Mickey Mouse, Miami Vice, Sleepless in Seattle... thanks to cinema and TV we all have impressions of the United States of America. Yet nothing can prepare you for your first glimpse of
Manhattan’s unforgettable skyline, your first ride in a
yellow cab, the ubiquitous
hamburger joints, the vast expanses of
prairie, the sweet strains of
New Orleans jazz or the neon-lit excesses of
Las Vegas.
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 every corner of the globe 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.
Vast plains, snow-covered
mountain ranges, forested rolling hills, deserts, strange rock formations, soaring
skyscrapers, stunning
coastlines, impressive
national parks and a thriving
cultural scene; the USA has it all, plus some.
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 traveled 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.
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 centered 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.
GeographyCovering 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. For a more detailed description of each region's geographical characteristics, see the individual state sections.
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