30.

USA
GEOGRAPHY OF USA, SOME BASIC FACTS
The United States of America is huge country situated on the continent North America and is nearly as large as Europe. The USA is bounded to the North by
Canada, to the West by the Pacific Ocean, to the South by Mexico and the Straits of Florida, to the East by the Atlantic Ocean.
I think that the USA have all the geographical features- there are mountains in the East(the Appalachian) and West(the Rocky Mountains),deserts in the Southwest
(famous for oil, prairies, cattle ranches pastviny, lack of rain and extreme temperatures during summer), lowlands and swamps in the South( there is grown cotton
and tobacco) and plains in the north central part of the country( mainly wheat is grown there). And of course there are all the climate zones from tropical through
mild to arctic, 5 time zones from East to the West.
It has population about 280 million inhabitants- it is multiracial, multinational population. Many are of Europenian or African heritage and a growing number are
of Hispanic origin, native Americans called Indians, many Asians,...there is no typical looking American.
The symbol of the USA is the national anthem and flag (which consist of 3 colors red white and blue, the 13 red and white stripes represent the original 13
colonies, there are fifty white stars, each introducing one state.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
The area of the United States was originally a British colony but in 1776 the collonists rebelled against the British and won their independence. The first
constitution was proclaimed in 1789.
The USA is a federation of 50 democratic states including Alaska and the island state of Hawaii with the president as the head of the country (Obama- he has just
been elected, strong presidential system) The capital of the USA is Washington D.C. named after the first American President. District of Columbia it is not
a state. However, some territories also belong to the USA such as Puerto Rico, Guam,...All the 50 states have the same constitution, foreign affairs and defence
policy and currency=dollar.
The Congres is the supreme legislative authority, it consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, it is law making body . Both branches of it must
approve bills and the President must sign them before they become a law. It holds its sessions in the Capital in WDC.
The Federal Government is the supreme executive authority. Its effective head is the President, who also is the head of state. He is elected every four years and
can be re-elected only twice. The official residence of the President is the White House in W DC and the residence of the government and Congres is called
„Capitol“. The governments of the 50 states are fashioned=tvarovany after the federal government.
The judicial branch is headed by the SupremeCourt( which decides on questions of the constitutionality of federal laws and is the final court) and lower courts.
Each state maintains also its police force to enforce=uplatnit state laws.
PLACES OF INTEREST, BIG CITIES, NATURAL WONDERS
I think there are lots of interesting places and cities in the whole USA. Surely it is New York. It is one of the largest and most fascinating cities of the world and
many people think it is the Capital of the USA. It is an important seaport, with good connections inland, and the largest business, industrial and cultural centre of
the USA. It is also the centre of the art, media, theatre and fashion world. NY consits of 5 borough=parts- Manhattan, Richmond and Queens (for middle stratum),
Brooklyn (nowadays it has been rebuilt and lots of squatters were banished and it seems it will be quite expensive part), Broux (the poorest part)
New York originally called New Amsterdam, was a little Dutch town built on a small part of Manhattan Island. In 1626, the Dutch colonizers bought the island
from the Natives Americans for 24 dollars in goods. The Dutch protected the town with a wooden wall. The site of that wall is now occupied by Wall Street,
which is known as the world`s most important financial centre. After the War of Independence, NY was the Capital of the USA for four years and its first
president was inaugurated there.
Manhattan „conrete jungle“- full of skyscrapers with the only green area in the middle- the Central Park (first there were swamps which were drained), the
highest of them the Trade Centre Towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack in 2001, the WTC also called the Ground Zero is beiing rebuilt. Then the Empire
State Building was also called the eight wonder of the world- it was the highest building in the world until 1954, another famous place is the Rockefeller Centre
a large business and entertainment complex, there is also the residence of the United Nations Organizations, also Donald Trump lives there...It is also famous for
its system of streets, avenues- they are straight, not named but numbered. Very famous and interesting place among tourists is Fifth Avenue for its luxorious
shops, jewellers and office buildings. The only street which is not straight is Broadway, an old Indian road, most cinemas, bars, theatres including the well known
thw Metropolitan Opera and the Carnegie Hall are on Broadway. The Brooklyn Bridge was once the longest in the world, connects Brooklyn to Manhattan Island,
it is masterpiece= was first bridge to use steel for cable wire. The symbol of NY is the Statue of Liberty- stands in the NY City Harbour, on Liberty Island. It was
a gift from French people to commemorate the aliance between the USA and France during the American revolution. Americans called her „lady Liberty“.It holds
in the right hand torch as a symbol of freedom and constitution in her left hand as the symbol of equality and democracy.
The nickname of NY= The big apple. Harlem it is the African- American part and Soho famous street for its expensive jewellers, paintings, exhibition street...
The sunny state of California-Los Angeles-the largest city on the west coast, it is famous for Holywood,lots of stars live there, tourist destinatin because of
fabulous beaches, weather is usually very nice, beautiful high mountains Apart from California there are also other tourist centres such as semitropical areas of
Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico... Winter sports resorts with beautiful sceneries can be found in the Rocky Mountains. The Canadian- American Niagara Falls
figures among the most beautiful natural wonders of the world. The Grand Canon is a steep-sided gorge=roklina carved by the Colorado River in the United
States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park — one of the first national parks in the United States.
WHAT I KNOW AND LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT AMERICAN LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE
I dont like fastfoods which comes from America- it is really unhealthy food, fatty I dont like their lifestyle- watch TV a lot, work all day long and so need to have
something to eat immediately, prepared really fast and so junk food started spread. Before fastfood French Cuisine was quite famous but it takes much more time ,
in Europe having a dinner is a socia occasion but in the USA only the necessarity.
Corn/ cereals – yoghurt cereals are a typical American brakfast- preopared in a short time- tasty, also healthy, i have for breakfast it too everyday except Saturday.
Potatoes came from America, it help people to survive because there was a huge famine
Blue jeans- (made of denim) many people think it is a typical clothes for cowboys, but at fisrt it was used by miners- the material- strong, hard, indestructible
=neznicitelny, then later also typical for cowboys. Today everybody like them, because they are always modern, adds some elastic fibres and so are more
comfortable. We felt free dressed in them and didnt feel tied in them.
World Disney Cartoons- about good and evil and good things, heroes always win- they dont support our immagination- before them the children were read by
parents or grand parents (support creativity, develop love to reading) I like watching cartoons and still now I watch them =)
Holywood films- most of them arent as quality, very rarely we see really quality film which is from Hollywood.
American foreign policy- America it is considered to be the country of democracy and they try to influence the world, to import and export it from there to many
countries...that is way they started the war in Irak, but the poeple refused it and think it was the war of gas. They attacked Vietnam- they wanted to help one part
of it with democracy, but many people died , many inocent civilians, not only soldiers. They wanted to spread the Christianty in Africa but Africans refused it, it
was spread with violence ...
Coke the typical American unhealthy drink Consumerism- everything is about money American personalities- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
( he abolished the slavery and was assessimated in the theatre),J.F. Kennedy, R. Jefferson, W. Wilson
I WOULD/WOULDNT LIKE TO LIVE OR WORK THERE
No I wouldnt...I dont like their lifestyle everything there is so fast, during their lifes they move a lot, often changes occuupations, on the other hand there are really
flexible ....but I dont like their pace of life- they are not environmentally friendly – dont recycle...maybe it is the country of wide opportunities but I would like to
have more comfortable and calmer life...