0-the united states of america
DESCRIPTION
THE UNITED STATESTRANSCRIPT
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SOUTHWEST STYLEThe Spanish, and later
the Mexicans, onceheld the southwesternregions of what would
become the UnitedStates.Today the flavor of
Latin culture is stillpresent in open-air
markets such as this one inSan Antonio. Many of theplace names in this region
can trace their names toSpanish roots, as can manyof the people.Thirty-two
percent of Texas’spopulation, for example,
claims Latino heritage.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARKFrom waterfalls to groves of giant sequoia trees to the flower-filledfields of the Tuolumne meadows, the 761,236 acres (308,072hectares) of this national park were saved from developmentprimarily through the efforts of environmentalist John Muir, the
founder of the Sierra Club.The landscape was formedmillions of years ago when glaciers created the
path in which the Merced River flows.
North America was inhabited for as many as 15,000years before Europeans arrived.The first
permanent European settlementwas established in Florida in 1565.
211 years of colonization followed, until the UnitedStates was established in 1776. Since then, the nationhas grown from 13 states to 50 and spread across thecontinent.The United States came to symbolizepolitical, economic, and religious freedom forimmigrants who arrived from every corner ofthe world.Today, with a population exceeding288 million, the U.S. is an international power,leading the world in food production,technological innovation, and more.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
MONTANA
WYOMING
COLORADO
NEWMEXICO
ARIZONA
UTAH
IDAHO
NEVADA
WASHINGTON
OREGON
CALIFORNIA
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(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.
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LIBERTY BELLPhiladelphia, the city of brotherly love, wasalso central to the United States’ birth in
1776.Among the important historic sites areBenjamin Franklin’s home; Independence
Hall, where the Declaration of Independencewas signed; and, of course, the Liberty Bell.
BIG APPLESNew York City is called
the “Big Apple,” but not becauseNew York state is a top apple producer—
although it is. In the 1920s and 1930s,apple was jazz musicians’ slang for city—
and the biggest apple was NYC.
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTAThe Mississippi River takes a roughly 2,300-mile (3,701-km) journey from its source in Minnesota to theMississippi Delta in Louisiana.Today, as when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle journeyed up the riverin 1682, the mighty waterway is a “river road” thatreaches from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.
NEW ENGLAND REGATTAThe Head of the Charles regatta, held in Boston,Massachusetts each year, is just one of NewEngland’s events that link the bustling present to the historic past. Boston is a city loaded with colonial history; it was central to the nation’s birth during theAmerican Revolution.
GOLDEN CORNCorn is among the UnitedStates’ top crops, generatingmillions of dollars in revenueeach year. Much of that cornis grown in the country’scenter, with Iowa leading incorn production. Corn isused as feed for livestock, butit is also processed into meal,oil, and other products thatare shipped throughout thecountry, and the world.
MAINE
MARYLAND
NEW YORKMASSACHUSETTS
NEWHAMPSHIRE
PENNSYLVANIA
NEW JERSEY
RHODEISLAND
CONNECTICUT
VERMONT
DELAWARE
GEORGIAMISSISSIPPI
ALABAMA
VIRGINIA
WESTVIRGINIA
ARKANSAS
TENNESSEE
KENTUCKY
INDIANA
NORTHCAROLINA
SOUTHCAROLINA
LOUISIANA
FLORIDA
OHIO
SOUTHDAKOTA
NEBRASKA
OKLAHOMA
KANSAS MISSOURI
IOWA
ILLINOIS
MICHIGAN
WISCONSIN
NORTHDAKOTA
MINNESOTA
TEXAS
Lake Onta
rioLake Huron
Lake Superior
LakeErie
AT
LA
NT
ICO
CEA
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Gulf of Mexico
WASHINGTON,D.C.
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(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.