USA

Economy

The USA is the largest economy in the world. It is one of the leading countries in many areas, for example medicine and technology. The currency in the USA is the United States dollar. Most Americans work in services and industry. Only about 1 % of Americans work in agriculture. Some of the most famous American companies are for example Coca-Cola, Ford, Amazon, Nike, MacDonald’s, KFC, and others.

Symbols

The flag of the United States is probably the most famous flag in the world. It is called the Stars and Stripes. It is red, white, and blue. There are fifty white stars on a blue background and thirteen horizontal red and white stripes. The stars represent the 50 states that are part of the USA today. The stripes represent the thirteen original colonies.

The national bird of the USA is the bald eagle. The national mammal of the USA is the North American bison. The national flower of the USA is the rose. The national tree of the USA is the oak tree. The national motto of the USA is "In God We Trust". It is written on every dollar bill. The national anthem of the USA is the Star-Spangled banner.

There are also many unofficial symbols of the USA. When people see these things, they immediately think about the USA. Some of these unofficial symbols are hamburgers, Coca-Cola, apple pie, Uncle Sam, baseball, American football, the Hollywood sign, and other things.

Political institutions

The United States is a democratic country. It is one of the oldest democratic countries in the world. Every adult citizen can vote in the elections. The government of the USA has three branches: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. These branches should be independent.

The head of the legislative branch is the Congress. It has two parts: The House of Representatives and the Senate. The Congress meets in the Capitol Building in Washington, D. C. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives and 100 Senators. Their main job is to make laws.

The head of the executive branch is the President. He lives and works in the White House in Washington, D. C. His job is to take important decisions. People can vote for president every four years. A single person can be elected president only twice. The voting system is strange. One candidate can get fewer votes than the other and still win. It happened for example in 2016 when Donald Trump became the 45th president although his opponent got about 3 million more votes altogether.

The head of the judicial branch is the Supreme Court. It meets in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D. C. It has nine members. Its main job is to check that the laws created by the Congress are used well and that they are constitutional.

There are two main political parties in the USA. The Democratic Party is more left-wing and the Republican Party is more right-wing. The symbol of the Democratic party is a donkey and the symbol of the Republican party is an elephant. There are also some other, smaller parties.