The United States of America

Is situated in the south of North America. It borders Canada in the north, Mexico in the south and Russia in Alaska. It lies between the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. Alaska lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Artic Ocean. The longest rivers are: the Mississippi and the Missouri. The Mississippi is the third longest river in the world. In the west the longest rivers are the Colorado, the Rio Grande and the Columbia (The Rio Grande on the Mexican borders). The border with Canada is in its central part make by the great lakes region lakes Superior, Ontario, Michigan, and Erie.

History

In 1620 the ship named Mayflower brought 102 English men, women and children to America. They were puritans, members of a religions sect. They called themselves the Pilgrim Fathers. The winter was very cold and half of them dead. In spring they planted corn and other plants with help and advice from the Indians. In autumn (October 1621) they celebrated good harvest and had a feast with much food. They called this day of Thanksgiving.

Foundation of United States

British government started to charge new tax on sugar; coffee, textiles and the colonist refused to pay and so British soldiers were sent to Boston. In 1773 a group of patriots dressed as Indians threw British tea into the British harbour. This event is none as the Boston Tea Party. In 1775 the war between England and American colonist began. Later George Washington took over the command of American army. The war of Independence lasted till 1783, when Britian signed the peace treaty and recognized the U. S. The day of Independence is celebrated on the 4th July.

Civil War

Negroes first came to America from Africa as slaves. They worked on the cotton fields of south. Northern states wanted to abolish slavery but southern economy was based on large plantations where slaves were used to grow cotton, rice and tobacco. About 60 years of never disputes lead to the Civil War between the North and the South. It was the worst episode in American history. It started after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The North won in April 1865. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865 short after the end of the war. The war had two main good results – it put an end to slavery which was abolished in 1865 and it also decided that America was a single and indivisible. Nation. This war however took more American lives than any other war conflict (635,000 dead).

Big cities:

• New York

It is the biggest city in the U.S. It belongs to the largest cities in the world. The population is about 14 million. It has five parts- Manhattan, Queen, The Bronx, Staten Island, and Brooklyn. The black quarter Harlem is in the northern part of Manhattan. The original inhabitants were Indians. The Dutch bought Manhattan Island from the Indians in 1625 for goods worth 25$. The original name was New Amsterdam. In southern part of Manhattan there used to be a wall against Indians. Now there is Wall Street – the centre of financial. The city was built on a modern plan of streets and avenues, which follow a geometry shape and are numbered. Streets run east west and avenues north south, for example 5th avenue is the shopping centre. Only a few of them – the oldest- have got their names for example Wall Street or Broadway. Broadway is centre of cultural live. New York is famous for its Manhattan skyline- a large number of skyscrapers on a small area. They started to build skyscrapers because of the lack of space and the high price of land on the island.

• Washington, D.C.

Is the capital of the U.S.A. It is not such as large as New York. Only about 1 million people live there. The city is named after the first American president George Washington. Washington is a city of government offices and some musician and art galleries. There are some well-known monuments for example Washington’s mo­numents and the Lincoln memorial. There are the most important buildings in the U.S. The Whitehouse is residence of the American president. The Capitol is the seat of the Congress. The Pentagon is the centre of military forces. There are no factories and industries in Washington and that is why the city is so clean and nice. No building can be higher than the Capitol. That is why you cannot see any skyscrapers there.

Interesting places

Besides Washington and New York there are many places worth seeing such as many national parks and large cities. On western coast the most famous places are Los Angeles and San Francisco. In L.A. we can find the famous film centre Hollywood and luxurious grater Beverly Hills. The American academy awards Oscars for the best film of the year in April of every year. L.A. is also the centre of crime. The bigest ZOO in the world is here. San Francisco is one of the cleanest cities. It is the victim of frequent earthquakes. There is a large Chinatown. It is the largest settlement outside Asia [ejša]. Florida is a tourist area with long beaches in Miami-the biggest centre in the east Philadelphia. It is one of the oldest cities. It used to be the first U.S. capitol. Chicago lies on the banks of lake Michigan. Detroit is the centre of U.S. car industries-Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. Yellowstone National Parks is the world’s widest geyser area. There are about 3000 geysers and hot spring.

Political parties There are two main political parties- Republican and Democratic. The Congress is divided into two parts- The House of Representatives and The Senate. The House of Representatives consist of 435 lawmakers. They are elected according to the population of each state. The Senate has 100 members, two members of each state. They serve six years. The Presidents can be elected every four years in November. The president can be elected too only two terms.

Flag The American flag consists two parts- one smaller blue oblong with 50 white starts (one stars for each state) and one larger oblong with six white and seven red stripes for the original 13 states. The flag is sometimes called Stars and Stripes.