14 The United States of America

The South consists of eleven states - Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and others - along the Gulf Coast. The most important crop is cotton and tobacco. The Great Smoky National Park.

Highlights

• Washington D.C. - the capital of the USA, the headquarters of the federal government, the President, Congress and the Supreme Court

• Florida - the "winter holiday state", Miami is a famous resort and a commercial centre

• New Orleans - a city with a typical French atmosphere; famous for jazz

The Midwest consists of thirteen states: Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and others. The Black Hills, the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario). Three agricultural belts according to the most valuable crops: com belt, wheat belt, dairy belt.

Highlights

• Chicago - the third largest city in the country; the Sears Tower

• Detroit - a city famous for car production; Henry ford Museum

• Minneapolis - a city with "skyways", passageways between buildings above street level

• The North Woods - evergreen coniferous forests: abundant wildlife

The North West Region is sometimes divided into the Rocky Mountain States (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming.

Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico) and the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Alaska).

Highlights

• Yellowstone National Park (established in 1872)

• Glacier National Park

• Yosemite National Park

• Denver, Seattle, the Colorado Rockies - the ski resorts of Vail and Aspen

• Salt Lake City - Mormons

• Alaska - its largest city Anchorage; Innuits (native population)

The Southwest and Hawaii consists of California, Arizona and Nevada. The Sequoia National Park, the Great Basin with the Death Valley. A lot of Spanish and Mexican people live here. Some Native Americans live in reservations, e.g. the Navajo and Shoshone people.

Highlights

• San Francisco - a city famous for cable cars; Chinatown, The Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz

• Los Angeles - a famous city of the film industry; Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Long Beach

• The Grand Canyon - 30 km wide and 1.6 km deep; the canyon walls record 2 billion veers of the Earth's geological history

• Las Vegas - a city of casinos, slot machines and gaming tables

• Colorado River in the Grand Canyon

National economy, industry

Important products: agriculture - beef cattle, soybeans; manufacturing - foods and beverages, cars, airplanes, communication equipment; mining - petroleum, natural gas, coal

Major exported goods: cars, computers, airplanes, scientific measuring instruments

Major imported goods: petroleum, cars, clothing. telecommunication equipment

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.