The USA are situated in southern part of North America. Its neighbours are Canada on north, Mexicou on south. Its covers the area about 10 milion sq kms. There are 48 states there. Others are Alaska in the north and Hawaii Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Washington D.C. The curenci is one american dolar.

The Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains are int the west, the Appalachian Mountains are in the east. The highes tmountain int the USA is Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range which is 6194m high.

The largest rivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. It is the third longest river system in the world after the Amazon and the Nile.

The border with Canada is in its central part made by the Great Lakes Region. Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario share the USA with Canada.Superior is the second largest lake in the world after the Caspian Sea.Lake Michigan belongs only to the USA.Between Lakes Ontario and Erie there are Niagara falls.

There are big variations of climate. Temperatures change from the arctic cold in nortern Alaska to subrtopical warmth of Hawaii and the Gulf Coast States. On western coast temperature change very little between summer and winter, the north central states have different climate in summer and winter.

There are many national parks in the USA, especially in the Rocky Mountains Region, with beatiful and preserved nature e.g. Yellowstone Np and Grand Canyon Np.

The USA population is about 250 000 000. About 80 per cent of inhabitantslive in towns.

There are more than 100 major ethnic groups in the USA today. America sometimes called the melting pot or the salad bowl ro the Pizza because people living here are of all possible origins and all the races can mix here together. Now there are about 80 per cent white people, 12 per cent black people, 2 per cent Asian and Pacific islanders and half per cent american Indians and Eskimos.

The main language spoken here is American Eglish. American English differs from British English in vocabuary, pronunciation and spelling. For example czech word cukrovinky is in british sweets biscuit and in American English cookies or Czech word policajt is in british bobby and in american English is cop.....

Diferencis in pronunciation: American English is more opened e.g. the English say /doktr/ but the American say /daktr/ or the English say /its a pity/ but the american sa /itz a pidý/.
USA spelling is simpler, e.g. color, harbor, program. The head of the state is the president, he is elected every 4th years. Now the president is George Bush.

In the USA there is car industry, electronics, machinery, clothing, Nearly half of the country is a farmaland, but only 21 per cent is arable. The main agriculture products are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, tabbacco, cattle breeding, fruit and vegetables. The USA is fich in coal coper lead. The maintrading partners are Canada, Japan, Mexico and Great Britain.

Besides the US Capital and New York there are many interesting places.On western coast the most well-known places are Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Los Angeles is the secont largest. Here we can find the famous film centre Hollywood and luxurious quaters. Each year in April the American Film Academy awards Oscars fo rhe best film of the year. LA is also the centre of crime. LA university is called California Technology Institue. The biggest Zoo in the world is here.

San Francisco is one of the cleanest and most beatiful cities. It is the victim of frequent earthyuakes.

In the South there are following important centres: New Orleans is the city where jazz was born and where the Mississippi flow to the Gulf of Mexico In Houston there is NASA centre. Florida is mainly tourist area with lon beaches on Miami.

The biggest centre in the East is Philadelphia. It is one of the oldest cities. It used to be the first US capital. Now it is the centre of machinery and chemical industry.

Chicago lies on the banks of Lake Michigan. In Chicago the first skycraper was built in 19 century. In 1971 the highest skycraper in the USA was built here - Sears Tower which is more 400 m high. Chicago is the centre of steel and iron industries. Chicago is also an important transport centre. Ohare Airport is the busiest airport in the USA. Detroit is the centre of US car industry.

There are two main political parties in the USA The Democtratic party and The Republican party. The American antehm is THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER.

The American flag consist of two parts- one smaller bleu oblong with 50 white stars symbolizing 50 American states and one large oblong consisting of 6 white and 7 red stripes symbolizing the original 13 states which used to be British colonies.

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