3. Geography of the British Isles and the US

San Francisco

• nickname Frisco

• typical for Frisco are trains

• its hilly

• Alcatraz (its island with used to be prison, now its touristic attraction)

• Golden Gate Bridge

• San Francisco has cosmopolitan ethnic populations

• 1st LGBT community (Harvey Mile – first mayor, assassinated)

• Chinatown – largest concentration of Chinese people outside of Asia

• homeless people problem (it’s very expensive to live there)

• SanSan – San Francisco and San Diego (megalopolis)

Hawaii

• Hawaii hot spots (volcanic hotspots)

• 8 islands

• important because of pineapple crops and sugar cane crops

• Pearl Harbour (US pacific Fleet)

• surfing

• diverse culture – native Polynesian

• diverse fauna and flora

• hula dance

Alaska

• highest peak Mount McCinley

• is known for outdoor for example Iron Dog snowmobile, World Ice Art Championships

San Diego

• the most populous city in US

British Isles

• this topic refers to the difference between geographical and political terms for the countries and Islands of the British Isles

• the British Isles refers to all islands which make up this archipelago such as Great Britain, Ireland, the Orkneys, The Shetland Isles and the Hebrides (these are all principally geographical terms)

• Great Britain (actually a geographical term often used to refer to the state) consists of Scotland, Wales and England.

• together with Northern Ireland they form the UK

• each country within the UK has its own capital (Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and London) but the capital of England is also the capital of the UK

• the Republic of Ireland or Eire is the sovereign state of the rest of Ireland

• Confused? Here is a small diagram I borrowed from Wikipedia to help you

• The British Isles, Great Britain and Ireland are geographical terms the rest are legal or political terms.