The USA
The United States of America is the third largest country in the world in population. (the forth in
area). It is situated in central North America having Canada to its North, Mexico to its South and the Atlantic
Ocean to the East and the Pacific Ocean to the West.
Geographically, the US
· is the contiguous (суміжний) [located on the continent and borders on each other] United States
· the state of Alaska
· the island state of Hawaii
· the five insular [located on the islands] territories of
- Puerto Rico
- Northern Mariana Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
- Guam
- American Samoa
They are similar to territories of the Channel Islands and Islands of Men in the UK.
The total area of the US is about 9,5 million square kilometers; the population is more than 300 million
people.
The capital of the US is Washington. It is located in Washington DS [the district of Colombia]. It
doesn’t belong to any state.
The second most commonly spoken language is Spanish.
The Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is connected by Panama Canal.
The territory of the US stretches 2600 km from North to South and 4,500 km from East to West.
The region – an area of land has some common features.
The most common way of referring to regions in the US is grouping them according to their geographical
position on the continent.
The relief. The US has two main mountain ranges on the continent: the Appellation Mountain (along the
Atlantic coast of the country) and Rocky Mountain.
All Western part of the US is occupied by Cordillera Mountain System.
The highest mountain in the US is Denaly.
The Rocky Mountains are the part of Cordillera Mountain System; they extend from Northern Alaska through
Canada and the Western US to New Mexico; they form kind of Eastern Cordilleras.
The continental divide or grade divide [kind of imaginary line that separates streams of the rivers that flow
into the Pacific Ocean from those that flow into the Atlantic Ocean] (Вододіл/Великий континентальний
вододіл) passes through Rocky Mountains.
Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great
Basin Desert.
Rivers (belong to the Atlantic Basin or Pacific Basin)
· the Mississippi (with its tributaries the Missouri, the Ohio River, the Red river, and the Arkansas River)
– the longest river of the US
· the Colorado (in the South)
· the Columbia (in the North)
· the Rio Grande – the most important river of the South West; it forms kind of unnatural boundary
between Mexico and the US.
· the Hudson – flows across the North Eastern part of the country.
The Great Lakes – make up the largest group of lakes in the country and which are also the greatest
collection of fresh water lakes in the world.
The total area – more than 240 square km (equals to the area of Great Britain)
Only lake Michigan lies entirely inside the USA. The other four lakes: Superior, Huron, Erie, Ontario
form kind of a boarder between North Eastern US and Canada. Between lake Erie and lake Ontario there are
Niagara falls (from 50 m)
Great Salt Lake in Neuter – the most famous salty lake.
The national symbols of the US
US Flag. It consists of 13 (because of colonists) equal horizontal stripes of red with white and 50 small stars
(because of states)
The creator of the US flag is Betsy Ross (the woman who suggested the first version of the flag); One of the
nicknames of the flag is Betsy Ross. Another nickname is the Stars and Stripes and Old Glory.
The main three colours – red (represents courage), white (symbol of liberty) and blue (stands for loyalty).
The stripes are representatives of raise of the sun and the stars can be seen as the symbol of heavens.
The flag has been changed 26 times. The flag resolution was passed by congress in 1777 on June 14 and
this is when the Flag Day is now observed in the US each year.
The great seal is used to authenticate the official documents which were issued by the USA government,
but this phrase can be used for both the physical seal itself (печатка), which is kept by US Secretary of
State and it can also be used more generally for the design which is impressed upon it. The first great seal
appeared after 6 years’ effort to design it in 1782. But now it is used to certify signatures and documents of
the highest importance. The front of the great seal represents the coat of arms of the USA. Since 1935 you
can see both sides of the great seal appear on the back of one-dollar bill of the USA.
The main figure of the coat of arms is the eagle (bold eagle). You can see it holding a bundle of 13 arrows
in the left talon and olive branch in its right talon. 13 arrows represent administration and olive branch is the
symbol of love and peace, which means that USA has both a strong desire for peace, but is always ready for
war. Olive branch is usually depicted with 13 leaves too and even 13 olives. The eagle has its head turned to
the olive branch. The eagle also clutches a motto which is written in Latin, which means Out of many - one.
