12 Лекций. Семинары начнутся со второго мая. 5 семинаров.

Учебник – American Studies.

Q1: Geographical position of the usa, it’s administrative division, advantages, disadvantages of this position. General information.

The US is situated in North America. In borders on Canada in the north, on Mexico in the south, washed by the Atlantic ocean in the east, by the Pacific in the west, by the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The area of the US is 9.4 mln km² and 9.8 mln km². Besides 50 American states the USA holds the control over the following territories, that are not included into the USA: Puerto-Rico, Guam, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. USA is the third largest country in the world or the fourth, depending of the figure.

The population of the USA is 308 mln people.

The US is divided into 50 states. 48 of them are called conterminous states – are situated on the mainland. The 49^th and the 50^th are Alaska and Hawaii are located far away from the mainland and joined the union in 1959. Hawaii are located in the Pacific ocean approximately 3.000 away to the south-west of California. From east to west the USA stretches for 4.600 km, from north to south – 2.500 km. Besides the 50 states there is a special district – the District of Columbia, which covers the territory of the capital and its suburbs. Each state is further divided into counties and each county consists of a number of townships and municipalities.

The largest state in terms of population is California, the largest state in terms of the territory is Alaska, the largest in terms of the density of population is New Jersey.

Three largest cities of the USA are: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago. There is no official language of the US, but each state has the right to introduce one or more official state languages. In more than 20 states English is the official languages. In some state near Mexico border there are two official languages. The nick name of the American flag is The Stars and Stripes: 50 stars and 13 stripes. The name of the national anthem is The Star-spangled Banner. Mottoes: unofficial – “In God We Trust”, official – “De Pluribus Unum” – «Во Множестве едины».

Three names of the most influential politicians today – Barack Obama, Joe Biden, secretary of the state - Hillary Clinton.

The advantages of the geographical position of the USA:

1. The position between the two oceans contributed a lot to the development of trade with all the continents.

2. The size of the country determined the variety of climate. The climate in the USA ranges from arctic in Alaska to tropical in Hawaii and all the other types of climate in between.

The disadvantage – interoceanic position of the country determines substantial number of dangerous natural phenomena as hurricanes, tornadoes, storms.

Q2 – Physical geography of the USA, main mountain ranges and peaks, rivers and lakes, mineral resources.

From the geographical point of view the US can be divided into the following zones:

1. The atlantic coastal planes

2. The Appalachian highlands

3. The interior planes

4. The interior highlands

5. The Rocky Mountains

6. Intermountain platoes and basins

7. Pacific region

8. Alaska

9. Hawaii

There are two mountain systems in the US: The Appalachian mountain systems, the Cordillera mountain system. The Cordillera consists of the Rocky Mountains, that sharply divide the country into the east and west, Sierra-Nevada mountains, Cascade mountains, Maritime ranges. The highest peak of the USA in McKinley – 6.194 meters. The most famous desert is the Death Valley in California. The Great American Lakes: Michigan, Lake Superior, Huron, Ontario, Eire. 4 of them form the natural border between the US and Canada. The GAL are one of the largest fresh water collections in the world. Their total area is about 250.000 km². By means of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada and the Hudson river in the US the GAL are connected with the Atlantic ocean. The GAL are the famous tourist attraction. Between the lakes Ontario and Eire there situates Niagara falls. Two more lakes must be mentioned – the famous Salty Lakes: The Great Salt Lake in the state of Utah and the Saltine Sea in California.

All the rivers in the USA can be divided into 2 groups: those, which into the Atlantic ocean, and those, which flow into the Pacific ocean. The longest river in the USA is the Mississippi river, which start in the Rocky Mountains and flows into the Gulf of Mexico (near the city of New Orleans). Its main branch is the Missouri river, it passes through a number of agricultural regions and washes up pieces of soil and dust (it’s too thick to drink and too thin to plough).

To the Atlantic Ocean:

• The Arkansas River

• The Ohio River

• The Red River

• New York stands on the Hudson River

• Washington – Paformack River