country is Washington D.C. There are many big cities and towns in the USA. New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles are the biggest of them. The official language is English.
The USA is a highly developed industrialized country It has very powerful industries, advanced technologies and science. Its plants, enterprises and factories produce different things from clothes to computers and space ships. The nation's income and productivity have risen enormously over the past 80 years.
The USA is a federal republic. The Government of the US is composed of three branches — executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch sees that laws are carried out. The legislative branch makes new laws. And the judicial branch makes sure that the laws and actions of the other branches agree with the Constitution.
His residence in Washington is the White House. There are two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
At present the USA is called “the nation of immigrants”. The country was settled, built and developed by generations of immigrants. Many different cultural traditions, racial groups and religions make up the people of the USA. All together they make one nation called Americans.
It’s important to know
The United States developed from the English colonies. After a long eight years struggle (1775—1783) the colonists gained their independence. The American colonists were led by a talented soldier George Washington who later became the first president of the USA. The capital was named after the first president.
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