5._THE_USA

THE USA

* BASIC FACTS – LOCATION, STATES, BORDERS, CLIMATE, NP …

location

- the USA are situated in southern part of North America

- the area of the USA is 9 million square kilometres

- the USA also includes Alaska on the very north of the continent and the Hawaii Island in the Pacific Ocean, plus

associate states with their own governments (Puerto Rico, North Marianas..) and the US autonomous regions

(the Virgin Islands, Guam and some more)

states

- the USA is a federation of 50 states plus the district of Columbia, which is the city of Washington (Washington D.C.)

- Alaska in the north is separated from the rest of the USA by Canada, and the Hawaii islands by the Pacific Ocean

- states: Washington, Colorado, Oregon, California, Nevada, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma,

Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, North Dakota,...

borders

- their neighbours are Canada in the north and Mexico in the south (the Rio Grande forms the border with Mexico)

- the border with Canada is in its central part made by the Great Lakes Region

climate

- there are big variations in climate

- the climate is arctic in Alaska, temperate in most of the states and subtropical in Florida and Hawaii

- on the western coast temperature change very little between summer and winter
-the north central states have different climate in summer and winter

- there are often natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.

symbols

- the National flag consists of 2 oblongs: it is a smaller blue oblong with 50 white stars symbolizing 50 states

and one larger oblong consisting of 6 white and 7 red stripes symbolizing the original 13 colonies

-> it is often called "Old Glory" or ,"Stars and Stripes"

- the national anthem is called "The Star-Spangled Banner."

national parks
- there are many national parks in the USA, especially in the Rocky Mountains Region
- Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP, Rocky Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP, Mount McKinley NP

* POPULATION, RACIAL PROBLEMS, LANGUAGES, TYPICAL AMERICAN SPORTS AND PASTIMES

population

- the number of inhabitants is around 323 million

- there are 106 major ethnic groups -> America is sometimes called the “melting pot” or the “salad bowl” because

people living there are of all possible origins and races can mix there together

- now there are about 70% white people, 12% black people, 9% Asian and 1% Native Americans

religion

- religion and the freedom of religion play an extremely important role in the US

- most religious people are protestant (60%), then Catholics make up 21%, next there are atheists, Jews and

a small number of people of some of the other religions such as Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims

racial problems

- ethnic minorities may suffer racial disadvantage in a multi-ethnic society

- people have gone abroad to work for a time or to live somewhere permanently.

- multicultural education works against racism and racial disadvantage in schools, when we learn about different