Statue of Liberty

The USA is a huge country to explore, with 50 states to choose from, flanked by two oceans and covering an incredibly varied terrain. For five centuries, since the ‘New World’ discoveries of Christopher Columbus, people from all over the world have come here in search of ‘the American Dream’. Between them, they have created the richest, most powerful country on earth, and a fascinating melting pot of cultures and traditions.

The USA has everything, including vast plains, snow-covered mountain ranges, forested rolling hills, deserts, strange rock formations, soaring skyscrapers, stunning coastlines, impressive national parks, a thriving cultural scene and much much more.

Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus initiating trade routes to the Americas in 1492, the northern continent was inhabited by peoples thought to have been descended from nomadic Mongolian tribes who had travelled across the Bering Sea, between Russia and Alaska. The first wave of European settlers, mainly English, French and Dutch, crossed the Atlantic in the 17th century. The restrictions on political rights and punitive taxation imposed by the British government on American colonists led to the Boston Tea Party and the ensuing American War of Independence (1775-1783), with the Declaration of Independence being signed in 1776. The American Constitution resulted from the states’ Declaration, a governing format emulated by many other countries.

Abraham Lincoln

By 1853, the boundaries of the USA were, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii, as they are today. Economic activity in the southern states centred on plantation agriculture dependent on slavery. Attempts by liberally-inclined Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, to end slavery were opposed. The election of Lincoln to the presidency in 1861 precipitated a political crisis in which 10 Southern states seceded from the Union, leading to the American Civil War – a war that focused primarily on states’ rights. After the four years of war, the country entered a period of consolidation, building up an industrial economy and settling the vast interior region of America known as the Wild West.

KEY FACTS

Time
The USA is divided into six time zones - 
Eastern Standard Time: GMT – 5 (GMT – 4 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November).
Central Standard Time: GMT – 6 (GMT – 5 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November).
Mountain Standard Time: GMT – 7 (GMT – 6 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November. Arizona does not observe DST).
Pacific Standard Time: GMT – 8 (GMT – 7 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November).
Alaska: GMT – 9 (GMT – 8 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November).
Hawaii: GMT – 10.

Area
9,826,630 sq km (3,794,083 sq miles).

Population
301 million (official estimate 2007).

Washington, DC

Capital
Washington, DC. -  Population: 581,530 (2006).
Over 25 other cities have a population larger than that of Washington,DC. New York is the largest city, with a population of 8.3 million (2006). Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio and San Diego had populations ranging from 1.2 – 3.8 million in 2005.

Geography
Covering a large part of the North American continent, the USA shares borders with Canada to the north and Mexico to the south and has coasts on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

The State of Alaska, in the northwest corner of the continent, is separated from the rest of the USA by Canada, and Hawaii lies in the central Pacific Ocean. The third-largest country in the world (after the Russian Federation and Canada), the USA has an enormous diversity of geographical features. The climate ranges from subtropical to Arctic, with a corresponding breadth of flora and fauna.

Currency
US Dollar

Language
English, with significant Spanish-speaking minorties (10.7%).

Religion
Protestant majority (52%) with Roman Catholic, Mormon, Jewish and many ethnic minorities.