United States of America
(USA)
Basic information
Population: 310,622,000
Area: 9,826,675 km2
Capital city: Washington, D.C.
Largest city: New York
Government: Federal constitutional presidential republic
Currency: American dollar (1 USD is 17.50 CZK)
President: Barack Obama
USA is a federal union of 50 states and federal districts
Highest point: Mount McKinley (6,194m)
History
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America was explored by Columbus in 1492.
America was a colony of England, France, Spain and The
Netherlands.
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Native Americans (Indians) were oppressed (Indian wars)
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The Declaration of independence was adopted on 4.7.1776
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The Civil war, South against North
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USA were very important in WW I and WW II
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Big chapter is Cold war with Soviet union (e.g. space race, …)
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Nowadays USA are in war with terrorism and big economic
crisis
Important persons
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George Washington – the fisrt president of USA
Martin Luther King, jr - stopped discrimination of AfroAmericans
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Barack Obama- the first Afro-American president
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Neil Armstrong- the first man on the Moon
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Dick a Mac McDonald - they established fast food restaurant
McDonald´s in 1940
Citizens
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People live especially at east and west coasts, in the middle are
usually farms and fields
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The largest racial group are White Americans
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The second are African-Americans
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The Third are Asian-Americans
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There still live about 5 million native Americans
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Nowadays a lot of Hispanic people are coming to USA
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In the USA there are about 11 million of illegal inhabitants,
especially from Mexico.
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82% people live in urban areas
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The biggest cities are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago
Nature
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USA is a very large country and each state has a different landscape.
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US government protect some areas as national parks (Grand canyon)
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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
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Grand canyon is a national park in state Arizona.
Canyon of river Colorado is about 446 km long, the deepest side has
1,500m.
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The first European who found the Grand Canyon was Garcia Lopez in 1540.
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It is about 2 million years old.
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It is possible to take great pictures here.
Niagara falls
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The Niagara falls are on the border with Canada.
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It´s one of the biggest world natural landmarks.
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This place is for people who are falling in love.
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The Waterfalls are 55 m high.
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The view is better from the Canadien side.
Great lakes
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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
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Alaska is the least populated US state.
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There is arctic climate and many glaciers.
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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
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In Chicago land area there live almost 10 million people
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All cultural life and business is situated in downtown.
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Chicago is the city of jazz, skyscrapers, criminals and mafia
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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
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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.
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Indians have their own religion with lots of gods.
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In America there were many different groups of Indians.
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Nowadays there live only a few native Americans in the US who
keep their traditional cultural life.
Relations with the Czech Republic
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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
http://czech.prague.usembassy.gov/