America

Where is it? America is in the Western hemisphere and is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Atlantic ocean on the east.

America Christopher Columbus first arrived in North America in However, America had actually been inhabited by humans for over 30,000 years! It is believed that there was once a bridge of land stretching Syria to Alaska which allowed humans to come and live in America and settle as Native Americans. HISTORY

Christopher Columbus After Christopher Columbus discovered America, more Europeans began arriving from Spain, France and the Netherlands. England was one of the first countries to send people to live in America. Different groups of people arrived in America and set up colonies (groups of people living in a foreign country). Each of the colonies had to pay heavy taxes to the British so they could have military support to fight off invaders. HISTORY

Native Americans Native Americans lived in the United States for a long, long time before Christopher Columbus came along. They built different types of homes depending on the weather they needed to survive. Some built wigwams so they could pack their homes up quickly when they wanted to move on. Native Americans were very good at using what was around them to survive. They survived by hunting and fishing. This is because it was very hard to grow crops! They believed that they should not waste any food. Tribes in the South East were able to grow crops because there was a warmer climate. HISTORY

The Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty symbolises all the immigrants that helped to build the country. As boats floated in to New York harbour, they knew they had found a home. LANDMARKS

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is in the US state of Arizona. It is a large canyon or gorge made by the Colorado River which runs through the middle of it. It has been eroding away at the land for millions of years. The canyon is 277 miles in length and rocks at the bottom are believed to be over 2 billion years old. LANDMARKS

Climate The U.S. has different weather conditions depending on the time of year. Spring and Autumn are cooler and the Summer months are very hot. The south of the country is warmer than the north. It is important to remember that America has both Hawaii, which is generally very hot, and Alaska which has arctic conditions so it depends on where in America you travel. Sometimes, during their Winter, they can experience very heavy snowfalls. CLIMATE

Population 323,341,000 – The third largest population in the world. 81% of the population live in cities and suburbs. California and Texas are the most heavily populated states. People under 21 make up a quarter of the US population.