A1. The usa. Geographical Position. Climate. Rich Resources.

The United States of America stretches from Atlantic Ocean across North America and far into the Pacific.

Because of such a huge size of the country the climate differs from one part of the country to another. The coldest climate is in the northern part, where there is heavy snow in winter and the temperature may go down to -40. The south has a subtropical climate, with .temperature as high as 49 degrees in summer.

The continental part of the USA consists of the highland regions and two lowland regions. The highland regions are the Appalachian mountains in the east and the Cordillera in the west. Between the Cordillera and the Appalachian mountains are the centre! lowlands which are called- the prairie, and eastern lowlands called the Mississippi valley. There are many mountains especially in the west and southwest. The Rocky mountains extend all the way from New Mexico to Alaska.

Many rivers cross the country. The most important are the Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, Sacramento. The main lakes in the USA are the Great Lakes in the north. The nation's natural advantages and resources are probably greater than those of any other area of equal size. The land is as varied as it huge. There are plains and mountains, grasslands and forests, sandy soil, clay and rich, dark loams.

The mineral resources vary from precious gold and rare uranium to common lead and zinc. Coal, oil, iron, copper and other minerals are abundant. They form basis of modern industry.

The U.S. ecology is considered "megadiverse": about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.^[The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species.^[About 91,000 insect species have been described.^[The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. There are fifty-eight national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas.^[Altogether, the government owns 28.8% of the country's land area. Most of this is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; 2.4% is used for military purposes.

A2. Population of the usa

The population of America is 243.4 million, made up of immigrants from almost every country in the world. The first people who lived in America were the American Indians. Today, about 1.5 million American Indians and Eskimos live in the USA.Europe, the main source of US immigration, began sending colonists to America in the early 17th century. Immigration peaked in the period from 1880 to 1920, when tens of millions of immigrants entered the US.Black Americans, who today number 29 million, were first brought to the New World as slaves in the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. In the 20th century large numbers of blacks, who historically lived in the South, migrated to the industrial cities of the North in search of jobs and a better way of life.Hispanics, living mostly in the Southwest, are the next largest ethnic minority group in the US.The US population has also absorbed nearly 3.6 million Asians (from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Korea).Today, 80% of the population lives in or near cities, and only 20% of the population live on farms.The American people are united culturally by the English language and politically by a faith in democracy.Approximately 28.4 million foreign-born people live in the United States, representing 10.4 percent of the U.S. population. Recent shifts in patterns of immigration have resulted in a much more racially and ethnically diverse foreign-born population. Prior to the mid-20th century, immigrants came primarily from northwestern Europe (Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, France) and from Canada, Latin America

A 3. The Discovery of America

In the centuries after 1492 stories and legends group up about other adventures see men having reached a land long before Columbus. All these stories have their supporters but only in the case of the kings have modern scholars found evidence. In the 1960 archeologists uncovered traces of settlements an newfound land and New England. In the 15 cent in Europe there was a demand for textile from Asia. Columbus sailed west. Soon Spanish adventures conquered an empire in south and central Amer. The Europeans were drown to the New world in search for Welsh. The 1^st successful English colony was found at James town in 1606 in the north-eastern region several settlements were established be English puritans. The pilgrims crossed the Atlantic in the ship. 2^nd – settled in Plymouth. American slaves 1^st arrived in 1619. Most American colonists worked on small farms. They grew tobacco and rice. The system of slavery began in 1619. by the year 1733 English settlements had occupied 13 colonies. In 1756 England and France began fighting in the 7 years war. Britain won the empire. Br.got the Canada and all north American east of the Mississippi river.

A 4. The US Colonial era.

After Ch.Columbus explored the Amer in 1942 the nations of Western Europe(Spain, France, England) created vast colonial empires in the west. The Spanish empire sent great wealth to Spain. In the form of gold and silver the Portages colony in Blazil, the France and England positions provided sugar. In addition France exported fur. These goods stimulated the European economy and pushed forward a commercial revolution. That expended the European trend. English colonies became a dominant in north America. By 1700 Emer has pushed the Duch out of North Amer and in 1763 England and Spain divided the French Empire in North America. Shortly most of the British Colonies revolted against imperial control and established their independence in 1776 as the usa. Later many of the colonies controlled by Portugal and Spain followed the example of the British colonies and gained their independence. By 1820 few European colonies remained in the western Hampshire. Colonial period: 1. property owning, settles created a free political system, 2. the diversity of religions believe among the settles destroyed support for the church and promoted a new idea, 3. the settles created economy based on communities of independent farm families, 4. colonial culture became more diverse, because of the European groups. Until 1600 Spain and Port.were only European powers with colonies in the new world. In 1565 Spain established a fought in Florida to protect them from European nations. The Spanish also founded another military outposts, Native Americans soon after and destroyed most of these sights. Tne Netherlands founded the American colony of New Zealand in 1609. England began its colonies during the 17 cent. The Genie was founded in 1606 as a trading outpost and became the 1^st permanent English colony in the western. Later Br. founded a few more colonies among them: New Hampshire, New Haven, Canactical and Masochists Bay.

A 5. The American War of Independence (1775-1783).Between1763-1776,the King and Parliament passed a series of laws, acts, and taxes.They changed the relationship between England and their colonies. By 1770, Parliament had repealed all the new taxes except that on tea.In 1773 a group of men boarded ships in Boston Harbor and threw crates of tea overboard(The Boston Tee Party).In 1774 colonists decided to hold a Congress(in Philadelphia)to let Parliament know that the Americans thought the new lows were unjust. In 1775 English soldiers fought the colonists at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Second Continental Congress chose George Washington to form and lead an army.On June Henry Lee of Verginia introduced a resolution, calling for the colonies to declare inderpendance.The delegates chose a committee of 5 men to write a Declaration of Independence(Thomas Jefferson did most).The war took 6 years.The fighting ended in the US in 1781, but England continued fighting with other countries.Not until 1783 did the participants sign a peas treaty in Paris. Under the Peace of Paris, the US gained inderpendence from England.The 5 years after Revolution-“Critical Period”.In Febr 1789 G.Washington was elected as a president, a Federalist.He faced 4 major problems:1.to unite Americans;2.to persuade other countries to respect the US;3.to find ways to pay the country’s debts;4.a stable currency.

A 6. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three Articles of the Constitution establish the three branches of the national government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. They also specify the powers and duties of each branch. All unenumerated powers are reserved to the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The United States Constitution is the second oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world. The Bill of Rights limits the power of the U.S. federal government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They were introduced by James Madison to the 1st United States Congress as a series of legislative articles, were adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789 and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791.