United States of America (USA)

Basic information Population: 310,622,000 Area: 9,826,675 km 2 Capital city: Washington, D.C. Largest city: New York Government: Federal constitutional presidential republic Currency: American dollar (1 USD is CZK) President: Barack Obama USA is a federal union of 50 states and federal districts Highest point: Mount McKinley (6,194m)

History America was explored by Columbus in America was a colony of England, France, Spain and The Netherlands. Native Americans (Indians) were oppressed (Indian wars) The Declaration of independence was adopted on The Civil war, South against North USA were very important in WW I and WW II Big chapter is Cold war with Soviet union (e.g. space race, …) Nowadays USA are in war with terrorism and big economic crisis

Important persons George Washington – the fisrt president of USA Martin Luther King, jr - stopped discrimination of Afro- Americans Barack Obama- the first Afro-American president Neil Armstrong- the first man on the Moon Dick a Mac McDonald - they established fast food restaurant McDonald´s in 1940

Citizens People live especially at east and west coasts, in the middle are usually farms and fields The largest racial group are White Americans The second are African-Americans The Third are Asian-Americans There still live about 5 million native Americans Nowadays a lot of Hispanic people are coming to USA In the USA there are about 11 million of illegal inhabitants, especially from Mexico. 82% people live in urban areas The biggest cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago

Nature USA is a very large country and each state has a different landscape. US government protect some areas as national parks (Grand canyon) Here are the most interesting areas: Grand canyon The Niagara falls Great Lakes Alaska is the least populated US state. There is arctic climate and many glaciers. It is the site of the highest mountain and wild nature.

Grand canyon Grand canyon is a national park in state Arizona. Canyon of river Colorado is about 446 km long, the deepest side has 1,500m. The first European who found the Grand Canyon was Garcia Lopez in It is about 2 million years old. It is possible to take great pictures here.

Niagara falls The Niagara falls are on the border with Canada. It´s one of the biggest world natural landmarks. This place is for people who are falling in love. The Waterfalls are 55 m high. The view is better from the Canadien side.

Great lakes Great Lakes are 5 largest lakes in the world. The Names are Michigan, Ontario, Huron, Superior and Erie. You can spend there a great time because around lakes there is wild nature and also huge cities (Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago, Toronto). Lakes are as huge as a sea.

Alaska Alaska is the least populated US state. There is arctic climate and many glaciers. It is the site of the highest mountain and wild nature. USA bought this area from Russia in 1959 In this state was also the gold rush because there were huge stocks of the gold.

Chicago In Chicago land area there live almost 10 million people All cultural life and business is situated in downtown. Chicago is the city of jazz, skyscrapers, criminals and mafia Chicago is famous for Al Capone who made business with alcohol in prohibition. He bribed police, judges etc. There is the highest skyscraper of North America called Willis tower (443 m). This tower is also the highest point of state Illinois. Chicago offers museum campus with interesting expositions. There was Czechoslovak mayor Antonín Čermák who saved life of the US president.

Native Americans Native Americans came from Asia They hunted down buffaloes but White people killed them off and the Indians hadn´t got any food. They lived in tents and used bows and spears. They rode horses very well. Indians have their own religion with lots of gods. In America there were many different groups of Indians. Nowadays there live only a few native Americans in the US who keep their traditional cultural life.

Relations with the Czech Republic People who would like go to US as tourists need just online ESTA registration, it is not a visa. It costs about 2,500 CZK Who would like to study or work there needs a work or study visa. In such a case it is necessary to go to the embassy. The nearest embassy is in Prague If you are a student at a university you can travel to US with a work and travel visa. It´s a special visa for students. It is not so expensive. For more information you can visit websites of Prague embassy