The United States of America

Profile
	Official name		United States of America
	Form of government		federal republic with two legislative houses (Senate [100]; House of Representatives [435(1)])
	Head of state		President
	Head of government		President
	Capital		Washington, D.C.
	Official language		none
	Official religion		none
	Monetary unit		dollar (U.S.$)
	Population estimate		(2006) 299,330,000
	Total area (sq mi)		3,676,487(2)
	Total area (sq km)		9,522,057(2)

⁽¹⁾Excludes 4 nonvoting delegates from the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Guam; a nonvoting resident commissioner from Puerto Rico; and a nonvoting resident representative from the Northern Mariana Islands.

⁽²⁾Includes inland water area of 78,797 sq mi (204,083 sq km and Great Lakes water of 60,251 sq mi (156,049 sq km); excludes coastal water area of 42,241 sq mi (109,404 sq km) and territorial water area of 75,372 sq mi (195,213 sq km).

The United States of America

The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world (after Russia, Canada and China). The USA is situated in the central part of North America. The total area of the country is 9,522,057 square kilometers. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean. Its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The USA borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has a sea-border with Russia.

The USA consists of three separate parts. They are the Hawaiian Islands, situated in the central part of the Pacific Ocean, Alaska separated by the Canadian territory and the rest major part of the USA.

The climate of the country varies greatly from arctic in Alaska through continental in the central part to subtropical in the south.

The United States of America is a federal republic. It consists of fifty states and the District of Columbia. The states differ very much in size, population and economic development. Each state has its own government and there is a federal or national government. Each state has its own constitution and can collect taxes.

The capital of the country is Washington D.C. (named in honour of the first President, George Washington). The population of the USA is 299,330,000 people. The seat of the federal government is Washington D.C.

According to the US Constitution (adopted after the War of Independence, September17, 1787), the powers of the government are divided into 3 branches. They are the executive, the legislative and the judicial. The executive is headed by the President and his Administration. The legislative is exercised by the US Congress. The judicial is headed by the US Supreme Court.

The President of the USA is the head of the country. The executive branch administers the laws. The US President is elected for a 4-year term. The US President commands the armed forces, conducts foreign affairs, and recommends laws to the Congress.

The Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The congress’s main function is to make laws. There are 100 senators (two from each state) and 435 representatives. The number of the representatives from each state depends on the size of the state’s population. Senators are chosen for six years.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of US government. The US Supreme Court has nine members, appointed for life. The judicial branch interprets the laws and makes sure that the new laws are in keeping with the Constitution.

There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic (symbolized by a “donkey”) and the Republican (its symbol is an “elephant”).

The flag of the USA is called “Stars and Stripes”. There are three colours on the flag of the USA: red, white and blue. As there are fifty states in the USA, there are fifty stars on the American flag: one star for each state. The American flag has seven red stripes and six white stripes. There is one stripe for each of the first thirteen colonies which in 1776 became independent of England.

The eagle became the official national symbol of the country in 1782. It holds an olive branch (a symbol of peace) and arrows (symbols of strength) in its paws.

The USA is one of the greatest industrial and leading agricultural nations in the world. The USA produces around 25% of the world’s industrial products, agricultural goods and services.

The USA is rich in mineral resources, such as salt, zinc, coal, copper, iron, gold, silver and oil. Such industries as machine-building, ship-building are highly developed in the country.

The most important rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Colorado, and the Sacramento. There are five Great Lakes between the USA and Canada.

The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera and the Sierra Nevada. The largest cities are New York (the city of contrasts, financial and business centre of the USA), Los Angeles, Chicago (one of the biggest industrial cities of the USA), Philadelphia, Detroit (one of the largest centres of the automobile industry), San Francisco, Washington (the capital of the country) and others.

The USA is one of the most powerful and highly developed countries in the world. It is leader of the western world.