Over its head you can see a glory with 13 stars on blue field. On the back side you can see 2 mottos -
“Providence has approved of our undertakings” and “A new order of ages” and the year 1776.
When it comes to the anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, the lyrics come from a poem which was
written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key.(lyrics) The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song
which was written by John Stafford Smith.( Music) This song was already popular in the USA and had
already been set to various lyrics and it was set to Key’s poem and renamed and became a well-known
American patriotic song. It is known for being particularly difficult to sing because it has a range of 1 and
1/2 octaves.
Another symbol of the USA is Uncle Sam. He was named after A man Sam Wilson Who examined Army
supplies for the US government during the war of the 1812 and he was very strict examiner.
Today the US total resident population of over 305 million is a rich mosaic of various national origins.
White still make up about 80% of the country’s population. African American make up over 12%. About 4%
of the population is of the Asian descent and American Indians make up almost 1% of the population. The
population of the USA also has lots of Hispanic people such as people of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban
descent. Hispanic consists mainly of whites but also include some blacks and American Indians. Hispanics
make up almost 8% of the American population. Hence Spanish is the second most popular language in the
United States. The expectation of life is quite high. For the white man it’s 75, for the black man it’s 65, for a
white woman it’s 78 and for a black woman 74 years. Elderly population sees a rapid growth. Some parts of
the population grow faster. The main reason is immigration. California is the most populated state. The
largest foreign born groups are Mexican, germans, Canadians, Italians, British and Cubans. Native Americans
lived in tribes - Sioux, Apache, pueblo, Cherokee, Navaho and Iroquois. There are still reservations, more
than 300 reservations in the USA which are inhabited by about 1/3 of native Americans and there they face
lots of problems among which are poverty, unemployment and alcoholism. However the remaining 2/3 live
in the cities and try to adapt to modern American values. Majority of native Americans now live in California,
Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.
Other ancestors
Indians and Eskimos are descendants from Asia. Hawaiians were Polynesians who sailed from the Pacific
Islands. Most white Americans are Europeans. Hispanics are Latin Americans. Black Americans are
Africans(slaves) and Asian Americans are from China, India, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. Because of
this the USA is often called “melting pot”. A term which is used to show that people from different countries
formed a unified culture. USA is an example of cultural pluralism or diversity.
For census purpose The USA is also divided into urban and rural areas. An urban area is a community with
2500 and more people and rural area is with fewer than 2500 people. In 1790 (the first census was
conducted) - 95% lived in rural areas and now 75% live in urban areas. Although the urban areas cover less
than 2% of the land.
The largest and the most important cities
Washington is the capital (DC - located in the District of Columbia) is a home of federal government. US
Parliament also consists of 2 houses- the House of Representatives and the Senate, which represent
legislative branch. The White House is the official residence of the president and the Supreme Court is also
located in Washington. New York is the largest US city with about 8 million people. It is also sometimes
called “the city that never sleeps” or “the big apple”. It is situated at the mouth of Hudson River. The most
popular attractions are the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State
Building, Brooklyn Bridge and United Nations building. The city so big that it needs to be divided in several
areas. They are called boroughs. There are 5 boroughs - the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and
Staten Island. It can also be divided according nationality which prevails in certain district, so thus there are
African American district which is called Harlem. There is also China town, little Italy, lower east side(Jewish
people live) and Brighton beach where lots of immigrants from Soviet Union live. Los Angeles is the second
largest city. It is situated in California, on the pacific coast and its population is 4 million people. The main
landmarks are Hollywood, Beverly Hills, little Tokyo... The 3 largest city is Chicago (Windy City, the city of
big shoulders). Located in the Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. Population is about 3 million people. It
is the financial and industrial centre of the mid west. Willy’s tower is a skyscraper, which is considered to be
the second tallest free standing structure in the USA. Networks of suburbs surround many cities in the USA.
There are about 300 metropolitan areas.
