The United States of America

Hello, everyone! Today we are going to talk about the United States of America. It’s also called the USA, the US, or sometimes simply America.

As the name suggests, the country consists of a number of states. To be precise, it is a union of 50 states. You can see them on the map, for example, Texas, California, Colorado, New York. The forty-eight adjoining states are known as Mainland USA. The two other states are Alaska and Hawaii.

Where is the USA located? Mainland America is located in the central part of the North American continent and shares a land border with Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south.

As I’ve pointed out earlier, Alaska is a separate state which is situated in the far north-west of North America. It is bordered by Canada to the east. Hawaii is the only state not located on the continent of North America. It is located in the Pacific Ocean and consists of approximately 132 islands.

Speaking about the geographical position, we should mention the oceans which surround the country. The USA is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west.

Who lives in America? Over 320 million people live there. They are Americans. For a long time, the USA has been a place where lots of people ran away to from persecution for political or religious beliefs in their native countries. That’s why there are practically all racial and national groups in America. It’s multinational and the third largest country by population.

It’s interesting that the United States has no official language. Although, English is the most commonly spoken language.

One of the nicknames for the USA flag is the Stars and Stripes. The 50 stars – white in the blue field – represent the current 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original British colonies. The colonies were originally controlled by the UK. But on the 4^th of July 1776 the Declaration of Independence was issued, establishing the United States of America. It made the country independent of the UK. Since then Americans celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th of July.

The capital of the United States is named in honour of the first president whose name was George Washington. It is Washington, D.C. The abbreviation D.C. stands for District of Columbia. It is neither a state nor a city. It is a territory.

Note that there is a difference between Washington and Washington, D.C., because the first one is a state in the north-west of the USA whereas Washington, D.C. is a territory where the president of the United States and many federal government offices are located.

The President, elected by the whole nation for four years, is both the head of state and the head of government.

Finally, at the end of the video, help me complete a sentence. The currency of the United States is the US … (dollar).

precise – точный issue – делать заявление, издавать

adjoining – примыкающий establish – основывать

mainland – материк stand for – означать

border – граница whereas – в то время как

approximately – приблизительно elect – избирать

persecution – преследование currency – валюта

current – текущий, нынешний

Questions:

What American state is located in the far north-west of North America?
What is the flag of the USA called?
Why is Independence Day important for Americans?
What is the difference between Washington and Washington, D.C.?