The United States of America - the richest and one of the biggest counters in the world - has several names. People say ""the United States -", ""the States "", "America"', or just ""the USA "' or "the US"
The USA lies in the central part of North America. It is washed by two great oceans: by the Atlantic Ocean in the East and by the Pacific Ocean in the West. In the South it borders on Mexico and in the North on Canada.
The USA is a country of great contrasts. In climate it ranges from Arctic cold of Alaska to the tropical heat of Florida; in landscape from the endless plains of the Middle West to snowy peaks of the Rocky Mountains. It is as large as the whole of Europe, and the 3000- mile journey from east to west by the fastest train last two days and three nights.
The USA is a country of great wealth. It produces 20% of world’s wheat, 45% of its cotton, 25% of its milk, and 30% of its butter. At the same time the USA is the most highly-industrialized country in the world. One city alone - Detroit, the centre of the American car industry - produces more cars in a year than the car industries of both Britain and France together. The USA has a highly developed railway system and as to its system of roads it is considered to be the best in the world.
The USA is a federal republic. The form of the Government of the USA is based on the constitution adopted in 1787. The federal government is divided into three branches: legislative (the US Congress) executive (the President and his administration), and judicial (the US Supreme Court) .The US President is elected for a four - year term and may be reelected for the second term. (As you probably know Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times, but since then Congress has passed a bill making anything longer than two terms illegal). The Congress of the USA is composed of two chambers: the Senate (100 members) and the House of Representatives (435 members).
The USA consists of 50 states and District of Columbia. You know that the flag of the USA, '"the stars and stripes", has 50 stars on a blue background.-Each of the stats represents one of fifty states. But the city of Washington, the capital of the USA, is not in any of those states. It is said to belong to all of them and it is also a wonderful place for tourists, because there are so many famous and historical places to see.
The people of the USA are a mixture of many different races. The USA has been called a melting pot of nations. Germans, Italians, English, Scots, Welsh, Irish, Russians, Scandinavians and other made a new home in America. At present there are more than 25 million British Americans (nearly half of the population of Britain), about 23 million African Americans, 25 million German Americans and more Irish Americans than the whole population of Ireland. The total population of America today is over 240 million, and it is still growing fast.
As tar as the system of education is concederned it is rather complicated. There arc free state-supported public schools as well as private elementary and secondary schools. There is no national system of higher education m the USA. The private Universities are very important. The best - known Universities arc Harvard and Yale. They occupy a position in American University life rather like Oxford and Cambridge in England.
