English World
The United States of America (U.S.A)
The United States of America is a republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii).
It is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area (9,826,675 sq km).
The United States proper has three land borders, two with Canada and one with Mexico. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Two of the 50 states, Alaska and Hawaii, are not contiguous with any of the other states.
The United States also has a collection of overseas territories and possessions around the world, such as: in the Caribbean Basin, Puerto Rico (a commonwealth associated with the United States) and the Virgin Islands of the United States; in the Pacific Ocean, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (a commonwealth associated with the United States), American Samoa, Wake Island, and several other islands. The United States also has compacts of free association with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Government
The United States is a Federal republic. The president is elected for a four-year term and may be reelected only once.
Landscape
As the world's third largest country, the United States landscape varies greatly: temperate forestland on the East coast, mangrove in Florida, the Great Plains in the center of the country, the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the Great Lakes which are shared with Canada, Rocky Mountains west of the plains, deserts and temperate coastal zones west of the Rocky Mountains and temperate rain forests in the Pacific Northwest. Alaska and the volcanic islands of Hawaii add to the geographic and climatic diversity.
People
More than 79% of the United States population are urban, and the great majority of the inhabitants are of European descent.
According to the U.S. census, as of 2000 the largest minority were Hispanics, who accounted for 12.5% of the population (including people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and many other origins).
The African-American population numbered 12.3% of the population. And Asian population totaled 3.6%,
The Native American population, which included natives of Alaska such as Eskimos and Aleuts, was 2,475,956 (9%), but an additional .6% were of partial Native American descent - such as Sioux, Apaches and Navajos. Roughly a third of Native Americans lived on reservations, trust lands, territories, or other lands under Native American jurisdiction.
Nearly three-quarters of the population (including more than 95% of the Maori) resided on North Island. About 85% of the people live in urban areas, and about half of these in the four largest cities and their environs.
Economy
The country is the world's largest producer of both electrical and nuclear energy. It leads all nations in the production of liquid natural gas, aluminum, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. It is also a leading producer of copper, gold, coal, crude oil, nitrogen, iron ore, silver, uranium, lead, zinc, mica, molybdenum, and magnesium.
Agriculturally, the United States is first in the production of cheese, corn, soybeans, and tobacco. The United States is also one of the largest producers of cattle, hogs, cow's milk, butter, cotton, oats, wheat, barley, and sugar; it is the world's leading exporter of wheat and corn. In 1995, U.S. fisheries ranked fifth in the world in total production.
Major U.S. exports include motor vehicles, aircraft, food, iron and steel products, electric and electronic equipment, industrial and power-generating machinery, chemicals, and consumer goods.
Major cities
Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States, and New York is its largest city.
Los Angeles (California), Chicago (Illinois), Houston (Texas), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) are some of the major cities in the US.
Language
English (official), Spanish (spoken by a large minority) south and southwest.
Religion
The distribution for major religions in the United States was as follows in 1989: Protestant 56%, Roman Catholic 28%, Jewish 2%, other 4%, none 10%.
History - Early Times
The first inhabitants of the U.S.A. are thought to be Stone Age peoples that migrated from Siberia. Over the centuries, the land was covered and territorialized from coast to coast by a wide variety of Indian tribes: Navajos, Sioux, Apaches, Comanches and many others.
Then, came the Norseman from Greenland, and after them a large group of European explorers, since the XIV century.
Conflicts and wars over lands claimed by Indians and other established nations were followed by the Revolutionary War, as America, and its upstart colonies, broke from England and declared their independence (1776).
National Bird
The bald eagle is the US national bird. It is the only eagle unique to North America.
Bald eagles are found over most of North America, from Alaska and Canada to northern Mexico. About half of the world's 70,000 bald eagles live in Alaska.
They flourish here in part because of the salmon. Dead or dying fish are an important food source for all bald eagles.
Fonts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA
www.varytour.cz/Foto/New%20York%202003-265.jpg
www.walesenvtrust.org.uk/intheloop/images/welshLandscape.jpg
www.kidskonnect.com/States/StatesHome.html
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/facts.htm
www.baldeagleinfo.com
www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0777008.html
www.pequotmuseum.org/Home/ProgramsandEvents/
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