Several of the world's most exciting cities are found in The USA. Also magnificent landscapes, a strong sense of regionalism, a trenchant mythology, more history than the country gives itself credit for and, arguably, some of the most approachable natives in the world.
The US was fashioned from an incredibly disparate population who, with little in common apart from a desire to choose their own paths to wealth or heaven, rallied around the ennobling ideals of the Declaration of Independence to forge the richest, most inventive and most powerful country on earth. | History
| Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.
The US history dates back a long way. For detailed information on America's history click here
| Geography
| Climate-If there is a "general" climate in the USA, then it is temperate. Generally, the further south you go the hotter it gets and the seasons more extreme the further north you go. Winters are still warm enough to swim at Florida and in Southern California. But winters in the northwest and the upper Midwest can have long periods below freezing. It is also tropical in Florida and Hawii, arctic in Alaska, arid in the Great Basin of the South-West and semi-arid in the Great Plains to the West of Mississippi.
| Regions/States
| 50 states and 1 district (Columbia);
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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| Education
| Generally, the High Schools in The United States include students from 14 to 18 years of age. US school offer a wide range of courses, from academic to practical life skills. US schools are renouned for their after school activities. These are many and varied and include all types of sports, drama, special interest clubs and social events.
High Schools provides a centre for most teenage social life.
| | Government and politics | | The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is both a representative democracy and a constitutional republic, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the United States Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document and as a social contract for the people of the United States. In the American federalist system, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government, federal, state, and local | | Culture | The United States is a culturally diverse nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values. largely derived from the traditions of The culture held in common by the majority of Americans is referred to as "mainstream American culture," a Western cultureWestern European migrants, beginning with the early English and Dutch settlers. German, Irish, and Scottish cultures have also been very influential. Certain Native American traditions and many cultural characteristics of enslaved West Africans were absorbed into the American mainstream.
America today is a vast mix of cultures and influences. There is a huge variation of family demographics depending on ethnic, regional and cultural differences. Most Americans display strong patriotic views, this is particularly evident in arts, literature, sports, music
| Food
| Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, potatoes,
sweet potatoes, corn, squash and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed
by Native Americans and early European settlers.
| Climate
| Mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
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| Quick Facts
National Name
United States of America
Capital City
Washington DC
Primary Language
English 82%
Other Languages Spoken
Spanish, Native American languages
Population
302,116,640 (2007 est)
Monetary Unit
US Dollar
Ethnicity/Race
White: 75.1%
Black: 12.3%
Asian: 3.6%
American Indian &
Alaska Native: 0.9%
Native Hawaiian & other
Pacific Islander: 0.1%
other race: 5.5%
Hispanic origin: 12.5%
Religion (2002 est)
Protestant (52%)
Roman Catholic (24%)
Mormon (2%)
Jewish (1%)
Muslim (1%)
Other (10%)
None (10%)
Total Area
9,631,420 km²
School
September to June
8am - 3pm Week Days
Pastimes
Sports, School Clubs,
Outdoor Activites, Social Events, TV and Movies
Public Holidays
Jan 1 - New Years Day
3rd Mon Jan - Martin Luther King Day
2rd Mon Feb - Washington Bday
Last Mon May - Memorial Day
July 4 - Independence Day
1st Mon in Sept - Labor Day
2nd Mon Oct - Columbus Day
Nov 11 - Veterans Day
4th Thu Nov -Thanksgiving Day
Dec 25 - Christmas Day
International Calling Code
+1
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