THE USA

SOME FACTS ABOUT the USA

The total area: 9,4 million sq. km; the fourth largest country in the world;

Alaska occupies 1,53 million sq. km - 16% of the total area;

Hawaii - 0,2% - 16,8 thousand sq. km.

The length of the coast line: 19,924km; the size of the land territory - 9,158,960 sq. km;

the general square of the rivers and lakes - 4,701,313 sq. km.

The longest rivers: the Mississippi (3,950km) its water basin covers 40% of all country’s territory with tributaries; the Missouri – 4,740km; the Arkansas – 2,410km; the Red River - 2,050km;

Others: the Yukon – 3,700km; the Colorado – 2,740km;

the Columbia – 2,250km; the Rio-Grande – 2,870km;

The highest peak: mount McKinley in Alaska – 6,194km;

The lowest point: 282 feet below sea level is in California - the Death Valley.

19% of the territory – active cropland; 25% - cattle pastures; 30% - forests; 26% - the rest.

The climate is rather varied - 8 climate districts are distinguished:

north-east - continental forests - severe winters, not hot summers;

the Great Lakes region - modified continental; Hawaii - subtropical;

south – south-east of the country (Florida, Gulf-Plain region) - cool steppe climate;

south-west (Arizona, Utah, New Mexico) - warm stepper, extremely hot region; the eastern area - (Washington, Oregon) - marine climate; southern part – California - mediterranean; Alaska - arctic.

The population: 290,340,000 million people; the density – 28 people per sq. km; 81% - white; 12% - Afro-Americans; 2% - Asian (Orientals); 1% - Native Americans and 4% of other races.

The most populated parts: Eastern States (New Jersey - 374 people per sq. km);

the least populated area – Alaska - 0,3 person per sq. km;

the Pacific coast - 64 people per sq. km.

The official language - American English; though 32 million people use the second language, the most popular - Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, Japanese.

The official status: a federal republic, a union of 50 states;

The motto: In God we trust.

The capital: Washington D.C. – 543,000 people.

The national symbol: the flag - “Stars and Stripes” - consists of 7 red and 6 white stripes (symbolize the first original states) and 50 five-pointed stars on a blue field in the upper left corner. The colours symbolize - courage (red), liberty (white), and loyalty (blue).

On the 14^th of June, 1777 Americans adopted their own flag, which had 13 stripes and 13 white stars. In 1959 the flag with 50 states was adopted after the two last states - Alaska and Hawaii joined the USA.

The national anthem: “Star-Spangled Banner”

The Great Seal: the coat of arms is a two-headed bald eagle in the centre with spread wings; in its left claw it has a bunch of arrows that symbolizes the administrative power - punishment; in the right claw it has an olive branch, which symbolizes peace and love. The motto of the Great Seal is “A Pluribus Unum” that means one of the many - one union consisting of many states. The Coat of arms was made under the design of John Prestrich and William Burton and adopted on 20 June, 1782.

The Statue of Liberty: the symbol of friendship presented from the people of France in 1884 and became the national monument in 1924.

The natural wonders: the Yellowstone National Park, the Yosemite Valley, the Great Lakes, the Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon.

The Yellowstone National Park is the oldest park in the USA. The Indians called it – “the country of fire, water, ice and smoke”. The territory of the park is 9,000 sq. km; it includes more than 1,000 geysers, some of them splash 8,000 tons of water at the height of 100m. The Excelsior is the real marvel. It was formed in the centre of the lake with rocky shores. The real proud of the park are the bisons.

The “Roaring waters” - the Niagara Falls – is 800m wide; the water falls from the height of 48 m. In 1848, 29 March the water falls stopped for 24 hours. The reason was in the ice that was moved by the wind from Lake Erie and blocked the estuary of the Niagara Falls.

The Grand Canyon formed by the Colorado River is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world. It is 200 miles long and 18 miles wide in some places. It is really a wonderful sight: the beauty comes from the bright colours of the canyon walls, which change in the sunlight.

The wonderful tree is a Lambert pine-tree. The diameter of the trunk is 1 m, the height is 50 m; it has huge cones of 50cm length.

Disasters that often happen on the territory of the country are tsunami, taiphoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes (the Atlantic Ocean and the Mexico Gulf coast), tornados (Middle West, South East), forest fires in the West, floods.

The USA is the greatest producer of carbon dioxide into the air on the planet.

The country occupies the leading position in world’s economy in different branches of industry. The leading companies known all over the world are Microsoft, “General Motors”, “Ford Motors” and “IBM”. The country exports all sort of equipment, military transport, coal, maize and others.

The length of the railway system is 265,000km; automobile route takes 6,500,000km. Public transport is the greatest consumer of energy - it takes in 50-60% of all fuel.

The biggest industrial centres include Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.

From book "Brush Up your English" by Mikhailova, Romanovich