united states

UNITED STATES

USA is the third largest country in the world

Washington D.C is the capital

USA has borders with Canada in the north and Mexico in the south.

The climate is arctic in the north and tropical in the south.

The west coast of the USA faces the Pacific Ocean and the east coast faces the Atlantic Ocean.

It is 4000 km from New York in the east to Los Angeles in the west.

There are four time zones in the USA.

Some of the world’s largest mountain ranges, largest lakes and longest rivers are in the USA.

Some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world grow here.

The weather conditions in the USA can be extreme.

There are often tornadoes in the Midwest.

There are hurricanes along the Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused a major flood in the city of New Orleans. Many people lost their lives and thousands became homeless.

The first Europeans in America were mostly white Protestants.

Gradually people from all parts of the world immigrated to the USA. Today the USA is a multicultural society.

Many Americans have two identities. They have strong ties to the country they or their familie are coming from. They are known as African Americans, Italian Americans, Norwegian Americans and so on.

The Native Americans were living in North America long before the Europeans arrived. Now they are just a small minority group.

The USA is a republic. Political power is divided between:

The President The Congress The Supreme Court

The President is the head of the state.

A president is elected for four years and he can be re-elected for another four years.

The President is also head of one of the political parties in the USA: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

The Congress is divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Congress controls the money the President need to carry out his policies. Congress also makes the laws of the USA.

The Supreme Court decides what the laws in America means.

Sometimes they find that an old law is against the Constitution. They can change the law and say it is no longer valid.