Usa. Its geographical survey, economy and political system

The USA is the most powerful and highly developed country of the world. It is situated in the central part of the North American continent. Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The USA is separated from Canada in the north by the 49^th parallel and the Great Lakes, and from Mexico in the south by a line following the Rio Grande River and continuing across the highlands to the Pacific Ocean. The total are of the USA is over 9 million kilometers.

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 degrees below zero. The south has subtropical climate, with temperature as high as 49 degrees in summer.

The highland regions are the Appalachian mountains in the east and the Cordillera in the west. Between them are the central lowlands which are called prairie, and eastern lowlands called the Mississippi valley. Many rivers cross the country. The most important are the Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, Sacramento.

The basis of modern industry form coal, oil, copper and other minerals which are abundant. The mineral resources vary from precious gold and rare uranium to common lead and zinc. The USA consists of three separate parts. They are Hawaiian Islands, Alaska and the rest major part of the USA. The states differ very much in size, population and economical development. The agriculture of the country is highly mechanized. Coal-mines are in the Cordillera Mountains, in the Kansas City region. Iron in mined near the Great Lakes. The USA has rich oil-fields in California, Texas and some other regions. The country has a highly developed motor-car industry. It would be no exaggeration to say that cars have become the symbol of American way of life. The vehicles produced at such companies as Ford and the General Motors are known world-wide. Shipbuilding is developed along the Atlantic coast and in San Francisco. The USA has also a highly developed railway system and the best network of roads in the world which are called highways.

The United States is a federal republic. The Government is divided into three branches: legislative (the USA Congress), executive (the President and his Administration) and judicial (the US Supreme Court). There are two main political parties in the USA: the Democratic and the Republican. The Congress consists of two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The President, elected by the whole nation for four years, is head of the state and the Government. The flag of the USA is called “Stars and Stripes”. The 50 stars – white on a blue field represent the 50 states, 13 stripes represent 13 original English colonies, which in 1776 become independent of England.

The capital of the United States is Washington. It was named in honor of the first president whose name was George Washington. The biggest cities of the USA are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and others.