II. Brief survey of the countries of america.

1. The United States of America. Geographical Position and Natural Features.

Map Questions.

1. Point out the USA on the political map of the world. What countries does it border on?

2. Name the mountains, rivers and lakes of the USA that you have heard of.

The United States of America is the richest and most highly developed country in the world.

Geographical Position. The United States of America covers an area of almost 9,400,000 square kilometres. It is twice as large as all the countries of Europe combined, exclusive of Russia.

The USA is advantageously placed in the middle of the North American continent, in the temperate zone between latitudes 25° and 49° N. It is washed by the Atlantic in the east and the Pacific

in the west. Thus placed between two oceans it has free access to the trade routes of the world. At the same time, these vast expanses of water have always served as reliable safeguards in time of war. Its land boundaries are on countries who are no danger in case of war. In the course of the last hundred years the USA has fought many a war, but ever on foreign soil. Its own land has always remained untouched. Modern means of warfare, however, have put an end to this advantage of the United States.

Alaska, the adjacent lands and the Aleutian islands in the north-west (over 1,500,000 square kilometres) and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean also form part of the USA.

Natural Features. Across the eastern part of the United States extend the Appalachians, a group of low and much denuded mountains. There is iron ore here and rich deposits of coal along the western slopes. Between the Appalachians and the Atlantic lie the coastal lowlands. The north-eastern coastline is richly indented and contains many convenient bays. The lowlands continue southward into the Peninsula of Florida, which is rich in phosphorites. The climate of Eastern United States is temperate continental, with a heavy rainfall. It is colder, however, than that of Europe in the same latitudes. In New York (latitude 41° N) the average Janu-ary temperature is 1 °C below zero, the July temperature 23°C above zero, while in Naples the January temperature is 8° С above zero, the July temperature 24° С above zero. The mixed and broad-leaved forests that once covered this part of the country have almost all been cut down.

Florida and the neighbouring areas enjoy a wet subtropical climate, the average January temperature being 15° С above zero. Here there is an evergreen vegetation, including magnolia, palm, evergreen oak and different kinds of pine. In the central, boggy part of the peninsula there is cypress. In the most beautiful places there are resorts, but these can be afforded only by the rich.

The centre of the country is a vast plain (called the Great Central Plain) that sinks towards the south and merges into the Mississippi Lowlands. It is drained by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, the deep Ohio flowing from the Appalachians and the long but shallow Missouri from the Cordilleras. The climate here is continental, with sharp weather changes. In the south, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, it is subtropical. Westward the climate becomes drier gradually. The forests disappear and in their stead stretch forest-steppes and steppes (prairies). The soil almost everywhere is ploughed up and under cultivation. This is the so-called Prairie Plateau¹, or Great Plains.

There are rich deposits of iron ore along the shores of Lake Superior, to the north of the plain. In the central part of the Great Central Plain, south-west of Lake Michigan, there is coal and poly-metallic ore. The southern part, west of the lower course of the Mississippi, is a rich oil and gas district.

Across the western part of the United States extend the Cordilleras, a young mountain system consisting of a number of lofty ranges. Between the Rocky Mountains, on the one hand, and the Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevadas, on the other, there is a series of plateaus — the Great Basin and others. These are crossed by the Colorado and Columbia R i v e r s. On their way to the Pacific they cut deep canyons through the plateaus; the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River is 1,800 metres deep. These rivers are rich in water-power. The plateaus have a sharp and dry continental climate. There are large variations in the temperature, not only in the course of the year, but in the course of a single day. These are semidesert and desert regions with a poor vegetation (wormwood and goose-foot, and in the south cactus and agave).

Near the coast of the Pacific surrounded by mountains lies the Valley of California with a subtropical climate, very much like that of the Mediterranean region. Evergreen bushes grow here. On the mountain sides there are giant sequoias. The northern part of the Pacific coast receives much rain and has a mild maritime climate. Coniferous forests of great pine and fir grow here.

In the western mountain regions there is copper, polymetallic and uranium ores and gold. In the Pacific areas there is oil.

Questions and Assignments.

1. Mark and name on the outline map the peninsulas, bays, lowlands, mountains, plateaus, rivers and lakes of the United States of America. Use symbols to show the minerals.

2. Using your map of the United States and other maps in the Atlas, follow parallel 40^o from east to west and describe the natural features of these places.

2. Population and Economic Activities.

United States of America

Population. The USA numbers over 303,000,000 people and ranks third among the countries of the world in quantity of population after the Chinese People's Republic and India. The average density of population in the country is not high, however, amounting to 20 persons to the square kilometre. Most thickly populated is the north-east, most thinly populated are the western desert areas of the Cordilleras and Alaska.

Almost two-thirds of the population is urban. There are many large cities in the country, some containing over 1,000,000 inhabitants. Characteristic of American cities and towns are long, straight streets crossing each other at right angles and two or three-storeyed houses. In the centre of the large cities stand enormous buildings, so-called sky-scrapers, dozens of storeys high. Here, too, are the luxurious palaces of the millionaires. The poor live in tumbledown houses and wretched shanties in the outskirts.

The majority of the people are of European descent. The common language is English.

Elections

Text 1

Read the following text to learn about the main stages in the US presidential elections: